Tryn is doing Beta and Gamma Math
Sonlight core 3+4 American History
Phonetic Zoo
Wordly Wise
Cycle 2 of Classical Conversations
Almost independently doing all the laundry. Thus far I have high hopes to do some Shurley, but I might Charlotte Mason it and wait til fourth grade. Life is short. She loves the spelling, crabs about any mild writing assignment and pays a great deal of attention to the details. Having more regular language arts causes her distress, but I am certain it will level out as she acclimates.
Annika is reading like a fiend. Yes. Oh, yes. She is doing level 3 reading books, which I am thrilled about because it clicked and then fast. So she and Tristan are doing Core 1 of Sonlight and listening to Tryn's read alouds as well. She has just finished Primer Math. Her math has dipped as the reading has taken off. She will have no problem with the Alpha Math, though. It was the reverse this time last year. Spelling is in the curriculum. Writing is coming from copywork via Sonlight and some workbooks. Punctuation is via Sonlight....it is all in the language arts. I still love our Easy Language Lessons, however. It is really great for her to practice letters. WHICH SHE KEEPS flipping and freaking me out about. She isn't dyslexic as much as lazy? I notice that she likes to read and guess sometimes by making up the vowels. She wants to go faster and then the details suffer. This is true of her chores and her obedience. She is cleaning bathrooms independently, unloading the dishwasher entirely, putting away all her clothes and cleaning her room. Tryn does all those too, but I don't want to retype it up there. Annika little spirit shines while caring for others. She is a lovely hostess and intuitively and naturally thinks of the needs of others and makes them feel welcome. She is an easy girl to get along with. I so loved watching her just run like the wind at Heidlefest with Kat.
Tristan is blasting away at of all things.... geography. I, too, have uncovered a long dormant desire to know where in the world everything is. Bhutan! Togo! Congo! Marking our maps up is a delightful way to make things concrete. Also dovetails nicely with the CC geography memory. He got 50 lessons into the 100 lessons to read and then flattened out, this was in May. It has been six months so I figure his brain might be ready to try again. I feel like he got the short shrift in life with all the trials surrounding his birth, etc. I am relieved he isn't a duh.
His dry, wry humor is a respite from the drama. He might be artsy. Lots of detailed drawings of buildings, boats, rockets, castles and equally compelling 3D Lego creations. I appreciate his focus. I appreciate that he tells me I look pretty. Giving him some workbooks to accomplish and color as his fine motor skills get a tad bit stronger. I don't want to start him handwriting too soon and then loathe it. He writes his name and recognizes all the letters and sounds. More importantly he thinks of huge storylines and details surrounding his pictures. The Phonetic Museum awaits and the big workbook with that....I won't do it in its entirety, because, well, it isn't feasible. H0wever, I like the little books and Auntie Rachel wrote one so that is kinda neat.
His job is to take out the kitchen trash, clean his room, help with the table clean up, etc. He also has taken to making sure he opens the doors for me....endearing! He loves the structure and getting himself up and at 'em comes most naturally to him (unlike me and Anni).
Gideon uses thinking putty to sit still. 'Still' being in one place but not without motion. Picking up lots of CC memory work and can do the entire timeline with the kids. The Mighty Minds toy which came with Sonlight is a good focuser as well as the Bambino Luk. Frankly, without him we would likely sit on our butts more. It is pure necessity for us to get walks and outside time just to help him listen. Which he inherited from me, so I am complicitly glad to help. He is learning his numbers, listening to LOTS of stories and reading, helping out by putting away silverware, getting the pillows plumped and put back on the couch, helping with whatever I ask him during zone cleaning time.
Liesl has the cutest hands. Folks commenting how blonde she is (and there is tons of gold in her hair). Climbs stairs, eats teething biscuits with wild abandon, takes two hour morning naps (amen), amuses self in playpen (amusing that she is the first to ever do this), no teeth but the top two will arrive soon, still bear crawling, bobbing, loves to find books and turn pages over and over, laughs expectantly at the dinner table hoping for everyone to join in. In contrast to the other kids, she doesn't cry to nurse in the middle of the night. She stands up in her crib (in our room) and just stands there. Now, I don't know for how long she has stood there, but get up and she is just expectantly quiet waiting to guzzle and crash back down. Then about two hours later she sits up and whacks her head into mine a few times to wake me up. BUT SHE DOESN'T MAKE ANY NOISE! Tristan would do something similar, but if he could get either his fingers in Stefan's hair or wrapped around mine then he would fall back asleep. Liesl likes to nurse and I can't fault her for making up time with me at night....we are busy and my milk supply would be whacked if not for this.
Okay. This was supposed to take ten minutes. But at least it will help me remember more than ten minutes of my life ten years from now.
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