It's been a quiet weekend at home. The kids have completed their first week at school. It's a totally different learning environment than they are accustomed to and they are relieved to be able to spend a couple days at home. The 9 to 5pm schedule is quite long for them, particularly Daniel. After one week they have already learned to dread Mondays!

On the bright side of things, Charles has said he feels like his Spanish has doubled in the week he's been at school. I was impressed one day when I heard the gym teacher tell him (in Spanish) he could either leave his backpack close by, or better yet, take it up to the classroom and come back down for gym class. The moment the teacher stopped speaking, Charles turned around and headed to his classroom--and my heart leaped for joy, knowing he had understood.

During the days while the kids are at school, besides daily household tasks, I've been studying on my own. It's great to have enough time to oneself to concentrate! I found a magazine for 7-year olds at the library that is just the right level of Spanish. Fortunately the library has many issues, so I have a lot of reading material!

I've also been watching TV to aid listening comprehension. In some scientific report on reading, I read that the "average TV show" uses a smaller vocabulary than the "average preschool book." I never expected that to MOTIVATE me to watch television, but dumbed-down Spanish is exactly what I'm looking for! Amusing, isn't it?

Duane left early this AM for a conference in Oxford, England. He'll return late Wednesday night.