With 24 weeks completed out of a total of 36 we are coming into the homestretch of our school year. It is about this time each year that panic grips me and I start to wonder if I've done the best job I could have for my children. My insecurities get the better of me and I worry that there will be cracks, gaps, or even black holes in their education. So today I spent a few hours pinpointing those areas that we need to put special emphasis on for the remainder of our school year. I also put together a 'plan of attack' so to speak, in order to make sure we address these needs.
For Gavin, that plan includes several areas that fall under the umbrella of Language Arts. He needs work on dictionary skills, letter writing (both friendly and business), state abbreviations, and titles of courtesy. He also needs to work on neatness, completeness, and efficiency (aka time-management) in all areas of his schooling. He has progressed very well this year in his writing abilities, including his research skills, and his use of punctuation and proper grammar. His math grades are also a vast improvement. Science is largely an independent study this year, with periodic oversight and some input from me. He keeps a science journal daily, writing (or drawing) what he's learned or observed and has documented all experiments or projects.
For Ben, my 'plan of attack' includes working with him to develop his sentence writing skills. He has a great imagination and will dictate wonderfully detailed stories to me, but he has a harder time putting his own words into writing. Ben's reading is still a bit choppy although he reads with a lot of inflection and emotion in his voice. He also needs a bit of work on self-correcting when he misreads a word. He also needs to learn a few basic skills items such as how to tie his shoes, his phone number, and his address.
Tomorrow (the 19th) is Ben's birthday. It's hard to imagine that 8 years and almost 9 months ago the doctor told us after an ultrasound that there was no heartbeat. Furthermore, a blood test revealed that the HCG levels were not increasing and therefore it looked like my pregnancy was not viable. A week later, before performing a D&C my doctor wanted to do another ultrasound "just in case". We were overwhelmed with joy and happiness when the ultrasound immediately showed us a wonderfully beating heart and a healthy, normal pregnancy. Ben is an amazing blessing who fills our lives daily with his gorgeous brown eyes, contagious laugh, and his super-sweet nature. He loves to make people happy and I'm so thankful that my doctor wanted just one more look. I can't imagine life without my Ben!
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