Homeschooling

Generally homeschooling has gone better than I expected (thank you to Silvia, Jen and others who have been praying). On a typical weekday, David leaves the apartment early, I get up, have coffee, check email and do a few chores before the boys awake. They eat breakfast and try to start schoolwork by about 9 a.m., which seems late but we usually go to bed later here than at home. We try to put in at least three hours of work. Both boys do math almost everyday, which David corrects. Some days Carter teaches Stephen Latin (for pay) and two afternoons a week a Dartmouth student comes to the apartment to tutor Italian. I'm overseeing a few literature and writing projects. Some subjects we've put off until we get home, such as science and Carter's Latin. The boys have been for the most part cooperative, though Carter resists cello and Stephen is often distracted by the people, cats and dogs in the complex. It's also difficult to teach in this small space because everybody hears everybody's conversations, so concentration is futile. Of course the field trips are wonderful and really everyday in a foreign culture is a learning experience. In a few hours we leave for Perugia to visit Giovanna and her daughter Cristina and son-in-law Davide. They own a farm there.