Lots of Good Things Going On

We have had so much going on, and school really is smooth, although cleaning the house is not, ;).  Anyway, the biggest thing is that the 5 older kids are all doing Recreation Track and Field through our city.  It is also a USATF team, so the kids have the option of really working and going for it, or just doing it for fun.  The coaches are really professional and good working with the kids, teaching them to warm up and stretch in addition to helping them with their running form and doing the various events.  They've all had chances to throw the javelin and shot put, do the long jump and triple jump and try various races.  They will even get to learn how to do the hurdles.  Last Saturday, they got to do a fun run obstacle course at a beautiful horse farm in the country that was situated on a small lake.  I loved it.  In retrospect, one of the best things I did in High school was Cross Country and Track and I have kept up my running pretty much except when I was hugely pregnant.  I love it, so it really did my heart good to see my kids get to experience that.  It was hard for them, they ran 2.5 miles, but they all said it was fun and they would do it again!  Yes!!!

We took the kids to Boston last weekend, that is an awesome city.  Once my girls are finally done with their online classes-- we are definitely going to be doing more field trips around here.  Last weekend was fun though too with the fun run in the morning and then going to see American Idol's Alex Preston who went to our local high school.  It has just been great.  We are headed to NYC this weekend and Philadelphia, so excited!!  We've got matching shirts for the different groups of kids so we can keep track of everybody easier.

The girls have had some rough patches with their online school-- learning to use the computers more effectively, learning to take tests, learning to be accountable to a 3rd party.  It has been rather difficult, they have had to really step it up and have spent a lot of time on it.  They are both getting As in their classes, which is encouraging, I just hope they will get to the point where they can do it at a faster pace.  The boys are moving right along.  It makes me very happy to see their progress and watch the light come on when they make a connection.  It can be so hard to get them to focus and pay attention, but it is worth it.  We have not been able to do as much as I have hoped, bit we are building a very good solid foundation and I'm happy about that.

I love the homeschoolers out here, a bunch of them have advanced degrees and they are serious about education, it's such a nice change from the myriad of homeschool moms I interacted with in Utah who did not expend the required effort it sometimes takes to teach math in the name of not spoiling their kids' love for learning.  I have a lot to learn from these moms.  I love the environment here.  I actually get to learn from them instead of shocking them with the things I know and the things we do.  It is so nice.  They are giving me and my kids a higher standard for which to strive.  It's so nice to be validated especially for my kids so they can see that , wow, maybe my parents do know something!  I could seriously stay here the rest of my life and be just fine.  

Statement of Clarification Added:

I just want to make sure my homeschool groups in Utah know that I appreciated them and that my statement on homeschoolers in Utah was not describing all of the homeschoolers there, my friends and the groups we joined were great, and I do miss those good friends and hopefully they know me better than to be offended, but still, I felt I should clarify.  There were a lot of groups I did not join because I didn't like their philosphies and in the end, the best thing for my daughters in Utah was to do part time public school.  I need to be careful making generalizations, but generally, I did not like the prevailing homeschooling attitudes in Utah.  I find New Hampshire to be very different in that regard with a strong emphasis on giving their children a better education than they would get in public school.  It is refreshing!  I will add this statement to the end of the other post.