December 19,2003

I'm so grateful that during this busy week before Christmas we're not being bombarded with really important school work that needs to be done. There aren't a lot of essentials in this weeks lessons. He's got the compound words, and he's got the elements of stories (setting, characters, conflict, resolution, etc.) so we're really focusing on Spelling and Math.

Today his Math paper had him finding the missing numeral in an equation. Isn't that algebra? 8+n=15? Well, he's still having trouble with this. He gets so frustrated. Counters have not been our answer. Word problems have not been our answer. Today I gave him a number line. It's visual, it's easy to use, and he can check his answers. Maybe giving him a number line is cheating, but it's working and helping his confidence level, so I'm happy. I'm totally open to suggestion anyone has. As long as they don't involve expensive Math curricula that we can't afford!

I've heard that there is a slump for homeschoolers (teachers too for that matter) that comes in about February. I think that's what we're in. We've been doing school since June, we've had our burn-out a little early.

Now, don't think I'm saying I don't want to do this anymore! I think I just need a little encouragement. Reagan has just informed me that the TV I let him watch today was okay. He didn't realize what he did, but he was telling me about rabbits and why they have long ears and stamp on the ground. Apparently I did actually make sure he watched educational television. He loves animal shows like Zaboomafoo and Stanley.

If anyone has ideas about getting us excited about school, I'd love to hear them! Maybe what we need is a week off. No actual formal lessons, but we can read and work on bringing up his Math skills. But I'm totally open to suggestion!