First Week of School Done

My first week of school is over, and I am on my 4th blog entry of the day!  I think I'm just trying to organize my mind. 

So, overall, it was a very good week.  I got so bored this summer.  We still haven't made a lot of friends in our area, and I spent a lot of time sitting on the floor being with baby.  And it was wonderful in its way, but it actually got pretty boring by the end.  So, I am thankful to be facilitating some formal work for my children once again. 

So, this week we did Spanish (already blogged it), Science (already blogged it), handwriting, and grammar.  These were all subjects that I felt I wanted to give more attention to this year.  We did a minimum of grammar last year, which showed on their test results, and we did NO handwriting at all.  With a newborn in the house, it definitely wasn't a priority, compared to more core subjects. 

So, Bee dutifully did his cursive practice on his LeapFrog dry erase board each day.  I let him pick what letters/pages to work on.  He is fairly motivated to learn cursive, and certainly wants to be able to write his name well.  I think it's important that he know cursive well enough to read the writing of others, as well as historical documents, and to sign his name.  I guess I am not one who laments the "lost art" of cursive writing or penmanship in general.  Manuscript is easier to read and not any slower to write, or so I have read.  And as adults, my children will do most of their writing digitally, as I do.  They may type, or they may use dictation or touch screen techniques.  I'm not going to cry that they don't spend hours scribbling in cursive. 

Bug was pretty good about doing his handwriting of lower case letters.  He eschewed the dry erase activity, so I printed him worksheets.  He can be very perfectionist, so I tried to find worksheets that were mostly tracing, so it would be less stressful for him.  He has been pretty insistent about writing in all caps, but I told him that this year he needs to become more comfortable with lower case.  As an adult, of course, he'll be able to write in all caps if he wants.  My dad and grandma do.  Bug complained about how hard it was, but once he got started on his page, he was able to complete it quickly. 

Both boys have been told that they will do handwriting each day until they have mastered their objective. 

The grammar workbooks we are using aren't really textbooks, just exercises that cover the sorts of things that kids their age do in schools.  I need to do a little teaching and explaining for each of them, but that's fine.  Languages are my thing. 

So,  a good week, and now I am hanging out at the B&N cafe for a while, drinking a sugar free decaf frappuccino, blogging, doing some lesson plans, and just decompressing for a while without the kids.