It was a great, full week of school at the McEvoy house. After last year's craziness, we are working very hard to set our priorities on school. So far, so good. There is dust on all the furniture, the floors need to be swept and mopped, the downstairs bathroom is a disaster and you're all starting to wonder why I'm taking the time to blog at all, BUT, school was accomplished, the laundry was washed and I actually folded a bunch of it on Monday, homecooked meals were prepared, the habit of actually putting the school books away is going well, and the routine of school is encouraging us along each day. Tomorrow, the furniture will be dusted, the floors will be cleaned and the bathroom will be cleared of grime and dirty laundry.Saturday is cleaning day around here. I just wish I got two Saturdays so that we could really get it all done!
Because we like to pack it all in (haha), we added several things to our schedule this week. Ava started a new copy book from Memoria Press. I don't know why she loves it so much more than the old one, but she does, so we're going with it. Her handwriting is much improved all of a sudden (since she used this new book 4 days, I am not crediting it yet). If you saw her handwriting a few months ago (or a few weeks ago), you would know this is a really big deal.
Lukas added language arts into the mix. He's continuing to work through Intermediate Language Lessons. I was surprised all week at how quickly he finished each lesson, and it just occurred to me about 20 minutes ago that it is likely because his VISION THERAPY IS WORKING!!!! It's amazing how quickly a bright child can breeze through his schoolwork when he isn't seeing double all the time! We still have work to do since he's still shutting one eye off as he reads, but he'll get there. He's working hard!
On Thursday, Eric started teaching piano lessons to both kids. It went exceptionally well! This will be Lukas' fourth year studying piano, and, while he is currently trying to convince us that the composer of the piece he's working on "doesn't make sense," I think it's going to be great for Eric and Lukas to have that weekly lesson time together. Ava absolutely loved her first lesson. She has been wanting desperately to take lessons for over a year, but she really needed to mature a little before beginning.I think our big problem is going to be working out a practice schedule since both kids want their fingers on the keys all the time. I'm so grateful to Eric for taking on this weekly lesson task. He's excited about it, and so are the kids!
A couple interesting things happened this week. Lukas started to beg me to allow him to write more journals. I didn't plan journal prompts for the week other than two days, so I sort of blew him off until today when I thought to myself, "WHAT AM I THINKING??????" So, next week, we're going to take a daily journal approach. First, he wants to do it. Why? I suspect it is because I don't make the kids correct their journals. I use them as a guide for myself to see how well they are writing without worrying about the correction process. He likes to write like this. He HATES having to correct his work. Sometimes, I think we need to give our kids some space to make mistakes so that they learn that it's okay to make mistakes, especially when one of your kids is a perfectionist. Second, HE WANTS TO DO IT.Does there need to be a second reason to write journals everyday? I found some new journal prompts that will keep us busy for a while. Check them out HERE.
The funniest thing that happened this week gets blamed on Eric. He pronounces the word "offense" as "afence." I realize that this is fine, but I say "off-fence." This week, in our family devotional, we are learning that "We forgive one another, covering an offense with love when wronged or hurt." On Thursday, I asked the children to draw a picture illustrating this concept. Part of Ava's drawing involved a building with A FENCE around it. She was covering A FENCE, not an offense. All I could do was tell her how beautiful her drawing was since I didn't have the heart to tell her what it really meant in that moment. Then, I texted Eric and told him he needed to explain what an offense was that evening during our worship time. Heehee. I love that girl!
Tonight, we finished our week with a bonfire and carry-in dinner with our new homeschooling group in Zanesville. It was a perfect night to be outdoors by a fire. We met some great, like-minded people and very much enjoyed the evening. The kids had a blast and got to go on a hay ride. It was nice to be having conversations with people who believed the way we do. We will all be looking forward to the next opportunity to enjoy some fellowship with this group.
At the end of this very busy week, I am looking forward to Saturday and wishing I could just laze around on the couch all day. It's tempting, isn't it?
Woohoo!! Great recap! Glad you all had a good week!
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