Last Two Weeks of November

Well, I have been intending to write this blog post for the past few days, but with grocery shopping and Thanksgiving, time has gotten away from me!! So this will be a catch-up post for sure.
In Picture Book Preschool the first week, we were supposed to be reading Thanksgiving books to learn about the holiday.  Somehow (I suspect between a general busyness, a lack of interest the first week and the sheer amount of Thanksgiving books we had to read) we did not get more than two or three Thanksgiving books read.  So we extended that week of books into this week (Thanksgiving week).  We have continued to read the books for the past week, and even took them out to the river (where we celebrated Thanksgiving with family) to read.  It was a nice way to pass the afternoon while I helped cook and they waited to eat.  Also, they got to hear other readers besides me!! 
We have talked about Thanksgiving a little this week too and Frances mostly says she is thankful for "her friends and Mama" and that's it.  We also traced their hands to make turkeys and then colored and decorated them. 
I use the Kumon workbooks (I purchased them off Amazon) to help with basic skills like coloring, gluing and cutting - things that I notice Frances isn't as interested in.  We use the first level right now.  I tried the cutting workbook in September, but it was frustrating.  Frances and I are both left handed, and cutting doesn't come easily.  She tried to cut one page, and then lost interest.  I wanted her to learn how to cut correctly, so didn't pursue it again, although we've used the other workbooks since then.  Last week Frances picked up the cutting workbook and said she wanted to cut.  We took our time, practiced cutting the correct way, and generally celebrated her hard work.  Since then she has taken it out again, and keeps asking me which way her thumb should be pointing, etc.  I think we will continue to use these workbooks at least once a week.  I do recommend these workbooks - they are fun, and build on the skills kids learn.  They are called Let's Cut, Let's Glue and Sticker and Let's Color.

I have also just finished a really interesting book called The Well-Trained Mind: A Classical Education at Home by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer.  This is the 2009 edition, and it was so interesting.  I am definitely considering home-schooling our girls, although I haven't decided for sure.  This book was comforting - a school year by school year guide, including which curriculums the authors recommend for each subject for each year.  The authors also include information such as how much time each week you should spend on each subject, and most importantly of all, they use their local library extensively.  That's something I really appreciate, and as a potential home-schooling parent, it makes me feel like I could really do this without slighting my girls.  In fact, this classical education model is definitely rigorous and would be a lot of work for all involved.  But I also think it would educate them in ways they could not consider now.  So...I highly recommend the book, and it's definitely something for me to think about.
Until next week...