It's been a couple of weeks since my last entry but I'm back. Seems every week is busier than the one before these days. Not that I'm complaining. In any case, we've logged in another two weeks of school. Some things have changed, some haven't. What hasn't changed? Well, Josh doesn't like school work any more now than he did before. Reading is a daily struggle. We get through it and he's learning but his desire to do it isn't there. Normal? From what I hear, yes. I keep trying to remember if I liked to read when I was his age, but my memory doesn't seem to be that good, sadly. I know I liked it by age 10. That I do remember. I recall reading A WrinkLle in Time and loving it. The story still sticks with me today and I can't wait to introduce Josh and Liam to this story one day. I do realize though that they may not share my enthusiasm for it, which is okay. My concern is mainly that they learn to love reading, and I hope I can help propagate that.
What is new? Well, we found a group to go to that I think will be good for all of us. (Thank you Laurie!) It meets on Fridays. Both Josh and Liam can socialize with other kids in their age range. They have lessons for school age kids that include some things that I am lacking in my curriculum, like music, science and art. I am covering science to a degree but since it is one of his favorite subjects, I am sure the more the better in his mind. Art is something that has been hit and miss so far for us. We don't get around to it as often as Josh would like. Sadly, this is also a favorite subject of his, which surprises me since when he was in preschool he never seemed to like it most of the time. Well, now he will do some every week. Yay! The thing I have failed to cover the most though has been music, but with our Friday program now, he will also have exposure to that. I now find that I really look forward to Fridays. We all get something out of it so it's a win-win.
The past two Wednesdays were a lot of fun for us. We took a field trip to Montour Preserve in Washingtonville where we looked for fossils, took a short nature hike and checked out their environmental center. Place was practically empty but that's okay. Josh really enjoyed looking for and finding some fossils. He learned that you can find them a lot of the time by cracking open the rocks. He didn't want to leave after he started finding them, but all good things must come to an end at some point. This Wednesday, we did an arts and crafts day, with a Halloween theme, instead of our usual science day. Not everything I had planned went according to plan but we still managed to have fun. Liam, I find, is still a little young for these kinds of activities. Looking back on it, I have to laugh but when we were doing the crafts, it was chaos. I honestly don't know how some people do it. I probably should not have been so ambitious or at least been more organized. I had too many things out, which spells trouble when a 2 year old gets involved. He had a field day! Next time I try this, I hope I learn from my mistakes. I'm an old dog though so not sure if I can learn new tricks.
So that is all our excitement for now. We are moving along with our studies and getting into a sort of groove. Things could be smoother but I am learning to chill more. Sometimes I wonder if I am teaching some things the wrong way, because every kid learns differently. I want him to enjoy learning and maybe there is a better way to do it. But for now, we will forge on with our current path. Once we are finished with the reading curriculum, I imagine I will have some time to experiment with other things there. Seems like that won't be too far off in the future, by the looks of things. More games or activities to sharpen reading skills perhaps. I need to look into this before the time is upon us. Onward and upward! Life is an adventure.
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