homeschooling update

We are at the end of week three here at Gray's Academy

Homeschooling has been going very well but it is very hands on and I am busy with Zoe from about 8:30 - 2:30 everyday.

Math - Pre-Alegbra stuff from Singapore. I think we will start the Beginning Algebra Life of Fred book next. So far Zoe is having no trouble with math. (She definitely gets that blessing from Pere and not me)

L.A. - MCT Voyage series, very good and definitely meatier than the Town series. She is doing a lot online with her OnlineG3 classes. We are reading Treasure Island and assigned books from Lightening Literature.

History - We've gone backwards a little and she is working on the first History of US book. She is really enjoying learning to do things on the computer like find photos online and post them to her online timeline.

Science - whew! Her new 7th/8th grade book from Singapore is pretty high level. She has learned to write a lab report with her escience labs stuff. Right now we are studying the Human Genome Project and Zoe is writing an essay about the ethics of genetically altering humans. I think we will watch Gattaca with her tonight.

Japanese - Also hard! For me anyway. Zoe has lost me on this one. I can only help her to a point. Most of the time I don't really know what she is doing and I just have to take her word for it that she knows.

Music - She is so diligent with her practicing. She combines voice and piano and often practices for more than an hour a day. I think that her love of making music on the piano and singing makes it seem like it isn't work.

That is what I go for on all her classes and I think I succeed more often than not.

Everyday we have something called Mommy Time. We take a break in our studies for half an hour for play. We have danced to music a few times, done yoga, tickled and sang and tried to make each other laugh.

It is a welcome break because her school work is pretty intense and I am writing for a couple hours in the afternoon and she is on her own. This gives us another chance during the day to connect on a purely playful level.

You know, I have to keep in mind the asynchrony between what her brain needs for sustenance and what her 8 year old childlike psyche needs.

Sometimes I think I err too much on feeding her brain. Maybe because that is how I treat myself. Sometimes I feed my brain to the detriment of other parts of myself. But I have always tried to be careful with Zoe. I want her to have plenty of down time to explore, to even be bored. Because after boredom she gets really creative. :)

It is also a balancing act because Zoe loves all the classes she takes outside of the home. This is something we have always struggled with. She is always ready to take on new classes and doesn't want to give up the old.

Right now she is taking music (a combined piano and voice lesson), Japanese (college level class), gymnastics twice a week, choir, Sunday School and she still wants to go to the Math Center once a week in the evenings.

She just started choir back up this week and was really excited to find she was moved up to primary ensemble. She was in the beginning group last year.

I dunno. I am trying to balance her "rage to learn", her wish to be involved in so many activities, with my wish for her to have quiet freetime and play in the yard. :)