Steven Talks Turkey

Steven with headdress. And below with his family at the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day:










































































This is Steven at the Science Museum where we go every month for science and art class:

















Still here and still homeschooling, of course. December is a very laid-back time for us. This month..oh, wow..I'm going to write about what he's doing this month and not this week, or just today... But yeah, this month he is concentrating on his Senior Orange belt for Taekwondo. He tests for it next week. And then the school will have their annual TKD C-mas party (Ice skating!), and then there is the Chaos Party on the Saturday before C-mas. Chaos is a blast: an all day playtime with the TKD kids and their instructors (none over the age of 20, I think). They play all day from 2-10pm at the studio with games set up, countless t.v.s and game consoles, and lots of dodgeball, pizza and snacks. It is the best time, Steven says.

He's working hard learning his lines for the play, it is also on the 19th, the day of the Chaos Party. It all sort of culminates to that Saturday and explodes, even for Lea who will be wrapping up school for the Holiday break.

Lea is thinking about going to school part-time, btw... :)

The day after Christmas we'll be going to the cabin for 5 days. We are all looking so forward to unwinding and doing nothing but being.

Steven and I went to the Humane Society yesterday and played with the animals. We volunteer there, but call it "playing" because Steven isn't old enough to volunteer, yet.
I didn't take photos because I've been bad about documenting events.

But above there are a few recent ones of Steven, and of him with Lea, Nicholas and Royce at the Turkey Trot!

Steven Survives

while his Mommy waits for inspiration for a new strategy.

Yes, we are not following a curriculum, and no, I'm not a qualified teacher. No, we don't get approval from the school board, and yes, I don't know what I'm doing sometimes. Yes, we change our minds about 14 times a year about how we want to approach book-learning,...

And no, he is not going to school next year....

Because, while he is reading at a middle school level, he hates to read. Because although he spells well, he can just barely write his letters.

And because he thinks states are countries and countries are states, and doesn't have the slightest curiosity about continents or where they are located in what seas. And because his mind wanders more than it wonders when it comes to Math. And mostly, because he believes in Santa and wears reindeer antlers or an elf hat everyday as soon as we have our first frost. (He also sleeps late and sometimes eats candy for breakfast when he gets up while he watches marathons of The Simpson episodes he's programmed into the DVR).

Meanwhile, Steven is doing the play The Emperor's Nightingale playing a lead character, "The Lord-in-Waiting." He is nervous because he has the most lines, but it'll be fine. He is sharp and in good voice and as he told his teacher, "It doesn't matter what part I get, I just want to bring the play to life." :)

He is feeling a ton better physically and back in action at Taekwondo. He is bummed to have missed so much, but has a lot of motivation to catch up and he is working it out. He should be ready by December to move on to the next belt. I'm hoping beyond hope that we are done with viruses for awhile. It has been incredibly tough on him because he enjoys TKD so much.

He is sewing with Alissa which he loves, but his machine is on the fritz ~ Fingers are crossed that we get word that it's fixed for tomorrow's class. Thank you AS for letting him use yours, just in case.

Also this week: He has theatre workshop at the library, a class at the metro parks and will be going to the science museum for a circuits and art class. When we go to work, he'll see his best friends who are mostly grown-ups, but also, when he gets home his best neighbor friends will be here for the week with their moms.

And finally, he is planning on staying up really late one night this week, until midnight, and ordering a pizza.

Steven Lives

We're still out here, but it's hard to catch up on the blog regularly.

On school nights we've taken very well to turning off the television and the computers after 6pm. No screens in the evening and we are having lots of fun. Nothing special is going on, nothing to brag about, we're just eating supper together and talking, mostly. It's so great to listen to the kid's giggling and being goofy. They still bicker and the usual, but they are spending time together, which is great to us. I didn't want to turn it into more time where I have to entertain them, we basically consider it free time and we can all do whatever we want. Sometimes we hang out together and play games, but mostly not. Mostly, I read my own books and catch up on various things and they find some kind of imagination game to reckon out.

We're are reading together every night, The Life of Pi, and I can't even explain how deeply I'm enjoying reading with Lea again. My heart honestly broke when I would think about the past and all the wonderful years we read together, and how I took it for granted...and how recently when I recalled the last time we read together not realizing it was the last time. How I began to miss her asking me, "Can we read tonight?" And miss her laying her head on my shoulder, playing with my hair, and us curling and uncurling our fingers, holding hands while I read. I never thought I would hear her ask me again and I really didn't think we would ever find the time or place since she is changing and needing me less in those ways. I thought it would be o.k. because we were finding other ways of being together... But, one night last week I picked up this book and started reading it aloud. She sat on the sofa behind me, brushed my hair and quietly listened.

Steven Sick (again)

This is "Virus: Round 3" since school started for Steven who doesn't attend.

He had a big week planned with lots of stuff going on, but he managed only to make it through Monday afternoon's sewing class before he was down for the count.

This is potentially trans-formative for him though. It seems like he is understanding how much good food, rest and exercise (and hand-washing) play a big part in his overall health. That is a life lesson that far exceeds any other goal we set up for him this year, and hopefully one that is being etched deeply. It is no fun to be sick when you're a kid, but really no fun to be sick over and over again.

We did get his workbook I ordered. It is a DK book helping with math skills to accompany his Saxon math curriculum that is becoming a little overwhelming for him. I totally believe the children when they say they aren't ready for a task by either telling me verbally or exhibiting signs of distraction or frustration. I'm not going to promote to Steven that he must continue work that is discouraging for him, but I'm not going to let him give up too quickly on it either; thus, a satisfying and somewhat easy workbook with big happy fonts and cute pictures. Offering small successes is a key to supporting his development, I think. This is all new for him, book learning, and I want him to know books are a significant key to finding stuff out, not a detriment to personal exploration.

Anyway, what we didn't do yesterday was a class at the local metro park and his drama workshop at the library, and what we aren't doing today is going to gym class or Taekwondo.

But, as he laid around healing his bod yesterday he did watch some dvds I found at the library about Understanding the Universe, (plus "Gremlins" and "Transformers 2"), and today he is playing Runescape and resting as much as he can.

Together we are reading: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Interrupting for a commercial break:

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Hiliary

This is neighbor and friend, Hiliary (yeah, it's spelled right. that's the way it's spelled.) This will be a very, very entertaining blog to keep up with.

Steven Games

The last couple of days we have been getting our work done here (or there), and then heading over to the library to... game. I'm not sure why it's worked out this way, but it's been like this unspoken "thing" we've been honoring. So around 2pm we hop in the truck and go to the library to tag the Wii as "ours" before the Highschoolers get there. We have a Wii here at the house, it's just more fun at the library for some reason.

It's a great escape for us to unwind at the library. These colder days we'll go and spend afternoon hours searching shelves, and with a stack of books, a drink and a snack we'll scour through our treasures while sitting in an overstuffed comfy chair. We like to hang around in a kind of stasis from the outside world until ...well, until Lea walks over and meets us after school or when we're ready to leave, I guess. Steven likes to play games, I prefer to read, but he also likes for me to drop my books and grab a controller and play with him. And sometimes I do that. Even though I don't like the Wii as much as a PS2 or 3.

I was thinking about something yesterday while I sat there waiting for my turn to Mario Party with Peach. I was thinking about how much Steven appreciates my company and how much I'm grateful for his. I wonder often why it is I don't seem to need the socialization of my peers as much as other people, but it's finally occurred to me it's not that, I don't think. I think it's that I weigh my choices, and for now I'm so acutely aware of Steven's growing and going that I want to be present to him as much as he allows and wants. I recognize so intensely the movement of time and the fading of it that I can barely make out the shadow of the moment as it whooshes past me. I don't want to miss anything.

Now, here is a dilemma. Last night, Steven confronted me that I am not forceful enough or demanding enough with him. He needs a harsher mother to tell him what to do. He tells me that he thinks he is getting a cavity in a permanent tooth and that it is up to me to make him go into the bathroom and brush his teeth. He said that it would be best if I threaten him by taking away his DS or Legos. I said to him, "Steven, that's not really my way." He was like, "But Mom, you have to do this. You have to MAKE me brush my teeth or I won't do it. You have to yell at me and make me scared of you. Like at Tae Kwon Do where they yell at us if we don't do something we're supposed to." I said, "But I would think that if you don't want cavities then you'd want to brush your teeth. I mean, like, all on your own." He was shaking his head, "But that's not how it works, Mom." I said, "Ok." Then I said,"So, are we ready to read together now?" He shrugged, "Sure." I was like, "Did you brush your teeth?" He replied, "No." And so I went, "Well, go brush and we'll read." Steven said, "Ok, be right back." Meanwhile, I'll work on some ideas to pull out of my threat pocket for the next time he balks.

Steven Rides

We had a great time yesterday with neighbor Hiliary when she took us out to the barn where their horses, Snazzy and Shiloh, board. Earlier, Steven had been chatting with Hil on Facebook. He ran into my room and asked me if we could head out to J-town with her to see "the girls," and I said, "Sure!" So, we skipped gym class with Q and headed out about 10am. Once we arrived, Hil opened the barn where the tack supplies are held and we watched some of the other horses grazing:




































We walked around to the front of the property where Snazzy and Shiloh stay, and we waited for Hil to open the fence:


















Steven got to lead Snazzy from her paddock to the barn. They made fast friends:



















Hiliary showed Steven how to groom the horses and what to do to get them, and a rider, ready for riding the back 4o:




































And Steven was on the trail in no time: