1 month done

Start of October and our first month of this school year is done. 20 school days out of 180. I thought it would be fun to ask everyone what they did or learned this last month:

Christopher - Algebra doesn't have to be hard and has learned how to calculate the area of trapezoids and parallelograms. Lord of the Rings is really cool. Learned about species populations and habitats, the rock cycle, and that many years ago you would be rewarded for killing a predator but because they killed off the predators but not the herbivores, eventually all the plant life was gone and that area is still desolate today. How to fill the gas tank and working on nutrition and following more complex recipes. Is having a great time at Young Actor's Workshop and can't wait for the Haunted House at Pumpkin Festival.

Matthew - Pre-Algebra is still review but he's hoping that it will pick up soon. Science has been fun with weather studies, atmosphere, and cloud types. We go around identifiying them while driving now. History right now is focusing on the founding of the original 13 colonies while in Literature he is learning about important people like Benjamin Franklin. He also just finished Tuck Everlasting and we'll be starting to read the Little House on the Prairie books together soon.

Jonathan - Learning how to make groups in math to multiply which is fun. We've been playing with tints, shades, and primary/secondary colors in art. In history we are studying Caesar and today we learned how he was killed by his old friend, Brutus (Et tu, Brute). Phonics is progressing along (as I've already talked about here) and soon we'll be starting back up on a regular Language Arts program again.

Nicholas - Is starting to work on identifying colors and numbers and letters. He is constantly pointing at all of those and we are helping to identify them for him. His favorite numbers to say are 'wee' (three) and 'ie' (five). He finally has 2 differing syllable words and he is getting more adept at getting us to understand his more complex ideas and games. We've also learned that the supersonic shriek is a powerful weapon that unfortunately is still being used for evil purposes. We hope that changes soon.

Me - I've learned that I really need to find more hours in my days tho I'm not sure how that's going to happen. Nico is going through a super clingy phase and while I'm trying to enjoy his nicer attentions, not having a schedule is wrecking havoc with getting things accomplished. Definetely something I need to get a better handle on (as always). I'm learning that we can homeschool without oversight and still learn things. I've learned that I don't like Upper Division soccer and all the travel it entails. I've learned that it's amazing hearing Jonathan read and know that I helped him with that. I've learned that I love going over a lesson with one of the boys and having them tell me "Hey, I already know that, we did it last year" and they can remember what they've learned. I love finding fun field trips for them and really want to attempt to organize some of my own for larger groups. I've learned to relax more and go with the flow (still need to get better at this but it's soooo much better than it used to be). And every day, I'm reminded of how much I love being a mom and how lucky I am for my four blessings.