Last Monday was ROUGH!! We had Allen's first speech session, and that ended up taking a lot of time out of our day. The kids didn't work as well as they needed to in order to get done at a decent time, and we ended up doing 14 hours of school!! I was pretty discouraged by the time we went to bed.
On Tuesday, we decided that we needed to do a 9/11 activity. I decided to homeschool because I think education is so much more than just "school." I love giving my kids real world opportunities to show them what their education is all about. We decided to go to the Healing Fields to view the flags.
We had an amazing experience. On the way to the field, I told the kids my story from 9/11. It was so odd to be telling Makenzie about my day, and then realize that I was three months away from giving birth to her when this all happened. The kids were pretty somber as we walked through the display. We got to a section of state flags and looked at them for a while. They each had tag with a soldier's name, where they were from and where and when they died in the war. As we were looking at the flags, we noticed that there were a few that had flowers and pictures on them. I was showing the kids one of the pictures and talking about the people who had loved that soldier and their sacrifice when two women and a man walked up behind me. The man let me know that I was looking at a picture of his son. I started crying, and then all of my kids walked away from me, and I found each of them privately crying and mourning this soldier in different parts of the field. There was a man in the section of state flags when we got there. As we were getting ready to leave, he asked me to take a picture of him standing next to a flag. He said that he was sending it to his sister-in-law. He wanted her to know that her husband was important, and being honored in Utah. I asked him if he knew the soldier, and he let me know that it was his brother. It was a touching experience. We had a good talk on our way home.
Tuesday, we also decided to medicate Michael. He had not been able to concentrate at all, and he was really struggling to get his work done in the 5 1/2 hours he was supposed to do school each day. It was a great day!! Everyone was finished with school by 3. Michael's teachers finally put up pacing guides on the school's website, and once I found out we are on track, I felt much better. On the schedule, I saw that they give us one day a month for what they call a K-8 Activity. On that day, we need to find something educational to do, but there are no lessons scheduled. Our first Activity was scheduled for last Friday. We desperately needed it.
We decided to go and visit the Copper Mine. Michael has been studying the Geography of our state, and the effect that people have on the environment. It was the perfect field trip.
We decided to finish off the field trip with doughnuts. It was a great way to end the week.
We are finally getting the hang of this schooling thing a little bit more. The kids were able to get their work done, and get their jobs done most days. Things are finally starting to come together. It is still a lot of work, but we are starting to see some results.
2 comments:
My Dad worked at the copper mine. His photo is in a book that is displayed in a glass case in the Visitor's Center. Also, his name is on the WW2 monument in the Bingham Canyon park. We took the kids there when they were young and they really liked it. Sounds like you are having fun and doing good things with your children. Do you have a specific reading list for each child? If you need any suggestions, let me know.
Allen had decided that he wants to work at the copper mine now. He loved the huge trucks. I am struggling to find books for Makenzie to read with her history lessons. We are starting to study the presidents next week. We study 3 to 4 a week, and so I would love to find a good children's series that covers the presidents, and makes them come alive for her.
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