Not much to say!

Things have been slow going. I did pull out the sandpaper letters for my niece and she wants to do them ALL. I showed her some--and then ds went and showed her others that she wanted to do. :) Since she had already started writing in print, I have been showing her the print, while still offering the cursive. Sometimes she asks for the cursive after seeing it in print. If she asks for the cursive, she will then attempt to write letters in cursive on paper afterwards. Fun stuff!

With a 4-day Easter weekend and then "Bob" gone these past 2 days for a dive trip, it just hasn't felt like we've been able to get into any routine. I've realized, though, that I haven't exactly worked out specifics for a routine to follow. So I've started writing out some stuff and will treat Monday like a new beginning. Bob, I think, is really craving structure and dependable routines right now. He appears to be going through some stuff right now and being more specific and explicit and structured with him feels like the right way to go. It's always hard figuring out that balance: when does direction become too much?

Other than that, we've been to the museum today, checking out (yet again!) the penguin exhibit. The 18yo hadn't seen it yet. It's great! Gotta love those year passes that allow you to go as often as you wish. ;)

He's done it again!

My only-recently-decided-to-read 8yo son has done it yet again!

Out of the blue this morning, during a time when he's usually playing, he said to me he wanted a "big" book that he could read. Now, understand that he's not really read ANY books, just little things here and there. I asked him how big. I offered him a couple of gr. 2-3 French books and even offered the first Harry Potter in English. I went about trying to find some other books in our shelves during which time he settled upon Harry Potter.

Well, the darn kid sat down on the sofa for probably the next 45 minutes or so and READ. I asked him at one point how it was going and at what part he was at. He told me what was going on. He's not reading super quickly, but he's definitely reading it. I told him he amazes me. He asked why. I said, "Well, has anybody ever sat and taught you to read in English?" He smiled. "No." "Well, that's why you amaze me. Everything is just clicking on its own."

Gotta love being able to let him dictate his pace!!!!

Spring break is done

Our spring break is officially done. I have today to get everything ready. But I have to be careful: I've been catching myself this week at trying to add too much in for next week. Let me think "out loud" here a bit:

*It's Holy Week--must have some Easter things prepared. (Like what? my brain is asking me.) Well, um... Crafts for sure. Maybe the Stations of the Cross or daily Bible readings. Or both. lol.

*The 18yo--she needs to know what to get done this week, and I need to have things ready for that (math and bio, plus I need to read in Pride and Prejudice so we can discuss and I'm prepared for questions that she asks).

*"Bob" needs to have a list of what work to do this week.

*I managed to show my niece one Montessori thing this past week. That seems like a reasonable goal at the moment! lol. So, this week, I will show her some sandpaper letters. :)

*I feel like I need a checklist for myself, a checklist of all the things I should at the very least think about doing on a given day for school stuff.

Other things I wanted to add in: Choice Theory info, read to them from Success Principles for Teens, daily or almost-daily spelling, math facts and pre-algebra "quizzing" together, daily meetings to deal with routines and issues... I think I need to decide what feels most important and just do one of these this week.

Okay, gotta get to work!