Preparing For the Coming Week

I had some time last night so I looked over the boys work from yesterday morning and cleared the workboxes of what won't be needed Monday. I read over the Oak Meadow week 4 lesson in both the syllabus and parent guide.

I think it is going to be important to think about the next week before Sunday night. I also find it completely natural to wait until Sunday night to even crack the books open ~ so I need to make reading the upcoming lessons on Friday part of my new rhythm.

The book we'll be reading for the next 3 weeks is The Search For Delicious. I am disappointed with the font and print quality of the copy I purchased ~ I can see it causing problems for J-Baby. The book is also much longer than Stuart Little was. I considered purchasing it in audio form, however, it only comes on cassette (we no longer have a working cassette tape player), and used at that (which I love but it doesn't guarantee a quick arrival). I'm going to see if the library copy is any better quality that the paperback we purchased, but if not I think we'll read this book together with all three of us taking turns.

Can you see how beneficial it is for me to know this a few days before we are scheduled to start the book? I know now that I need to change things around a little this week. If I had waited until Sunday I might be scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. Worse yet I could have just assigned the book for Monday and then I would have had to deal with the issues right in the middle of lessons.

The OM social studies work this week involves local animals, so I think we will use this portion the OM syllabus this week and next. I'm really glad I looked at this ahead of time as I think a field trip to the natural history museum will tie in nicely ~ the Hall of Mammals is a treasure trove of local animals! I'm hoping to arrange it with some of the other families I know who are using OM4.

The art class we wanted to do isn't going to happen; the instructor isn't lowering her price to reflect it being a group class rather than private lessons. I am, however, considering hiring her to teach a private lesson to my boys once a month. One other option is to sign the boys up for an art class or two at the local art association. I can teach the boys art using the OM syllabus, but I am certainly not talented in art and I think J-Baby would benefit from working with a professional.