Four of the best words in the English language...

Last night I heard four words I have hoped to hear for some time, coming from my sometimes reluctant son: "Mommy, I love to read!" Until now, he has been a strictly read-aloud-when-made-to kind of kid, but then I gave him the assignment of reading to himself. He quietly settled down last night with Frog and Toad Are Friends, and within five minutes was grinning ear-to-ear. I caught him at it again this morning - truly a boy after my own heart :)

I had some interest expressed in what classes I am taking - there are actually only two, for a total of thirteen units. The three unit class is at the local community college - Regional Geography. This class covers physical and cultural geography, with an emphasis on what globalization means to different cultures. I am taking this to satisfy a history/world cultures requirement. The other class is at the local university, and is a ten unit class called Work & the Global Future. In a nutshell, it covers everything from political science, to cultural studies, to management sciences, sociology, economics and more. It is the second semester of a four semester degree completion program, after which I will have a BA in Liberal Studies. Then I can move on to teacher credentialing. Despite budget cutbacks, the state of California is desperate enough for teachers that a number of schools now offer the chance to intern (paid regular salary) one's way through credentialing, an option I will definately be checking out!

Yesterday was the first (blushing here) day in a while that we settled down and actually got through all our planned lessons... it's been a few weeks of hit and miss around here. We started with a lesson from First Language lessons, then I split the kids up - the Elf dictated and then copied a paragraph about his Oak Meadow story, did two math pages on measurement, and did a timed read-aloud, while the Fairy watched the Shirley Temple version of "Heidi" in another room. Then, the Fairy and I ran through some very plain alphabet and number flashcards I made (no pictures to distract her), worked on our Oak Meadow alphabet pictures (we did "J"), and did 2 pages in Saxon Math while the Elf had some computer time. We wrapped it all up together with a couple of chapters from The Wheel on the School, and a taste test for bases and acids (baking soda versus lemon juice), based on chapter 5 in RS4K Chemistry.

Today we're doing math again, more alphabet work with the Fairy, and the Elf is doing a free writing piece about an invention he'd like to create, plus more quiet reading time, though right now they are watching a Magic SchoolBus episode on digestion. Then they're off to my mom's for the night, where they will be helping with a couple of cookie recipes, while I go off to work (yippee).

We also went to our 4H American Kids Crafts earlier this afternoon (don't tell my son that the projects are from the American Girls books!). They did stenciled "colonial rugs" - stencils, paint, and large pieces of canvas-type fabric. Both really enjoyed it. the Elf was very methodical, arranging his stencils carefully and painting them just as carefully, while the Fairy asked me to hold her stencils while she attacked them with painty sponges. Both pieces turned out to be quite attractive and are now gracing the kids' bedroom walls.

I think that's about it for now!