Needs improvement

 One of the worst things about being home with the kids is not being able to tell what is really a problem & what is just the kids not wanting to do their work. The kids are always tired and their really is not any reason for them to be. Im not sure if the problem is their just bored. I try to make things exciting, but the fact is some work is boring. It's work that just needs to be done & that is a very important life lesson. Not everything is fun! Laundry is not fun, going to work is not fun, paying bills is not fun, but it is a part of life that has to be done. How do I instill in them the values of excellence & diligence?

On the plus side of homeschooling is seeing firsthand what they need to work on, but for my own benefit I need to make note of this and refer to it often. For instance today I have noticed that Killian has problems with reading comprehension, but his listening skills are very good. If its read to him he can answer with no problem. Kinda of strange to think Killian has good listening skills, but this lets me in on the fact that he does understand when asked to do something. Although he would have me believe he doesn't.

I also noticed that Lotus is struggling with her reading comprehension, but her listening skills seem to be a bigger hurdle for her. If I read aloud a story to her she has a hard time narrating it back to me. Mostly this only seems to be a problem when it comes to literary reading.

I also have noticed Lotus making the same spelling mistakes. (i.e. silent e, th, changing y to ies in past tense form & y that makes the e sound at the end of a word). Killian however does wonderfully with his spelling, but his sentence structure needs to be worked on.

Already today I taught Lotus some skills when reading textual info, but I plan on using some methods to improve her listening skills which should also help with her reading comprehension. We used some of them while listening to the reading of "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" today.