Week 15, Day 5 in ECC

Woo-hoo! We are done for December. Oh, shhhh. Don't tell my children I'm actually excited about that.

Well, we finished up France today. We started with Bible. We read a little more about Tyndale. Rabbit needed a little boost with her verse, but I'm not giving grades...

We looked at the Geography lesson, and decided it had to wait until later, so Rabbit worked on her Geography vocabulary pages. Then it was snack time. After snack, the boys were insistent on having preschool today. ("It's no fun when Daddy's home, because we don't get preschool.") So, we did calendar work, and then a little phone number work (we need to do that one more), and then they wanted me to draw and cut out cars for them to color. So, that's what I did. While I was doing that, Rabbit got Dad to give her her spelling test. She got a 100% - yeah Rabbit!

After that, we made the batter for crepes, and then put it in the fridge, and had reading time. We read about Helen Keller in our reader today. It was time for making lunch, and I think Rabbit went off and read a book or two.

We had crepes for lunch. We used rice milk instead of real milk and Nucoa instead of butter, and it worked fine! I'm so excited! Sometimes fancy new recipes don't work for me. Rabbit and Pooh tried them, but Tigger refused to even taste one (he's usually my brave soul). We were out of bread, so my husband put deli meat and cheese on ours, and melted them slightly in the microwave. We used brown sugar ham and maple turkey - yummy! So, we did really sample some French cuisine. All the other recipes looked too challenging to try to modify to use dairy-free stuff.

After getting the boys down, we worked on another math page, and then drilling math multiplication facts that Rabbit is having trouble with. I told her we may review every day over the break just to get them in her head better. Also, I'm going to keep the book basket books over the break for reading time. And, we need to get caught up on George Muller, so there is plenty to do.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Week 15, Day 4 in ECC

Today we got off to a much earlier start. We did our Bible time. It has been fun reading about William Tyndale. It is amazing how God worked out the bad (the archbishop buying up all the Bibles and burning them) for good (the money the archbishop used to buy up the Bibles, went back to Tyndale so he could run another printing). We enjoyed that.

For geography time, we played the geography game version 2, and Rabbit won again! She gets better roles of the die than I do. Then the "optional" assignment was to build a model of the Eiffel Tower. They suggested craft sticks, but we didn't have any on hand. So we used pipe-cleaners. Rabbit and I had such a good time doing this together. We laughed and laughed. Rabbit said she thought it would "spring up and walk away" it was so bouncy. Here's a picture:

After that, she had a snack and I worked on getting dinner in the crockpot. (My husband had taken Tigger and Pooh shopping, so we had a pretty quiet house.)

Next we did spelling. Poor rabbit. She misspelled "grade" as "grate." She knew how to spell it. We talked about looking over what we write after we write it to make sure it is right. She decided she wanted to write the word 3 times as her studying method for the day. I allowed it. Then we did math. I'm still having to give her the story title for her to remember the answer.

After lunch, we did writing, reading, poetry, and then I drilled her multiplication facts some more. I am so looking forward to tomorrow - our last day until January 5th.

Week 15, Day 3 in ECC

Ahhh. No dance class today. But, my husband wanted us to go shopping for some family presents. Thank goodness for Christmas shopping hours.

We got back at around 11:00, so we started then with spelling. I had Rabbit fill in my sentence sheet I made for her. Then it was time for lunch.

After lunch, we had geography time. Since France is known as the "fashion center of the world," I had Rabbit design a dress. She loved that. Science was suppose to be a nature walk, but, again, too cold for that. For English, we had a picture study. After we discussed the picture, we were suppose to do a conversation between two of the animals in the picture. I did one of the animals and Rabbit did the other. I had Rabbit do a Math-U-See generated times 6 drill sheet for practice, and a math page from her book. She didn't like doing both. For writing, I drew four kids kicking a soccer ball around. Rabbit wrote this elaborate paragraph about it. We finished up the first Abeka 3rd grade reader in reading.

After that, we watched a travel video on Norway. They are fun, but you do have to be careful. We got a Globe Trekker video. The travel guy drinks and there is some rear-view nudity. I didn't mind the drinking so much, as that was the culture, but the other, well it would have been nice for a warning. It is a British production.

Week 15, Day 2 in ECC

We started with Bible time. Rabbit and I had some really good discussions. It was rather long, so she didn't really narrate. She had a lot of questions about the passage and we discussed those. Then we had a Hero Tales reading and worked on the memory verse. Today was memory verse dictation day. Rabbit did great with it.

After that, we did Geography. We tried to read some French words. I'm sure I butchered it, but it was kind of fun. Then, we played Geography Game version 2. Rabbit loved it, because she won! After that we read our science time was about how scientists classify things. I forgot to prepare for the activity to go with it, so we'll do it tomorrow, rather than a nature walk. (Don't you hate it when those arctic air masses get down this low?)

During snack, we listened to music from yesterday's assignments. Then we worked on spelling. Today she was to copy the words to a study sheet. Then I had her trace them in cornmeal two times each. They are all 4 to 6 letter words, so that works well. Then we did our English assignment - a discussion of what paragraphs are.

After lunch, she did a drills sheet printed off Math-U-See's web site and a page in her math book. She claims she did NOT have to look at the wall to see what the times 6 answers were. Then we did reading, and finally art. For the art project, we had a hard time finding a place where we could get the light far enough away from my head so she could trace my profile on the paper. (Outlets in this house aren't always consistently placed.) She had fun with that.

I've kind of scaled back this week before Christmas break. I'm going to drop Spanish for the week. I need to do our read aloud, but I keep forgetting. Maybe just a little each day over the break to catch up.

Week 15, Day 1 in ECC

Well, the last week before Christmas break, and my motivation level has dropped down to zero. Maybe it's the fact that my husband has the week off.

Today was a little challenging, as Rabbit had dance rehearsal this afternoon, and then later is her performance. We had to be done a little early.

No Awana this week, so no verses to study. We read about Gypsies in Window on the World. We learned fascinating things about them. And then we worked on our memory verse for the week. We quickly moved onto Geography and then science. For science we read about endangered species.

After that, I decided to work on spelling, as we needed to work on "discovering the rule." So, I walked her through it. I asked questions like, "What sound do all these words have in common?" "What are the different letter combinations that make that sound?" "How many of each combination is there?" "Which one is most common." Mostly my idea was to get Rabbit to really look at the words.

We wrapped up with English and Reading. We didn't get to math or Spanish.

The dance recital was great.

Week 14, Day 2-5 in ECC

Well, after our problem with the Delayed Recall Test on Monday, I took the rest of the week off from blogging. A lot of my days were figuring out what we should do for spelling. Everything else went really well - math, geography, science, reading, poetry, etc.

Tuesday we had home school support group Presentation Day. Rabbit recited her poem. Afterward, the kids did a Christmas craft. Wednesday was Worship Dance day. Our last day of regular dance class for this fall. (Monday we have rehearsal and performance.) Thursday was a regular day.

Friday we had the window guys come and replace windows. So, a friend graciously invited us over to do school in the morning at her house. Then, after lunch, the kids all made milk-free, gluten-free sugar cookies. I think the kids enjoyed it and had a blast. By the time we got home, the window guys (turned out it was a guy and his wife) were almost done.

Rabbit and I talked about her spelling issues and decided to change things up. Spelling Power also has a "study-test" method. We will move back to Level B, Group 6. On Monday, we will look at our new list of words together, and see if we can figure out the phonics or spelling rule the list covers. Then, Rabbit will copy those words into a "spelling dictionary." You just copy the words, no definitions required. Then on Tuesday, she is suppose to copy those words to a 10-step study sheet, and study the words, focusing on the Trace and Say steps. Wednesday I will give her a list of fill-in-the-blank sentences for her to figure out which spelling words go into which blanks. Any misspellings, she will have to study. We will probably do some spelling activity, too. Thursday, she will do a "pretest." If she gets a 100%, I will probably do one of the other games with her on Friday. If she doesn't get a 100%, then she'll study, and retest on Friday. I will also be working with her to notice sound order. That is one thing I see a lot with her when she writes.

In spite of this, on Thursday she had a "writing without curriculum assignment." I drew a photographer taking a picture of a couple of kids. She remembered that photographer started with a "ph" and that it was a "ph" for the /f/ sound in "grapher." In fact, she only missed the first "o" in the word. Then, she misspelled "picture" - as "picher" or "picker" depending on where in the sentences she was using it. It made me realize, her spelling really isn't as bad as I thought. Also, I think the length of the delayed recall test got to her.

Really, besides spelling it was a great week. I got a couple of Families of the World videos of French families, and we watched those. We also watched a Norway travel video.

Week 14, Day 1 in ECC

Well, Rabbit didn't complete all her sections at Awana last night because it was Store Night. So, we still have half af the sections to work on. That's fine. She'll know the rest of it pretty well. Then for Bible time, we read about Albania from Window on the World. What a sad place. I didn't know anything about it there until reading. They need lots of help. We worked on our memory verse. I saved the French John 3:16 for her seatwork time.

After that, we started Geography. Since we're in a new country, that took a while - France! We decided to sail from Norway to France, so while we were pretending to sail, I read a little from one of our library books on France. The boys decided not to participate today, but I went ahead and added the stickers to their "passports." Then we did the rest of the activities in the manual.

Our science reading today was about how plants and animals have had to adapt to humans and their towns and cities. We read about how foxes, racoons, and gulls have adjusted their lifestyles to rummage through trash. Rabbit, however, decided to draw and write about how flowers now grow where ever they can, not just in open meadows.

Then we did Snack and Spanish time. For Spanish, we repeated Friday's lesson, as it is a fun one. It is the Spanish version of "John-Jacob Jingleheimer Smit" (or however you type that). Even the boys joined in. I let them have a 20 minute recess, while I shifted laundry and gathered up Rabbit's seatwork.

For seatwork, Rabbit had her Science page, French John 3:16, verse copywork, and math windows addition drill. I worked with the boys for their Awanas. The problem is, I don't know whether we should do the next regular lesson, or do the Christmas page, as next Sunday is the last class for this year. I guess I should call their teacher, huh? After that, we read "The Pancake Boy," as it finally came in from our Prospector system. Pooh thought it was a very funny story. Then I gave the boys their copies of the French John 3:16 to color.

Next it was time for writing eights. Rabbit really gave me a hard time about them, and lost computer privileges for the day. Then we did English. It was a narration. So, I read her the story, and then we went to the computer, and I had her dictate her re-telling back to me. I printed it out, she read it to the boys, and we filed it in her notebook. She did pretty well. Since she wasn't done with seatwork yet, I had her do that, rather than book basket, while I made lunch.

During lunch, I read the first chapter of George Muller's biography. What a rascal! Then Rabbit said she wanted to rest, so I sent her off for half an hour, while I ate lunch and cleaned the kitchen. Then, I put the boys down. Rabbit was all teary when she got up, so I walked her through her page. Then, when we did spelling, it was to review last week's words. So, I allowed her to spell them verbally. She only missed one from all of next week. The next list is a "review test" and then a Delayed Recall Test. I'm thinking about skipping the "review test" as Rabbit gets frustrated when we review too many words she's already missed.

Then we had poetry and reading. She's going to read her poetry for Presentation Day tomorrow. She knows it pretty well. Then she did reading just fine. After that, I had her do her math windows for adding. She requested only 5 minutes - I may have her do another 5 on Wednesday, just to round it out. Finally, we finished up by listening to the 3 songs on the Wee Sing Around the World CD specified in the Teacher's Manual.

Not sure why Rabbit was all teary after her rest time. She may have gotten some dairy this weekend. She has also been off one of her supplements for a couple of weeks (fish oil), and that may have caught up with her. Or, maybe she's just plain old tired.

Week 13, Day 5 in ECC

For a "light" day, we filled up our 4 hours quite easily.

We started with working on Rabbit's Awana verses, and then did Bible time. She did great with the meory verse, and we added in last weeks, to make it flow.

After that, we worked on the Vocabulary today. She was kind of giving me a little bit of attitude about it. She really didn't want to do the writing part. Then we did repatterning. She likes doing that, because it is a change for the day. I think we only need to do two more weeks of this repatterning before going on to the next one. We also did Spanish, a snack, and a short recess.

That took us most of the morning, so then we tried to follow the recipe in the Teacher's Manual for KRAM. It is a Norwegian fruit juice thickened with cornstarch. Because there was lots of time waiting for boiling and such, we looked through the cookbooks we got from the library to get a feel for what they might eat. Some of the things we thought, "Oh, that would be tasty." Others, were were more like, "Hmm, I'm not so sure." All the kids tried the KRAM when it was done, and thought it was tasty. My husband seems to like it the most, and has been drinking a little every day.

After lunch, we did math, spelling, writing, and reading. We are continuing to review the times 3 math facts, as well as adding in the times 6 math facts. She is getting close.

Week 13, Day 4 in ECC

With the little guys coming down with colds, they slept late, so we got started late. But, we did really well, all things considered. Working through Rabbit's Awana verses this week is taking quite a bit of time each day. It really does help her (and me!) learn the verses. Today's Bible passage was about when Jesus calls Matthew to be a disciple. We tried to talk about, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' and what that means, and how the Pharisees of the day were not practicing mercy.

For Geography Game time, we played with all 3 boards. We really haven't learned Europe that well yet, but we went ahead. I made the game cards a different color for each continent. North America cards are white, South America cards are neon yellow, and Europe cards are hot pink. This way Rabbit knows which continent to look for the country. She is having a hard time remembering "Portugal" for some reason, but she is doing way better than I am with the Eastern European countries. I think it is because they have changed since I learned them back in 6th grade.

After this, we did snack and Spanish. We went onto the next lesson, and this time did the "Performance Challenge" at the end of the lesson. I need to find out what "mole" and "pinole" are so we can understand the lesson just a bit more. I let the kids have a 15 minute "inside recess" as temperatures here weren't going to get out of the low 20's today. (Plus, we got 6 inches of snow!)

Rabbit worked some more on her Awana book and pen pal letter, while I did some preschool with the boys. We read a book, did calendar time, and then a puzzle. After that, I did writing eights with Rabbit. She really didn't want to, but she complied. Then I had her do her writing lesson. She wrote two sentences on her own. She did great. Then, I read aloud again from one of the books in the book basket.

After lunch, she did a math page, and we reviewed the times 3 right brained flash cards, and times 6 ones. She can do times 3, but it takes her a while. I need to remember to add in practice pages. Maybe I should start adding those into seatwork time so she gets more practice on those math facts. Then we did spelling, reading and poetry. She is really having trouble remembering how to spell "once." I've tried a bunch of right-brained tricks. She may be stuck on this one for a while.

We didn't do our nature walk yesterday or today, as it has been cold, and the kids all have stuffy noses.

Week 13, Day 3 in ECC

We started our day with the usual. I'm trying to discuss our Bible passages more, and ask her questions about what Rabbit thinks. She always does a really good job narrating back - I'm very impressed by how much she remembers.

For Geography, we made a Norwegian flag. That was a bit challenging, as our construction paper was bigger than 8 1/2 x 11, so we had to trim it down before we could put it in our notebook. At least I thought to check before we glued the crosses on. Rabbit didn't really want to copy any of the facts from the Teacher's Manual, but I had her copy to lined paper, and then we cut it out and glued it on the back.

After all that, it was time for snack and Spanish (no science today). We repeated yesterday's lesson again, just to get familiar with the stories. No recess, as it was Worship Dance day, so Rabbit worked on some Awana pages and worked on a letter to her pen pal while I did some preschool time with the boys. Rabbit did book basket while I made lunch.

After Worship Dance, we worked on Math. She did a math page, and then we really worked on skip counting by 6. She hasn't tried memorizing this one as much as she tried for skip counting by 3. After that, we did writing eights, spelling, and reading. I counted her letter to her pen pal as writing for the day.

Week 13, Day 2 in ECC

Our day started with the usual Awana verses. Still trying to think of who to invite to Awana this Sunday, but that will come eventually. For Bible, we read about the time Jesus casts the demons into the pigs. We had some discussion, but I wasn't for sure why the people wanted Jesus to leave. So, we got out my NIV study Bible and looked at the notes. Apparently the people were concerned about the financial loss of the pigs, more than the guys' state of mind (in Mark and Luke there is only one guy in this story). Then we had dictation of the memory verse. I did a word bank for her, for which she is always grateful. She did great, but she was kind of hard on herself. I'm not sure why.

For Geography, we tried the Norwegian math problems, but Rabbit said it was hard. Then we did the geography game. I didn't do the new way, yet, as Rabbit is still learning the European countries. No science today, so I let Geography go long. Then we had snack and Spanish time. I sat with her and read through the book with her as we listened to the lesson. I gave the kids a 15 minute recess, while I got dinner in the crock pot going.

We didn't have any seatwork for the day, so I had her read a couple of books from the book basket - ones that I wanted her to read while I did preschool with the boys. We did calendar time, name time, and phone number time today. Then I read them a story from the book basket. Tigger is really into drawing WALL·E, so that was it for preschool. Then Rabbit did writing eights. There was some complaint, but she did it. Next was an English lesson, and we looked at a poem and discussed stanzas, capitalization, punctuation and such. We were still early, so I started reading one of the book basket books as a read aloud to her. She enjoyed that.

After lunch, she worked on math by herself, and a friend stopped by to show us their new puppy. What a cute little dog! Then on to spelling, reading and finally, art. We enjoyed making our Lapland Square. I didn't have any ricrac, but we used some left over material from our quilt, cut into strips, for part of the design. I'll post a picture later.

Week 13, Day 1 in ECC

No, we didn't skip week 12, Day 5 - we just did Bible, Vocabulary and Math last Monday before we went on vacation, so I could get Monday in the Teacher's Manual to line up with Monday in Real Life™.

It's usually hard to jump back into school after vacation. For Rabbit, things have gone well. She seemed excited to get going again. The boys have had a harder time, as they are interrupting much more than before vacation.

Rabbit decided she wants to try to complete a whole Discovery in her T-n-T book. It's not too bad. She already knows the books of the Old Testament, and it's only about 3 new verses. The challenge will be finding 2 people to bring to Awana. For Bible time, we read and prayed for Bulgaria. What an interesting story there. Geography and Science went well. Then Rabbit and I discussed using Tell Me More online versus Power Glide. Rabbit felt like Tell Me More was more for older people, who may have heard Spanish before, and just need practice. (I agree. There are no pictures, like Rosetta Stone, to learn new words. They have lists of Spanish with English translation, but it's just not the same.) So, we're going to go through Power Glide Spanish level 3 again, this time working harder at listening to the stories, and learning the words. It was good to make the decision together, and have a mature conversation with my 8 year old about it.

While Rabbit was working on her copywork and science pages, I did preschool with the boys. We used the Pegs and Pegboard and played some games. We did patterns and counting games. Then we did a little calendar time. (We visited my brother last week, and he has the My Father's World first grade curriculum, so I got some ideas from that.) Then Rabbit and I did writing eights while listing to Edvard Grieg. Rabbit did beautiful work for her science page - tracing and coloring.

After lunch we had English, math, spelling, reading and music. It was good. No fussing. It felt good to be back into normal routine.

Is the cup half full, half empty, or ...?

I was just thinking of Thanksgiving, and how much for which we have to be thankful. Some people look at the cup half full. We have a roof over our heads, food on our table, clothes on our backs. Life is good. Some people look at the cup half empty. The roof leaks, the food is left overs, the clothes have holes. Life is hard. Then, I thought of David. He said, "My cup overflows." (Ps. 23:5) Do we see how our cup overflows? God is so good to us, so gracious, so faithful. We can cast our cares upon Him. We can approach the Creator of the Universe about anything. "Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." (Ps. 23:6). My cup overflows!

Gracious Reminding

Psalm 119:29

Remove the false way from me,

And graciously grant me Thy law.

I've really been working hard at not being too hard on Rabbit. I am much better than last year, but there is always room for improvement.

This morning during my Bible reading time, the verse above stood out. Interestingly, the two verses before it were already highlighted, but not this one.

The first part of the verse was like a prayer for myself - I want the false way removed from me. Then the psalmist asks God to grant him His law. But not shove it down his throat - give it to him graciously.

I think of dealing with my kids, and I'm not often gracious. I get on their case, I even sometimes yell. Occasionally, God grants me graciousness, but I know it must come from Him, because it isn't in me at all. And it gets old, telling them over and over and over:

"Start a new sentence with a capital letter."

"Please turn out the light in your room."

"Pick up your toys in this path, or Mommy is going to get hurt!"

"Three times seven is twenty-one, not twenty-four."

And we grow weary saying the same things. But, in Philippians 3:1b it says, "To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you." If it is no trouble for Paul, and no trouble for God, to remind me again and again of my character faults and places that I need to improve, then it should be no trouble for me to remind my children over and over.

I get frustrated with having to remind them, but I shouldn't. That means my expectations are way out of whack. That means I expect them to remember and comply every time from that point onward. But, can I even do that? How many times have I read through the Bible? How many verses have I memorized that tell me of God's love for me, and yet I doubt?

So, don't grow weary. It is no trouble to say the same things again and again - it is a safeguard for them. I just need to learn to do it graciously.

Week 12, Day 4 in ECC

Today's Bible passage was the one where Jesus tells the guy, "Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." So, we talked about the cost of following Jesus, and if we would be willing to sleep on the ground for Him. Hmmm. Lots of food for thought there.

Then we did Geography. We had a metric conversion activity, but it was too cold to go measure the yard, so we measured our sunken living room (it was over 4 yards). Then it was funny, I didn't really know how cold it was, so I said, "Well, let's just say it is 40 degrees." Then we followed the steps in the book: subtract 32 - that gave us 8, then multiply by 5 - well then we're back to 40, and then do the last step, which brought us to 4 degrees celcius - that eve sounds cold! I ust thought it was funny that we didn't really have to do the first two steps if you start at 40 degrees. Then we played the Geography Game. I told Rabbit if she wasn't sure about where a country was, she could look at the atlas. I didn't want her to remember the *wrong* place.

After that we did Spanish. I think we're not so keen on Tell Me More any more. Rabbit has a real hard time pronouncing the words in the sentences all together. So, what I did was have her do each word individually, and then I did the sentences. You have to pronounce the sentences correctly 3 times before you can go onto the next one. That got to be no fun real fast.

After snack, Rabbit worked on her Awana verse while I did preschool with the boys. We read Welcome Back Sun. It definitely had a different tone than The Day Hans Got His Way. It was a much more serious story. Then we worked on their verse. Tigger wanted a workbook page to do, so I found one on the letter "b" and they enjoyed that, and actually did quite well for a couple of 4 year olds.

Then Rabbit and I did writing eights. For writing time, I found a picture in a National Geographic magazine and had her write a sentence about it. She did good, except she forgot to capitalize her first letter. Also, while doing our writing eights, we listened to some Edvard Grieg. It was beautiful - it sounded like spring. We think some of the music is in Fantasia.

For book basket, Rabbit read a book of Disney Princess Stories. I told her that wasn't really book basket, but at least she was reading something, I suppose. After lunch we continued on with math, spelling, reading and poetry. For some reason, math took her a while today. Seemed like she got in a brain slump this afternoon.

Overall not bad. Sometime this weekend we are going to go ahead and do the Bible time and vocabulary pages that are scheduled for Day 5, so when we start up again after Thanksgiving, we start up on Week 13, Day 1.

Week 12, Day 3 in ECC

Ahhh, no meetings, no classes, just a regular day.

We started with the usual. Rabbit did a very good job narrating the Bible passage back. We talked about serving Jesus because of all He has done for us.

We read from Illustrated World Atlas about the Northern European countries. That was interesting, and then took a pass at the Geography Game, even though it wasn't scheduled. Rabbit was disappointed about how she didn't do that well (as compared to me), but I try to encourage her that in a couple of weeks, she know it really well.

Then it was time for Spanish. We break the speaking sentences down to words, and then put it together. She still has trouble though, but it is getting better. Then snack time and recess, while I put together a crock pot meal.

I had her work on her Awana book for and multiplication Wrap-Ups for seatwork while I read a story to the boys. We read "The Day Hans Got His Way." The kids thought this was hilarious. It was a pretty funny story. Then they wanted to draw on the easel, so I set them up for that. Rabbit and I did writing-eights, and then she did her writing sentence. Another great job. I think I might have to start increasing it to two. Then we did English - it was a picture study, so that was different than usual.

After lunch, I was about to go out the door, when I saw a bunch of sparrows on the ground by our Russian Sage we have planted out front. Then I saw 3 woodpeckers. I called the kids over to see. Then one of the woodpeckers decided to fly onto the house, so I decided it was time to scare them off (you should see the damage they have done to the neighbor's trim on their house). Anyway, that was our Nature Walk for the day. It was too cold (high of 36 degrees) to do a "real" nature walk. Looking through the window, seeing woodpeckers putting their long beaks into the ground to dig out seeds and bugs was going to have to do for this time.

Rabbit did a math page, and did awesome, while I put the boys down. Then we did spelling, reading, and poetry. We actually finshed by 2:45 today.

Then we went to the library. I was trying to find some more Norwegian books to read to the kids, so I searched online for some titles and went to check them out. Most of them talked about "spirits" or "trolls." (Did you know that Three Billy Goats Gruff will come up when you do a search for Norway?) The spirits were usually evil, and the stories implied that the spirits could actually do things and hurt people. I didn't want those to be in our book basket. The other thing I noticed about a lot of the Norwegian folk tales and stories, is how the woman is usually made the hero, or usually right at the end of the story. Sometimes it almost seemed "feminist". I did find 2 books not on the book basket list that I thought the kids would enjoy. We'll see.

Week 12, Day 2 in ECC

Of all days to start late, dance day is not one of them. And then, I was interrupted by an important phone call, so we didn't get started until 9:30...

We started with Awana verses and then Bible time. Rabbit was surprised that Jesus would be "amazed" by anything. So, that was a good discussion.

Then on to geography. Of all days to have to make the geography game! It takes so long to make the cards, and Rabbit wanted all 23 countries. So, that took us up until Spanish/snack time. (At least there was no science scheduled.)

After that, I spent a little time with the boys for Preschool, and then it was time for me to make lunch. I made Rabbit do book basket, as I finally had a couple of books to read.

During dance, the weather was so nice, I was able to take the boys to the park. It was good to have them run around, because they napped during quiet time.

Then Rabbit and I worked on math, writing eights, 2 English lessons, spelling, and writing. Whew. Then it was time for art. I had a cardboard chest that I bought from Michael's earlier this year, so I let her paint that. She didn't really do the "Rosemaling" pattern - I just let her paint it. She can sometimes feel pressured to "do it perfect," so I let her paint it however she liked. It was 4:00 before we finally were done for the day.

Week 12, Day 1 in ECC

Today was presentation day. We had to get done by 2:00 - and we did! Although I missed a couple of things.

For Bible, we read about Romania in Window on the World. The story was about a lady who was will to trade her best clothes for a Bible. So, I asked the kids if they would be willing to trade their favorite toy(s) for a Bible. Uh, we're not there yet.

Next, we were off to Norway. Rabbit wanted to take a boat to Africa (from Brazil) and then fly to Norway, so that's what we pretended. Then I put the flag stickers in their passports and dated them. For science, we read about conifer forests.

Rabbit did Spanish on the computer again. She does fine saying individual words, but when it comes time to put them into a sentence - well let's just say it sounds like mumbling. If I say it with her she does better, but we have issues. Maybe I need to do ear eights before Spanish and do fencers before geography?

After snack and recess, Rabbit had quite a bit of seatwork: a coloring page from Bible time, copying the memory verse for the week, the Flag Sticker Book, and addition Wrap-Ups. So, she worked on those while I did Cubbies verses and stories with the boys. Then the boys wanted to color their coloring page form Bible time. After that, it was time for me to make lunch, so Rabbit worked with the boys and they all did their Flag Sticker books together.

After lunch, Rabbit did math while I put the boys down for quiet time. Since we were short on time, we didn't review the x3 math facts. We did writing-eights and then spelling . I forgot to do English! We were going to read the next story in her reading book, which was The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy. We have the original somewhere, and as I was reading ahead in the book I noticed they had changed the story just a little and I didn't really like the wording, but we couldn't find our book. So, we skipped ahead to the poem and did our poetry class real quick and then music.

Finally, we went to presentation day. Rabbit said a verse she is working on for Awanas. Both Tigger and Pooh each sang the "ABC Song" - separately. I decided they should do it separately, since they sang at different speeds, and tended to get lost at different places. It was very cute, and I'm glad they had the courage to stand up in front of the kids and do it. After that, it was soooo beautiful we went to the park with all the other families and had a blast there.

Week 11, Day 5 in ECC

Well, at least we were able to easily meet our 4 hour requirement, even on this Light and Independent Friday. (I know, really it is Monday).

I had forgotten (again) to get the kids verses ready, so I had to do that. We started late because of that. We then worked on the verses, and did ECC Bible time. After ECC Bible time, I still needed to print out the vocabulary pages for Rabbit, so she read the younger YWAM Nate Saint story to the boys. Rabbit prefers that I draw the pictures and she colors and writes, so that's what we've been doing.

That took us to snack time. After snack I had Rabbit work on writing a letter to Grandma, while I did preschool with the boys. I read them the story out of their Cubbies book, and we worked on their verse. They weren't keen on much else, so I did repatterning with Rabbit and then writing. She wrote a very good descriptive sentence today. She really is getting so much better at it. Spelling is still a challenge, but she is really trying. We also read the next story in our reader.

While I was making lunch, the kids watch a video called Families of Brazil (or something to that effect). The Teacher's Manual called for cooking, but the two recipes offered had milk products in them (whipped cream or condensed milk). I couldn't think of a substitute. But, in the video, it talked about what they typically eat, so I figure that covered it. One thing I really like about ECC is I don't feel bad if I don't follow things exactly - I feel like I have a lot more freedom to substitute something equivalent if I want (like if I don't feel like cooking some foreign recipe).

Rabbit watched the next chapter on the DVD while I put the boys down. Then we reviewed the right brained flash cards. After that we did the first workbook page for that chapter. Mostly we just need to review a lot to memorize those facts. Then we did spelling - she didn't miss a single word from last week - hooray! And, she did very well for this week's new words. The last thing I was going to work on with her was Spanish. She had been having a little bit of attitude issues through-out the school day, and they all came out during Spanish. She was mumbling and wouldn't speak clearly into the microphone, so the software was having a hard time figuring out if she was saying anything. After about 2 minutes I called it off. I was getting frustrated with her, and that's no good. I actually think she must of had some small amount of milk product sometime this weekend, because she had other behavior things that were indicitive of that.

Well, tomorrow we're off to Norway. I think it will be a better day. The kids always have lots of fun the first day into a new country.

Week 11, Day 4 in ECC

We started our day with the usual. Rabbit wasn't too upset about the Nate Saint story today. Then we worked on our memory verse.

During Geography we were to look at the Maps of South America. These maps had different data expressed on them. It was kind of fun to see how population and economic development went together. We talked a bit about the data, and worked a little more on the geography packet for South Americia.

We read the science pages. Rabbit asked not to do a science page, so I said okay. She does one most days. It was about living in the rain forest, and how the tribes clear areas and build their houses. The soil is not very deep or fertile, so after a couple of years, they can no longer grow crops, and they move on.

We did about 15 minutes of Spanish at the Tell Me More site. Her favorite part is trying to say the phrases. After snack the kids had a bit of recess. Rabbit worked on writing her letter to her pen pal while I had preschool time with the boys.

After writing eights, we worked more on Rabbit's pen pal letter and finished that up. I figured that counted for writing. The writing eights are going well - she is now able to finish the complete alphabet and numbers.

After lunch, I gave Rabbit a math page while I put the boys down. She took out the test booklet and took the next test for skip counting by threes. She did fine - only missing one question. But, I was a little agitated, as I had asked her to do one Systematic Review page before doing the test. Then I went over the x3 right brained math flash cards with her, as that is coming up next week. Then we worked on spelling, reading, poetry, and music. A pretty good day.

Week 11, Day 3 in ECC

We started our day with the usual, and then we got to Bible time. The passage was where Jesus is talking about good fruit and bad fruit, and that the trees that produce bad fruit get cut down. We talked about how hard it is to bear good fruit. We compared ourselves to the Waorani people - while we don't kill to take revenge, we still do take revenge. Rabbit was quite upset, and wondering about if she was "really saved.' So, I asked her, "Did you ask Jesus into your heart - ask Him to show you how to live?" She said, "Yes." Then I said, "Then the the blood of His death covers and pays for your sins. Ask forgiveness and try again when you sin." I talked to her about how I read the Bible and see how far off I am from God's standards, and then I pray and ask God to help me live up to those standards. It is a struggle. It was a good discussion, and hopefully we'll have more of those.

Up next was the Geography game. The boys started out hanging out with us and pointed where we said, but Pooh lost interest. But Tigger stayed with us and we would tell him what number, and he would find it on the map. After that was science. I will warn you if you read from the "Living World" book for the day, there is a picture of an eagle that has killed a monkey and it shows some blood coming out of the monkey. This upset Rabbit quite a bit, but she got through it and traced the tiger for her science page.

We worked on Spanish again, using the Tell Me More website. She really likes trying to pronounce the words into the microphone. Not sure she is really learning what the phrases mean, but she is learning better pronunciation. After a quick snack and 15 minute recess, it was back to work. Rabbit worked on math drill using Math-U-See's online drill, and then did her science page while I did preschool with the boys. We read a story from the Book Basket, and then did calendar time - counting up to 13 for today. Then Pooh reviewed days of the week while pointing to the headers on the calendar. He needed reminders, but it was good. We worked on our Awana verse briefly. Tigger said he'll sing the ABC song at Presentation Day next week, so we practiced that. Then they wanted to do pages in their workbooks, so we worked on those.

Rabbit finished her writing-eights in record time - not sure if that is good or bad. Then, she wrote an excellent sentence. I used that opportunity to say that now we're seeing fruit from all the work we're doing with writing-eights and spelling and English. Those good sentences are fruit from all that other hard work. Then we did the English lesson. I let her do it verbally. After that, book basket time while I made lunch.

While I was putting the boys down, Rabbit watched the next section on the Math-U-See DVD - skip counting by 3. We worked on that a bit, and then did the first page together. After that I went through the right-brained multiplication facts for x3 with her. Then we did spelling, reading, and poetry. We got the boys up, and started our nature walk, but the wind picked up about 3 minutes after we left, so we only went around the block.

All afternoon and evening, Rabbit worked on skip counting by 3. By the time she had dinner, she could do it. Very impressive when she puts her mind to it.

Week 11, Day 2 in ECC

Well, yesterday we just finished what we missed on Monday. That took us our full 4 hours. And then we had today.

We started with the usual - Pledge, Awana Verses, and then Bible time. We read our verses, and then read a little about Nate Saint that is in the Teacher's Manual. We talked about how even taking revenge without killing is wrong, so that was a good discussion, not that it carried into our day our anything.

Geography was quick - just reading in our Illustrated World Atlas. (Can I say that I've heard that some people don't like this book, we do?) Then on to science. We read about jungle birds, and Rabbit picked a hummingbird to trace for her science page. (Then we had a hiccup in the home computer network, and it took me 15 minutes to get the page to print - arrhg!) We also had a science experiment - to see how strong the "arch" shape is. It called for using egg shells and then stacking books on it. Here is our first book:

So, we added books and books. Rabbit was afraid of the eggs collapsing, so we used small books. Here is our picture just before the eggs collapsed:

Then finally we added one more book, and the two eggs on this end of the photo collapsed:

So, we weighed the books, and it was 13.5 pounds of books. But, we weighed without the last one and it was 11.5 pounds of books. The last book weighed 2 pounds. It would have been interesting to try again using smaller books, but we were out of eggs by now.

So, that took us most of the morning, then at 11:10 I realized we needed to leave at 11:45 for Rabbit's dance class, and I still had to feed the kids lunch - aaaaahhhh! Okay, so I quickly made them sandwiches, grapes (okay, so I didn't make the grapes, but I did rinse and pick them off the stem), and potato chips and managed to start a crock pot meal for this evening. Plus, I got Rabbit's hair up into a pony tail. (Faster than a speeding clock, stronger than frozen pork chops - it's a bird! No, it's a plane! No, it's Super Mom!)

After dance, the boys went down for quiet time, while Rabbit did her next math quiz. She did great - only missing 1 question. Then we still had writing-eights, English, spelling, reading, poetry, Spanish and math drill. So, we breezed through all that and finished up with an art project. We did a Carnival Dancer. I went to Michael's this last weekend and found some floral wire that had rafia wrapped around the wire. The wire seemed pretty stiff, and it was all they had. Then, we used the yarn I had bought for another project, and the quilting quarters for another project. The final result:

Rabbit wrapped one foot, the legs, and arms. I did the first foot, torso, and head. Having the rafia wrapped wire was good because the yarn kind of clung to the rafia. Also, we used a little Elmer's white glue to hold the yarn in place at the beginning and the end. The wood was a piece of left over scrap from our Awana pine car derby. A fun project, and the boys wanted to do one too, but there just wasn't time.

So, we finally finished at about 4:15 this evening. Whew. I'm hoping light Friday's will fall on Wednesday again soon.

Week 11, Day .5 in ECC

Well, we only did about 3 hours of school today. Bible time took us an hour. Rabbit made her own MAF plane, but I had to help the boys. We got in Geography and Science time, and Rabbit did some of her seatwork for the day.

After lunch, Rabbit wasn't feeling well, so I had them all 3 lay down for quiet time. She still wasn't feeling well after she got up, so we scrapped the rest of school. I don't think it is anything serious.

We still have a bunch to get done tomorrow: reading, writing eights, English, math, spelling, poetry, math drill, science page (from today), Spanish, and music. She needs to write a letter to her "Snail Mail Buddy" too. That ought to take us most of our school time tomorrow.

Week 10, Day 5 in ECC

We started late today, as we had a field trip for church. (Our church is trying to decide if we want to move to a new elementary school. I was asked to come along for a look.) Rabbit worked on a couple of things in the van on the way.

When we got home, she finished her math and vocabulary pages. After that we spent about an hour on the Geography Packet. We're using the computer - we have Encyclopedia Britannica - to look stuff up, but have more luck with Wikipedia. We tried doing the lat/lon island page and the atlas that came with our curriculum, but we couldn't figure out several of the islands. I'm not too worried about it, as she'll do it again in a few years.

After lunch, we did Bible, spelling, poetry, repatterning, writing, and reading while the boys were down for quiet time.

Fridays are pretty light, but I today I filled in extra time with the Geography packets and math review. We never got in our Nature Walk this week, unless you count doing the "Welcome Committee" stuff with me today.

Week 10, Day 4 in ECC

Rabbit wanted to rush through the Pledge and her Awana verses today, but I made her slow down. We went through them 3 times each. Then we delved into our Bible time. The passage was the "Do Not Judge" passage, and the "Speck and Log" passage. I tried to help her understand what they were talking about, but I'm not sure how well I did. She does really well narrating the passage back.

Next we read from the Illustrated World Atlas about the Nature (animal and plants) of South America. There were a couple of places I had to reword about "global warming," but it was good. For science, we read about nocturnal animals of the jungle. Rabbit wanted to draw a deer mouse, but the image in the book wasn't very good, so we found a picture of one online, and copied that to her notebook page. I still had her try to trace it.

We had time, so we did some reading for 15 minutes. She is really enjoying the first 3rd grade reader from Abeka. I think it is good for her to still read aloud to me every day. It helps me see and hear where she is still struggling. Then I talked to her about Spanish. She agreed to try out the "Tell Me More" online. After getting us "set up" she spent about 20 minutes with it. We had to find a microphone that didn't have any buzz in it. It has things where a native speaker says a word, and then you say it, and it shows you the graph of the word, and you try to match it. She really liked trying that. We'll see how it goes. Right now we are only working on pronunciation and expression. Then she had snack and recess.

For seatwork, I had Rabbit work on her science page and then division math windows. I read a book to the boys, and then we played a game with this 2 inch frisbee they have. They love that. Then I got out the Lauri lower case letters and let them play with those, while I worked with Rabbit on her division math windows. She was finally starting to "get" it toward the end. I only had her do the numbers we've covered for multiplication. After writing eights, I had her do her sentence. She did an awesome sentence today. Then she did book basket.

After lunch, I let them play outside. It was a little cold, but they really loved it. The boys both napped. Rabbit and I worked on math, spelling, poetry and music, and we were done. No fussing or tears. I love it.

Week 10, Day 3 in ECC

Today, Rabbit rushed through the pledge and her Awana memory verses. I know we have dance today, but I was surprised she rushed through. Then we were off to Bible. The passage was about not worrying. (After yesterday's election, well, let's just say it was the perfect lesson for me.) And then we worked briefly on our ECC memory verse.

We played the Geography Game for Geography. We are doing both North America and South America, and reviewing the South American capitals as we play. Then we did science. She really liked the gliding tree frogs, but the one picture in one of the books with the big air sac made her not want to look at them any more. Anyway, for her science page, she traced one of the gliding tree frogs. She did an awesome job tracing and coloring it. I told her it was her best science page yet.

Today was the "final" in our Spanish book. The first time through, I let her just kind of listen to the whole thing, so she can get a feel for how it is going to go. The next time through, we'll do more of the performance challenges and try to take it more "seriously." We have access to an online Spanish program (the tellmemore.com people, I think) through the county library, but Rabbit was so against Rosetta Stone last year, I don't know if I'm going to do it with her. We'll talk about it and see what she wants to do. I'd really rather get Rosetta Stone, but that's probably going to have to wait.

Rabbit worked on the multiplication math windows, an English page, and her science page while I did some things with the boys. I read a book to them, we went over their verse, and played a couple of matching games. Then it was time to make lunch, so Rabbit finished her work and book basket while I made lunch.

After dance, we had math, spelling, writing eights, writing, and poetry. Whew. Glad we are done for the day.

Week 10, Day 2 in ECC

We started with our usual. Rabbit wasn't too interested in her verses, but we went through them. Then we moved on to Bible time. It is kind of short this week, as it is just the Bible passage and the memory verse. When we add in Hero Tales it takes just a little longer. Today was memory verse dictation day, and Rabbit did great! I let her have a word bank, and she didn't miss any spellings.

Geography went quick. It was learning a few words in Portuguese, as they speak in Brazil. Then we did science. (The boys haven't joined in this week.) Rabbit was interested in the structures the scientists built in order to study the rain forest, more than any information about the rain forest. She traced some of those pictures for her science page. Since we were "ahead" of schedule, we did reading next.

We had snack time and Spanish next and then 15 minutes of "free" time. Then, Rabbit had seatwork: her science page, math windows, and an English page. The boys and I did preschool. We read some books about the rain forest from the book basket. Then we played Alphabet Lotto. They thought that was great.

Next up was writing eights and going over her English page. Then she did book basket while I made lunch.

Rabbit started watching the next section for math (multiplying by 9) while I put the boys down, and then we reviewed the right-brained x9 math facts. Last, Rabbit worked on an art project. They wanted us to make a costume like would be worn at Carnival, but I didn't have an old pillow case or fabric paints. So, I took a sheet of butcher paper, folded it in half, cut the shape like shown in the book, and then she painted her design. Once it dried, she had a real pretty design, because the paints were kind of pearly.

Week 10, Day 1 in ECC

Today we started late. I forgot to get our memory verses typed up so we can hang them on the door to the basement. So, that took a while. Plus, I had to print out the "fancy frame" that I have for Rabbit to do her verse copy work. My fault.

We did the Pledge, and then went through Rabbit's new verses for Awana. Then we did Bible time. We read about an interesting native people group that live on the border of Venezuela and Brazil. There are only 19,000 or so of these people left, as many of them have been killed by "white man's" diseases. Then we started on our new memory verse for the week.

Geography was good. We read the pages in the Illustrated World Atlas, and played the Geography Game. We went ahead and added in North America today. I made it a little easier on her, as the cards for North America are white, and the South America cards are neon yellow. But, she got every single country right. We're also at least saying the capital city of the South American countries.

For science we had to do a passage out of each science book. Rabbit decided to draw about the Asian sun bear, as it "looks cute." It was definitely interesting information in the books today. The boys did not join in today. In fact, this morning, Pooh said, "Mom, I'm tired of doing school."

After snack and Spanish, I told Rabbit to start work on her seatwork - she had plenty. I told her we were skipping recess, as we started late. She didn't fuss about it. She had to do her verse copy work, her science page, and her math windows for addition. She didn't miss a single math problem, and wrote 3 backwards only once! A major improvement.

While Rabbit worked on seatwork, I read the next Cubbies section to the boys and we worked on their verse. Then I wiped off "October" from our dry-erase calendar and started November. Pooh was kind of bummed - he wanted to know what came after 32. Then, he wanted me to start November on the first square. I had to explain to him about how calendars worked. Then we looked at the letter "D" and I had them try to think of words that started with the sound /d/. I got lots of /l/ and /p/ words. I'm not too concerned. Next I got out the number puzzle game. The boys usually love that. But, Pooh wouldn't answer me when I had asked him earlier what he wanted for a snack. After 3 times, I decided he didn't want a snack. Well, Pooh was hungry by the time we got to the number puzzle, but I said no. He wailed and wailed, so he got sent to his room. Tigger had a blast matching the halves of the numbers together. He is getting very good at counting peg holes. Then I had him put the pieces in order from 1 to 10. He is getting to know his numbers pretty well.

After that, Rabbit and I did her writing eights. She did them very slowly today, so we only got to "t." Then we did our English lesson - a repeat of the infamous lesson 86. Hopefully that one will sink in by the end of the year. While I started lunch, Rabbit did book basket. I believe she read one of the books to Pooh.

Rabbit decided to do Test 9 for math today - I told her she could do one more practice page, but she decided she was done with this section. She only missed one. She couldn't tell if she should have done 3x9 or 3+9. I told her that she should always draw a picture of the word problem if she isn't sure. Then we did spelling. She only missed one of her words from last week, and didn't miss any from our new group. For reading, we started on our first 3rd grade Abeka book. We read about 11 pages worth. We finished up with music and poetry.

I'm thinking we may have to do our Nature Walk tomorrow, as the weather is turning much colder, with possible rain/snow mix on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Plus, Wednesday is our worship dance day, so it may just be easier to do it tomorrow.

Week 9, Day 5 in ECC

Can you say, "Light" day. Today was really very lightly scheduled.

We started with verses an Bible, and then did repatterning. That went pretty smoothly, considering we were up half the night with Rabbit and her stomach pains. She was fine this morning, albeit a bit tired.

After that, we breezed through math, spelling and reading. We actually finished up More New Friends. So on Monday, we'll pick an Abeka reader and start through it. We only had one word to define for geography vocabulary today, but it still took a while.

Still wanting to get in at least 3 hours of school (we have to average 4 hours - most days we have 5, and on dance class day we have 6), we decided to carve our pumpkin for art class. That took us a full hour.

I forgot that we have one more science experiment to start - we're suppose to plant a potato. Our grass seeds from Tuesday's experiment still haven't sprouted. Perhaps I'll be off to the home improvement store tomorrow to pick up some radish seeds, between other things that must be done.

One thing about all these plant experiments... Our house does not have any south-facing windows. And with the sun so far south now, our one east facing window isn't getting that much sun. I'm not sure where I can grow stuff. We get lots of sun in the spring and summer, though.

Week 9, Day 4 in ECC

Again, starting with the usual routine. I think Rabbit may just be board with these three sections that we're working on. We have been working on them for two weeks. But, she still often draws a blank.

For geography time, we played the geography game. The boys joined in. We would look at the country name, and then tell them which number on the map to point to. I figured it was good for them learning to recognize numbers that are not lined up. Rabbit got all hers right again. I surprised her and gave her 25 cents for getting them all right for 2 days in a row.

The boys listened in about plants in science time. Again, they wanted their own science pages. We read about plants, so each of them drew some plant in the book. Tigger drew a palm tree - it was actually pretty good for a 4 year old. I'm not sure what Pooh drew. Rabbit drew every flowering plant on the pages.

After snack, Spanish and recess (it was too nice outside not to let them have recess), Rabbit worked on her division facts and some of her workbook pages. The boys decided, after calendar counting, spelling their name, and going over their verse, they wanted to do workbook pages too. They worked on tracing shapes.

Rabbit and I then did her writing eights and writing time. She worked on book basket while I worked on lunch.

Once we got the boys down for quiet time, Rabbit did her math page, spelling, poetry, and reading. I am always amazed about how easily she memorizes poetry.

It was really a good day, and we were able to go run some errands when we were done. Not something I always get to do after school because there are too many chores left to get done.

Week 9, Day 3 in ECC

Oh my. Dance class day...

We started with the usual. For some reason, Rabbit is having a real hard time with this week's Awana verses. We're going on 2 weeks of studying, yet she is still struggling. (I've got the sections memorized, can we please move on? )

Rabbit is continuing in her efforts to get the boys to join in. So, they sat around while I read the interesting facts about Brazil from the geography book, and Rabbit filled in the crossword. The we played the geography game. Rabbit already knows all the countries. We will definitely need to add in North America when we play next week.

We read our science sections, and I typed up a science page for Rabbit to draw on. Then the boys wanted pages to draw on too. So, I had them tell me something they learned, and I typed it up and printed it out. Pooh drew a "hoatzin" - a bird. Actually, Rabbit drew it for him, and Pooh colored it. He actually did a pretty nice job of coloring. Tigger wanted fish on his page, so we wrote about the fish in the Amazon river. I drew the first one, and then he actually drew several others. Some looked more like fish than others.

After Spanish and snack, I had Rabbit work on her multiplication facts by reviewing flash cards, while I had some time with the boys. After counting on the calendar and tracing some numbers I put up, they sewed some cardboard shapes. Tigger actually started one by himself - that's a first. I had them pick up and Rabbit do book basket while I made our early lunch. Then it was off to dance class for Rabbit and to the park with the boys.

After we got home from dance class and the kids finished their snacks, the boys went to quiet time. Rabbit worked on writing eights, writing, English, math, spelling, reading and poetry. Whew! But, we got it done. I'm still only having her do one sentence on the days we do writing. I have thought about doing it every day, but 2 or 3 days a week is fine for now. I will say I am starting to see better spacing between her words when she writes (or did I already say that somewhere in my blog).

Even for all that, we were still done by 3:15. But, I'm always glad Wednesday is over.

Week 9, Day 2 in ECC

Do you notice that making the geography game takes a lot more time than what is usually scheduled for geography? I didn't make my map in advance. Rabbit and I wrote our numbers on our maps, and then she went off and colored her map. Meanwhile, I was making the game cards. It just takes time. And then I still had to color my map. We used the laminating machine this time, as I don't like wrinkly contact paper.

Science was good. We used grass seeds (because we had some) for the experiment. We'll see if they work, as my husband said they were old.

The boys begged for preschool again. Pooh figured out how to write his name. Some of the letters were backward, and quite spread out across the page, but he did do it, with no prompting or help from me. We practiced counting on the calendar, and then I got a mini-whiteboard out and played a bunch of different games. We matched uppercase A, B, and C to lowercase a, b, and c. We matched numbers to groups of dots. We talked about the number of sides each shape have, and then they went and found things with those shapes. And, I let them draw on the whiteboard. That was the big hit of the day.

The rest of school - math, spelling, reading, English, dictation, Spanish and art was great, too. For math, we're working on skip-counting by 9's. I'm using some of Dianne Craft's tricks for that. In spelling, Rabbit missed "clothes" again, and then "through." For English, I typed up Lesson 94, putting blanks for Rabbit to write in. Then I had her dictate her answers to me, and then she copied my answers back into the blanks. She did great with the memory verse dictation. We're almost done with "More New Friends." A friend of mine has loaned us her Abeka 3rd grade readers, so we'll be starting those soon. (Thanks DY!)

The art project was weird. I cut the straw as explained in the book, and could make the sound (kind of sounded like a duck call), but Rabbit cannot make the straw buzz at all. But, she is having fun decorating as I type.

Really, things went great today (and I even got 2 blog entries up).