Lessons from the Ninth Week

We have started preparing for Science Olympiad this week. Although the coaches are still recruiting, they have already put assignments out for our children to work on. We might even add another event by the end of the week. Not sure yet. Our kids have to go through a try-out.

Boy lying on a log

Being in nature allows children to hug a log, among other things.

I will announce our final events next week, when we know for sure what they will have to do. Until then, suffice it to say that we are excited. And a bit nervous. Science Olympiad takes extra time to prepare. But the lesson is, stay positive, get organized, and keep calm. Keep Calm and Science Olympiad. Now there’s an idea for a T-shirt.

Meanwhile, our nature time with Wild + Free Great Smoky Mountains happened at Metcalf Bottoms. We hiked to the Little Greenbrier School (1.6 miles), had a picnic, and played in the river.

Little Greenbrier School

Some of our children inside the Little Greenbrier School

The Second Lesson

In addition to this, I decided we needed to cover more math curriculum per day. We can do four pages per day if we reduce the number of exercises we tackle. Even the curriculum creator, Maria Miller, recommends skipping problems according to the child’s needs. For those who want to know, we use Math Mammoth.

Therefore, I told the kids to let me pick a few problems and exercises for them. Or, they could choose to do the odd or the even items on every page.

To clarify, we decide what to do on the day, based on the lesson. The change in their attitude was palpable. Being able to skip around and not get bogged down by all the stuff on those math pages liberated them. In fact, it made the willing to do more than I asked!

Metcalf Bottoms

Not all pictured, but we had four moms, nine children, and one river

They both asked me, “Is it OK if I do one more?” Or they said, “Under exercise 4, I went ahead and did a-j, even though you only assigned a-d. It was fun!”

Above all, this is an answer to prayer. I have been asking for wisdom. That’s all I need. Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom. All you need is wisdom. The rest will take care of itself.

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