Homeschool Gym and Swim

Tuesday is a big day for Maggie, because she gets to go to her swim and gym class at the Y. She has two little girlfriends in the class, and the 3 of them have a great time learning games and swimming together. The girls all have little brothers the same age too, so Frank and the boys are together playing in the gym while the girls are swimming. This is all good as the kids are socializing and learning sports and running off energy, but the best part of this scenario is that I get to spend time with two other homeschool moms who I really enjoy! One of them, Katy, is in our Thursday playgroup, and you can see her blog here:

http://riversedgeurbanacademy.blogspot.com/

The three of our families are also together twice monthly at a Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge homeschool class, where we hike with a naturalist and catch bugs and learn about different bird calls. We've had great weather for these classes so far, and I hope we get another nice day when we meet next week.

So we took it easy this morning, no running around, and did our morning routine of getting dressed, making beds and learning around the dining room table. I am so proud of Maggie's writing, she is learning so well and so quickly. Considering that when I was her age I was still trying to write from right to left, I guess my perspective might be a little skewed! I am coming to realize as she learns the complex skills of writing letters and numbers, that one of my biggest challenges in working with this particular child is teaching her how to deal with frustration when her efforts don't immediately beget perfection. I don't know if it is an oldest child issue, but she is so hard on herself when she makes mistakes. We talk about taking a deep breath, taking a break, laughing about how silly it feels to get so mad about a backwards S, etc.

Frank, whose speaking skills have always been good and who has always loved letters, is spending a lot of time with a letter game I got for him at a thrift store for $2.50. He puts all the letters in a special tray in their proper places, names them all, asks for word that the letters start with and then has them climb up a "chica chica boom boom" tree that I drew for him. He can do this for an hour and be completely happy.

After the Y we came home and had dinner, and then Tim spent the evening with the kids drawing and writing at the table. I ran a couple of errands then came home and put the baby to bed. It was so easy tonight, it was a dream. Then I had the luxurious pleasure of spending an hour plus on the phone with my friend Hilary, who is back from Berlin visiting her parents in New Mexico. Thanks for the great talk, Hil!