Reflection Poems from my Solitude Retreat

Here are some photo and poem glimpses into my solitude retreat:

My home for five nights. This was my first time in the cabin called "Grace" (all my previous retreats have been in "Joy" and "Wonder")

the "pregnant" tree outside my cabin window 

the sitting area (I spent a lot of time in that chair!) leading into the kitchen area

the desk area

my view out the window

All of the cabins at Cedars of Peace have a journal where fellow sojourners staying in that cabin share their reflections. I always read through all the previous journal entries and then add my own at the end of my stay.

I usually reflect a lot via poetry in between my reading, singing, and hiking:

Connected (8-23-22)

My connectedness brain is seeing on new levels

    how trees are connected to each other and to us

    how bees are connected to 1/3 of every mouthful of food

    how body and soul are connected

    how sleep and spiritual growth are connected

When I haphazardly pull a leaf off a tree,

    it hampers its ability to produce food and grow

When I kill a bee to keep it from stinging me,

    it can no longer pollinate the nearby plants

When I sit sedentarily all day to sharpen my mind,

    I'm lessening the likelihood that my mind will have a working body

        forty years from now

When I wake up super early to read my Bible,

    I'm less effective in living out what I've read

        because I'm too tired and cranky

What I do

    affects more than just me

I am to grow up in every way...

    so that

        when each part is working properly

            the body grows

                so that

            it builds itself up in love

Family and friends and fellow believers

Trees and bees and chimpanzees

Body and mind and spirit

All are connected

And it matters, in this community,

    that I do my part

    that I am rooted and established

        because You have plans for my branches (and roots!)

Solitude Day Two (8-24-22)

Here's what my Tuesday/Day Two looked like:

    finally woke to light instead of dark, so I got up

    walked to Joseph's Lake

        (stopped there because my socks were too wet to get to Mary's)

    wrote in gratitude journal, finished Amazing Love Story

    observed and reflected about the dewy spider webs    

    headed back when my hoodie got too hot

    took communion at some point

    enjoyed a big bowl of oatmeal

    wrote song for John 15:18-27

    took a shower and braided my hair

    read first eight chapters of The Fisherman's Lady

    wrote out beginning of John 15

    ate some crackers and hummus

    walked to Cedars library to look for Lewin and Berry poems

    came back with Hidden Life of Trees and art supplies

    read eight chapters of Hidden Life of Trees

    ate jam bar + yogurt + coconut + walnuts

    sang John 15 song again

    read through my old journal entries

    read two chapters of The Good and Beautiful God

    walked to Mary's Lake and reflected on the sycamore swing

    closed the windows and curtains

    fixed more delicious burritos

    perused Grace journals again

    read a chapter of Holier than Thou

    sang and played praise songs 

           None Like You, God of Wonders, Praise Be, Holy Holy)

    stopped when fingers hurt (for lack of callouses)

    wrote more poems

    read through John 14

    brushed teeth and headed for bed!

Quantifiable (8-27-22)

I feel so much more productive 

    reading books

    or writing poetry

    than I do sitting

                    quieting

                     noticing

                    sensing

                    beholding

and perhaps it's because

    reading and writing

        have a tangible end-PRODUCT

            # of books read

            # of poems read

How can I quantify the value

    of sitting still surrounded by nature?

Is it any less valuable

    when there's nothing visible to show

        for my time spent?

Yet soul care often can be quantified

    and being still is a prerequisite for knowing God

Here Comes the Night (8-22-22)

The sun is sinking low on the horizon

    painting the countryside golden

And as I bask in the warmth and beauty 

    of the sunset

        I'm all too well aware

        which is my least favorite time here

You've delivered me out of so many fears

        and panicked anxiety

        and worst case scenarios

        and step-step-steps outside my window (was it a deer?)

    since my first nights here

But still,

    I dread the nighttime

    just as I dread change

                        and childbirth

                        and getting older

                       (and everyone around me getting older, too)

I know You're faithful

and I know You're with me

and I know You've gently led me through the night here

    but that's part of my fear --

        the fear of what You might ask me to do

            in the middle of the night

Sometimes You whisper to me in the middle of the night

    and I'm learning to be obedient

        but that doesn't make it any easier

            to step out into the dark,

                terrified of what's lurking in the shadows

                    but knowing You're holding my hand

You taught me trust and obedience then,

    but can I get a different lesson this time around?

    or maybe the same lesson but at a different time of day?

            that the sunset ushers in the night

Holy God (8-23-22)

My praise muscles have become weak

    Is it atrophy from apathy?

    Lack of regular times of worship with fellow believers?

    Too much of an inward focus -- on me and my needs?

    Singing primarily the verses I'm working on?

Jackie Hill Perry is taking me on a tour of Your holiness --

    how complete transcendent

                            other-worldly

                            self-existent

                            above all

                            higher, greater

                                You are

King Uzziah, like all other earthly kings before and since,

    was limited by scope and time

        52 years

        (a lot to me,

        a blink to You)

It was the year he died that Isaiah saw the High King

    We throw around titles like "King of kings" and "Almighty"

          without stopping to ponder them

Holy isn't just an attribute -- it's You

    You are holy

    holiness = You

    and You don't switch in and out of attributes

        one day loving

        the next day vengeful

    It's all You all the time

My response?

    Praise. There is no one like You!

    Repentance. I am a woman of unclean lips.

    A desire for holiness. Set me apart for Your purposes.

"Better" (8-25-22)

 

I confess

    that sometimes I consider myself superior

        when I'm doing something like

            reading a ton of books

            memorizing the book of John

            spending days in silence and solitude

(please forgive me)

but I got to thinking...

    which is more holy?

        me spending these days cloistered away with my Maker?

        or Lucas sacrificing time, energy, and sanity so I could be here?

Is one "better" than the other?

Is one more esteemed or valued?

Oh, that I wouldn't live as Judge

                                    playing the comparison game

                   constantly weighing where I fit on my self-made hierarchy

Nature Poems from my Solitude Retreat

I recently spent 6 glorious days at a solitude retreat at Cedars of Peace in Nerinx, Kentucky.  This was my 10th retreat in one of the cabins there. Each time, it's a different experience, but all of them, spanning across all four seasons, have included time in nature -- observing, noticing, slowing, wondering, reflecting, connecting... Here are some of my nature-themed poems from my August retreat:

Dewy Spiderweb (8-23-22)

Dew

Ew!

Now I have wet shoes!

Spiderwebs

Blech!

Better knock it down quick!

Yet this morning

I'm seeing the wonder of dew when

Once invisible web designs

are now thinly illumined.

Twenty micro droplets

on an inch of webbing

Thirty ever-widening arcs

in each tiny section

Twenty-one sections

give-or-take a few

all now marvelously highlighted

by the simplicity of dew

Four mini flying bugs

caught while traveling by her

I guess the spider's goal

was for more than me to admire

Swaying with the swing

Strong yet delicate

Even without a photo remembrance

I hope I won't soon forget.

The Trail Behind Me (8-23-22)

I can see her overnight trail

    from this post

    to that plant

    and around a bit

    before making the leap to a sister plant

    and after the frame was in place

    back and forth

    criss-cross again and again

    occasionally adding an anchor for strength

And my day-to-day life

    feels a bit like that spider's 

    A lot of back and forth

    down a little, over a little,

    and back again

    and the same repetitive tasks

    and going through the motions

But what I don't realize

    is that there's a trail behind me

    and that all this back-and-forth

    that seems mundane and repetitive

    is weaving a masterpiece

If I neglect the back and forth,

    the world will miss out

    on the design

    I was designed to contribute.

The Web Doing Its Work (8-23-22)

It's work to weave a spider web

    Busy, busy back and forth

                        over and under

                        in and out

    but now I don't see the spider anywhere

While she rests from her labors,

    her web is working for her

    and it will be worth it

        when she wakes up to a breakfast

            already caught for her

It's work to plant an orchard

    tilling the soil

    planting the seeds

    tending the saplings

    protecting, scaffolding

    watering, watering, watering

Eventually, rest does come

    and the trees continue to grow

        even while the farmer sleeps

    but, unlike the spider's overnight harvest,

        it will take years

            for the farmer to ever taste

                the fruits from his labor

            but when the apples are gathered by the bushel,

                it will be worth it.

It's work to raise a family

    setting routines into place

    responding with grace yet again

    washing the dishes, knowing they will soon by dirty again

    correcting and training in righteousness

    fostering a mutual love among siblings

    allowing more and more responsibilities and independence over time

    teaching them all they need to know to launch successfully

And sometimes the growth is visible

    and sometimes I wonder if it's worth the effort

        but I come to the point

            when I have to step back

                and pray that the web I've created

                    will do what it was meant to do

                    even if I don't see the results overnight

                and that, in all my failings    

                                        and inadequacies,

                    my orchard will bear fruit

                and that, years from now,

                    I will know that all the mundane

                                                        ordinary

                                                        grueling work

                                                I put my hands to today

                                                    was worth it.

Tree Education (8-23-22)

Pre-Covid (and pre-1000 hours outside challenge and pre-Seek app)

    the only tree I could identify by sight

         was a maple

        (because we had two in the front yard of my childhood home)
I'm still quite a novice

    at identifying trees

        but I'm on the path of learning

And in the process

    I've come to love two trees in particular:
        the tulip poplar

        and the sycamore

I became enraptured with the tulip poplar

    when I kept noticing the telltale green, yellow, and orange blossoms

        on the path during a spring hike

        (not realizing at first that they came from above, not below)

    I saw more at Bernheim Forest

        (where another curious hiker found and shared the name with me)

    and there's even one just down the street from me.

And I remember my father-in-law

    supplying the name "sycamore"

        for the stately central tree in our backyard forest

I love the patchwork white, cream, and gray bark

    especially as I sit on the sycamore swing at Cedars of Peace

And now I share my new-found tree love with my boys:
    See that green, yellow, and orange blossom up there?

        That's a tulip poplar!

    See that patchy cream bark?

        That's a sycamore!

And we've felt the poke of holly leaves

    and found geocaches nestled in cedars

    and thrown maple propellers high in the air

    and hunted for acorn caps beneath oaks

My education

    is becoming their education

I don't want them to grow up to be adults

    who know only one tree.

Color Combination (8-26-22)

"I love the combination

    of a bright-blue sky

        over a canopy of lush green.

For me, this color combination

    is Nature at its most idyllic

    and the most relaxing color combination I can imagine."

After reading this,

    I looked up to take in

        that blue-green combination

            in front of me

        but since the sycamore leaves blocked the sky,

    I looked first at the reflection in the lake

And it was there, in the lake mirror,

    that I saw a rainbow!

What?!

There's hasn't been a lick of rain in the sky

    or else I would know to look

Rainbows can be the result of rain + sun

    but they can also be the result of a loving Creator

        longing to showcase His love for me, 

            here on Mary's Lake

The shade

The setting sun

The breeze

The rainbow reflection

    (dare I say, an even better color combination than blue-green)

All gifts

    from You to me

I love You, too :-)

Homeschooling Phase 5.0 - Year 3 (ideas)

This bulleted list is a typed-out version of my page of brainstorming for the 2022-2023 homeschooling year.  I mostly wanted a digital record (since it's hard to look back and find the pages I want in a notebook) so that a few months into the year, I can see if we're on track and want to add or remove.

Subject Ideas

• Littles - 101 Things to Do book, Blossom and Root curriculum?, Family Math, 1 recipe/week, Wee Sing songs
• Math - EP offline workbook, IXL, Family Math (1 activity/week)
• Bible - Torchlighters, Lessons from the Land (Appian Media), Long Story Short, Leviticus book, Not Consumed, 14:6 The Way Bible Memory, How Great is our God devotions, catechism?, 1-2 hymns/month
• Reading - 40 book challenge (deeply and widely), weekly reflection letter to me, reading to each other, independent reading, audiobook together, ideas from Sarah Mackenzie about teaching reading without a curriculum, conversations about what we're/they're reading!
• Language Arts - EP offline workbook, poetry memorization (IEW), Red Hot Root Words (1/week), spelling as they miss words
• Science - EP biology (2nd semester)
• History - Ancient History (1st semester), D'Aulaire's book of Greek myths
• Foreign Language - Japanese (TalkBox.Mom)
• Art - 1 element/month using art elements book, weekly art time, ancient art?
• Music - piano weekly, recorder?, Blossom and Root/EP music appreciation
• P.E. - yoga pretzels, 1 sport/month

handwriting? geography? poetry teatime? typing? notebooking?

Weekly

• verse(s)
• art time
• recipe
• Family Math activity
• KET NewsQuiz
• write about what they're reading

Monthly

• two hymns
• element of art
• spot
• country? (food, culture, language, etc.)
• geography challenge

Morning Time

• Bible, prayer, hymn, memory verse
• mentor sentences?
• mental math?
• music/art
• poetry memorization
• catechism
• Japanese
• Wordle/Jumble
• team challenge
• history/biology (may happen after a break)

Independent Time

• math, L.A. workbooks
• IXL (math, L.A. skills), Seterra (geography)
• Code.org? Typing?
• independent reading, Bible reading
• writing
• piano
• chore(s)

What We’re Reading Together

    Some people like to read (and finish) one book at a time. I am not one of those people.  

    This is also how I clean the house.  My husband would rather clean one room in entirety.  I'd rather flit around from room to room, making each room a small percentage better.

    In my own reading, I have multiple books I'm reading at any given time, and I have carried this over into read alouds with the boys.  We read picture books every day together, but these are the chapter books/longer books we're currently working through:

• Who Was King Tut? - We actually just finished this one.  In history, we were studying ancient Egypt, and I always love pulling in a Who Was?/What Was? book when I can because I love the series, and we can always learn a lot in a short matter of time.  Last year in history, we read the ones about George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Helen Keller, the Summer Olympics, and the Civil Rights Movement.
• The Children of Noisy Village - This is by the same author as the Pippi Longstocking books and is also based in Sweden.  I like that the chapters are short (often even short enough to hold the little boys' interest!), and they are each a stand-alone story, so it's okay there's a gap between reading chapters.
• Nate Saint: On a Wing and a Prayer - I had set the goal of reading through three biographies from this series (Christian Heroes Then and Now) this calendar year.  We has already learned about Jim Elliot and Eric Liddell, and I let the boys choose this time around.  I was kind of surprised that they voted for Nate Saint, since the story overlaps a lot with Jim Elliot's.  I have been reading a chapter of this book to the big boys every Sunday after "family church," but since we're almost at the end, we're going to try to finish it this week.
• The Jesus Storybook Bible - We often read random Bible stories from random storybook Bibles, but we're trying to read this one through from beginning to end.  It's tricky because the little boys don't really like any type of storybook Bible, and the big boys already know all the stories, so they feel it's beneath them. I do like how all the stories point to Jesus.
• When Families Pray - Lucas reads a devotional from this book every Sunday for our family church time.
• I've Lost my Hippopotamus - I usually like to have a poetry book that we slowly work through at the end of our evening family reading time.  We're definitely fans of Shel Silverstein, but this one by Jack Prelutsky has been good so far.
• On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness - For our audiobook, we're slowly working through this first book in the Wingfeather Saga series.  I've heard so many raving reviews, but we've really struggled through it.  I tried to read it to the older boys last year, but it was difficult to read aloud with all the crazy names and footnotes.  This time around, we're doing the audiobook narrated by the author, but we're still having a hard time getting into it.  We've got about 3 hours left, and I couldn't even tell you much of what's happened in the first 5 hours.  I'm hoping it redeems itself by the end.

First Week of Homeschooling (Year 3)

    The Thomas Family School of Wonder is officially back in session for Year 3!  We've had somewhat of a rolling start to the school year.  The older boys have started working through their math and language arts workbooks, and we had started our Ancient Egypt unit while in Indiana.  But as far as officially getting back to our schedule with morning time, independent time, and outside time, that began the day after Labor Day.  I was planning on starting on Labor Day itself, but Lucas had a horrible toothache, and I spent lots of time trying to find a new dentist that accepted our insurance (and, of course, all of them were closed for Labor Day)... and I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be... and I had an out-of-control outburst of anger toward one of my sons and was feeling all sorts of remorse and off-on-the-wrong-foot.  So, we started Tuesday. Ah, the beauty of homeschooling flexibility...

    Here is what our table often looks like after Morning Time (this was two separate days):

 

And here's the day the Pokemon came to school:

Here's the "morning song" I've been playing around 8:00 to give everyone a reminder to brush their teeth and head to the table!

 I'll rotate it out to other songs eventually (some of our favorites have been the "Good Morning" song by Phil Joel, "Mind Set on Jesus" with Tamesha Pruett, and "Good Morning" by Mandisa).

Schedule

     Our "typical" schedule that we aim for is:

• 8:00 - 9:30 - Morning Time (Cooper and Colson coming in and out as they want)
• 9:30 - 10:30 - Independent Work Time (me focusing on Cooper and Colson)
• 10:30 - 12:30 - Snack, Outside Time
• 12:30 - 1:00 - Lunch
• 1:00 - 2:30 - Self Time (big boys read and play by themselves, Cooper plays by himself, Colson usually takes a nap)
• 2:30 - Snack, back outside or other activities
• 4:30 - Dinner Prep (boys take turns helping)
• 5:00 - Dinner
• 6:30 - Family Reading Time
• 7:00 - Little boys bedtime, big boys have one-on-one or one-on-two time with Mom-Mom and Daddy (till about 8:00, depending on the activity)
• Big boys go to bed when they're tired (Calvin usually around 8:30/9:00; Carter around 9:45)

I say "typical," but we only kept this schedule this week on Tuesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, we went to the library and a park during outside time.  On Friday, we did a shortened morning time and independent time (since they were mostly finished by then) to be able to get to our dentist appointments and a play date at the Children's Garden.

Morning Time

    So, we start around 8:00 for Morning Time. I have the big boys bring their Bibles and hymnals, and I have the pencils and other supplies.  I have some overarching plans and ideas for this year, and I decided to break them down into monthly and weekly plans.  And then from the weekly plans, I check things off as we do them that week. It worked pretty well for our first week.

    And just so it's clear that these are not nice-and-neat, perfectly-laid-out plans, here's what my notebook page looks like:

• Bible - We did Lesson 1 from Lessons from the Land (Appian Media), spreading it out over four days. We watched a video clip about what Bible-time synagogues look like and then read and discussed verses related to Jesus reading from the scroll in Luke 4 (also Isaiah 61 and then others about being brave to be who you are)
• Scripture Memory - We started Week 1 of SMF's 14:6 The Way.  Our verses this week were Genesis 1:1 (all four boys), Genesis 1:27 (Carter and Calvin), and Hebrews 11:3 (Carter). I don't know if we'll all be able to go to Scripture Memory Camp in Louisiana next summer, but I wanted to prepare for the possibility.  The boys will be reciting their verses to their grandmas every week.
• Hymn - The Solid Rock. This was my "class hymn" at Asbury, so it has a special place in my heart. This week, we focused on just getting familiar with it, so we sang all four verses every day.
• Prayer -.We used the Not Consumed J.O.Y. cards and also focused on praying for tribal peoples.
• Poetry Memorization - We're going to work through IEW's Poetry Memorization (Level One) program together.  Our first poem was "Ooey Gooey," which all 4 boys loved.  We also started working on the next poem "Celery."
• Root Word - Our red hot root word of the week is "sub."  We ended up only doing this one day, so I'd like to make sure we're doing a quick review or activity for it every day.
• Japanese - Since we had kind of taken a break from Japanese over the summer, we reviewed the words and phrases that we had already learned. We also watched some Japanese song videos that the boys love.  We usually do this during lunch time instead of morning time, if we're eating at the table at home.
• Discussions - I introduced the 40 book challenge that they'll be doing for reading this year.  I also worked with them individually to get their reading logs and genre requirement graphs up to date. Next week, we'll take some notes together on key aspects of the different genres.
• Wordle - This was a big hit! My boys LOVE playing different Wordle games with my mom when we're in Indiana. Instead of being on the phone, we played offline, whether doing individual words on small white boards or doing one together on the big board.  Our words this week were water, super, and plant.
• History - We finished our unit on Ancient Egypt by discussing papyrus, tombs, mummies, and King Tut. We also finished the book we had been reading Who Was King Tut?  We started the new unit on Mesopotamia by talking about some of the empires in that area and listening to a few chapters from The Story of Mankind.
• Read Alouds - Here's a list of the chapter books we're in the middle of these days.  We don't read all of them every day, but I'll grab time here and there when the little boys are occupied (like when we're all outside or when we're all playing with something at the table or after their bedtime).  Sometimes, during morning time, I'll read picture books to everyone at the couch (we also usually do this every night before bed).  And when we're driving longer distances in the van, we have an audiobook.
• Current Events - Every Friday for the past six years (back when I was teaching 4th and 5th grades), I've watched KET's NewsQuiz show.  It's excellent and focuses on kid-friendly news events from Kentucky and around the world.  Interspersed through the news stories are ten simple quiz questions.  It's about 15 minutes, and all four of my boys are super engaged as we watch together.
• Specials
• Music - We ended up not doing any music this week. My goal is to do some music appreciation related to our history unit and then have the boys work on a song every week on the piano. Hopefully, we'll start this next week!
• P.E. - We're focusing on a sport every month (not necessarily to become proficient but to know the gist of how to play and how to watch the game), and this month we're doing football.  We started with a few kid-friendly introductory videos on YouTube.
• Art - We're focusing on the elements of art every month, so this month we kicked off our study of "line."  I had them draw vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines in their notebooks, and then we did some collage using those types of lines.

Family Math - I purchased three used Family Math books (younger children, elementary, and middle school, since I've got all three!) and plan to do one activity a week as a large group or with individuals.  This week with all of them, I measured a piece of yarn to match their heights (and we also measured them against the wall) and then put them in separate clear bags to see if they could guess which string was whose.  I had Carter and Calvin play a game (that Carter didn't care for), and I processed through with Carter a problem-solving situation involving a buy one, get one free deal.  And technically, Monopoly wasn't in the Family Math book, but I played a to-the-death round with the big boys that lasted over two hours, and it incorporated lots of math! Can you tell who won? Look at all that money I had, compared to theirs!

Independent Time

I gave the boys a checklist similar to previous years with tasks for them to complete over the course of the week.  These included:

• math and language arts workbook lessons to correct from the previous week (and/or follow up with me one-on-one about) and to complete this week
• geography practice on the Seterra website (the goal being to identify all the African countries on the map by the end of the week)
• math and language arts practice on the IXL website. We have a subscription for both of them that tracks their progress in various specific skills
• reading to themselves 30 minutes every day from a 40 book challenge book
• reading the Bible every day (Carter has challenged himself to read through the whole Bible this calendar year, so he's working through that. Calvin is almost finished with the Action Bible)
• writing a letter to me about what they're reading. I'll read these over the weekend and write out a response to them. I did this with my 4th and 5th graders, and it was a great way to connect and discuss reading!

Of course, they were drawn to the online activities and did those first.  By Thursday, they still hadn't started on their workbooks and had a lot of catching up to do!  I'm not sure whether to let them continue to control their own pace or if I should space out the workbook lessons a bit more (and assigning certain ones to certain days).

Little Boys

One of the main things I tried with the little boys this week was an activity in the Family Math book about labeling an egg carton with numbers and having them count out the correct number of beans for each slot.  They both did really well with this! I also wanted to try a recipe this week with them to make bread dough, but we ended up not having time for that.

 

Outside Time

We were outside every day this week -- sometimes after morning time and independent time and sometimes earlier in the morning.  On Thursday, we took our morning time outside and did our art lesson and workbook time at the table in our front yard.

Fieldtrips

We stayed home on Tuesday and Thursday but took a few fieldtrips on Wednesday and Friday.

• library! This may not seem like a big deal, but this was the first time I had taken all 4 boys to the library since the pandemic began 2.5 years ago! We go to the library every week but always to pick up our hold items. I had taken Carter inside once, Calvin inside twice, and Cooper once (last week), but with the boys all vaccinated, we went in all together this time.  They picked out books and played!

• Harrods Hill Park - this is the park closest to our favorite library, so we spent some time there after picking up our books. Here's Cooper taking a break as we walked around the track together (everyone had to do a lap before they could play on the playground). Cooper also started a pine cone collection, which I thought was a great idea until the stubborn sap would not come off our hands even after rubbing them with hand sanitizer over and over.

• dentist - It had been awhile since the boys had been to the dentist, so I scheduled them all at the same time at a new dentist on our insurance plan. The boys all enjoyed themselves (the kid shows in the lobby and during dental work were a hit, of course!).

• Children's Garden - our homeschool social group was meeting up at the Children's Garden, so we joined them after the dentist appointments. The boys loved exploring the trains, plants, dirt, and pond and playing with the other kids.  Calvin especially loves the social interactions. Carter liked catching some minnows in the pond. Colson always gravitates toward the trains, and Cooper liked playing by the old cabin.

There were some things we didn't have time for (which will always be the case!), but overall, I'm pleased with our first full week of homeschooling for Year 3! Now we have 3 weeks to settle into this new routine before our baby comes and changes everything!