EXP1850 Week 27

Yep, we're at Week 27 now. Let's see. We finished James 4 memorization. That last verse is so convicting: "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do but doesn't do it, sins." Need to copy that one and put it around the house in strategic places!

There were a lot of booklets from the science lapbook this week, so I split that reading up over two days, instead of one. Then, we went outside and did the activity looking for the terminal bud scar. At first we had trouble finding them. We looked on our snowball bush, and our crab apple tree, and another bush. We finally found some branches on the snowball bush and crab apple tree that seemed to show the terminal bud scars. (Of course, any good excuse to go outside for school is a big hit with the kids.)

In history the big focus this week was Napolean, the 1812 War, and Waterloo. We also spent a day on South American history and their revolutions. Theirs was a bit messier, I think. The kids think the state sheets are getting old, so today I found a picture of the state bird and state flower and printed them out, and let the kids cut them out and glue or tape them onto their state page. I was given the title "super-mom" for allowing such a deviation from the regular routine. They still had to write the postal code and capital city name, though. I told them I might not allow it every time, but since today was a "light" day, and we had all our activities today, I would make it something that took less time.

All of the kids have advanced one level in All-About-Spelling. Rabbit is at Level 6, but she got really frustrated today reviewing the red cards and yellow cards. I know she wants to get on with the "spelling" part of it, but she really needs to get those phonographs better. She mostly has trouble with the vowel teams. Tigger is on level 3. Again, a little frustration today with the red cards, but he did fine, really. He'll get through step 1 soon. Pooh is actually on step 2 of level 2. He did spell his words today. He did fine on all except one. Keeping a good attitude in spelling is tough some days for all of them.

I've added in Little Giant Steps Rapid Recall System for learning math facts - especially for Pooh and Tigger. Pooh is really struggling, even with +1 facts. Sometimes he knows the answer, but can't remember how to write the number, other times he just can't remember the next number. I talked to my husband about it, and he says even if he can't do the timed drill in under 2 minutes, we ought to keep going trying to learn the next set of five. I'm going to try having him say the answers to me and me writing and see if we can get him going faster. Part of it is the act of writing that bogs him down.

Rabbit is actually going to finish Singapore 5B by the end of our school year, I think. I'm so proud of her for getting caught up in math. We'll try Saxon as recommended by MFW next, but if it doesn't go well, I may try Life of Fred. I got the one on fractions from the library, and I think she really enjoyed doing that first chapter. We'll just see how it goes. I have the boys working in Singapore 1 Extra Practice books (ordered from their website, not the ones I've found at the teacher-supply store). I just really want them to cement those concepts down before starting 2A. The stuff in math has been a little easier lately, so we've only been spending about 15 minutes each, which has been a nice break.

Officially we only need 21 more days of school, but I really want Rabbit to finish the state report. (I'm not worried about the boys, as they can do it in 7th grade when we do this again.) I think I might order something from statehistory.net to help us along. We got our Colorado magazine and map from our tourism department, and I found census stuff on-line. Now to set aside time to work in the library and such.

Progress and slacking....

Boy, what. slacker I've been about updating the blog this year. We're taking a temporary break this week to work on our geography fair. The kids chose Switzerland as their country. Tigger will talk about the geography of the country and some animals, Pooh will talk about languages, religions, and trains, and Rabbit will handle government and William Tell.

Overall, things are going pretty well in Explorers to 1850. We are in the middle of week 26. The kids seem to actually like doing the state sheets and president sheets. I've been trying to do some of the more fun activities and experiments. We did the make cotton and remove cotton seeds activity, made hasty pudding and scones, and did an experiment where we set a carrot in blue water to see what would happen. I got a color botany lapbook to go with science this year, so we haven't been doing all the notebook assignments, but I'm good with that.

We're going to finish our required number of days of school before we finish the curriculum this year. But, I'm going to have Rabbit go ahead and finish the state report, as our state does require doing some state history. The boys will repeat in 7th grade, so I won't make them do it.

In other good news, Pooh finally finished Level 1 in All-About-Spelling. An awesome accomplishment for him. But, he is really struggling with math facts. All I can say is, "Drill, baby, drill." I know he'll get it eventually, but it is a long, slow process.

EXP1850 Week 3

Okay, so this was a crazy week in school. Dance classes started. Rabbit is taking 2 classes, and the boys 1. Rabbit is taking Ballet II and Worship Dance II at Dance Scene Studios. The boys are taking a boys Hip Hop class. It is a Christian dance studio. At least all the classes are in the evening. I think this gives us a little more flexibility in our scheduling. P.E. Class doesn't start until the beginning of September.

History focused on King James and Jamestown, and some of the exploration for the Northwest Passage. There was one activity, making a wigwam, that we saved until our light and independent Friday (which currently falls on Thursday). We're almost done with it - we just need to cut out a hole in the top and on the side. (I'll post a picture or two when we finish.)

In Science right now we're focusing on Mammals. It is fun to learn about the different sizes and shapes and abilities.

We actually managed to at least read the Art lessons this week. We hardly ever have time to focus on that. And we squeezed music in on the way to piano lessons (can you say car-schooling?).

We started the read-aloud this week. Personally I'm enjoying it. I think Rabbit is too, as the story is told more from the point of view of a girl just a little older than she is.

The hardest part is getting the 2nd and 3rd grade supplement into place. I changed the routine, doing Bible, Spelling, English (or Writing), Reading and Math first. That leaves History and Science for after lunch. I think this has been working much better for us.

EXP1850 Week 2

Whew. We went camping before starting this week on a Thursday. I had nothing prepared like I like to. That made it a little bit hectic.

This week started the memorization of James. Right now we're doing Plan A. That could change as AWANA starts up in September, but right now, we're going for Plan A. It has been challenging, but well worth the effort, so far. I've needed some reminder of those first 4 verses.

I found a History Scribe pack over at CurrClick (for $5) that had lots of topics we'll be covering this year and next (Egypt to the Present). It also included pages on the Indian tribes we'll cover, too. So I bought that to use for some of our History Notebook Pages. Using the "blank" pages from that and good old Photoshop, I made some pages for the kids to fill in for their "summary pages" this week. We did make the Shortbread as described in the T.M. We used fresh-milled whole wheat flour and honey to make it "healthier." My husband said it reminded him of pie crust. He said, "Leave to the Americans to add apples and call it pie." Here's a picture:

In Science, we started looking at the Classification System and Vertebrates. The kids liked the activities. I made a Vertebrates page in Microsoft Word for the kids to show them the fun we can have with our science pages. The boys have been working out of the Complete Book of Animals some, too. We made the model backbone as described in the text.

Math is going fine. Rabbit takes a little bit longer on those Review pages in the Singapore Textbook. It took us 3 days to complete one. We're working on Order of Operations. I let Rabbit use the calculator a little bit, or it would have taken us hours and hours to do those problems. (I only let her use it if a step was NOT a common math fact.) The boys seem to be doing okay with math, though Pooh Bear often needs two or three explanations before it sinks in. He's really having trouble with his math facts, so I get out beans for him to use to do subtraction. Tigger loves Quarter Mile Math, and it really seems to be helping him.

Tigger continues to plow on in Reading and Spelling. He's over halfway through the Abeka 1st grade readers, and he's only got two more steps to finish in All About Spelling Level 1. Pooh Bear continues the slow and steady pace. He can read, but it is a lot more work for him. Spelling goes even slower. But, I've found if I let him do it on a whiteboard, so his letters don't have to be on lines, he does better. Rabbit is reading fine these days. We've been in All About Spelling Level 5 for a while. She is really struggling with some of the concepts at this level.

We've missed quite a few God and the History of Art pages. If I have to let something go, I feel like letting Art go is the easiest thing, because it's not always my interest. But, two of the three kids like drawing. If our days weren't so long, I'd probably do more.

Pooh struggles with Rosetta Stone, but part of that is he doesn't always speak clearly. I've also read that dyslexics have a hard time learning a Foreign Language. Rabbit seems to be mostly liking it - except when she has a hard time pronouncing things. Tigger enjoys it and isn't taking it too seriously. They are all doing Spanish.

I come up with a way to create a flexible schedule. I am using a pocket chart and some wipe-off word strips. Basically it is just to give us the order of the day. If multiple things are listed, the left column is for Rabbit, the middle for Pooh Bear, and the right for Tigger. So, if I'm working with Rabbit on English, the other two have independent stuff to do. Here's what it looks like:

It makes it pretty easy to change the order of the day if I know we have an appointment or something. We turn the cards over as we work through each section. I am thinking about moving Math and Reading before lunch, and History and Science afterwards. I really feel that sometimes the 3 R's get neglected if they're not done right after Bible. But, that is a lot of writing right in a row for the little guys, so I don't know.

Our curriculum break is over!

What have I learned this week... Well, with Math, it is good to have Tigger and Pooh doing Math Drill and Rosetta Stone while Rabbit does Math with me. That gives them more time on those. They probably only take 15 minutes each when it comes to Math time, so that shortens the time on Rosetta Stone and Math Drill for Rabbit. Still not sure that's the best way to do things. The TM implies that you're doing math with all your kids at the same time, going from one to the other, but with my two dyslexic kids, that doesn't work well. I need to watch them do their math and make sure they write their numbers correctly. Hmmm. Not 100% sure there what I should really do.

Rabbit really enjoyed Dance Camp this week. (I'll have to post some videos later of the dances they learned.) We got to go today and see what they learned. It is funny to watch her facial expressions while she is dancing.

Tigger is really reading well. He enjoys doing the pages from The Complete Book of Animals, and will even fill in some of the blanks himself. I think Pooh likes them too, because they are fact based and not "stories" like is reader is. Pooh is slowly but surely making progress. I can't wait to add spelling back in for him.

I think having a little more laid back week was good before we dive into week 2 and start memorizing the Book of James. Now, to prep for next week.

I also learned I need to buckle down on getting school started and getting it done. One thing that will be different, since Rabbit has decided to take dance classes at Dance Scene Studios this fall, I won't have to have our light days be Wednesday. Her classes are all in the evening hours, so that doesn't interrupt our "school" time. I think that will make the year feel very different than previous years. We'll still have P.E. class for the boys (unless they both decide to do Hip Hop at the dance studio) on Wednesday, but that's not quite as big a deal as having P.E. and dance on the same day.

Working around dance camp, day two

Okay, so today we got Math and Reading done before taking Rabbit off to dance camp class. Whew.

[Side note: While there, I talked to the owner of Dance Scene Studios to find out how their regular ballet and worship dance classes worked. So, now we have to make a decision. Do we do Celebration Ministry of Arts or Dance Scene Studios? Dance Scene Studios would be a full year, August through May, of traditional ballet with a recital at the end of the year. Then Rabbit could be on the Worship Dance team, and they go and visit hospitals and nursing homes monthly and put on a performance. Celebration Ministry of Arts would be 3 months of Worship Dance and Ballet in the Fall and Spring each. She would have two Worship Dance recitals, but no recital for the Ballet class.]

Then, while Rabbit was at dance camp, the boys did a Science page each from the Complete Book of Animals, notes drill, a math football game, and a little bit of Scrabble (that's spelling, right?) before we had to go pick Rabbit back up. Then, after lunch, we listened the music lesson we missed from last week and did piano lessons. To wrap up, we went to the Smokey Hill Library and picked up their prizes for completing the Arapahoe Library District's summer reading program.

Overall, not a bad 4 hours.

When God has other plans...

Well, Rabbit had dance camp this morning, and the dog (perhaps we'll call her Piglet - she's about as timid, but can be "brave" as she deems necessary, but she's not pudgy) had a vet appointment for a recurring ear-infection. So, the boys and I only got Math and Reading in before we needed to pick up Rabbit. Then, the teacher said only 2 of the 4 girls who signed up showed up. This evening we got a call and they're offering a 1.5 hour class for the rest of the week, and they'll only charge us half the original cost. I'm good with that, but it means I need to come up with other work for Rabbit for the remainder of the week.

So, she can do Math Drill, Rosetta Stone, Reading, Book Basket, Piano, Math, and maybe some Spelling if I can figure out how to work it all out.

But, whatever my plans were doesn't matter. I'm sure God has a better idea on how this week should go.