Thursday October 16, 2003

Today was one of those days. With so much to do, and the energy of a hibernating bear, we didn't get too much accomplished.

Reagan read "The Road to Bethlehem" all by himself. He needed a little help with words he hadn't seen before like "innkeeper", "manger", and "Joseph" I thought he did a great job of trying to sound the words out himself. He really needed just a little coaching.

I've found a handwriting curriculum on the internet for about $12. I'm hoping that it will help him with his writing skills, so maybe we can not worry quite as much about the quality of his spelling sentences. I think it's about time I went back to my notes from "The Well Trained Mind" and reminded myself of some exercises to be doing with him to encourage his reading and writing.

This afternoon Reagan watched PBS. He really likes the show "Zaboomafoo" which is about 2 guys who are wildlife experts and talk to the kids about animals in a really engaging manner. Reagan is fascinated by animals and was telling me about the protective features of certain types of caterpillars. I think we need to dive into Life Science soon. I should definitely take advantage of this interest while he's got it.

Tonight the kids accompanied me to my class at the church. Reagan drew a racetrack on the big white board, and we sounded out and wrote the words "start" and "finish". He knows the phonics rules, but is still working on applying them. Practice will help a great deal.

So, not a lot of formal learning today. But on some of these days we learn a lot about behaviour, working together, and communication. All of which are valuable lessons. Reagan also helped me write a letter to CBS about it's story regarding abuse of children by homeschooling families. It was a desperate attempt to turn up an underbelly in the homeschooling community. But the connecting thread just wasn't there, evidence wise. There are just a certain number of people who abuse their children, and whether or not the child attends public school has no bearing on their likelihood of being abused. Okay, so his big contribution was letting me complain, but that was a big help!