Day 39

We got started a little earlier today because Jeff was here--and not leaving for work in the middle of the morning. Also, we needed to get plenty of school done before lunch so we could go paint the other house again. And again. And again. We decided we'd get a better color since we had to get another can of paint anyway. It's much better. But I was a little grumpy over there today. It's getting less and less fun to keep painting the same walls and trim. It was hard to tell before we left, but I think we won't need to do another whole coat, just another coat on the trim. My shoulder is tired of doing that. It's above my head, even standing on a ladder. I'm so short.

We're reading The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution this year, and today we did a freewrite after we read. It is so much easier to listen closely to fiction than to non-fiction. So I stopped pretty often to talk about what we were reading, to help us focus. The freewrites weren't the most exciting ones we've ever done, but I think everyone got the idea. 

What we read today talked about the fact that the founding fathers knew that we all have good and bad in us, and they wanted to let the good have freedom, while keeping the bad in check. It also talked about the things that needed to exist in order to be able to have a free people. Some of those are: a group of similar people, relative isolation from other countries, being united against a threat, and a couple others I can't remember right now. It was good.

They did copywork from the books they're reading. We need to get a writing project started. I can't decide whether we should start with a group project or research papers. I'm thinking it's better to start with a group project. Or maybe one with Sam and Sarah while Rachel gets started on her research paper. I also haven't decided positively whether Rachel's going to do a Brave Writer class. She really loved the one she took in the spring. She did so well, too. I loved it, because she found out she's doing much better with her writing than she thought. She thinks I can't be objective. That's one of the reasons for MyWritingCheck.com. So that not only moms, but kids can see how well they're doing and not just think their moms can't be objective. Well, that's probably true, but most of the time we're just not sure, right?

We did math right before leaving to go paint, and I was telling Rachel how to do it wrong. So I went over it in the car and figured it out, but I forgot to have her do it when we got home. I can't believe I really thought we'd do it after painting. It's really hard to do anything after that. I should start being realistic. But I've always been a dreamer and thought I would or could do more than I ever have done. I guess that's better than thinking I'll never do anything!

See you tomorrow!