Week One: All Said and Done!

We made it through week one, and we started on time everyday. That in itself is an accomplishment. We had a huge storm last night; big enough water was leaking around some windows. There were high winds, branches down, almost hurricane force winds. All of it started about eleven p.m., right after we had all tried to go to bed.

I also have a really sore throat, and spent part of the school day in bed. Thankfully Z has elevated himself to be able to work independently. In fact he's pretty awesome so far this year. We had grand plans for academics over the summer (insert vile, evil laughter here). None of it got done. We had a family illness that took most of our focus and time. The only academic thing Z was required to do was read every day for thirty minutes. Since he is engulfed in the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix, getting him to read is not an issue. His reading level has increased over the summer. His reading aloud has greatly improved. We accomplished a lot of reading this week, much of it aloud. He did so well.

Our schedule has been a hit. Doing less subjects per day has been wonderful. We have time to chat, discover, not worry about the clock, and still finish well. The real test will be next week with math.

Our biggest joy this week has been delving into the Tolkien biography. We're only on chapter five, but I can already see Z's appreciation for the author increasing. We start into Lord of the Rings on Monday. I myself have never read the books (insert audible gasp!) and I can't wait to start our journey together.

We've also implemented rising interests into our ways to build skills. The other night we watched a show called Legend Quest. The episode was about the quest for the location of the Holy Grail. We stayed up long after the show discussing our knowledge of the grail (minimal), our own speculations (wildly so), and how he wanted to research this issue further. The next day at school we used this as a opportunity to learn how to research online. I could not have planned the task better. The chapter we read in Rulebook for Arguments that same day discussed how to find and use sources. We did not find too much on the grail, but we stoked our imaginations and built skills at the same time.

I'm thrilled with my student this year. His growth through a trying summer has been remarkable. I can't wait for next week when we start back into algebra; math always garners a few interesting conversations, mostly nothing to do with math.