Our Year So Far
We've been plugging along fairly well in our school year. Once we made the science change things have been going pretty smoothly.
We've chucked the Sonlight reading schedule. Not the books - just the order. I know it seems rather weird to be reading stuff out of order, but so far it's been working out just fine. Our current read is Operation Yes which is about a school of military kids (Air Force even!) who have parents that deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan. A subject close to our hearts here. This actually ties to the history we're reading about (the Persian Empire). It's easy for him to see that even though the names of players change - things in that region of the world have been pretty much the same for thousands of years. So I'm good with letting him pick our reading schedule.
I'm pretty sure he's been playing me for a fool in math for a long time now. He lets little slips happen where I know he understands, then tries to back pedal. Um, the gigs up sucker (for both of us!). He likes having me around when he does his work, so I'll sit with him and read (or do productive things - like search the internet) and he's very fine.
His writing is getting better. Not his handwriting (still looks like hieroglyphics) but the whole putting stuff together. I've actually become hands off on that too. I think the Sonlight is helping with that too. We write at least a paragraph every week. Should he be writing more? Maybe. But he's doing the work alone. Another thing that's helped is I quit being a witch about it. Yes, I said it - when it comes to writing I can be super degrading and picky. Now when he's stumped I say things like "Dude, (yes, I actually call him dude) you are so freakin' smart - I know it's not your favorite subject (or thing to do), but I know you can do a great job. Just settle down and do it." I also remove myself from the room he's working in. He'll ask me about every.single.sentence. if I'm in the same room. He has to finish and then we proofread and edit when he's done. Now if we could make it legible we'd be sweet!
Now the end of 2014 is approaching and we have to start making High School decisions. This mama's not quite ready for that...
We've chucked the Sonlight reading schedule. Not the books - just the order. I know it seems rather weird to be reading stuff out of order, but so far it's been working out just fine. Our current read is Operation Yes which is about a school of military kids (Air Force even!) who have parents that deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan. A subject close to our hearts here. This actually ties to the history we're reading about (the Persian Empire). It's easy for him to see that even though the names of players change - things in that region of the world have been pretty much the same for thousands of years. So I'm good with letting him pick our reading schedule.
I'm pretty sure he's been playing me for a fool in math for a long time now. He lets little slips happen where I know he understands, then tries to back pedal. Um, the gigs up sucker (for both of us!). He likes having me around when he does his work, so I'll sit with him and read (or do productive things - like search the internet) and he's very fine.
His writing is getting better. Not his handwriting (still looks like hieroglyphics) but the whole putting stuff together. I've actually become hands off on that too. I think the Sonlight is helping with that too. We write at least a paragraph every week. Should he be writing more? Maybe. But he's doing the work alone. Another thing that's helped is I quit being a witch about it. Yes, I said it - when it comes to writing I can be super degrading and picky. Now when he's stumped I say things like "Dude, (yes, I actually call him dude) you are so freakin' smart - I know it's not your favorite subject (or thing to do), but I know you can do a great job. Just settle down and do it." I also remove myself from the room he's working in. He'll ask me about every.single.sentence. if I'm in the same room. He has to finish and then we proofread and edit when he's done. Now if we could make it legible we'd be sweet!
Now the end of 2014 is approaching and we have to start making High School decisions. This mama's not quite ready for that...
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