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.

1850MOD: Week 4

Well, to be honest, I didn't post about this week because this last Monday was one of my worst days ever as a mother and homeschooler. The little school around the corner was highly appealing, and I didn't want to have a pity party on my blog, so I decided to cool off before posting.

We are enjoying the Bible lessons. It is mostly me explaining, but sometimes the kids jump in. We don't always answer the Young Person's Guide to Knowing God questions out loud, but I can tell it is making us think. And Rabbit is asking me hard questions like, "How do I grow up to be a godly woman?"

Spelling has been a struggle for Pooh. A combination of writing neat and then not hearing the words right gives him trouble, but as the week has progressed, he is getting better. Tigger keeps bounding along. Rabbit is doing pretty well in her spelling book, and I noticed in her writing she is trying harder words (but usually spells them wrong).

For the English lessons for Tigger and Pooh, I made little worksheets for them to fill out. Pooh complained, but did his. Tigger was glad to get something done quickly. Rabbit did okay with Capitalization. I was trying to figure out how to grade her page. She got all the things that needed to be capitalized right, but she also added 2 more things that didn't need to be capitalized. They are wrong, but how many total possible do you count?

Both Tigger and Pooh finished a reader this week. Rabbit is still working on the Progeny Press guide for Bronze Bow. We've been doing much of it orally. I do have her write down the vocabulary words and such. The boys got their T-n-T handbooks this week, and so have started working on them. I need to make time to go over their verses with them and make sure they are understanding the sections.

The boys learned how to borrow this week. I really need to add in subtraction math facts, but I'm not sure when/how. Math facts just don't seem to stick in Pooh's head. Tigger usually gets them after a while of just solving problems. I get frustrated trying to squeeze more into the day. They are already using xtramath and MathBlaster to drill math facts on their own.

I'm managing to squeeze history in with Rabbit before lunch, but sometimes that means the regular science doesn't get done, and then I forget to do it later (that and God and the History of Art book). The boys get their read aloud at bedtime, but have enjoyed the pages in the U.S. Facts and Fun book.

Speaking of read alouds, we are behind on Courage to Run because I misplaced it. I did find it, but we're now about two days behind. Not sure how to squeeze them in.

I also feel like I'm going to need to spend a little time on Saturdays with Rabbit. There is some new vocabulary in Saxon that she needs to learn, and she needs to spend a little time studying for Science. Plus, I find it hard to squeeze Writing Strands in during the week. 

I've been rearranging the days the last two weeks and making the light day be on Wednesday. I really wish I didn't have to switch days around like that and that it would just fall on Wednesday. Oh well.

It hasn't been bad after that horrible Monday, but I do wish things would get easier for my dyslexic kids.

1850MOD Week 3 Day 5

Today I was very glad we had switched from Math-U-See to Singapore Math. Not that Math-U-See is a bad program. But, today had to be our light day because of all the outside activities. I was about to start Math with the boys, and asked Rabbit what she was doing. She said she was doing her math. I was quite surprised, and she said, "Yeah, Mom. It's perimeter. I know how to do that!" And we had done a ton of perimeter problems in Singapore Math the last few years. So, I worked with the boys - the were learning regrouping in Subtraction problems. I would say we only got about 1/2 way through the lesson in 45 minutes. Then Rabbit asked for some help, so I told the boys they could take a short break while I worked with her. She had two problems she needed help on, and then we went back and checked her work - she had only missed 2. I am so proud of her.

So, we basically only did Bible (worked on our verse, and read and listened to our hymn), Spelling, Math Drill, Reading, studying AWANA verses, Math, and played State Rummy. They all had P.E. today, and Rabbit had worship dance. Plus, we spent time at the libraries today. They always spend a good hour or more reading on the days we go to the library.

I don't think we'll be doing school tomorrow - we have some things coming up that I need to prep for. So, our days will still not line up so the light day falls on Wednesday yet, but eventually it will.

1850MOD Week 4 Day 1

Not bad, considering we started late... We finished by 2:15!

We got started 15 minutes later than my intended start, and then reading about David Livingstone took longer than expected. No problem, though. Then we did our regular routine through the morning. It was funny, when we got to Math and Handwriting time, Pooh wanted to do Handwriting first, and Tigger wanted to do Math first. Since it was a Practice page from the text book, it wasn't a problem. Tigger took his math notebook and went outside (I wrote all the addition problems down last night, and then copied the page from the textbook so they could work the word problems on their own). Pooh did his Handwriting and then started on Math. Eventually Tigger needed some help, so I went out and helped him on the last 3 word problems. He only missed 2 of all the problems. Then I showed him how to write his letter for Handwriting Without Tears, and made sure he could do it correctly and he went back outside to work. (We have a picnic table he can work at.) Pooh plugged away, and then I helped him on his word problems too. He only missed one problem. The amazing thing was, I expected that Pooh would take way longer to do his math, but he was done in about 5 minutes after Tigger came in with his handwriting book. 

We did the U.S. Facts and Fun book - I read the story, and then they answered the questions themselves. They did book basket while Rabbit and I read our History. Over the weekend, I went through the T.M. and wrote the disc numbers and track numbers from the Story of the World on CD so I can find those faster. Rabbit did a great job answering the Review Questions and the Outline. She's picking this up quickly. We didn't do the science project, but we did read it. I could see 4th and 5th graders doing that one, but not so sure about 6th - 8th graders.

After lunch I had the kids watch a video on Florence Nightingale that was listed in the Book Basket list - it's due back tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure they had watched it. Then Rabbit and I did math and I checked her Reading, Spelling and English. She did her science this morning (there were no experiments), and I had a short moment where I could go over the On Your Own questions with her.

They all finished piano after Rabbit was done with math, and the boys did some time on the typing software, too.

Overall, a good day. (Well, except the boys lost Wii privileges.)

1850MOD Week 3, Day 4

So I'm not always great about keeping up. 

The main thing from today is the Capillary Action experiment. We set it up like it said, but we didn't see any Capillary Action right away, and the book didn't say how long it would take for it to work. So, we left it on the counter and went on to other things. Later that afternoon I checked it again, and there was red stain on the paper towel. So, if you do that experiment you might have to give it quite a bit of time to see the results. I wish the book would have been more clear on that one.

For the history portion, we still have yet to do any of the Story of the World Activity Book projects. I realize the T.M. says they're optional, but am I short changing Rabbit by not doing any. We read through them, but that's about it.

Looking back at my T.M. I realize that we didn't do our God and the History of Art lesson. Oops!

Everything else for the day went as usual.

For this next week, things are going to be weird. I'm actually going to do Week 4 Day 1 on Tuesday (we took Memorial Day off), and then do Week 3 Day 5 on Wednesday. This week we start P.E. and Worship Dance, and so we really must be done by 11:00am on Wednesday in order to eat lunch, pack up our books and head out. Also, I may not get to school on Thursday, depending on some other things going on, and will definitely not do school Friday. I really need those light days to be on Wednesday. I may need to do some juggling to make stuff work this year.

1850MOD: Week 3 Days 2 & 3

Trying not to be a slacker in keeping up with the blog.

Let's see, yesterday went pretty well. I think the new order is working okay, except for Rabbit's down time.

So we start with Bible, and I'm really enjoying the Young Person's Guide to Knowing God. For the copywork, Rabbit and Tigger have the verse on the top half of the page, and the lower half is lines for them to write. I expect Rabbit to do it completely in cursive. Tigger will do words where he knows all the letters in cursive. For Pooh, I have the verse in gray (done with StartWrite software) for him to trace. On dictation day, I expect Rabbit to be able to completely write the verse from dictation. For Tigger and Pooh, I give them papers with the harder words filled in and space to write the rest of it. Tigger knows more words, so he has less words filled in. Pooh only has to write the simple words and trace the filled in words.

Rabbit is pretty consistent about getting her independent work done. She even does typing. I do try to find time to check her English and Spelling. I usually get Spelling done with the boys before morning snack, but not always English - which puts us about 20 minutes behind where I'd really like to be. English usually doesn't take us the full 10 minutes each, but the other boy is usually working on Rosetta Stone, so sometimes we take the full 10 minutes so they can finish their Rosetta Stone lesson. 

Reading time is going well. I only schedule 10 minutes for the boys to each read to me. Usually though there is only a half page left to finish the story so we go a little over. I count their Book Basket time as reading, too, at this age.

It is Math that usually takes so long. They've been learning about regrouping (carrying) this week. Tigger picked it up, but Pooh has to use manipulatives to see it. In order to keep him on task I have to sit by him while he does his math book. I was really hoping to use that time to look over Rabbit's stuff. I'm hoping as he gets those math facts better, he'll pick up speed. Handwriting usually doesn't take them too long. 

For History, I've been doing the U.S. Facts and Fun first with the boys, then we did the President sheet. Then I do the advanced History. So far we've not done any of the projects in the Activity Book. The outlines are a little bit tricky, so I'm glad we have the answers. 

Yesterday we read the science for the boys, but the T.M. said the experiment didn't work well and to skip it. And we just talked about what a family tree is and how the boys inherited different traits from me and Dad. 

After lunch we finished up Art (just reading the lesson, not doing it). The boys did book basket while Rabbit did Math yesterday, today they did it while we had History. Yesterday Rabbit had a math test and scored an 85% - much better. My husband said to be a little easier on Rabbit on her math tests, so if she did things like forget to put decimal points or reduce a fraction, I would let her go back and fix them. I wouldn't tell her what the problem was, I would just say, "I think you forgot something here," and then let her see if she could figure it out. I think the fact that I copied it onto graph paper for her really helped that go better. Then today she had a science test and scored a 91%.

Since Rabbit did her science test this morning during her independent time, we had time to work on the Progeny Press stuff and Writing Strands. We finished by 2:00! That is great for us.

1850MOD: Week 3, Day 1

Well, we did it. We added in Story of the World, and it went fine. The boys didn't take as long as usual in Math (there was no textbook time, and just 2 pages in the workbook), so that helped. Plus, we got Bible done in a reasonable amount of time, except I forgot to have the kids work on the memory verse for the week - so we did it during English time. 

The boys seemed to enjoy doing the U.S. Facts and Fun books. They each have one. I read the passage, and then they answered the questions. Tigger filled in the blanks by himself. I wrote for Pooh.

Then they did book basket while I did History with Rabbit. The boys could have sat in on today's history, but I'm fine with them not doing so. I had typed up the review questions, but I think I won't do that next week. Rabbit did pretty well answering those. The outline was okay. I'm not sure I 100% agree with how that first outline was written, so I'm sure glad I have the answers to make sure we're going in the right direction. It was already well past noon once we got the map and timeline done, so we didn't do the activity. We did read through it. I'm guessing Rabbit might not do as much of those.

This afternoon I did Math and Science with Rabbit. Today's lesson seemed to have a lot more practice problems. Tomorrow she has a test. I copied the problems onto graph paper, so she has room to work them and won't have to copy from the test page to her paper (that is where some of her mistakes come in). In Science we finished up the module reading and went ahead and finished in the study guide. Then I had her go through the flashcard website to do some studying. I'm wondering if I should rework this week's test into a multiple choice. Writing is such a challenge for her.

While folding laundry after school, I watched a little more of Indoctrination. It made me wonder if Rabbit will really be ready for college in 6 years. I question if I'm preparing her in the right way by making accommodations for her dyslexia. It's not that she is "unmotivated," as some people implied in the movie. (One teacher was talking about how the students are given learning disability labels like "non-reader" so the teacher must accommodate the student to help them pass.) It really is very hard for her and things that should take someone 10 minutes take her 45. I can see she works hard. But, I'm going to keep watching the movie and keep on homeschooling as long as God allows.

1850MOD: Week 2 Day 5

You would think a lighter day would take less time! Not in this house.

We started with Bible time. Basically, on Light & Independent day we listen to the hymn and pray for Bible time. Then, I decided to do History since I had everyone's attention. So, we added Alaska and Hawaii and did the post-test. Rabbit got a 100%! She only got 29 right on the pre-test. Tigger got 46 out of 50, after only knowing 4 states at the beginning. Pooh got 38 out of 50, knowing 11 states at the beginning. I'm thinking about putting the CD in the car and just listening to it whenever they're all in there to nail down those states just a little more. But, that's awesome improvement.

Math took a VERY long time today with the boys. It was introducing carrying. Pooh could do it if he had blocks, but he struggled otherwise. Tigger eventually got it. Sigh. I wish math wasn't taking so long.

The boys got their Start Zone's last night for AWANA, so I recorded their verses onto their mp3 players so they can listen and follow along. So, that's been added into things. 

Rabbit still had Math and Science today. Math only took us 45 minutes! And we spent about 45 minutes on Science. The reading was not that long, but we decided to start reviewing for the test a little bit. Still need to figure out how to work in Writing Strands. Sigh.

It was a good day. The boys still dawdle some at transitions. I know we'll get there as we keep working at it.

Nervous about starting Week 3

We won't actually start week 3 until Tuesday, but week 3 is when things kick it up a notch. Tomorrow (Monday), we'll do Week 2 Day 5 - the post-test of learning the states. I think the kids will do pretty well. I'll probably have to write for Pooh and Tigger. Rabbit will do fine, except spelling them correctly of course.

My nervousness has to do with having the 2nd/3rd grade supplement and the regular History and how much time it will all take. I've been reading the 2nd/3rd grade supplement read aloud at bedtime, and that is working fine. The boys enjoy that, and Rabbit usually listens in. This week we add in U.S. Facts and Fun and See the U.S.A. These first couple of worksheet pages will be fine. We'll have to see how the rest go. We also add in the Story of the World Volume 4 this week for Rabbit. I pre-read this week's, and the boys could join in for Day 1 (and would probably enjoy helping build the Crystal Palace). Day 3 and Day 4 both have wars, but nothing graphic or anything.

I did type up the Review Questions from the Story of the World Activity Book for Rabbit. I often forget to have the kids narrate (either as we read or listen to the CD, or at the end of the reading), so I thought having the questions typed up with space to answer them might help. Plus, at the beginning here, I'm going to read through the questions and the outline before we read so that we know for what we're suppose to be listening. 

This week won't be quite as busy as last, so that will help too. 

1850MOD Week 2 Day 4

Ahhh. School goes a little faster when the boys don't have English.

So, we didn't start until 8:30ish, but Bible time was relatively short today. So, we got Spelling done, and the kids got their snack break, and we were back on by 9:30. Reading went fine (Pooh is getting better - reading 6 to 7 pages a day in those 10 minutes). Math still took an hour. It was the first time introducing carrying (regrouping). They know they're doing it, but they don't quite understand it. Handwriting was quick, as the letter y is just a combination of the letter u and the letter g in Handwriting without Tears. We had to listen to the Middle States song a couple of times more for Pooh and Tigger to be able to name the rest of the states, but we were able to finish off History, and read yesterday's and today's science readings.

Rabbit worked on her independent work while I did the above, but I can tell she wasn't as focused as previous days. I helped her some with her Progeny Press guide (she was having trouble finding words in the dictionary) while the boys were doing math. We're having trouble squeezing Writing Strands in somewhere, though.

After lunch, we did the science experiments scheduled for the day. We couldn't get the one with the water bottle to work, but I think it is because we used a small water bottle, and the 3 holes directed the water too far away from each other. The pepper one is of course very cool, and we've floated a paper clip before. But the kids decided the most "epic" experiment was the milk, food coloring, and dish washing soap one. The results of that one:

I thought it was interesting that the colors never really blended to form purple or green (but they did when I dumped them in the sink that had water left over from lunch dishes). Anyway, the kids really liked this one.

I read through the art lesson in God and the History of Art, but the kids aren't really interested in doing the drawing. I'm not going to make them do it.

The boys still had Piano and Book Basket to do, so they did that while I worked with Rabbit. Science only took 15-20 minutes with her (no experiments today). We used the new Student Notebook that arrived yesterday to take notes in and answer the "On Your Own" questions. (I may write up a separate review of it.) Then we did math. Rabbit can do converting proper fractions to improper, but the other way is harder for her. She'll get there, eventually. Math took less than an hour. It was one-step multiplication problems that were way easier than the ones in Singapore, so we just read through the first example, then did the Lesson Practice and Mixed Practice.

Life group is at our house tonight, so we are about to spend a couple of hours cleaning and baking.

1850MOD Week 2 Day 3

Life has seemed hectic this week. Between hair appointment, vet appointment, life group, Dance classes, and a used curriculum sale things are busy. 

The boys are taking longer than I thought they would for math. Closer to 45 minutes to an hour! Which I think is a little too long for 3rd graders, but I'm not sure how to speed it up. I am trying to decide what to do with Rabbit during this time. She is usually done with her independent work by the time we get to math. It takes me about 15 minutes to work with the boys to explain their lesson. Then they could work on the workbook by themselves - we'll Tigger could. Pooh needs lots of encouragement to stay on task. But, I could possibly do the warm up with Rabbit during this time, but I want to be available to the boys, but she gets frustrated when she is interrupted in math. And sometimes I get frustrated too, when I am constantly interrupted by the others. I could have her listen to her science. I don't know. If the boys take too long in math, then we don't get history and science done before lunch and the days go really, really, long. (I probably should pray about it.)

Things would go better if we would start earlier, but we have been having trouble starting by 8:15. I don't think it's an unreasonable goal, but when the dog has to be at the vet's office between 8:00 and 8:30, it does throw your day off.

What would a perfect day look like?

1. Children would be ready to start school with a good attitude.
2. Children would move immediately to the next thing when the timer goes off.
3. Children would go to the bathroom during snack and lunch breaks and not interrupt class time.
4. Subjects would actually take the time allotted, and not longer.

Well, I can dream, can't I?

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. 

1850MOD Schedule Changes

So after experimenting a little with the schedule last week, I've reworked things just a little. We'll still start with Bible, and then Rabbit can go work on her independent work, as long as she starts with Spanish (because that is on my computer, and the boys will need it later on). The boys will do Spelling/Math Drill, English/Rosetta Stone, Reading/AWANA, then Math and Handwriting. If we stay on task, we should be done by 11:05. While the boys are working their Math pages after I've explained things to them, I can look over Rabbit's English, Writing, or even go over the Progeny Press guide questions with her. Then we'll try to get History and Science done before lunch (and science isn't scheduled every day). After lunch, we'll do Music or Art (when it is scheduled). Then the boys can do Piano, Wii Fit, Book Basket (if they didn't do it earlier), and Typing (if it didn't get done earlier). That's when Rabbit and I will do her Math and Science. Theoretically, we could be done by 2:45 each day. Theoretically. We'll see how it goes.

1850MOD - end of Week 1

Whew! We made it! Right now there is Apple Crisp baking in the oven as part of our US History Cookbook. I called my husband to find out when he was coming home and mentioned what was in the oven and he said, "That sounds like a good kind of school."

These last two days have had their ups and downs. Yesterday, we did things in the order I wanted. Because the boys don't have English on day 4 of the week, that allowed us to get Bible, Spelling, Reading, Math and Handwriting done by a little after 11:00. Then we did the History. They LOVE, LOVE, LOVE playing state rummy. And they all did better learning the Southern border states, and even Pooh is starting to get the Northern border states better. I think I even squeezed in the science reading yesterday before lunch. Then after lunch I was able to solely focus on Rabbit and her topics. I still need to figure out how to work in going over the Progeny Press guide and Writing Strands with her. Someday it will come to me.

Today was our light day. We did Spelling, Reading, and Math. We also read the chapter of the US History Cookbook that we didn't read on Monday. We also didn't do a nature walk - but the kids have spent a lot of time in the backyard today, so I'm okay with that. Rabbit did her Module 1 Test in Apologia. She really didn't do too bad. She got a 79% - I gave her a 1/2 point for one of her written answers, and she missed 4 of the matching. It is just so hard to keep those scientists straight. There were some tears, but I tried to explain to her that the first test with a new subject is always hard - you are learning how the teacher tests, what kinds of things you need to study, and how much you need to study. I have ordered the Student Notebook that Apologia offers to go with this course. I think it will help her. But, I also think she is going to have to study a little in the evenings or something.

I still need to do some schedule adjustments, but I'm pleased with how it all went.

1850MOD Day 3

Let's just make everyday different. So, today we had no out-of-the-house errands nor surprise visitors, but still...

We got started about 8:35 with Bible. That went well. I needed to go through the Chapter 1 & 2 section of the Progeny Press guide with Rabbit, so the boys did book basket while she and I did that orally. 

Then Pooh wanted to do science, since it was only 15 minutes until snack time. So, we did that next. It was just finishing a page in World of Science. Then a 10 minute snack break (with the timer - will do that all the time now). 

Next I worked through Spelling, English, Reading, Math and Handwriting with the boys. I was hoping that would only take until 11:30, but it took until 12:00. After lunch we did history - which was learning the Southern Border states. That went a little better than learning the Northern Border states. Pooh was able to put his cards in the correct order without help. After that, I did Math and Science with Rabbit. We finished up Lesson 9 (continuing from yesterday). Rabbit said she liked the reciprocal stuff. Then we filled out the Study Guide for Module 1. We're going to study some more tomorrow before doing the test on Friday. We called it a day at 3:00.

My plan is to change up our order. Do Bible first, then Spelling, English, Reading, Math and Handwriting. Then History and Science. Then work with Rabbit on her Math and Science. I feel like our day flows a little better with that order. Though, we don't have English tomorrow, and I'm not planning on adding in writing yet for my boys (they get dictation in All About Spelling, so I was going to start some writing maybe the 2nd half of the year), so I'm not sure how that will play out with our "independent" work for the boys. I may have to rearrange.

1850MOD Day 2

Well, not sure things were any better than yesterday, but I'm much calmer about it all :) .

Let's see. We started with Bible, and that went fine (except me crying through half the story). Then we split off. Rabbit went to do her independent work, and I went to work with the boys. We got through Spelling and English (Rosetta Stone and Math Drill were their independent work while I worked with each boy). We finished all that by 9:30. I used a timer today for a 10 minute snack break, and that was definitely a good idea. Then we did Reading time. The boys each read to me for 10 minutes, while the other one played on the typing software.

Next was History. We played the song some more and worked on the states. The kids really enjoyed playing state rummy. I think I'm going to see if they can name states again tomorrow before going on to the Southern states. I had a dentist appointment, so we took a break next. Rabbit is old enough to babysit, so it was not a problem.

After lunch and a quick visit from a friend, we started back up. We did Science first. Now that took a while - about an hour. But, we read the books, and talked about the science notebook, and then we did the two experiments. The first was an experiment with milk. My tip on that one: put in the food coloring BEFORE the vinegar. Here's our results:

It doesn't show up well here, but the blue wasn't well distributed, so it was more white and blue, almost marble-like. We ended up not letting them set up because they were making my kitchen smell. The second thing was to make meringue cookies. It worked pretty well. I have a Kitchen Aide mixer, so that made it pretty easy. I should have whipped the egg-whites a little longer.

They aren't super tasty, but we broke one apart and looked at the air-bubbles. (Next time I make these, I'm going to add cocoa powder and make them yummy.) Both of these experiments were to show how you can change molecule chains. The boys drew pictures in their notebooks. While we were cooking the meringues, I did Math and Handwriting with the boys. They did better today about not saying their answers out loud. And of course, Pooh did the second page first, and Tigger did the first page first, so they were on different problems as they worked through the workbook. I got out the Math-U-See blocks to work the problems, and that kept things going. For handwriting, I showed them how to do the lowercase f, and then I went to work with Rabbit on Science and Math. We finished up the first module in the General Science book. I think we'll spend the next two days reviewing science for the test, and taking the test on Thursday. I have a link to a class that has study cards online and I'm hoping to convince Rabbit to use them. In Math, we didn't finish the lesson before Rabbit had to get ready for dance class, so we'll just do it tomorrow.

Like I said, we didn't get everything done. And the boys didn't exactly get the states memorized, yet (they'll repeat this in 8th grade). But, I don't feel as stressed about the day, even though I forgot to turn the crock pot on this morning, and didn't realize it until 2:00 or so. We had pizza and salad instead.

I am thinking about tweaking the schedule. Last year we did Bible, then all the 3-R's type stuff, then History, Science, and the rest. I'm trying to decide between that, or doing Bible, History, and Science first, then devoting the rest of the time to 3-R's. Then doing Music/Art as the last thing. I did that when we did ECC, and it worked pretty well. I just feel like spreading the 3-R's through-out the day disrupts our rhythm. 

1850MOD First Day

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good: we were done about 2:30p.m. with everything for the day. That's about when we would finish last year. That's even with me helping Rabbit with Science and Math. Rabbit did good working on her independent work. I am proud of her. 

The bad: History took way too long. The kids didn't really learn the song, even after playing it 10+ times. Looking at maps, sorting cards, labeling, and coloring the blank map did not seem to help. Rabbit did okay, but the boys did not. Sigh.

The ugly: transitions! Can 2 boys be more challenging to keep on track and moving to the next thing. My goodness! They know they'll get in trouble for running off, and yet they still do it. They are out of sync with school starting back up, maybe.

Really, it wasn't too bad. It was just a lot of work for one day, plus we needed to be done at a specific time today. We did most subjects, and even got a few extras in. 

Starting Tomorrow!

Well, I decided we will start school tomorrow. We took last week off due to a camping trip. It was fun, but it is time to get down to business. We'll kind of ease into a rather hectic year. This week the boys' hip hop dance class starts, and Rabbit's ballet classes start. P.E., Piano lessons, worship dance, and musical theater class don't start until September.

Am I ready to start tomorrow? I'm not sure. I've read through the first week a couple of times. I have all my student sheets pulled out. I've come up with a tentative schedule to start with. It looks something like this:

Bible (w/ Mom) - 30 minutes
Rosetta Stone	Spelling (w/ Mom) - 15 minutes	Math Drill
English	Math Drill	Spelling (w/ Mom) - 15 minutes
Spelling	English (w/ Mom) - 10 to 15 minutes	Rosetta Stone
AWANA	Rosetta Stone	English (w/ Mom) - 10 to 15 minutes
Reading	Reading (w/ Mom) - 10 minutes	AWANA
	AWANA	Reading (w/ Mom) - 10 minutes
History (w/ Mom) - any together stuff
History  (w/ Mom) - 35 minutes	Book Basket	Book Basket
Book Basket	Science (w/ Mom)
Music/Art
Stretching and finish any independent work	Math
	Handwriting
Math (w/ Mom) - 1 hour	Piano	Wii Fit (15 minutes)
Science (w/ Mom) - 30-45 minutes	Wii Fit (15 minutes)	Piano
Piano

The pink column is Rabbit, the orange column is Pooh, and the blue column is Tigger. Anything in white is "together time." There are a few things missing from the chart. I missed typing on there, so I'll have to figure out how to work that in. And of course, the times don't line up. Plus, Writing Strands is missing for Rabbit. I'm only having her do All-in-One English 2 days a week. I figured it would cover the whole year if we did it that way, and then do Writing Strands the other two days. That way we don't have Writing Strands on our light and independent days.

Hopefully, tomorrow will go well. Rabbit says our goal is to start by 8:30 sharp! My goal is probably 8:15, but we'll see how it goes. Maybe getting the kids up 15 minutes earlier would make a difference.

Science and Math with Rabbit

Okay, so after posting over at the MFW board with my troubles (meaning the amount of time Math was taking), some people recommended just reading the math text and doing it with her. That works much better. It also allows us to skip problems I know she can do. Sometimes I just have her tell me how she would solve them without going into the actual solving of the problem. Yeah, I know, being able to do the actual math is part of the battle, but this is taking us 50 minutes to an hour, which feels much better than 1.5 hours. Yesterday, for example, we just did all the problems on the white board. Today, we did them in the notebook.

We've started on Apologia's General Science, too - we're on lesson 3. Today a friend over at the MFW board let me know about a notebook it looks like Apologia will sell to go with General Science. It looks pricey ($33), but if it helps Rabbit take notes and such, I think it would be worth it. They have the first module as a sample, so I printed that out and we used that today, except for the science experiment. 

 

After we boiled the water, I saved the left over in an ice cube tray. I read about that on Donna Young's web site - to save time in the future.

I made a video of today's science experiment - at least the results:

It was certainly fun.

Rabbit is having dance camp in the mornings this week, so I've been doing handwriting and math with the boys. I'm doing it together, and so far that is working well. It is like a mini-class. It is a little difficult when one finishes before the other, but it usually doesn't take too long.

The difference of a day!

Oh, Rabbit did so much better today on the timed Test A: she completed all but 4 problems in the 5 minutes, and only missed 2! And the two she missed: one was a number reversal (wrote 65 instead of 56), and the other she added instead of multiplied. This second lesson was long, and then the DIVE video didn't explain about using a formula to find the terms in a sequence, so we had to go back to the book and look at the example, and then I had to explain it to her using a couple of other examples. We finished up the practice set and will do the Mixed Problem set tomorrow. I do like that the DIVE video uses different words and explains things in a little bit different way than the book, but he doesn't always go over everything that the book covers, and we have to go back and look for how to solve at least one of the practice set or mixed problem set. I hope that isn't a regular  occurrence. I mean, right now I'm sitting with her through the whole lesson, giving her hints of when to pause and write and such, hoping that eventually she'll only need me for the warm up. But, if he regularly skips something, then I'm going to need to be more familiar with the lessons.


Things went opposite for Pooh. He struggled with Math today. He kept rocking in the chair instead of doing math. Ended up in tears twice! But, I brought the Math-U-See blocks to piano lessons and sat on the floor with him to do the Singapore lesson, and it went better. Like Rabbit at this age, he needs me to sit with him and walk him through each problem. He loved doing cursive with Tigger, and I even taught them an extra letter so they could write a real word: cat. They thought that was very cool.


Tigger just plows through stuff. If he misses a problem, he goes back and fixes it. He gets a little frustrated, but he wants to get it done so he can be off. 

Gradually starting

So yesterday I started with Rabbit on Saxon 8/7. The first few lessons are quite long, so after we finished the practice set, I let her stop for the day. Then today we finished up the first lesson. She did pretty well with it, but it is basic review right now. Today she also did the first page of the pre-test in All-in-One English.

For Pooh and Tigger, today we started our Handwriting Without Tears Cursive book and Singapore 2A. That went well. I taught them together, but for math, I had them do their math pages separately. 


I think I've got 98% of my lesson plans entered into Homeschool Tracker Plus. I haven't put in dance, P.E., AWANA, or Writing Strands. And I haven't figured out how I'm going to do the Progeny Press stuff with Rabbit, either. I'm still stressing a little bit about how to schedule it all. I have a lesson plan for Rabbit, and then another for the boys since there is quite a bit of difference. For the Apologia Science, Saxon, and Singapore I just have "Lesson x" and then the notes say to refer to the lesson plan book from MFW. The nice thing is I have my Primary Language Lesson plans from back when Rabbit was in 3rd grade to use with the boys. 

Done with EXP1850

I've been such a slacker! Okay, we finished our required days/hours several weeks ago. We didn't get to the state study, though. I ordered Colorado from statehistory.net and plan on having Rabbit at least read through it this summer. Plus she's checked out a few books on Colorado from the library.


I'm very proud of Rabbit! She finished Singapore 5B on the last day of "official" school! She has worked so hard to get caught up.


Pooh is making progress in his reading. Slow and steady, it is coming along. He still has a hard time with the math facts. We're doing xtramath.com and some math drill stuff from Little Giant Steps. It is expensive, but it has helped some. I'm not seeing the progress I would like. He can do math during math time, he just has a terrible time with the speed drills.


Tigger is doing great. He's reading at grade level, doing math well, getting his math facts down, all of that. His temper is short, and he gets passionate about things, but he is easy to teach.


I really want to keep my blog up to date for 1850 to Modern Times. I'll certainly try.

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.