Alive and Well

After spending the first two school weeks with either a headache or a head cold, or both, I am finally well! I made it to school every day of those two weeks--and even managed to enjoy it!

The new menu rotation plan seems to be working. We had four weeks (or more) in the freezer from the Sam's shopping in August and I just went to Sam's again last Wednesday. It took me over an hour to fill the cart completely. The cashier "allowed" me to repack the cart myself and commented that she would not have believed it would all fit if she hadn't seen it for herself. I got home just in time to serve dinner. Afterwards, Stephen and I spent a couple of hours grilling chicken, browning ground beef, and packaging meat into meal-sized portions. Now I should be good for the next four or five weeks. If this month is a success I will post the menu next month.

I cannot believe the fast pace of the school day. I don't have enough time for any class, but particularly Bible and History in the afternoons. There's so much more to say than is printed on the students' cards and we're trying to read Beowulf, too! We just finished a round of projects on the various Barbarian invaders of the Roman empire, and the Vikings. The 5th graders did remarkably well, so I will try it again in the future. I think part of the success was in giving them reading material with worksheets they had to complete. Then they could use their imaginations in presenting the material to the class. (When they have to find the material and present it, too, the presentation gets all the work and the educational value is almost nil.)

Elisabeth is on the volleyball team. Their first scrimmage was on Saturday and she was a starter. They lost all four games in the match (I don't know the correct terminology) but contested closely. After only two practices, I think this was very good. They didn't make a lot of stupid mistakes, but saw how important team work really is. Poor E didn't get a single serve over the net, so she needs some coaching in that, but she did well otherwise.

Stephen's Bible teacher was discussing Pharoah's refusal to let the Israelites go. He asked how many students thought Pharaoh could have let them go if he wanted to. Stephen was the only one to stand on the side of Pharaoh's inability to let them go, and gave a reasoned explanation of God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart. A couple of students were persuaded. The teacher, who had loaded the question for the opposite answer, was very pleased that Stephen stood his ground and defended his position well.

William and Jesse are each struggling with the workload, but enjoying school, nevertheless. I'm glad they all made it through without being sick, and hope we'll continue with good health for the next 8 1/2 months. Pop hopes so, too.

Exhausted!

Yes, I'm exhausted! The first two days of school have sped by and I haven't accomplished all that I set out to do in those two days, but there are many more to come and I'm hoping soon to get into a good rhythm. I'm enjoying every class I have--math, grammar/writing, spelling, biology, history/literature, and Bible. I still feel like I'm in homeschool co-op mode--I'm surprised every time I say good-bye to a class that the next time I'll see them is (not next week, but) tomorrow!

The Lord graciously gave me what I had not felt free to ask--complete relief from Latin! I was working at learning it and asked the headmaster for help--which he was willing to provide, but it was the upper school humanities teacher who gave me the best gift. He exchanged his fourth grade spelling class for my fifth grade Latin III! He now teaches back-to-back Latin classes while I teach back-to-back spelling. I hope he is as content as I am.

Stephen, Elisabeth, William and Jesse have made an easier transition than I expected. Each one likes his teacher and classmates. Jesse was happy to get a check plus on his first math paper. William likes math best, but he also likes reading Grimms' fairy tales. Stephen told his teacher everything but math is his favorite subject. Elisabeth will enjoy the competition--and the friendships.