We took a long Christmas break but I hope to upload "J" this week. I am undecided as to whether we will continue to host preschool co-op at the house on a weekly basis or if we will rotate or share the teaching or what. My energy level fluctuates and some weeks were awfully tiring. So we are playing that by ear.

Still, we have enjoyed our lessons tremendously.  I didn’t realize just how much until recent weeks. Kieran burst into tears at the suggestion we discontinue hosting. Brendan also surprised us with his ability to recite the better part of the alphabet. I had said from the start that he would just be along for the ride since he didn’t appear to be paying much attention.  That absorbent mind is an incredible thing however! He has been soaking up all that he hears.

The older children have been studying the middle ages this year for history. I plan to upload a rough outline of our topics, links, and notebook pages as I can.  We are doing life science using Concepts and Challenges in Life Science as a spine.  It lends itself to outlining and notebooks. For lit we are reading historical titles that correspond with our history era and also exploring the fairy tale genre in great depth. I am reminded of CS Lewis’ dedication to the Narnia books where he tells his reader that she may now be too old for fairy stories but that eventually she would become old enough to read them again. They are ageless and timeless and ideal for teaching characterization and plot etc.  The middles still break into a chorus from the Fisherman and His Wife (Funschool F) when I ask them to come to me from the other side of the house:

Flounder, Flounder in the sea
come to me oh come to me…

Yes, they are homeschool kids lol!  All in all we are refreshed from our vacation and have thrown ourselves back into study with renewed vigor. I hope your new year is off to a similarly encouraging start! : )