What a great week!

So we finally have our basement reno 95% done. It is so nice to have the extra space and I am so enjoying having a workspace for the kids where we can keep all of our learning supplies without my feeling like they have taken over the house!

Tuesday was a very enjoyable day. After gymnastics we did some odds and ends and then headed up to Kerry's to make some collages with some other friends. Kerry had examples that her mom (an artist) had done in University and they were fabulous. I think the examples really inspired the kids to create. I was amazed at how focused they were. They really got into it and put a lot of thought into the textures that they were using. My guys loved seeing the finished effect of them being spray painted white. Of course highlights of the afternoon were playing outside in the playhouse and on the play structure. It was a gorgeous day out.

So Wednesday was one of those learning days that didn't go as well as I had hoped. Mason was not eager to work on his reading lesson. It was a real struggle so we gave up and moved on to math which went very well. He is one of the few kids I know that learns better later in the day. This is not my preference! After some reading and math we went to the Doctor where Mickey got her stitches out and it went relatively well. We then rushed to the library to pick up a stack of books waiting for me. Lunch was eaten somewhere along the way and then we were off to swimming lessons. Having the hour long lesson is making a big difference. I'm loving the homeschool swimming lessons. What happened after swimming is a bit of a blur but I do know there was a lot of time spent on marking Gr. 8 Science assignments.

Today was a fantastic day for learning. I have no idea what was different but I wish every day looked like today. We started the day with some art which the kids LOVED. In their sketchbooks they worked on the first lesson in "Drawing with Children". Mason's (fine motor) hand eye coordination is really quite remarkable. I really must help him develop this further. We then played the game "TENS", or at least Mason and I did. Mickey just used the triangles to make up new shapes. We then created underwater paintings with oil pastels and water colours. They had so much fun with this. Next I was on a mission. I had discovered yesterday when looking at the homeschool address book that another member lives in our neighbourhood, so off we went for a walk to scope them out!! So when I came to the house that had 3 teenage girls with a mom and dad in the driveway and some sort of catapult device shooting off water balloons down their very long and hilly driveway, I knew that we had found them. We went up and introduced ourselves and made promises to get together soon. When we got back Mason had his much needed play time with Mickey and then we went back to our learning. He took off with his reading. I know people are skeptical about the book, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" but it has been AMAZING for him. He did super today and to really raise his confidence we went back to some early Bob books and he just breezed through them. He was giddy! This did wonders for them. Then we moved on to his word box and worked through at least 50 words and put them into three piles - easy, hard and somewhere in between. This process really motivated him. Great, great day!