Swimming and School

The boys started their swimming lessons last week. They all have the same teacher, and we are at the pool for a long time (over 2 hours), but it's worth it. Caleb and Brettley have also had colds, but Caleb's is gone now and Brettley is improving.

Brettley's attitude about school has gotten much better in the past week (except for one day that he was the most sick). Tyrell has had a rough few days with staying focused and not giving up if something is difficult. Caleb is doing awesome. It helps that he is used to this routine. He is currently doing his novel study of Underground to Canada and he is reading way ahead of schedule because he's so interested in it.

Caleb also has started Cubs for the year. Tyrell is really excited to start it at the end of October.

Yesterday we went out and delivered flyers for the food drive we participate in annually. The boys love it and look forward to it. On Saturday we do pick up. They are curious to see how well we do this year.

Not too much else is new around here. Just still trying to find our groove for the school routine. Hopefully we'll get there in the next couple of weeks.

Home School Has Started

Yesterday we took the kids on their first field trip of the school year to the John Janzen Nature Centre. The boys loved it there. It was very interactive. Some of the things they got to do were touch a salamander, see honeybees about their every day life and do a nature walk. It was definitely a hit. We did the shorter trail, but Caleb asked if we can try the longer one next year. Definitely something to think about.





Today was our first full day of the school year. The boys have their subjects broken down into 9 blocks. After 3 blocks, they take a break to do 2 chores and have a snack. Same thing after the next 3 blocks. Today Caleb and Tyrell were done very quickly. Brettley took the longest at 3.75 hours, and that was because he was fussing about doing his English for a good 30 minutes. I guess it will take him a while to get used to a school routine. Their blocks are:
Prayer & Spiritual Thought
Reading
Math
English Language Arts
Social Studies
Science
Spelling
Health and Computers
Creative Time

Starting in the middle of the month, they will also be doing music on Fridays. Caleb's former piano teacher has offered to do music class for them once per week, which is a huge blessing for our family. They don't do an official gym class, but they start their weekly swimming lessons this week, which is for September and October. We'll take a couple of months off, and then do another round of swimming lessons in the new year. They get free outside time, and they're content with that.