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Overall, the last few weeks have been uneventful school-wise. We’re plugging along in our everyday subjects, adding in a little extra support in some additional areas, and trying to get reading time in.
Free time for me (which includes read-aloud time and game time) seems to be few and far between because one eye needs to be on the puppy all the time to make sure there are no ‘surprises’ waiting around the house for us. I may also be a wee bit exhausted from midnight potty breaks in the freezing cold.
BUT – I will say that having a puppy has caused me to stop and look at a few things differently. Getting up super-early isn’t necessarily something I want to do (i.e. long before the sun comes up), but late nights and early mornings have reminded me of a few things – including slowing down and just enjoying the beauty that is around us. The time outside at night means there are stars and a brilliant moon to see. Morning brings a gorgeous sunrise. We won’t talk about the times I’m out with a flashlight at night and hear rustling in the woods, ok? It’s just the wind. The bears are still hibernating, right? I’d prefer not to enjoy nature that much…
During our morning subjects together (history and Bible), sometimes the kids get a bit focused on other things. Like reorganizing the school supplies. Someone may have chosen to sort the colored pencils by greens/blues and red/yellows. Or cools/warms. Incidentally, this lazy Susan supply organizer in the middle of our table is one of the handiest things ever. For real.
Technically the boys are the only two that are supposed to be working on Snap Circuits projects every day, but sometimes the projects pull other kiddos in too. And then more things are built. But if they are getting along and happy, sometimes I know to just stay quiet and let them have fun together – right?
Reading is coming along well too for Kaleb. He is working through All About Reading 2 and Zachary is almost finished with All About Reading 4.
This past week we learned about the Wright Brothers in Mystery of History, but my personal favorite was probably learning more about Helen Keller. Just thinking about the obstacles that she overcame – just amazing. We all loved watching a video clip of her, hearing her voice, and getting a better picture of who she was. History has been so much fun lately and I love that we can start tying in actual video clips of history now!
About Minecraft…
Incidentally, if you are considering Minecraft (or have any advice), I’d love to hear your thoughts. I asked you all on Facebook and there is a great thread going there, but feel free to chime in below. We are way late to the Minecraft game (believe it or not, we limit our kids technology time quite a bit – yep, mean mom alert). Do your kids play? Any thoughts or advice to give?
That’s a quick round-up of what we have been up to. How is your school time going?
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Linking up this week with Collage Friday and Weekly Wrap-up!
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We had to pull the plug on Minecraft for my boys, ages 10 and 7. I do like the fact that they can be so creative but their whole lives began to revolve around Minecraft. They no longer were interested in playing outside or doing hands on activities that they usually loved. When my husband and I saw they were no longer interested in free reading and heard every conversation referencing Minecraft we decided we had had enough. They have played other creative type of software games such as Civilizations and Zoo Tycoon without becoming so addicted. I really don’t know why Minecraft doesn’t work for us. Maybe this summer well try it again, and only during summer vacations, and see how it goes.
That’s what I’m worried about with our kiddos too – and knowing their personalities. Webkinz were crazy enough and that was so limited. :)
We limited too, but we’ve got some real all or nothing personalities going on in our home. I did a trial run of no electronics (video games, ipod, computer games, etc) in June. It was intended to only be for a month. Well, after seeing how awesome it was to watch my boys play, imagine, use their hands on something other than a device, go outside again for hours and hours and learn to be kids all over again–that one month turned into an electronics free home for us. For good. It was the absolute best decision ever and I have zero regrets. But, that’s just my two cents worth. And I’m a really mean mama ;). Good luck with your decision!
You know I love your input, Susana! :) Thanks for sharing.
You know I love your input, Susana! :) Thanks for sharing.
We’ve been decluttering our house and my parents’ house recently, and we found an old Helen Keller biography that probably belonged to my sister, and my 7yo read it and was intrigued by what Helen was able to do with even through the challenges. I’m not good at memorizing facts and such, but love history and reading the stories of others.
That’s what I’m finding too – all of the stories we are reading are so inspiring – especially hers. Just amazing!
That’s what I’m finding too – all of the stories we are reading are so inspiring – especially hers. Just amazing!