Sometimes it's hard to focus on homeschooling when this is giggling at you from the end of the table.



But we manage!

Things are still a bit in flux. None of us quite have our groove going.

The highlights of the day:
Cuddling up under a blanket and reading a chapter of The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I could tell the little ones were so engaged in the story, it took their breath away when Laura and her friends were almost lost on the prairie.

Katie Grace really, truly understands adding tens and ones. And I taught her! Tomorrow we'll see if she can subtract them as well...

As part of our Holy Name of Jesus study, we made a collage of images that represented the word MIGHTY. They gave suggestions, and we ended up with a lion, a volcano, an Olympic high jumper, a redwood tree. The Katie Grace chose Jesus suffering on the cross, and I almost cried.

Michael is working on a story. He is so funny and creative, and he constantly surprises me.

The downside of our day:
Katie Grace is a dawdler. We were writing in journals--and I don't expect much from her, she's even allowed to draw if she wants--and in a half-hour she had written the word the. That was it! And she grumbles and complains and generally brings us all down.

Michael keeps failing the math tests. I don't get it. I know he understands the material, but he can't pass a book test to save his life. Maybe when he was in school they didn't do tests like this? Maybe it's unrealistic to send him away with a test and tell him to bring it back when he's done? But I have to find some way to assess his comprehension for the stupid portfolio, and I'm a bit stymied.

Nicholas is very very loud and disruptive. Even when I come up with stuff for him to do, he does it very loudly

But mostly, I think I'm the problem. I have a temper and I am crabby and impatient. I need to do better.