It’s been a good week all in all. The little ones and I have been working hard on their history and I am loving the freedom of using a curriculum and adding my own little sparkle to it. Mystery of History is a great solid curriculum and, I have to say, not having to worry about all the planning is great! I get to have all the fun of making artefacts from the bronze age instead:
We are still just finishing up Life of Fred: Cats. I have been teaching perimeter and area, which B7 has struggled a little bit to understand. Next week I will be doing some fun project based maths as they design their own zoo within the area parameters I give them, ensuring each animal gets the right amount of space. I think this very life like application of perimeter and area will help B7 understand a bit better:
The girls have continued writing letters of appreciation to family members, and one morning when Thomas needed me, Charlotte stepped in and helped them with their letter 🙂 Good ol’ Charlotte.
Charlotte has been hitting the books rather hard this week, buoyed by her A* IGCSE grade she’d got at the weekend (her second A* – one for English Lit and one for English Lang). She has decided that the best thing she can do for those who are trafficked (her passion) is to get good enough grades in her IGCSEs and A levels to go to university to study Law and Politics, so that she can make change at policy making level. I now need to work out the best way forward in supporting these goals and making sure she does not over-do it:
She is finding Law hard, although very interesting, as she has to memorise lots and lots of facts which she finds really difficult. Her exam for this is in May/June so she has a while. If anyone has done this qualification or had experience with it, please do share what you found most useful study-wise.
Lillie is almost at the other end of the spectrum right now. Having worked her cotton socks off for her photography she seems to be taking it easy at the moment. There was much excitement when some equipment for her photography came through:
It contained two light boxes, one large (you can see that above) and one small, various interchangeable backgrounds, a tripod and two lamps. She is very excited about using it for her still life photography.
Thomas has been working hard doing all his past papers. He also helped out with the little ones maths whilst I was helping one of the girls with their school work:
Exercise is very important to Thomas as it is his primary way of dealing with hormones and stress. His first choice would always be scooting, which he loves to do because of the adrenaline rush which comes with completing all the various tricks. He belongs to various teams and represents a couple of companies, so it is also a great social outlet. Thing is, he can’t scoot when it is wet as it is dangerous, so he has been trying out other forms of exercise to use when it is wet. Going for a run and cycling are his two top choices. He has always enjoyed off road bicycling in the woods, but had to stop when his tyre was wrecked. Gary has it mended now so this is a fairly frequent a sight in our house now:
Thomas absolutely covered head to foot in mud! Look at his face:
And you should see the state of the bath afterwards…..
I have tried to up my blog writing this week, although I honestly don’t feel I have enough time to be an active member of the blogging community anymore. My teens take up so much of my time. Not that I’m complaining. But I miss the social aspect of blogging. Any of you out there who manage to blog, school littles and ensure your teens are well supported as well visiting other’s blogs? Any tips for this constantly time-exhausted mother? Or is this just a season? I’d welcome any input….
Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I’ll be back sometime over the weekend for my Seasons of Joy post xxx
Oh my goodness; that is one muddy face! Sure looks like he enjoyed himself though and I am totally stealing that area and perimeter activity for designing a zoo. My younger two boys would LOVE that!
What a great week. I love all of the activities. My teens are taking up more of my time as well! I love it though. I don’t have any grand advice. My kids sleep in most mornings so I give myself 15 minutes or so to check blogs and facebook.
Blessings, Dawn
I do understand about not having the time to blog as you would like. My teens are taking all my time except for the bits that my college kids need. I thought I was busier when they were younger, but I was not as it turns out.
I have teens and littles in abundance, but only blog about once a week for personal record-keeping purposes. I love to read other blogs to get a sense of community (there aren’t many LDS/homeschoolers/large family/adoptive/kids with special needs for me to make friends with in person locally). I get up before the kids do and do my personal scripture study and then read/blog a bit. That gives me a hard-and-fast time to get off the computer so I don’t get sucked in too much.
That said, I don’t know if I support my kids enough . . . it’s always hard to know how much is enough!
I love the mud-spattered pics of your boy, and your darling twins are so full of life and ambition and joy! It must be so fun to live in your family. 🙂
That mud! That happy grin!
I go about commenting and reading in spurts, as you can tell as I’ve now commented on the last few weeks of your posts in a 20 minutes period.
I’ve got my “friends” blogs in a special section on Feedly and those are the ones I particularly try to comment on weekly, though it seems to be lately more of once a month. Like you said, it’s hard as they get older.
I don’t have much time for reading blogs, either. I thought I was busy when the children were younger, but it seems that I am busier than ever. I always read your posts, but it seems I have to comment on a bunch at a time when I get a spare minute or two. Love Thomas’ face! He looks so very happy.:))
So it’s not just me that feels like I’m running out of time with a teenager? It almost seems like she needs more more, although differently than when she was a toddler. Or maybe I was just not a good toddler mother. Lol. I love catching back up with people when I have a few moments, or insomnia.