Join the other Quicktakers at This Ain’t the Lyceum.
1. We watch Miss C. four days a week from around 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. That’s about 28 to 30 hours a week – almost a full time job. Now that she is almost 3-1/2 she doesn’t want to take naps anymore – which is a major problem for our homeschool! We were taking her out at lunch time and then she would take a nap, but I think her endurance has improved because we took her to the playground and the library this week, and she STILL wouldn’t take a nap! I do go in and snuggle with her, and I always manage to fall asleep while she plays with my hair, my watch, or my glasses. When I open my eyes she smiles at me and says, “Gamma, I need play!” sigh.
2. When her father and his brothers were little, I had cleaned out my closet and put all of their Batman toys in there. I told them that they could play Batman as long as they wanted to but they couldn’t leave the closet until I told them quiet time was over. One of my sons told me that was one of his fondest memories of childhood. So I’m thinking of reinstituting a “princess palace” in my closet with Barbies, and princesses and lots of books. Maybe if she has a quiet place that’s all her own for quiet time, we can get her to fall asleep – which as I recall, is what happened from time-to-time with my little boys in their Bat Cave.
3. Noah’s English class this semester is all about writing essays – Noah’s least favorite academic activity and probably his weakest. Noah did take a lot of Bravewriter classes in high school, and he also wrote essays every week for his AP World History course. He did well in both of those formats. But his first week in this English class was a little rocky. His paper came back covered in red ink- something he never experienced as a homeschooler or as a Bravewriter. But Noah is the kind of kid that never gets discouraged – he gets motivated. He came home last night after his work/study shift in the kitchen, and brought me back his latest essay with a grade of 98%! He was thrilled.
I think this is one class that he will be happy to take a B in, because he is learning so much and he has gained so much experience as a college writer. Plus he really enjoys his professor, so that helps too. I know I had a class in college that I just loved too and try as I might, I could only pull out a B – but it was totally worth it and now decades later, I still remember it!
4. Izzy finished her government course, so I signed her up for Driver’s Ed online. This course is very unique. You take an imaginary trip from Los Angeles to Seattle, down to Tampa, Florida and then up to the New England. Along the way they teach you everything you need to know about being a responsible motorist. It’s a very unique way to do it! I’ll post more about it as we get deeper into the course.
5. Izzy gives her witness tomorrow for the confirmation class. Her theme is “Listening.” Apparently, last year Izzy started to hear a little voice in her head urging her to give her own Christian Witness. But like a lot of us, she kept pushing that little voice away and muffling its message. She thought she wasn’t a good enough speaker to give a witness in public. Then this fall, she found out that she was taking a speech class at our co-op! She and I were both a little apprehensive about the course, but she did very, very well in it and even got an A. Her instructor thought she was a natural. So when the call for witnesses was put out this year, her little voice came back too – and this time Izzy couldn’t silence it! I’ve heard her practice – I think she will do a nice job.
6. I had an epiphany moment this week. Long-term readers will remember that my daughter had a more difficult time learning to read. She is reading much better now and also does very well with spelling via the Spelling U See program. But the brain is an interesting organ and it’s ability to categorize knowledge is immense – but not always helpful. I’ve noted recently that though Izzy can do beautiful copywork and dictation (writing down the words of others) her spelling in original composition isn’t up to par. That simply fascinates me, because if she were to copy a passage from a book, let’s say Jane Eyre for example, she could write it down from dictation later. However, using the same words in her own composition would be misspelled. She tells me that when she is writing her own work, like her witness speech, she is just trying to get her thoughts down on the paper. But maybe now that we’ve talked about it more, maybe she will try to open that neuro pathway that keeps her dictation spelling and her composition spelling in two separate camps!
7. Witches and witch-wannabees are planning to cast spells against the president tonight. When Rosie saw this on the internet, she was appalled and scared. I told her not to be upset because –
Micah 3:7 Seers will be put to shame. Those who practice witchcraft will be disgraced. All of them will cover their faces, because God won’t answer them.
So we are going to say a rosary for him instead.
“The Rosary is the ‘weapon’ for these times.” -Saint Padre Pio
