Update...

You know, several times a week I think to myself that I need to get X written on my blog but time and inclination have been getting away from me.

We started back on the kitchen. The kitchen we have not touched since, oh, late last February? What can I say, it was functional and we had other priorities such as the children and down time. I am halfway finished painting the room. No small feat with all the stuff on the go and two children under foot. We started on the weekend when the kids were away at their aunt's house.

The kids are doing really well right now. Alex has hit his stride in piano. He is playing with two hands now and not really shuffling back and forth when he had to switch hands. He is reading the notes really well and best of all, he now plays for himself! I no longer have to prod him to sit at the piano each day.

Izzy is a little worker bee. She always has a pen in hand and is writing letters, numbers, words...and pictures, lots and lots of pictures! She is really getting into art class now and the teacher sees a real difference in ability since the last session. Reading is coming along very slowly but she is interested and we aren't pushing it. She asks how to spell things and what words say. I think it will just come one day when she finds the material that motivates her. With Alex it was Calvin and Hobbes.

I have new science books that came in last week but we haven't touched them yet. I'll post about those when I have something to review. It is the R.E.A.L. Science books and there are 3 subjects - Earth and Space, Life and Chemistry. It is set up to do 2 days worth of material for each week. I am looking forward to it. Quite a bit will be review for Alex (my science buff) but new for Izzy. The material ranges from grades 1 - 3, I think and I hope to cover any gaps I may be missing right now.

The really big deal lately is all this planning going on for some exciting new homeschool ventures. The co-op is going well but we are still trying to cement a core group of families that will actively participate in the club. We need a certain number for the library to keep giving us free space.

It looks like we have scored big with a french teacher for the kids too! One of the mom's started looking into a french tutor to hang out with our kids (about 9-11 of them) and teach them a little french. The search took us on an unexpected path and we discovered a real french teacher with a Montessori bent that is going to come up with a full curriculum and lesson for our kids once a week. The only problem is that this will not be a cheap venture. For at least $30/week for both kids it will certainly put a dent in the pocketbook but I think she is worth it. I hope so!

I am so excited about french. A little sad that I know a few families that were interested won't be able to afford this class but I think it will be amazing for my kids. Here, the kids don't start french until grade 4 unless you are in immersion and it sounds pretty half-assed, if you ask me. Growing up in Northern Ontario, I have higher standards for the kids and their french lessons. This will be a very small class, with 5 or 6 kids, and we should be able to do quite a lot pretty fast.

It feels good to have someone else take the reigns a bit, educationally speaking, and I hope this works well for us. I can't bring the enthusiasm and freshness the kids need to get jazzed about a subject like french. Rob and I talked about what was important to us, what was important for the children to learn (from good teachers and resources) and we know that when it comes to the arts, music and foreign languages we have to fork out the dough to give them the excellent education we are striving for. Between the two of us, we can easily handle the rest.

I have to say that overall I am very happy with how homeschooling is turning out. It is pretty close to what I imagined in my head. Over the weekend Rob and I were out snooping in new home developments and drooling over some pretty (large) homes. Wondering what we could afford in two or three years. Daring to dream big. A few days have passed though and while we will definitely want to upgrade houses in a few years, I think we should do what we did when we bought this house. Figure out what we can afford and spend a lot less. We aren't exactly where we want to be, financially, but I like being able to give the kids what they need without worrying about the bills.