Where does time go?

Geesh...

Well, we are in the middle of a month of Christmas fun! Cleaning the house, planning which of many cookies to bake, attending 4H holiday parties, cooking class, maybe a library gingerbread decorating workshop, a recent field trip, a Solstice party to attend, needing to get a tree, shopping for a few gifts (we're really cutting back on shopping this year), and so on... and on... and on.

School-wise, we're reading about Christmas (and other winter holidays) around the world. the Fairy has decided she wants to become Jewish because she loves the menorah and the dreidel so much. the Elf wants to live in Germany, where Christmas is a month-long celebration. We have also read, so far, about Mexico and Italy. The cookies we are making (trying to narrow it down to 6 kinds) will be packaged in cookie tins, with little cards explaining where each came from - good gifts for the relatives!

In science, we have read about bird migration (How Do Birds Find Their Way? and Luck) and this week animal tracks (Big Tracks, Little Tracks and Moose Tracks!), which fits right in with the new unit started in the Elf's weekly science class. We need, over the next couple of days, to make some animal track castings, probably from our dog. We also read more about molecules and the kids are hoping to make some models or drawings of some simple molecules over the next week.

the Elf is now reading from Arthur's Loose Tooth, which is a level up from the reading he has been doing, and he's handling it quite well. I had a talk with him about his reluctance to read and write, and explained that the more he does it, the easier it will get, like anything else. He understood, and compared it to riding a bicycle. After we had the talk, he gave that evening's reading much more effort. We'll have to see how it goes with writing (any tips?)! the Fairy is continuing her alphabet work, but I have a problem. She's quite good with letter sounds, but doesn't seem to get the difference between a letter sound and a letter name. If I ask her what a letter is, 9 times out of 10, she just gives me the sound. Any practical advice?

the Fairy loves her math program. Seriously. I know lots of people say/think Saxon looks boring, repetative, etc., but it works well with both of mine. My only trouble with the Fairy is limiting it to the lesson I want to cover - she is eager to move ahead quickly. So I am making an effort to involve her in more math around the house and more math games. the Elf is progressing steadily through his combination of Saxon and Math Steps. I like using the Math Steps to supplement ideas from Saxon, as he completed much of Saxon 2 last year, and we are finishing it up sloooowly this year. It's pretty easy to do, because Math Steps is divided into units, each covering one part of second grade math, whereas Saxon integrates it all, so I just choose 4 different worksheets a week from Math Steps to focus on different parts of the week's Saxon lesson. We got a set of Cuisinare rods last week, and I am learning how to use them with the kids. It has drawn my attention to the fact that the Elf loves patterning and so I am looking at getting him a nice set of wooden pattern blocks. Speaking of blocks, I found these gorgeous architectural blocks, but they are a bit on the pricey side...

My semester is just about over - yaaay! Because I need the break! I have a final paper I need to finish (on the need for solitude in society/people), and then I start up fresh mid-January. I'll have to take a picture of the self-portrait mandala I did as soon as I can locate my camera!

On another note, how do you decide which extra classes your kids should take? We are financially limited, so I can only allow one extra class for each of my children, and they have a hard time deciding! the Elf is trying to choose from piano lessons, gymnastics and Taekwando, while the Fairy is having a hard time choosing between ballet and gymnastics. I don't know...