May already!?!

So...my “doing shorter blog posts more frequently” idea didn't work out!!! Whoops! My husband has been working away a lot lately so I just haven’t had the time to sit and write! Is it really May already!?!

We have continued to have an awesome time. Home education is proving to be one of the best decisions we've ever made for our family! Although Michael has struggled with his Daddy being away, he has coped so much better than he used to with the added stresses of school. On difficult days when we find ourselves getting stressed and Michael is unable to focus on anything, I just have to remind myself that he would have still been in this emotional state at school, it’s just I wouldn't have been there to help him to regulate. Self regulation is something Michael finds very very hard, but is something we are seeing great improvement in. Recently we had a house full of noisy children (mostly Michael and Steven’s cousins). Usually this level of noise would result in Michael running around like a mad thing, unable to focus and wetting himself. This time however he came to me saying, “Mummy, it is getting too loud for me! Please can I do a quiet activity in the kitchen?” This is a MASSVE break through! He sat and cut up straws (practicing with scissors is one of the ways we have been exercising his hands to help with pen grip) at the kitchen table. He has also started taking himself off to our reading nook when I vacuum. Loud noises are difficult for Michael and he used to scream and run around whenever I vacuumed. Now he reads! And Steven gets his toy vacuum cleaner out and follows me around the house! So cute! 

A few weeks ago I found Michael reading an encyclopaedia after I had vacuumed. He had decided he wanted to know more about how hovercrafts worked (he had been playing with a toy one that morning). When I walked in he said "Mummy can I borrow your phone please? I decided to look up about hovercrafts and I'd like to see a video of one working so I can see how the flexible skirt works". THIS is what home education is all about!

Rather than write a really long post now, I think I will leave this one here and write a few shorter ones to cover a little about what we've been up to. That way you can pick and choose what you read! I’ll leave you with photos of our steam engine that we made today...