Tuesday, August 21, 2012

1850MOD Week 2 Days 1 & 2

Well, things are cruising along.

Yesterday I was sure the kids hadn't memorized the Eastern border states, but when I tested them today, they did know them. They really LOVE playing state rummy. We decided that you could make a run as long as the states were touching in some way. So, like New York and Massachusetts could be a run, even though they're not touching along a border.

Almost all subjects went fine yesterday, even though we started a little late. We still got through History by lunch (and there was no science).

After lunch Rabbit had a Math test - she got a 60%. Sigh. Most of her mistakes were typical of her: reversing numbers, not realizing she needed to borrow, switching to subtraction in the middle of an addition problem. Her dyslexia does that to her. And, all the stuff she missed was from Lesson 1 and Lesson 3. So, I've decided we're going to have to work ALL the mixed problems until her test scores improve.

I had to leave for an appointment, so she read her science to herself after I left. She took some notes, but I told her not to do the experiments.

Today went okay, though we didn't finish until 3:45. The boys had a practice page in Math, so I wrote their problems for them in their notebooks, and they worked the problems. Pooh needs lots of encouragement to stay on task, but he did get it done. Everything else is going pretty smoothly. We're not moving very fast in spelling with Pooh, but it is hard for him to remember how to write letters.

For Rabbit, we did Math until I saw that she was shutting down (got through Mixed Practice #16). So, we took a quick snack break and switched to Science. We did the experiments from yesterday, and then today's reading. After that, we finished the last 14 problems in math in 15 minutes. She was surprised, so we talked about how when her brain shuts down at math, it is okay to switch to something different, and then come back to it. I wasn't sure if we really needed to do the word problems exactly as the Saxon book said to do them. The word problems were all easy (as compared to Singapore), and she knew how to solve them without setting them up the way the Saxon book recommended. She didn't like having to do more work when she knew how to solve them, so I would set them up, and then she would solve them. I know why the book did it that way, but part of me says if you can find the right answer then it is fine.

I'm really pleased with how Rabbit is doing on her independent work. She doesn't always get the answers right, but she does work hard and try to get it done.

Only two more days this week, as Friday I have a used curriculum sale to go to and try to sell off my old Abeka stuff and maybe my MFW 1st grade. Not sure if I want to let go of 1st grade yet. 

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