Weekly Wrap-Up ~ Week 36 Almost Done!

I had to face the facts on Monday that I was losing sight of my ultimate goal for this year. My goal was to keep it calm and help the children heal and grow. My goal was that everything we do be of value to my children and myself. I realized that I had become obsessed with counting the hours to completion of the school year and I had started to panic over some of our courses. Just as I was in my own school and college years, I was too focused on grades and completion of hours and not enough on what was truly important -- LEARNING. I am not required to count hours or even show what courses we have completed in our state. The goals for my children this year were mine alone and they are very close to achieving said goals. However, not close enough in math and science that they will make it unless I push them to extremes. Well, I am not going to do that.

Sometimes the best thing about your birthday is a good old Silly String war. Dean really got his sister!

So, I had to take a big breath and step back. I needed to get back to my goals and not drive myself  or them crazy. We had a good week and everything we did was valuable and worth the effort.

What we accomplished this week (Saturday to Thursday) ~ 

• Dean had a wonderful birthday overnight with his best friend. We went to a trampoline park and had a wonderful time. 
• Dean had two cavities filled that were hidden behind his braces. 
• Anne attended seven hours of dance classes.
• Dean attended four hours of dance classes.
• Anne completed her spelling curriculum for the year.
• Dean attended an extra rehearsal to prepare for Youth Group Sunday (when the youth take over the entire service).
• Dean attended guitar class.
• Anne attended sign language class and video taped the Star Spangled Banner in sign language for the end-of-year show.
• We attended our monthly special needs support group and dinner.
• Dean finished testing. This was extensive testing, including IQ, end of year testing, gifted and talented assessment, sensory testing, ADD/ADHD testing, and learning challenges. Hopefully, in the next week or so we will have some answers on why Dean is struggling to become an independent student. I decided to have him tested across the board so that we would be able to start him on the right path with the best support during his homeschool high school years.
• Anne started the CAT test. She will finish it today or Monday.
• Both kids completed over four hours in science and three hours in math.
• Both kids are done with language arts (except review items).
• Both kids accomplished some goals in their independent history lessons.
• I went with Goldilocks to her post-surgery appointment. She has a staph infection and it was somewhat traumatic for her.

Looking forward to a busy Friday and weekend ~ Today, we plan to wrap up our literature by seeing the movie, Jungle Book. The kids are performing in the Jungle Book on stage later this month, and we read  parts of the book months ago. We are also attending a special needs support group lunch today which is being held at an Indian restaurant. The Jungle Book takes place in India and we have been studying India as our focus country this year.  These two events will round out the year nicely. We will also watch a short documentary on India and Anne will do a few sections of the CAT test today.

My Indian Meal.

This weekend is jam-packed with events. May is a whirlwind in our family. I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day.

Blessings, Dawn