second stages

Well Drama Queen had her second gymnastics class this week. Drew takes her and this time she seemed to have a bit of an issue of him leaving so he ended up sitting in on the class. DQ hid a bit, hung out with dad a bit, but in the end she tried all the activities. I think this class is a challenge for her since she sees other kids who are much better at gymnastics than she is. This is the first time that she isn't on equal footing and feels the lack. DQ usually quits if it's not easy, but gymnastics so far is something that she wants to do bad enough to actually work on it. She's been doing some jumps around the house that she learned this week. I'm hopeful that she will keep it up at least til the end of the session.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was finished and now we are awaiting Charlie and the Glass Elevator from the library. I've requested it so it should be to us early next week. I'm wondering if we're going to go through a lot of Roald Dahl books in the near future. :)

Action Man has been active and also loving LEGO Indiana Jones on the Xbox 360 this week. He's all about being an airplane these last couple of days with arms and sounds. Very fun.

DQ's co-op was today. AM once again had no interest going downstairs with the rest of the kids and their moms for the planned activity. We stayed upstairs while he had a snack and walked around looking and playing with some toys. Both DQ and AM enjoyed the drum making activity. The class downstairs was starting to learn the beat to Hand Hand Fingers Thumb by Dr. Seuss. The children are going to drum and some will recite the words at the co-op's talent show.

We're going down to the grandparents' for the weekend since Drew and I will be attneding a homeschooling conference. The kids are looking forward to seeing their grandparents and going to the children's musuem in Richmond. Shhh, they don't know Cliffor the Big Red Dog will be at the children's musuem this Saturday. That's going to be a surprise for them!

Week in review

Drama Queen enjoyed her first gymnastics class. Game day with a new homeschool group was a success. I'm glad Action Man hung out with Drew (daddy) so I was able to chat with some of the other moms and help out with a game. Now I have the names of some fun looking games to add to our selection!

I was astonished when I saw DQ write her brother's and her names down one day. She is not one to want to write except the occasional single letter. I can already see that she is one to not practice something in front of others until she feels a certain mastery. This was a nice window into how she is doing/feeling with writing.

Last week DQ 'read' a book multiple times to Drew and I on separate occasions. It's her first foray into reading on her own. Granted it was verbatim but it was nice to see her want to read to us and not hear 'but I can't read'.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the current chapter book and Drama Queen is really enjoying it.

Action Man is lovin' on the puzzles this week. I brought home some puzzles from the library and we have added some to our home library as well. DQ is quite happy to help him with them. AM is getting much more insistent in picking out a book instead of just listening to what his sister has chosen for books before bed. I'm enjoying watching him as he finds a love of books.

The week concluded with attendance at a birthday party for a new friend.

It was a good week.

I love homeschooling.

Trying to get a rhythm

Now that we have been home for a month I'm trying to get into a rhythm that works for us. Course going more and more 'unschooly' isn't helping with the rhythm. So I'll settle for finding more activities outside the home and having a pleasant time when we are home.

Drama Queen is almost 5 1/2 and is really enjoying seeing her friends again and meeting new ones. She is much happier with all of us living at home than when the two kids and I lived at her grandparents' house with daddy visiting on weekends. That was tough. She has a glow about her now. DQ is now taking 2 classes - gymnastics and a fitness class. She is thrilled! She has definitely blossomed in the past 6 months and is willing to go off on her own for a fun class.

Action Man is enjoying the new thrill of 'games on the tv' as he calls the Xbox 360 and Playstation 2 games. He is lovin' the new toys he gets to play with when we visit friends' houses and seeing one long-time friend. Action Man will be 3 in May and is very physically active but loves a good book (particularly about anything with wheels!) or puzzle.

Finding a rhythm between home life and activities has been interesting. Being away for so long has left me struggling a bit, but it's so nice to see people we have missed. All of us are working on being personable again, though I see us needing our time at home to regroup.

Now we are off and running!