February Wrap-up

Things are still moving along here. I could keep apologizing for not posting more often, but I won't. I've been busy with home-school and life in general.

The picture today is a tongue-in-cheek of a Georges Seurat painting titled Sunday Afternoon. I couldn't resist using the Simpsons. There is something about Marge that I can relate to.

For a few weeks Diva had art classes at a professional gallery in town. Originally she was going to be doing comic book illustration (her Big Dad's choice) but she ended up painting (her choice). She is a natural and her work is amazing. I knew she could draw, but I never imagined she would have so much ability. We are looking in to signing up for the town art show coming up soon. I contacted a home-school liaison tonight and hope to hear from her soon.

Diva and I went to a local diner and had a breakfast meeting Monday. We talked about how she was doing, what she needed to try harder on and what she would like to learn about. It was different. The man sitting at the table near us kept looking at me and I could see a look of bewilderment on his face. I was having a 'grown-up meeting' with a 9 year old.

After breakfast we went to the library to replace our cards so she could check out books for some projects she has coming up. While we were there, we used one of the study rooms. It was a change of environment and pace for both of us. On the way out I noticed a flyer for a local home-school group. Exactly what I was looking for because the other groups were somewhat close, but still a fair distance to the gatherings.

Diva attended a mini-art class today with some of the kids from the new group. It was wonderful! The class was taught by the sister of the group leader. It was a small turn-out but it was perfect for Diva's first 'home-school kid' event.

The topic of the class was Georges Seurat and his 'dot' technique. Diva was the oldest and I know she didn't give it her full attention but for me today was about the being, not so much the doing.

I met with 2 mothers. Now I feel real. I'm one of many. There are other events planned. We missed the sign-up deadlines to some of them where I just joined the website yesterday. The next one we will be attending is ice skating.

I started writing a 3-month evaluation of her progress. I hope to have it complete by 2 March. I look back and see how far she's come in such a short amount of time, and I am proud of her.

Sorry About the Delay

Things have been moving at different paces as of late, but they ARE moving.

We've finished about a month of home-schooling together.

Math is still somewhat of a crawl, but she is understanding the problems. Occasionally I have to repeat the instructions or explain the concept again in different ways. We've touched points in the green and blue books and now on the yellow book. We've been trying to follow an entire concept a day.

Her reading is improving and she is reading spontaneously and for fun now. She even smuggles her dictionary to her room and copies pages of words she wants to know more about. We're working on reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone together. We each have a book and take turns reading aloud. She picks up on differences from the book and the movie and then wonders what else is different, and wants to read more.

Grammar is grammar and as boring as I remember it to be, but we get through it with a smile. We're currently on the different types of nouns.

Her cursive is impressive. She is so delicate, so careful, and so neat. She says it's her second favorite class, next to art.

Spelling really hasn't been that much of a challenge for her, so we are stepping it up a bit. New words on Monday and Wednesday. Spelling tests on Wednesday and Friday.

Science is an adventure. We finished the Bubble and Squeak and covered the first lab of Water Cycles last week, the second part will be tomorrow.

History is fun. PBS has a cartoon called Liberty Kids and it almost goes in hand and hand with the American Revolutionary lessons.

Her art, music and gym has been self-directed. For music, she plays with her guitar and gets lessons from her Dad. Gym is outside, weather permitting. Art is her favorite and not limited to paper. Last week she pulled out a crochet hook and colorful yarn and made the car a collar.

I am SO proud of her!