Learning Log, and Random Notes on Goals

Sean and Kieron are still reading Harry Potter.

Sean has had daily football practice.

We had a story meeting yesterday. Clare read a section of "The Fox", I read a bit of my Oldhaven story, and Liam read from his story about the firrels. He has finished the first part (out of three) in this story, which has grown into a novelette-sized entity.

An incidental learning note: Paddy has been having a bit of trouble sitting through stories. He still asks me to read but he gets squirmy. Could be convalescence or could be the extra juices and sodas and screen time around here during the sickness. Books read included: Magic Spectacles, Miss Suzy -- hmm, blocking on the rest. It was cute though -- after listening to Miss Suzy he shouted, "Will you go peacably, or must we fight you?" (quote from the book).

Anyway, today's the last day of open season on the TV, since everyone is pretty much recovered. And we can stop keeping the OJ and soda factories in business. So we'll see if the restlessness is environmental or just developmental.

The kids did their weekly jobs. I need to revise those for next schoolyear but am having trouble knowing where to start. SO: I'm going to list the little regular jobs I find myself doing about once or twice a week. Those will be the ones that aren't on their chore chart lists. I also want to figure out a way to delegate some of the monthly deep cleaning jobs a bit better. In the past, with a complicated pregnancy and new (ill) baby, I used to reserve Thursdays for that and make a list of jobs to assign; perhaps we can go back to that.

Random academic goals
(I'm going to list them as they come hoping they will reach a critical mass and fall into place):

Extend Aidan's reading scope (or rather listening scope). I am thinking a loose FIAR type approach similar to this one I described in Paddy and His Books. Aidan likes familiarity and repetition.

I also think continuing simple poetry and word books and pattern books (which he loves and are in his comfort zone) as ways to move into reading.

This is just an idea in the back of my mind. I have been discerning about Montessori, since Aidan loves hands-on. I have a couple of the Hainstock books which I intend to use for inspiration. But, and I've made a deal with myself, ONLY for inspiration. I seem to have problems with my perfectionism here -- I've hesitated to use Montessori at ALL because I don't understand the big picture and I think I wouldn't be doing it RIGHT. But I want to focus on the idea of "presentations" for now because this does seem to have a vein of richness to it, to me (sorry to be all intuitive but I almost always have better results when I follow this kind of golden thread).

So to put it in action terms: Learn about and try to apply the idea of presentations, and record results.

Enough for now!