Busy-ness

Well, October has been kind of busy, and I've been in a haze precipitated by a near constant dosage of allergy medication.  'Twas my pulmonologist's idea...something about nipping symptoms in the bud or some such thing.  The result however, has been that I've been in this zombie-like state for weeks--zombie-like yes, but with no appetite for brains.  I've managed to avoid allergy induced asthmatic flare-ups, but egads, this is intolerable.  I feel as if I have to broadcast that I'm really not this slow...at least not regularly...as far as I'm aware anyway.

School has gone well, particularly considering all of the above.  Dd1 seems to be taking greater charge of her education.  I've always felt like I've had to be her cheerleader in all things.  Well, that's not entirely true either.  She does do some things without any prompting, but keeping on top of her assignments has always been a challenge.  Then of course, sometimes I doubt whether or not the reason for this is that perhaps I'm expecting too much of her.  If anyone is out there, reading my blog, please feel free to opine on this topic.  I originally set out to expect her to write about two one-page "response" papers per week, in addition to the assignments required in her writing program.  I often provide her with an essay question to answer, but she is welcome to write on any relevant topic she may choose.  There is a bit of writing involved across our curriculum, but nothing too over-the-top--i.e. the occasional outline of a passage in one of her books (Chemistry, Rhetoric, etc.).  I haven't quite gotten comfortable with her just reading through her history book on her own.  Maybe it's just my hang-up, but I don't believe that she really absorbs the information in one reading.  So, I've taken to reading ahead of her, keeping my own notes which she's welcome to reference, and we just chat about the section's material.  Is this too much hand-holding?  I'm genuinely curious.  Every now and again, I pop on over at the WTM boards and check to see what other children her age (14) are doing, and it seems that several are way more autonomous at that age.  I realize that no two children are the same, and that ultimately, I should follow my conscience and do what is best for my particular child, but I'm always worried about making her too dependent in the process.

Dd2 is proving to be challenging in another way.  She is such a driven child...but only for things that she loves to do.  She's an amazing artist.  Really and truly.  And I'm not just saying this because she's my child.  She has an amazing eye for subtle detail, and she is such a visual learner.  Rather than pry her away from her sketchbooks, I'm trying to incorporate art across her curriculum.  Her eyes just brighten up when she knows she can turn whatever she's learning into a drawing of some sort.  And oddly enough, this excitement even plays a part in her math lessons.  We use Singapore Math, and there are many opportunities for drawing models with that program.  Yes, she even gets excited over something as simple as model drawing.  Granted, she takes some artistic liberties with regard to these diagrams, but I'm not complaining.  Oh, and we did decide to take part in a special homeschool series of art classes at one of our local museums.  The first session was on contour drawing, and she was just so excited.  This was our first time taking part in something art related outside of home, and so far, so good.

As for my ds, well, he is about as well-rounded as they come.  He seems to be equally interested in everything, and shows an aptitude for everything we've covered as well, with the exception of the physical act of writing.  Even small amounts of handwriting frustrate him, and he's permanently attached to his eraser.  I've never seen a child so intent on erasing, even when erasures aren't even necessary.  I'm guessing this could be a tendency toward perfectionism, and frankly, that scares me a bit.  Sounds a bit like me actually, hence my worry.  Why couldn't he have inherited something else from me?  Well, he does have his Mama's hair.  ;)  While I don't want him to be careless, I certainly don't want him to be so hung up on being perfect either.

And that seems to cover things as they currently stand.  Oh, I did go ahead and assign some long term assignments for the kids...stuff I think they would enjoy.  In an effort to capitalize on their love of art (all three of them enjoy art, it's just that my middle dd LIVES it), I've asked the kids to come up with their own manga.  They are open to developing their characters and storylines fully into a short graphic novel, but really, there are no real requirements.  This is just something I think they'd enjoy.  Last year, I had them make short claymation stop-motion films, and they were hilarious.  If I can figure out how to post a few of their videos here, I will.  Given their interest level, I may just have them design their own board games based on their manga characters and storyline.  I bought those game kits from Bare Books a while ago, and I actually had forgotten I had done so.  I stumbled across them the other day and got excited all over again.  'Tis the one positive aspect of being a bit absent-minded.  Everything old, seems new, as you're always looking at things with new eyes.  Uh-huh...this is a glass half full kind of day.

Happy homeschooling!