1850MOD: Week 8

We finished up Week 8 today. This week had more times where the boys sat in on the older reading. The boys really like the See the USA and the Fun Facts workbooks. They like to read the paragraph on the one page and then answer the questions on the next. Yesterday there was a question and although the boys couldn't do the math, they recognized that they needed to do multiplication to solve it. I think they like the challenges the books present, but the lessons only take 5 or 10 minutes. This week I've really tried to make sure we play the state games in the teacher's manual. The State Food game was a challenge. There are only so many "n" foods we could come up with: nachos, noodles, nectarines, nuts. The letter "m" was also a challenge. 

The boys are really enjoying the science, too. They love the experiments. We had to be a little creative on yesterday's experiment because we don't have rectangular margarine tubs here. So, I had them find one of their smaller Lego boats. Then we found a couple of rods from their Legos and K'nex blocks. We duct-taped those to the side of the boat, and then made the paddle as suggested in the book. It didn't seem to work as well as the book said, but we did get the paddle to turn and move the boat some.

The history for Rabbit seemed a bit lighter this week - I think because there was no reading on day 2. But that was good, because some of the chapter in Across Five Aprils have been long! We've been listening to the audio book (from the library) at lunch - I highly recommend doing that. I've been reading On the Banks of the Plum Creek to the kids at lunch, too.

We started up multiplication this week. The boys are kind of liking it because it is something new. They are not liking having to memorize the facts, though. I have made several different helps. The first is a multiplication table, with the numbers across the sides and top. The second is a book with each set on a different page. So all the times 1 are on the first page, times 2 on the second, etc. I dug out my multiplication flashcards, and I found some multiplication drill sheets in my Calculadders. I'm not timing the drill sheets yet, but I do think the idea of just writing the answers, even if they are looking at their multiplication table or book for the answers, will help them memorize it. Today Tigger figured out that times 2 just means to double the other number. He knows his addition facts pretty well, so that made the times 2's easy. Not so much on the times 3's.

The last couple of days, Rabbit has listened to her science by herself. She said today she took lots of notes because she found it really interesting. She has also been trying to read through the math lessons on her own and at least attempt them. Today was working with decimal numbers. She said at first she had trouble understanding about where to place the decimal point after multiplying, but then after she copied the problem from the book it finally made sense to her. I'm really proud with how hard she is trying.

We're still having trouble working the Progeny Press guide and Writing Strands into our day. We finally finished a Writing Strands lesson and moved on to the next section in the Progeny Press guide. Not only do the kids need check-lists, but I need one to remind me what I need to work on with her each day.

Over all it's been a good week. Tomorrow we have Presentation Day with our homeschool group. That always messes up the schedule. Plus we have piano lessons. We may end up doubling up some assignments on Friday just so we don't get our days off.

1850MOD: Up to Week 7

We're really in the middle of week 8, but I thought I might get things updated.

Let's see... Bible is going fine. Some weeks the kids do better at memorizing the verse, than others. But, since they are already memorizing for AWANA I don't make it a big deal. Tigger has decided he wants to do all his copywork and dictation in cursive, even though he hasn't learned all the letters. That's fine, it just takes him longer to write in cursive, but he has the neatest handwriting. 

In history we had to learn the capitals. Rabbit and Tigger memorized them all. Pooh got 40 out of 50. I bought the Stack the States game for my iPad and I think that will help Pooh learn his states and capitals a lot better. 

I've been trying to make sure we get in the science for the boys. Pooh really enjoys science and thinks it is fun. We had one experiment (where you put a paper towel between two rulers and stick it in water) that at first we didn't think was working, but we left it for a couple of hours, and when we came back to it, it had worked! I wish the book would have given some indication on how long to wait. 

Most other things are going pretty well. Pooh's reading is gradually improving. At the beginning of the year he was only reading 5 to 6 pages in 10 minutes, and now he is up to 8 or 9 pages. So that's a big improvement. Math is going well with the boys. Tigger seems to have most of his math facts (at least addition) down. I'm not sure Pooh will ever be speedy on his math facts. I have them do xtramath.com and Math Blaster (on my iPad) every day as practice. We start multiplication soon, so I really want them to get these.

I feel bad for Rabbit some days. I'm having a hard time working in going over the Progeny Press guide with her, Writing Strands, and then checking her English and Spelling. And then, when I finally do, I see how many mistakes she's made. It is very hard to do her General Science and the regular science with the program for the boys. Plus, her math takes about 1 hour every day. We're not getting done with the core stuff before lunch, so that makes the days quite long. I keep thinking we'll figure out a better way to do this, but it never seems to work. Sigh.

Oh well, we're plowing along and getting school done. This week we have Presentation Day with our homeschool group, so that is going to mess a bunch of stuff up. Hopefully I will remember to get the kids prepared before Thursday morning.