school has started!!

well, we started school! albeit only a half-schedule, but we started :)

we have been reading from our Story of the World Vol 1 and are exploring Egypt in lots of fun ways! the boys really enjoy doing their map work. i have taken to letting them color their coloring pages while i am reading/reviewing the chapter to them. i really like the way the material is broken down into manageable chunks, so if we want to bunny trail, we can do so without compromising too much of the day. some of our read-a-longs were Croco'nile, Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile, One Small Blue Bead, and (tic tac's fave) It's Gross and We Ate It. my favorite was One Small Blue Bead. the kids picked right up on the rhyming and we got to talk about what it would be like to not have any neighbors and wonder if you were the only people in the world. there were some crazy ideas tossed around with that one, and lots of pretending/play acting!

tic tac finally finished his Horizons math workbook. man, was it a loooonnnnggggg road with it. we had to take several breaks along the way when he would get bored or frustrated with it. i will be getting his new Math U See curriculum this weekend. i introduced him to the manipulatives that go along with it just yesterday, and he had loads of fun playing with them. when i told him we were going to use them for his new math books, he was super excited!

bonobo has kept up with tic tac in all the activities and narration. he is more into coloring and being precise with his crafts than tic tac is, which surprises me. it also causes a LOT of frustrated moments for him when it doesn't go as planned. we started Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy lessons, but just yesterday he told me it is too hard and he doesn't want to keep going. we were only at lesson 8! but the last few lessons have been difficult: he doesn't want to sit through them, he doesn't want to rhyme or put his finger on the dot, etc. so i told him we would put it on the shelf for a month or so and then see how he feels about it.

stinkerbell is mostly in the way during school time, so i am trying to get creative with her before we start school, or just move school to when she is lying down in the afternoon. it has meant a LOT of playdoh time, but that will only last so long.

we also rowed The Giraffe Who Walked to Paris, which we got through our ILL system. what an awesome book! and it fit right in with our Egyptian week. the kids really loved doing the math to see just how far she traveled. we read Zarafa, the Giraffe who Walked to the King as a go along for a different perspective, and the kids like the illustrations in that one better.

all in all, i like the way our schedule has been working. and, of course, since i like it, something has to come along and mess with it, right? of course.

i will leave that one hanging for now. but we are making some pretty significant decisions in the next two weeks, so i would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and peace :)