So, it is October already!!! Already we gearing up for the fun Halloween activities. The boys are busying planning on what they want to be for Halloween. I told the boys that I didn't want to spend alot of money on costumes and accessories this year, and would prefer if they choose to be something where we could use things we already have, or make something. Check back with us after Halloween to see how successful my pitch ended up being with them!
The last month has been a busy blur, I can't even remember everything that has happened.
School work is going well with both of the boys. Chandler has quite a workload this year in 5th grade. His day can be anywhere from 3 hours to 6 hours long (with breaks in between) depending on much he chooses to dwaddle. This year I found a lesson-planning software program specifically for homeschoolers so I am able to print up a daily work schedule for him. Some subjects, like handwriting, vocabulary, Math (computer based program), he is able to do on his own, and I just check his work afterwards. Other subjects, like History, Latin and Geography, we do together. This year, since it is all printed for each day, I am trying to encourage him to go ahead and take advantage of those morning hours he wakes up before everyone to get started in his independent work, explaining that his "work day" will be over that much sooner if he starts earlier. This works for his logical brain. His math brain is amazing. He is doing a computer-based 7th grade math program. Each lesson has 5 practice problems, and 20 graded problems. He is perplexing me as he has been able to do all of it without using paper, all in his head, and rarely misses any. Daily, I put out a notebook next to him as he watches the lecture and say "Here is some paper in case you need to use it to find an answer". His standard reply is "I won't need it"....and so far, he is right, he hasn't. Granted the first 20 lessons are mainly review, but even still, it is adding and subtracting six digit numbers, with regrouping and carrying, etc. I would need paper to do this! I am sure we will get to a point where paper is a necessity as we get into formulas and equations, but for at this point, I guess it is okay to work his brain like this.
Cooper is doing K5 work, although not always willing. We have come up with a plan that his weekly allowance, video game time, and outside time with friends (a number one priority in his book) all hinges on his willingness to do his daily school work. He is doing better with his willingness to participate. We only do about 10-15 minutes at a time in any given subject, with alot of break time in between. We do alot of book reading (me reading to him), with him giving me a oral re-cap after the book. He seems to enjoy this. I knew all along Cooper would be a different student than Chandler, and it is interesting for me to watch how he progresses. I am so proud of him, as he is of himself, when he is able to point out letters he has learned, or count in order.
Let's see, what else have we done this past month and half.....oh yes, baseball! Fall baseball has kicked in, and both boys had practice twice a week. Yes, so four times a week we were at the fieds. Ugh! At this point, games have started, so practices have laid off a bit, but we are usually still at the field for games 3-4 nights a week. We only have one game where both boys played at the same time, so we just did tag-team for this. I watched half of Chandler's game, while Chris and his Mom watched Cooper and then after a few innings, we switched. We are playing at a new league this fall, as we felt we should play at a league that is more competitive (see previous post's about the All-Star season). Chandler had a shining moment: About a week after we signed up the boys, we received a call from a coach at the league. As this coach was a coach for this league's All-Star team, he knew Chandler from All-Stars this summer (remember Chandler had hit a over-the-fence home run and the fact that Chandler was a great pitcher) and wanted to know if he could "protect" Chandler for his team, ie meaning Chandler didn't have to do try-outs, but automatically made this particular team. This coach was really excited to have Chandler on his team. Chandler has also been invited to participate in an "Advanced" team for this league. Basically it is the same concept as All-Stars, some of the better players form a team and play teams from other leagues around the city. So we were very proud of Chandler to be able to walk into a new league, one of the top in the city, and already be known for his abilities.
Cooper has shown marked improvement in T-Ball. He actually makes a move to go after the ball when it comes his way. He throws the ball very well, and has great accuracy. Most of all, his hitting has really come along way and he RUNS full-speed to the bases (last season he just kind of trotted to the bases, didn't seem in a big hurry:). In this league, the coach will pitch two balls. If the child does not hit it, then they have the chance to use the Tee. Cooper has hit several foul balls from the coach pitch, and a couple of solid hits. He does end up on hitting off of the Tee most often, which is completely fine. He has solid hits off of the Tee and made it around the base to score runs, which is always exciting to him.
So after schoolwork and baseball, throw in a couple of field trips and park days with our Homeschool group, my birthday (boys took me to Ft. Matanzas, a spanish fort outside of St. Augustine, and then we walked around St. Augstine, which I love), football Sundays for Chris and Chandler (Chris's dream came true, this is the first year Chandler has shown a huge interest in football and will actually watch most games, plus they have a couple of Fantasy Football teams they are doing together), a football game (we took the boys to see the Jaguars vs. Houston Texans. It almost broke Chris's die-hard Bronco heart to see his boys in Jaguars jerseys, but hey, "When in Rome.......".), it has been a busy time for us.
Don't forget little Max. He tags along whenever we go and usually finds a way to occupy himself. He is definately Cooper's little buddy and pretty much follows in whatever mischief Cooper gets into. He has a mind of his own, though and isn't afraid to tell you. We are talking about potty-training with Max, and some days are better than others. We are not too gung-ho on it, as I do feel that children will train when they are ready, and pressuring doesn't speed up the process. And since we use cloth diapers, there is no expense in continuing to use diapers. He likes to wear his big-boy underwear and many days, will get through a whole day. Max is in that stage where he has picked up "words" and started to repeat them, words we probably don't want a two year old saying. He has went through a couple already, I won't repeat them here, but we broke him of those. His newest thing is "I hate fill-in-the-blank". This week alone, I have heard "I hate that girl, she keeps touching me (at the playground)." "I hate clouds". "I hate troopers (Star Wars)." "I hate motorcycles." We couldn't figure out who in our house said this enough for Max to pick it up, as we don't remember it being used that often and it has definately been discouraged in the past. Then we were laying in bed with Cooper and it happened. He said "I hate something or other". Ah ha! So then comes the discussion that this word is banned from our house, is now on the ever-growing "Banned Bad Word list".
Check out the newest pictures!
The last month has been a busy blur, I can't even remember everything that has happened.
School work is going well with both of the boys. Chandler has quite a workload this year in 5th grade. His day can be anywhere from 3 hours to 6 hours long (with breaks in between) depending on much he chooses to dwaddle. This year I found a lesson-planning software program specifically for homeschoolers so I am able to print up a daily work schedule for him. Some subjects, like handwriting, vocabulary, Math (computer based program), he is able to do on his own, and I just check his work afterwards. Other subjects, like History, Latin and Geography, we do together. This year, since it is all printed for each day, I am trying to encourage him to go ahead and take advantage of those morning hours he wakes up before everyone to get started in his independent work, explaining that his "work day" will be over that much sooner if he starts earlier. This works for his logical brain. His math brain is amazing. He is doing a computer-based 7th grade math program. Each lesson has 5 practice problems, and 20 graded problems. He is perplexing me as he has been able to do all of it without using paper, all in his head, and rarely misses any. Daily, I put out a notebook next to him as he watches the lecture and say "Here is some paper in case you need to use it to find an answer". His standard reply is "I won't need it"....and so far, he is right, he hasn't. Granted the first 20 lessons are mainly review, but even still, it is adding and subtracting six digit numbers, with regrouping and carrying, etc. I would need paper to do this! I am sure we will get to a point where paper is a necessity as we get into formulas and equations, but for at this point, I guess it is okay to work his brain like this.
Cooper is doing K5 work, although not always willing. We have come up with a plan that his weekly allowance, video game time, and outside time with friends (a number one priority in his book) all hinges on his willingness to do his daily school work. He is doing better with his willingness to participate. We only do about 10-15 minutes at a time in any given subject, with alot of break time in between. We do alot of book reading (me reading to him), with him giving me a oral re-cap after the book. He seems to enjoy this. I knew all along Cooper would be a different student than Chandler, and it is interesting for me to watch how he progresses. I am so proud of him, as he is of himself, when he is able to point out letters he has learned, or count in order.
Let's see, what else have we done this past month and half.....oh yes, baseball! Fall baseball has kicked in, and both boys had practice twice a week. Yes, so four times a week we were at the fieds. Ugh! At this point, games have started, so practices have laid off a bit, but we are usually still at the field for games 3-4 nights a week. We only have one game where both boys played at the same time, so we just did tag-team for this. I watched half of Chandler's game, while Chris and his Mom watched Cooper and then after a few innings, we switched. We are playing at a new league this fall, as we felt we should play at a league that is more competitive (see previous post's about the All-Star season). Chandler had a shining moment: About a week after we signed up the boys, we received a call from a coach at the league. As this coach was a coach for this league's All-Star team, he knew Chandler from All-Stars this summer (remember Chandler had hit a over-the-fence home run and the fact that Chandler was a great pitcher) and wanted to know if he could "protect" Chandler for his team, ie meaning Chandler didn't have to do try-outs, but automatically made this particular team. This coach was really excited to have Chandler on his team. Chandler has also been invited to participate in an "Advanced" team for this league. Basically it is the same concept as All-Stars, some of the better players form a team and play teams from other leagues around the city. So we were very proud of Chandler to be able to walk into a new league, one of the top in the city, and already be known for his abilities.
Cooper has shown marked improvement in T-Ball. He actually makes a move to go after the ball when it comes his way. He throws the ball very well, and has great accuracy. Most of all, his hitting has really come along way and he RUNS full-speed to the bases (last season he just kind of trotted to the bases, didn't seem in a big hurry:). In this league, the coach will pitch two balls. If the child does not hit it, then they have the chance to use the Tee. Cooper has hit several foul balls from the coach pitch, and a couple of solid hits. He does end up on hitting off of the Tee most often, which is completely fine. He has solid hits off of the Tee and made it around the base to score runs, which is always exciting to him.
So after schoolwork and baseball, throw in a couple of field trips and park days with our Homeschool group, my birthday (boys took me to Ft. Matanzas, a spanish fort outside of St. Augustine, and then we walked around St. Augstine, which I love), football Sundays for Chris and Chandler (Chris's dream came true, this is the first year Chandler has shown a huge interest in football and will actually watch most games, plus they have a couple of Fantasy Football teams they are doing together), a football game (we took the boys to see the Jaguars vs. Houston Texans. It almost broke Chris's die-hard Bronco heart to see his boys in Jaguars jerseys, but hey, "When in Rome.......".), it has been a busy time for us.
Don't forget little Max. He tags along whenever we go and usually finds a way to occupy himself. He is definately Cooper's little buddy and pretty much follows in whatever mischief Cooper gets into. He has a mind of his own, though and isn't afraid to tell you. We are talking about potty-training with Max, and some days are better than others. We are not too gung-ho on it, as I do feel that children will train when they are ready, and pressuring doesn't speed up the process. And since we use cloth diapers, there is no expense in continuing to use diapers. He likes to wear his big-boy underwear and many days, will get through a whole day. Max is in that stage where he has picked up "words" and started to repeat them, words we probably don't want a two year old saying. He has went through a couple already, I won't repeat them here, but we broke him of those. His newest thing is "I hate fill-in-the-blank". This week alone, I have heard "I hate that girl, she keeps touching me (at the playground)." "I hate clouds". "I hate troopers (Star Wars)." "I hate motorcycles." We couldn't figure out who in our house said this enough for Max to pick it up, as we don't remember it being used that often and it has definately been discouraged in the past. Then we were laying in bed with Cooper and it happened. He said "I hate something or other". Ah ha! So then comes the discussion that this word is banned from our house, is now on the ever-growing "Banned Bad Word list".
Check out the newest pictures!
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