Fresh Start

Monday feels like a fresh start, especially since I did a lot of resting yesterday. Or at least it felt like that for the first hour. After that, we hit a rough patch with kids fighting with each other. I accept that this is a normal part of family dynamics, but it drives me crazy. And when they are loud, it makes it very hard for M to work. Miraculously, we still got an acceptable amount of schoolwork done. The housework, not so much. 

Laurel's online book club for The People Could Fly kicked off the first week of discussion. The kids are supposed to write thoughtful responses to the study guide questions and then respond to each other on the discussion board. She was excited to do it, but actually writing the responses was difficult for her. 

She also took a pretest for a section on fractions. She cannot remember the difference between factor and multiple. However, her familiarization with the times tables is getting better all the time. I've been letting her use a printed copy of the times tables while she does problems, but I'm hoping she won't need it by the end of the year. We had a virtual meeting of our aunt/niece book club, which was delightful as always. 

Marko worked on a very long, but simple page of greater than/less than problems. He practiced Duolingo (currently studying Mandarin and Spanish....why not?). We get a magazines from the Cricket company that are thematic. This month they were all about games. I'm using a 3-2-1 exercise with them for responding to stuff they read. Write 3 interesting words, 2 important facts and 1 question you still have. It could be any categories, but it gives a framework for responding.

Max is working through a new BrainQuest workbook I got him. He's starting to have the skills for handwriting and the interest to do it well. 

Laurel and I went to an ice skating party with the Girl Scouts in the evening. The service unit rented the whole rink so it would not be crowded. The girls were thrilled to get together. They skated for the entire 2 hour session! It has been challenging to figure out ways to keep our troop connected, but we are very adaptable. Even after we resume in person troop meetings, I think we'll still keep zoom available as an option for snow days or times when we can't get the space we need. Everyone is getting more comfortable with being outside a lot more, with dressing for the weather, and finding new ways to do our favorite things.