Weekly Progress Report.

Tis late this snowy Friday night. We're all snuggled in for the night as "the biggest winter storm in a decade" is predicted to arrive tomorrow. (according to the all-knowing weathermen! we'll see.) I am reflecting on our school week, and wanted to report our accomplishments.

First, you may have heard of the book, "Tuesdays With Morrie", but around here we're quite excited to have "Tuesdays with Daddy"! Derek is on a four day work week schedule, and he is home on Tuesdays. Nothing could be more wonderful for a homeschooling family. We get to plan things without the crowds and bustle of a weekend, and enjoy our time together. We love to take our library trips on Tuesdays, and this week it was extra fun because our local library had a family craft night, painting mugs. The kids really enjoyed it. I feel blessed to have such a nice library so close by. We also try to take advantage of Tuesdays to "split up" and do some one-on-one "dates" with the kids. It's important when you have four to make sure that you still provide for individual time. So this week, Cameron had time in the morning with Daddy, while the girls each had a turn going out with Mommy in the afternoon. Lauren and I went to a nearby cafe' for cocoa and muffins, while we worked in our "Growing Little Women" book together. Sophie and I made a trip to Kmart for accessories for her Baby Alive doll. Nothing grand or extravagant, but their little faces just light up like Christmas when we have these little "dates". :)

As for school, how blessed I feel again this week for the progress made!

Lauren: Spitting out her multiplication tables with growing ease. She's a natural speller. Is enjoying her study of the fall of Rome, and we've supplemented SOTW with books from the library, including an Atlas of Ancient Times. Doing very well with the latin studies: this week we began learning a latin prayer called "The Sanctus". She also handwrote a beautiful letter to a lady from our church who winters in Florida. (The WTM approach encourages letter writing once a week or so to strengthen writing skills. Look out....you could be on the receiving end one of these days!) She moved on to a new song in her piano studies this week that really is tell-tale for how much she moving along in piano study. I'm so proud of her. She had a great week.

Cameron: Still coming along beautifully on his Math speed drills. I marvel at how easily Math comes to him. Definitely a trait from Daddy's side of the family. Cameron used to complain a lot about handwriting, and just didn't want to give it his best at all. I've been so pleased that he has taken to cheering when I tell him to get out his handwriting work! And with that positive attitude has come greatly improved cursive writing! He's still progressing well with First Language Lessons. Enjoys reading independently, although I've been focusing more on having him stand upright and read aloud to me with proper diction. This is a challenge for him, but he's doing well. His latest read has been a book about King Tut from the library, complete with all kinds of photos, and drawings. He's quite taken with this topic right now.

Sophie: This little gal has just thrown herself full-swing into the idea of "school". I can't believe what a difference a few months makes at this age. Even though she just turned five a few wks ago, there is a definite change in her attention span, and she doesn't want to miss anything. Doesn't want Sizzy and Bubs to have school without her! I have worked with Sophie extensively this week on writing. She has learned cursive A's, U's, and E's so far. It is a real struggle for her to form the letter properly; she seems to achieve the look of the letter, but goes around "Robin Hood's Barn" to get there! So it has taken lots of methodical repetition to get these letters formed properly. There's lots of cheering and jigging when this is done! She continues to enjoy the FLL with Cameron, and has been using Math manipulatives leftover from K12 to help her understand groups of ones, tens, and hundreds. More work to be done there, but she's having fun with it. She also gets a big kick out of being the first to answer some of the Latin vocabulary quizzing that we do. It's very cute. Sophie says she wants to be a librarian when she grows up, which would be just fine with her Mama!

I'm just too tuckered out this week to do it, but I hope to start scanning in some of their work to have on record here.

We're thankful for another good week.