In and Out of the House

source of congestion

This week has been lacking in productivity. JT and I are both dealing with allergy flare-ups from ragweed pollen. He's having a hard time getting motivated to do his work each day. Tonight, as of  7:50pm he's still not finished with his list. I'm not a huge fan of winter, but an early frost guaranteeing death to the ragweed wouldn't upset me this year.

Tomorrow EM will be starting a new adventure. He is going for his first piano lesson. He's a little older than an average beginner student, nearly eleven, but I wanted to wait until he showed real interest in trying an instrument before we tried lessons. Due to his auditory processing disorder he's been a little slower coming to a desire to study music. Other than learning a song or two on his ukulele, he's never really played any instrument. Tonight he asked his dad to play Rock Band on the Wii with him. Usually he only wants to do the singing, but today he's on the drums. I hope this new interest in music will continue for him.

Despite the ragweed effects, we had a few out of the house activities this week. Our first Brown Bag Book Club of the school year happened on Tuesday. Local homeschool families get together at the library so the kids can share the books they have been reading and then we stay after the conversation to have lunch together. It's always a good place to get ideas for books the boys may want to read next. The other advantage is that the boys are learning to speak in front of a group when they share about their book. JT also went to his second fencing class on Monday. They were told they'll be able to start trying matches against each other in two more weeks. Then things should get really exciting!

In the next week, I'm hoping to do some work with JT on a project to create flashcards to supplement our Rosetta Stone German instruction. We are both having a hard time remembering the genders of the nouns we are learning. I decided that we could both benefit from some extra study. Flashcards seemed like a good idea. We'll be able to work together to make them and then quiz each other. I would have to say the one downside of Rosetta Stone is the fact that the program doesn't teach you grammar in a straightforward way. You are expected to pick it up through the lessons, but never given the rules on how things work. We are fortunate that my husband already has a basic knowledge of the language, so he is able to help us when we have questions.

EM is starting work on an independent project of his own. Later this year we will be studying Asia in our geography unit. Leading up to that unit study, he will be choosing a country of Asia each month to research and share with us. This month he has chosen Mongolia. He's doing a good job looking for information in our books and online. He is definitely doing more independent work this year with confidence. I can see him directing his own school plan by the time he reaches his high school years. It's always a good thing to see the boys taking their education into their own hands. I know when they do that they are getting far more out of it than I can ever give them no matter how much planning I put into it.