Snow... and other beginnings of our day

"Mom! Can I go sledding?!" 
I remember being so excited for snow as a kid myself. One of the many aspects I enjoy about homeschooling is that we can be flexible with our daily schedule. So today, Trey started his day out in the snow, taking his sled up and down our hill for 40 minutes or so. 

​Wednesdays in February are our computer science days, when a local computer hardware

expert comes to the house and gives Trey a 1 hour tutorial on disassembling and learning the parts of a desktop computer tower. As Trey's strengths and weaknesses begin to become apparent, I find that he does best with one-on-one, hands-on learning.
This discovery goes hand-in-hand with his reading and writing struggles (more about that later), and offers me with many options for celebrating and encouraging his talents. 

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Puppies!! 
When Trey and I both began to suspect that Fannie Grace was pregnant, we would look at each other, clench our hands excitedly and squeal, "Puppies!!!!". 
Tom would shake his head. He couldn't understand why were were so excited. 4 1/2 months later, Trey's pup, Dove, is coming along as a lovely little dog. 
Pictured here with her sire, Ranger, you can see she has grown quite a bit! 
Our next challenge with Dove is teaching recall. So far, we've had minimal success - so I'll be kicking her training into high gear this month. In my experience, the best way to teach recall is to put the pup on a long leash and with a partner, take turns calling the pup, rewarding them when they come, and then the partner repeats the process. The long leash ensures that if she gets sassy, she can't go that far. 
​Training takes quite a bit of time, but it's always worth a well-trained dog!