My dancing girl!

Snowman

Princess drew this snowman while I was writing my other posts tonight. Then she asked me to write snowman under it, and copied all the letters.

Photo of the Day ~ Dec. 14

Parent-Teacher Interviews and Report Cards

This past week, the kids came home with their first report cards and yesterday, I went to meet each of their teachers. All three brought home excellent report cards. I do have to say that I don't agree with the way the report cards are worded, and that it seems to me like pre-written comments that the teachers just cut and paste. Dragon and Fairy had the exact same comments for Drama & Dance for example "name of child communicates for different audiences and purposes with a high degree of effectiveness. Keep up the great work!" I realized that teachers are very busy, but it would be nice to have a bit more personal comments. I remember my report cards when I was little, it was completely personal, maybe a little too much...I always had "talks too much" or "could do better"!
I went by myself to the parent-teacher interviews while Dad stayed home with the kids. I wasn't sure what to expect, I wasn't concerned about their academic performances, having kept track of their progess since their start in October, but I was more curious to hear what the teachers will comment on. I prepared myself to be patient if I heard comments from them about how surprised they were that my children did well in school academically or even socially...
The first teacher I met was Dragon's. She told me how well he was doing, getting along with others. She even shared with me how she had been worried at first that he might get bullied by the other kids since he had never gone to school. I did correct her that he had attended JK and SK. She went through the report card a little bit, and told me about her surprise on his first day, when she had planned a math quiz for the class and decided to give it to him anyway, to see where he was at. He had done perfect on the quiz, and she told me that I had obviously been doing a very good job at home with him. She repeated that compliment a couple more times, assured me that Dragon was doing great, and that there were no concerns for him. I walked out of the first interview with a smile on my face...
The second meeting was with Fairy's teacher. She seemed a bit cold to me at first, but Fairy told me she was nice in the classroom. She told me how well Fairy was adjusting to the class, but that she was a bit too quiet, and not participating enough in oral discussions. On the positive side, she did say that she was doing very well in all subjects (she did get 7 "A" out of 14 marks, the rest were "B") and that she works well without supervision, and is always willing to help others.
She also told me that I had done a really good job at home with her! I thanked her, and I thought we would get back to Fairy's report card, but instead she wanted to know more about homeschooling, where did I get my curriculum from, did I follow the Ontario government recommendations? I didn't get the impression that she was "testing" me, she seemed to be genuinely interested in how it worked! After I explained to her briefly, she told me that it was obvious that I had enjoyed that, and that maybe I should consider going to Teacher's College! She even added that she thought I had missed my calling, but that it was never too late! One major point that I walked away with, besides the compliments (lol), was that grammar and spelling are not covered in school. I was shocked to hear that, I had kept on asking Fairy about it, but thought that maybe she wasn't recognizing it, because maybe it was just built in within her language arts subject. But the teacher told me that no, they don't do it, she agreed with me that it was ridiculous to not cover the basics, but that is what the government has set at this time, and she has to follow it. I told her that we will be doing grammar and spelling at home.
I left that meeting with an even bigger smile on my face, but at the same time, realizing how much I miss homeschooling, and knowing how important afterschooling is, to cover what is lacking in the classroom.
The last meeting was with Princess's teacher, and she started by saying how sweet and wonderful Princess is. She is also adjusting very well, participating, and helping others.
It was nice for me to finally see where my children are spending most of their days. I had been to the school, but not in their classrooms. I am proud of their great start!

It was her turn today...

Princess had her first day of school today and she seemed to like it. Her teacher said she did really well for her first day. It was a bit harder for me today, not having any children at home...but I did run for 7km and conquered the mountain of laundry!

First Time on Skates for Princess!

This past week...

This past week, Dragon was at his camp, and it was incredible how quiet it was around here! I always find it interesting how taking just one child out of the mix creates a different atmosphere. Please don't get me wrong, I would never wish to change anything about my children or how many I have :) but it is something I notice every time one is away. The same thing happened while Fairy was at her theatre day camp last month. This week, the girls played many "girl" games with their dolls, read or listened to "girl" stories, painted and even made some felt play food...which the kitten got a hold off and pretty much destroyed!

I took advantage of the quiet times to finish off my planning for the school year. I had already decided which curriculum/resources to use, but now is the part when I sit down and work out the schedule. The schedule I make is more of a helpful guideline. I basically look at each subject and see how many lessons or chapters we want to cover over the year. I also plan out how often we will do each subject, daily or 2 or 3 times a week. I try to plan out the whole year and fit in special projects, such as the Iditarod or the Journey North Mystery Class. I can also see how much time we can plan for breaks or vacation...I am still debating over following a different schedule this year, maybe doing school for 5 weeks and taking the 6th week as a break to do something different (a unit study or special project). We are almost ready to start again...in September!

For Future Tea Parties with Princess

Princess and I have a few days alone while Fairy and Dragon are visiting family in the USA. We spent some time shopping at Value Village yesterday, after our park play date. Here is a picture of what we came home with! The teapot was $2 and the set of teacups/saucers $2 too. We also found four Madeline books for $1 each. We had a lot of fun looking around, while staying away from the hot afternoon temperatures.

This morning, she helped me with the new bread pudding recipe I tried. Click here for a link to go to Mom's Little Corner for the recipe and some pictures.

Fairy and Princess...

Fairy was helping Princess out this afternoon with her drawing. Princess was so careful drawing her little stick man and those other shapes (whatever they are!). Too cute!
Fairy did another watercolour painting. She had asked me for inspiration, so I had answered "how about a garden?" She still wants to outline the butterfly, the cart and the plants, but it is still a bit too wet right now. I think it's already beautiful.

Cooking on a Rainy Day

Princess likes to help me cook. She gets right into it. I can always count on her dragging her chair over to see whatever I might be doing in the kitchen. I don't mind at all! Today was a rainy day, so I decided to make a soup.

Fairy and I like this lentil soup. I have been making it for the last few years, it is usually perfect on a winter day, or a rainy day like today.

Here is the recipe:

1 Tablespoon of oil (I use grape seed oil)
1 Leek chopped finely
1 cup of turnip grated
2 carrots grated
1 parsnip grated
3 potatoes cut up in small cubes
1 cup orange lentils
4 cups chicken, vegetable stock or water. enough to cover everything

In large saucepan add 1 tablespoon of oil and heat
Add leeks and stir for 2 minutes on medium heat
Add the stock or water
Add all the other vegetables
Add lentils
Cook until all the vegetables are soft
I then puree everything with a hand blender, right in the pot. Add salt and pepper as desired.

Our Ballet Girl!

Princess is now half way through her ballet lessons. She is taking a 9 week class through our community centre. It has been a perfect introduction to dance for her, she absolutely loves it!