Lessons from the Hawks

Well, this week we've been doing some 'remedial' work...particularly in Math for both of them...this Saxon math is challenging and though I know it's a great curriculum, when they're both getting between 5-12 wrong consistently, I knew that if I didn't do something soon, they'd abhor the subject!

So, I've found a website that has worksheets and Caleb has been cheered on all week along with the supplemental work at the back of the book--three days of 100's!  Yeah!!!  Isaac doesn't struggle with Math as much-- he just is not giving his best (I refuse to say he's lazy, because he's not!)...so, I've had to sit with him and spend more time discussing why his math is important and this mom has been tested to the core!  I have to CONSTANTLY check my motives and the level of frustration with a child that borders on genius but fails to apply himself because his brain and heart are in his room building Lego forts...oh, no, this week he built a 'latrine', a laundry room, guest rooms and other things that I can't remember!  I reminded him the mantra will always be that to do the great things later on means we do the hard things now...all of life is like that!  Oh, to breathe deeply and remember that myself every time I repeat myself!

Then I love this site for geography...we've been challenging each other with the states, capitals and geographic regions!  It's challenged me because I never really cared much for geography...so we're all learning.

Then there's the hens...their delight.  We've had two hawks perch in this huge tree behind our home and the one next door, squacking (which is a gift to know they're there) and a couple of times have swooped down to get a closer look!  Due to the danger, the poor girls have had to be shut up in their house and boy, do they let us know they're not happy!...But it's just another way to explain how discipline is important for their safety, despite the hens hating it!  I just love how Daddy God gives real life experiences to teach us about Him and the way of Life!

This week held many challenges, but the successes they've experienced in Math alone have encouraged me to keep plugging away.  They're getting it.

I've been reading them "The Time Machine" and then dictating parts of it for them to underline the prepositional phrases to help them learn what those are and, how, if taken out of a sentence, make it easy to figure out the subject and predicate!  Ha!  I found this site with Easy Grammar and watched a couple of the woman's video clips and took it from there...they're bored already and believe they know what prepositional phrases are, but one more day of it and then we'll move on...to more remedial work.

There's always the issues of how they speak to each other--character training--and mom is learning character along the way, as well!!!

And, oh, yes, WE cleaned their room again this week...it's the funniest thing to me that when their room is clean, they spend more time in there, they enjoy each other more and they're more creative...hmmm. 

One day it will click that: KEEPING THEIR ROOM CLEAN IS IN THEIR BEST INTEREST AND THEY'LL DO IT FOR THEMSELVES, WITHOUT BEING REMINDED, RIGHT???

It's a dream I am holding onto!