working working working

We've been plugging away on lots of differnt things.  I'm really liking the Story of the World history curriculum we got.  We do have a "social studies" curriculum as well, but I plan to use that as a suppliment here and there and save it for next year most likely.  Its just not as fun!  Big Hugaboo (which I may just start calling Big X since its shorter LOL) is really doing well.  He's not challenging my authority as much if any compared to last year when it comes to school work.  I honestly saw a day and night change when we started using a quasi-workbox method.  He needs that definative "we will do A B and C take a break then D and E" and he can see into the boxes and knows generally what we're going to do for each of those. We're also getting into a more settled rhythem of waking up and doing morning stuff then getting down to the school room to get it done.  They know if they get work done fast they can go to play fast.  And that policy stands well with me as long as the work they are doing is of good quality, I don't see a point in pushing quantity just to fill up "school" hours.

My biggest challenge right now is finding time to occupy little hugaboo when the big one needs hands on help.  I try to keep her busy, but she needs a lot of assistance too.  I'm trying to get a better balance of this and schedule his help work when she can be doing something on her own, but my heart feels like she's getting the short end of the stick in the morning during school time as I'm often just pushing her out of the way with a jar of playdough and legos when she'd really rather be painting or dancing with me as her instructor.  Sigh, that'll get easier as we keep going I'm sure.  And next year she'll go to Small Wonders like Big X did which will work out well as he moves to second grade and more intense work next year.

Ok, enough of my ramblings for now.  Exicited for tomorrow, we'll be making clay tablets and using handmade paper to write things in cuniform and hyroglyphics then a science experiement to see which will erode or wear out faster.  Hence helping us understand about how information was shared in early history and why they changed from things like clay vs paper as well as the different writing forms that were used.  He's also doing map work and will get to see the Nile river from a different view tomorrow than today, so I'm curious about how he will perceive that when he sees the map that is zoomed much further out showing other bodies of water and land.

And one more thing as a teaser.  I am working on a lapbook for the story Stone Soup.  I'm hoping in the next couple weeks.  This weekend I have a wedding, but the kids will be gone so once I get home if I'm not exhausted I may have extra time to get more planning done.  So far its looking really exciting :)