Home Learning Week 5

This week we finished up our Apple unit and then went into Blueberries for Sal. Here are a few pictures from our first few days learning about Blueberries For Sal.

Abby Loved Frozen Blueberries Too!

We baked blueberry pies, read the book "Blueberries For Sal" numerous  times & listened to the audio and learned about bears! We also talked about how different animals and people prepare for the upcoming winter. It was a busy week, I didn't feel like we accomplished very much, but we're pressing along.

I'm learning to enjoy the special  times I have together with the kids, no matter where my "random" child  takes the lesson or if the baby is fussy or Gabe is gluing and cutting up Drew's worksheet.  Drew is learning, just in his own random ways, which I am learning to celebrate. God made Drew so unique and He has a great and mighty purpose for Drew life. I just facilitate the opportunities for his God-given style of learning to be expressed, practiced, and manipulated into fun learning times. Drew loves to move from thing to thing, never sitting still, always thinking about the 10 millionth "great ideas" he has for our day. Some days I am flexible, like this week, and other times I try and keep him focused and to our schedule. Sadly, the times I'm more flexible are normally the times he learns the best! So, I need to be more flexible!

I'm also learning to not be so darn controlling - who cares if he is playing with his pencil or fingers while I'm reading or climbing into and out of my lap?  I'm not quite so anxious about it anymore but it is a constant struggle. My Aunt Beth (teacher of littles for 20+ years) told me, which was so freeing,  that she tells her little boys in class that if they  can prove they are paying attention, they can do anything as long as a toe is touching their desk. I told Drew, since I don't have 20 kids in my class,  that if he can prove he is paying attention then he can move, jump, wiggle, or do whatever he needs to and I won't say anything as long as he is quiet. We tried this the last few weeks and he has been so much better! Drew also loves to ask tons of questions. When reading about his learning style (Abstract Random (AR) learners are sensitive, compassionate, perceptive, imaginative, idealistic, sentimental, spontaneous, and flexible.) I saw that Drew actually learns in a random way  which involves asking a million questions - like why and how. I'm trying to get better at telling him - "today you can ask all the questions you want when I'm reading" or " While  I read this book your just going to listen and ask me questions at the end," If Drew knows in advance he tends to do so much better and I don't get so frustrated.

We also worked a lot on Drew's presentation to his Texas History class. Drew learned all about an explorer - Cabeza De Vaca and told his class all about what he had discovered - or rather what mommy read to him and had him memorize!  Drew did really well, his teacher was impressed and said he did better than her older 7 and 8 year olds. Drew gave me his presentation (I asked him 10 questions and he answered since he can't stay focused to tell a whole story yet) at home while we were practicing so I'll try and post it once I get get it uploaded.

I'm looking forward to gleaning even more knowledge from our upcoming conference on Friday/Saturday  called "Raising Kids For True Greatness" by Tim Kimmell and takeing a day off from school to celebrate the First Day of Fall tomorrow!