The Most Fun

Recently, my oldest went back to school. It was a very difficult decision to make but ultimately we knew it was in his best interest. The transition continues but for the most part he's adjusting well. When I asked him the other day if he's making any friends or meeting people, he told me that he doesn't have time for that, he's focused on his school work. Wow. I guess it's hard to argue there. He's so responsible with his school work it amazes me.

With only one child left at home, school is a little different than in the past. Nolan is taking several classes away from home and he's able to much of his work independently. I've been able to get some home projects done but still spend part of each day working on school with Nolan. We've been studying chemistry this year and for his birthday, Nolan received a really nice chemistry set. We had some difficulty with the alcohol burner but got it up and running last week. We were studying separating mixtures and so were able to perform several different methods of separating: chromatography, evaporation and distillation. 

What I've been realizing more and more this year is how much Nolan enjoys hands-on learning. He is perfectly capable of learning by all the methods, auditory, visual, etc., but he loves hands on. He told me he felt so happy while doing these experiments. I'm sure the fire had a lot to do with it but I have to remember to give this kids lots of hands on experiences to make the end of our school year as meaningful as possible.