Yesterday was a perfectly lovely day of really a lot of things going on.
1. We’re trying the Singapore Math curriculum for the kids. After a few lessons it seems to be working out quite well. After the placement tests, we seem to have selected the right level of work for each kid. And the textbooks and workbooks are easy to follow and do. So, now, these days we do math with one kid while the other kid does reading on their own, or handwriting practice, or a typing tutorial, or some such.
2. School in general is going well. The kids are slowly getting the countries and capitols of South America, they know their parts of speech rather well, math is fine, and they have a reasonable grasp on world history. Yesterday I spent some time discussing the history of the Bible, and the problems of the entire idea of literal “Word of God” due to the fact of TRANSLATION. And we discussed written languages without vowels. (Is “th ct st n th mt” the cat sat on the mat? The cot sat on the mat? The cat sat in the meat? This cut stay in thy moot? What does it mean?)
3. Karate is going quite well, I think. The instructor assures me that my kids are by no means the least attentive or most dilatory and vague of her students. So I’m taking her word for it.
4. I am deciding that I actively dislike swimming as a form of exercise. On Thursdays (soon to be Fridays) I take the kids to the Y to swim. This fulfills a few needs. The kids get extra time in the water, and even if they are not practicing kicks and strokes and laps, they are playing and being extremely comfortable in the water, and that is all good. I do, though, make M practice some extra kicks and floating and strokes before he can go play. Full-body coordination is hard for him. While we are out, J gets to work in peace and quiet and then nap before her night class. And I get to work out. Except, the thing is, I can’t really leave the kids in the pool and go workout. I could, technically, but not practically. And there’s not enough time to put them in childcare, work out, then have them swim. So I have to swim.
It is so damn boring.
You have to understand — I cope with cardio by not paying attention to it. I read, or watch tv, or listen to audiobooks, or to music. I don’t sit there and ponder my workout. That way lies madness, or, at least, complete boredom. But with swimming laps all I can do is sit ther and ponder my swimming. There’s no distraction. It is so boring.
5. I’m on GoodReads, in case anyone is interested. I tend to write a few remarks or a short review of the books I finish. Though, I have not and am likely not going to go through and add reviews of all the books I list as read.
6. Gaming last night was fun. We played Rock Band 3, and I sang all four Lady Gaga songs in a row \o/
7. Yesterday’s news cycle was completely depressing. Here’s hoping that today’s is better.
Filed under: Autobiography, Books, Parenting | Tagged: exercise, homeschool, kids, reviews | 2 Comments »