Today, our family went back to our normal routine. Well, our new normal. Shawn and Jacob went back to school. I think they were both ready. Three weeks was kind of a long break.

Nate and I did school work in the morning. We don't really have a schedule yet, but we are working on it. We did some language stuff (out of the packet from the charter school). Then we did some math (from the books I bought back in Dec. because the math in the packet is way to easy). We played Legos during breaks and made lunch together. I love that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese had pictures with their directions. This made it easier for Nate to follow along and make it with minimal help. He really likes to cook.

Nate wanted me to take another picture, lol.

After lunch, it was time for writing. This is Nate's least favorite subject. So, I let him work on my laptop. We are getting a new desktop computer. Then he will do his work there. But, today he got to sit on the couch and work. He was writing a paragraph about his favorite birthday party. we will be working on this paragraph this week, editing and rewriting. Maybe, on Friday we will share it here.
We also decided today that we are going to do a community service project. I'd like to do one every couple of weeks. We have been doing a lot of loom knitting around here. There were a lot of scarves made for Christmas. So, we decided that were going to make knit hats and give them to the children at Children's hospital that are getting chemo. Since I know some people over there, I am hope that Nate will be able to deliver them himself. But, they are quite strict on outside children coming in during cold/flu season. Anyway, here is Nate working on the first hat.

Here is the first finished hat. It is too small for Nate's head. But, sadly there are children small enough to wear it. We started another today, a little bigger. He seems to enjoy this and be excited about the project. I hope to instill in him the desire to do things for other people.

PS: This hat is in honor of Melissa Kahn. I bought yarn to make scarves for a couple of friends, that didn't get made. That yarn is now being used to make hats. I hope this is worth more than a $5 gift. Love you Mel!

Getting back to routine...almost. Brian went back to work today. The boys go back next week, except Nate. Today, I went to the orientation for the charter school that we will be using to homeschool Nate. It was ok. I had to listen to the person read the power point slides to me and another mom. I have to admit, she could have emailed them and I could have read them myself.

I was impressed with the way the school is run. First they will test Nate (tomorrow) to see what his level is in each academic category. They will provide the materials needed to teach him at home. We'll meet with the teacher once per month, although we will have weekly contact. They also offer some weekly classes, including English, Math and art, for elementary age students. These are optional. I think a weekly art class might be fun for Nate. We'll see.

Then we went to get Nate a haircut. Nate has not been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. But, I think he has some. I think it may even be relate to his ADHD. One of his biggest sensory issues is: it drives him up the wall to have his hair touch his face. Even for the two minutes the stylist needed to pull the front down to trim it. He kept growling at her. But, he survived and now he is happy with his hair out of his face. So he got a treat. A Happy Meal.