Hello! Hello! It sure is nice to be back although I am not complaining about my time away. This past summer was jammed packed. The summer reading program was a huge success and the kids loved going to the library two and three times a week to pick out books, join their special events and turn in their reading list for a prize. We also went to the library for a couple of the other activities they held; a dance class and a bluegrass concert. The band playing the concert invited my kids to come up and sing with them and it made for a very special memory. Z2 earned all the stripes on his white belt and passed his promotion for his yellow belt and has since earned a stripe on his yellow belt. I registered Z1 and Z2 in an art class hosted by the city art council and they stayed there all day making their unique creations, some of which we entered in the county fair exhibits and won ribbons. All my Z's went to Bible school at our church and a friend's and we made every effort to create, learn and expand this summer. I think we did very well at it, too.
Now, Z1 is enrolled back in dance and it's time to settle back into a routine of supervised and recorded learning. I had Z1 and Z2 make entries in their Wonder Journals about their favorite part of their summer and surprisingly the library program got rave reviews from both of them. They each entered several items in the fair and won ribbons and money and they were so proud to see their creations on display beside their awards. Z1 picked blackberries and I helped her make jelly. She has the knack for it. Not long after that I helped her make banana bread and she really gets into the science of the kitchen.
Between all this and birthdays and holidays and whatever days we are ready to start our second chapter of homeschooling and looking forward to the mysteries that will unfold in our learning. This week we made a Wonder Journal entry about what we hope to learn, do and see this new school year. Z2 wants to go to China and learn how to read bass notes on the piano and Z1 wants to learn how to shoot small game and how to make her own pancake batter and other food. I also told them to write about what they were curious about today. In response Z2 wrote he was curious about Sumo defense techniques and Z1 wrote that she wondered how big is the biggest spider and how do flowers get their color. Pretty amazing subjects for our first week and I am so proud that I get the privilege to answer their questions and go with them on this quest to find the answers.
As far as preschooling goes I am still trying to get Z3 to memorize letter sounds and she loves to read her books which has expanded her vocabulary so much. Z4 is right behind her learning new games and asking and using phrases correctly. She will be starting her colors first then her letters and numbers. Z4 loves to draw and I am encouraging her to draw something and then tell me what she thinks it is and give her creations a name. She is also potty training and understands rewards and standing ovations as symbols of successes. Z3 won several ribbons in the county fair for her entries and this school year is so much more exciting because next year all my Z's will be old enough to enter their crafts in the fair so we will have to take advantage of our school time to be creative so they will have plenty to enter. Z3 and Z4 celebrated their birthdays together since they are only a month apart and it never ceases to amaze me how kids know when they are older. They just get it somehow and inherently know they are bigger. It's ama-Zing!
Okay, so you'll be hearing from us; our progresses and successes our to do's and our done's. And this year is going to be full of exploration and I look forward to sharing our findings with you. Until next time, I'll be learning my X, Y with my Z's!
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