Quality time with the Maniacs

As many of you know, with our quick move and in order to maximize our time here (can you tell I've repeated the reasons again and again), I'm homeschooling these maniacs.  I've got stellar and very structured Math and English programs, and history/science/art curriculum which we tailor to our outings/trips.  Basically we do full class days on M/W, then math/english on T/TH but spend most the day at a museum/exhibit and then Friday we do a light day of math/english and head to the bookstore for their weekly reward (if they've earned it:).  

A month in it's going pretty well.  Amazingly, the Bishop's wife of our current ward has been homeschooling their kids for 13 years, so she's a great resource and support.  I alternate between thinking the boys are thriving and being convinced that I'm scaring them for life.  

Little C, the one I worry about the most.  

He hasn't spent much time without me and now he spends quality time with the nanny while I teach the big boys in the morning.  It does make me really focus when I'm with him and play/read instead of just working parallel to his play.  Plus, our nanny is really good about trading out when he just needs sometime with Mom.  

G loves to learn!  He spurred the bridge unit and his current goal is to build a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean so he can drive Luci and Allie across to London.

 I teach the boys separately for Math and Language Arts and G is doing so well!  He's reading more and more fluently and is flying through Saxon 1.  Also, I realized this guy would only be in school for 3.5hrs in Atlanta and that included recess/snack/cooking class.  So we added in more breaks, a cooking class adn although, I sometimes worry that the other subjects are too advanced, he's picking up a ton.  I called him out the other day because his Rome building looked suspiciously like London Tower bridge.  He proceeded to explain to me that it had arches, it was an aqueduct, it was made of concrete, it had columns and a pediment on top.  So, obviously, Roman!

Matts indulging his "incessions" and expanding his memory.

In some ways I think this is a perfect opportunity for Matts.  Since he was a little guy he has fixated on a subject and now we get to learn and tailor his learning around it!  The Romans, oh the Romans.  I think we've seen every ancient Roman landmark in a 100mi radius of London.  And we're going to Italy the end of this month to see the real deal.  I'm not going to lie, his handwriting is giving me fits, but we're working on cursive, so hopefully that will help things along.  

So, that's that.  We've been lucky to make friends quickly so we have at least a playdate every week and we go on field trips every T and TH, which keeps things exciting.  It's hard, it's crazy, but it's also great fun and letting us have the adventure of our life!