Busy

Something about spring has given us a lot of energy to start new things, but at the same time we feel like we are dragging, physically (allergies probably...).

Our Sonlight Core 4 came in the mail a few days ago. A whole box full of books is always exciting! But we are plugging along with the end of the school year's work, which is just starting to get exciting for us too because I am choosing interesting things but forcing them to do it (well, no real FORCE has been necessary, but when they ask "Do I have to listen to this?" I say "Yes.") This is working for us. They didn't know what they were missing before when I was much more lax with things (mostly out of exhaustion on my part!). Now we are almost at the end of the math books, have started back to spelling with a curriculum they both seem to like (Sequential Spelling) and are reading the last of the Core 3 readers and read alouds.

Today we started on The Prairie Primer. We have always loved Little House stuff and I didn't want to put the girls off any longer. It keeps our interest too - right now I think the motivation factor is more important than what I would be teaching them by forcing them to finish one thing before starting the next. We will finish most things anyway, not just in any traditional order. :)

Today we read aloud a chapter of Swift Rivers. Jane finished her reader Om-Kas-Toe (which she loved). I read the first chapter of Little House in the Big Woods and we did the daily activities for that chapter. Jane's favorite by far was the experiments on her sisters. :) The Prairie Primer talked about learning Piaget's stages of development and testing siblings to see where they fell on the scale. I was surprised at my 8 year olds answer to a "volume conservation" problem (putting equal amounts in two low and wide cups, then pouring one while the child watches into a tall and thin cup. Children from 7-11, according to Piaget, should be learning to understand that this is the same amount of liquid even though it appears to be taller(more) in the tall, thin cup.) I was even more surprised (although I shouldn't be, knowing how smart she is) at my just turned 5yo's answer. :) We also tested the baby on object permanence. Very fun stuff indeed. Enough to make me forget that I got no sleep and half of us are sick and cranky. :-P

We hope to keep up this pace for awhile - schooling in every spare minute the younger two afford us (which is usually not a whole lot, LOL) - but in interesting ways - until we can't stand it anymore. :) Really, I'm trying to read my kids on this one, and they seem to be thriving like this, so I'm going to keep it up until they are not.

In other news, I'd like to ask a few quick prayers - one for my dad whose birthday is today (he's fine, just like asking for prayers on a special day); two - for my baby who is pretty miserable from sickness/teething/shot reactions; and three - for me, I have a follow up appointment at the dermatologist for a biopsy on a spot on my cheek. I'm guessing it was another basal cell carcinoma but I'll find out tomorrow. I am worried about a few more areas on my nose now also, near the skin graft. At this rate I won't have much face left and when I think about it at all it tends to get to me emotionally. Please pray that my skin heals from whatever this stuff is and that the doctors can guide me through the best treatment for me? There seems to be a fine line between "effective" and "aesthetic". Thanks!