Four More Weeks

J is almost finished with fourth grade. Every year that goes by things not only get more challenging for him, but they are also harder for me. I'm constantly trying to weigh the value of pushing him to write that complete sentence or just letting him answer the question verbally. He needs both skills. If he had his way, there would be an appropriate shortcut for everything in life. He will not be the one to wax eloquent on his own blog one day. He'll be the one who bullet-points everything. (He's obviously not his mother's child. I'm waaay too verbose in my writing).

B is doing well. I have never been able to nail down whether this is his Kindergarten year (he'd be the right age if he were enrolled somewhere) or his First Grade Year. His skills in reading leave me thinking that he's not quite First Grade level, but his math, comprehension and social skills easily put him in Grade One. So, I guess we could say he's finishing his K/1 year and leave it at that. It makes people in the store look at him funny when they ask what grade he's in, but that's just part of the deal when homeschooling.

S is learning so much. He's learned that if he hits brother number two hard enough that he could make him cry. He's learned that he can pretty much climb up and take over any chair a small person might be sitting in -- and win. He's learned that when we are all buried in book learning he can leave the room and come crashing back in with his chubby arms flailing in the air and yell, "Yeah!!!!" and we'll stop what we're doing and laugh at him. He's still our favorite interruption.

I don't really want this school year to end because then I'll have a fifth grader and that is perilously close to someone who is nearing Jr. High... oh, my. I sure hope I've done well for him. All indicators say he's thriving in this situation, but it's not unlike a homeschool mom for me to second guess myself at every turn. There are just less and less turns with each passing year. I'd like to finish this one off on the straight and narrow.