This year has been so good to me. The kids and I have found a rhythm with school that really works, and we're really enjoying it. Have I said that enough? I know I say it all the time. I guess I'm just amazed at how much I enjoy this learning time with my children. It's become the biggest part of our day, and what brings peace to our whole family. I can't explain why. It's amazing. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to do this. It's becoming one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
We're home most days, reading, reading, reading, writing, dabbling in math, cooking together, doing housework together, crafting, and playing. We make our library trips regularly. Yesterday I was amazed to realize we had 38 books checked out from last week. I went through and found several to return that we were finished with (maybe 10) because I worry about losing some. We can't just read most of these books once, and I felt bad returning some of them. I knew we were going to get more today, though, despite my determination to only pick up Annie's library prize and have some in-library reading time. It wasn't so bad. We only came home with 7 additional books. So we've decreased our load by 3. :) I love digging into these books with my kiddos. Annie specifically requested a book about pigs, so yesterday we learned all about them. Awesome. Really.
We're having random field trips whenever I get the urge to get out and I'm not babysitting (that's another story, but it doesn't get in the way of school time). We've enjoyed watching planes take off at the airport, walks and discoveries at the arboretum, memorial sites, and free museums. One of these days I'm going to spend a few dollars and take them to a place called the Science Station. It sounds interesting.
I have all these ideas that keep coming to me. It's truly amazing. All I have to do is give these kids my undivided attention, and suddenly inspiration comes. I've had to start making a list of all the ideas that come because I don't have time to do everything when the thoughts come. In addition to the many subjects we're exploring in our books this week, I'm planning to do some sewing and cooking with Annie, music with Logan, and I'm hoping Alex will finally let me read a book to him. He's a funny one; he spends tons of time looking at books, and always listens if I'm reading to his siblings, but will NOT let me read to just him. He slams the book shut if I try to read the words on the page.
Logan is amazing, serious, curious, and logical. He wants to understand everything. We've been listening to a book on cd in the car this week and he's stopped me with SO MANY questions. I LOVE his desire to understand. Teaching him feels so effortless. He wants to learn, and we go at his pace. He loves the Magic Tree House series right now and we're almost finished with all of them! He continues to grab books on space when we go to the library. I'm getting a little tired of that subject, so I'm glad he knows how to read now. Yesterday he wrote another penpal letter to my sister. I'm impressed with this tiny 5 year old of mine. I took a picture of it, so I could keep it even though we are mailing it. What a great kid!
Annie is my spirited one. She's curious about pushing boundaries, wants to do everything her big brother does, and is so very artistic. I mentioned above that she won a prize in a coloring contest. She usually spends a long time on anything she colors, and her pictures end up rather impressive for her age. For the coloring contest, she whipped it out in about two minutes and only used a couple of colors total. I was very amazed that she won since it was a terrible example of her ability.
She's very insistent about having her turn at learning to read lately and we have to finish a WHOLE book each time or she isn't satisfied. It's tedious since she doesn't remember more than a couple of letter sounds, but I'm very happy with her desire. We recently started doing a little bit of math, and I'm impressed with how quickly she's understood addition and subtraction. I didn't intend to teach my kids those things; it just happened. Wow.
Annie is loving the American Girls books right now. She loves the stories, and especially the activities at the end of each book. When I went in search of a series she would enjoy (since she is VERY feminine and doesn't have the same interest in Logan's favorite series') I wondered if she'd find the books boring. So I've been really pleased with her reception of them. She's having a hard time understanding that all these girls weren't pioneers with Joseph Smith, though. :)
Alex has come to a consciousness that he isn't a baby anymore, so he wants to have school time too. He climbs on my lap as a way to request one on one learning time (even though he won't let me read to him) and he sits with us when I read out loud. He's always right with us actually. He's able to do more and more of our activities every day. He still pretends to sound out words and continues to make me laugh with it. He gets very excited when the school closet is open right now because he likes to do puzzles.
These kids are amazing. Being a mom is amazing. Being with them all day is the best.
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