Three Week Check-In....

Midway through the third week of our second semester, and I thought I'd check in and update on how things are going.

The Monday to Thursday schedule is working beautifully! Now, there's a definite feel of "projects get done on Friday, or carried to the weekend, but no later" which helps tremendously. Also, if any other subject gets "behind" the boys are able to use what would be free time on Friday and finish that up, as well. Having an almost free day once a week cuts down the "we need a break" syndrome, too. All in all, it's been a fantastic schedule help -- I am so glad I remembered a friend doing it and decided to try it in our home school. Yay!

The Writer is currently working on an art project that has been a multi-step thing; I can't wait to see the finished product. It's an abstract self portrait, with very specific guidelines, and so far it is amazing. That should be a Friday finish this week, so I can post pictures this weekend or Monday. yay!

The Artist is pushing, hard, through his English course so that we can move on. The writing projects are not the easiest thing for him, but he's doing well. I am so proud of him in that he doesn't give up, even when things are hard. And he's getting pretty good grades on things, with helpful feedback as well -- his teacher is fantastic and really seems to use grading as a teaching tool to show him where  he can improve for next time. I hope he gets the same teacher next semester (with TTUISD, you register one semester at a time, and the 2nd semester teacher is not always the same as first semester).

The Adventurer is plugging along. We've hit a bit of a stall on phonics acquisition, and I remind myself that this road to literacy is a marathon, not a sprint. I thought we'd found a trick to help with the portion of Earobics that most frusttrates him, but he is still not able to do that particular game very well, and I'm not sure why; I think it's a matter of brain maturity, and his is just not there yet. So, I've tabled that game, and we will plug on and keep working.

He is showing some strong dislike for the curriculum we use as far as history, Bible & science -- he sees his brothers "doing" stuff for school, and he wants to "do stuff" too. So I'm on the hunt for history & science curriculum that has him "do stuff." If anyone has ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear them! Something activity or computer based would be awesome. I have some DVDs to try for science, but I fear that watching a DVD will not be enough "doing stuff" for him and he'll protest that as well. With his multitude of learning challenges, finding a curriculum that interests and excites him and thus gains his cooperation is vital. With so much else to overcome, resistance to the very curriculum is just not something I want to add/keep in our school day. In the meantime, I'm focusing only on his math and reading skills, and trust he'll pick up history and science later on.

We have made strides in his behavior, through a very simple diet change...more on that in an upcoming post!

Hope your semester is going well, whether you are just starting like we are or winding down like much of the US is. Happy Wednesday, all!