So far a decent week. It is Spring Break for the public schools so we had a PS friend over Tuesday and will have our cousin over today.
Tuesday AM we completed our household routines and school in the AM. Joss is really coming along quickly with her reading and has surpassed the Math but fortunately enjoys the act of filling in the worksheets so I keep handing them out! I am so pleased to have purchased this curriculum as I probably wouldn't have thought she was ready for the phonics she is doing. Since math is one of her talents it ensures that we don't miss any concepts as she is leaping ahead! Ex. she is comfortably and competently writing and solving addition equations, except she still can't reliably make 5 and 8! Calvert forces us to go through each concept (like number formation) so she has a sturdy foundation for future skills.
When her friend got here we did a craft project (easter hats) and went to the park. We sang an easter song on the way to and from the park and had a great time.
Wednesday was also nice, got a lesson and a half done in the morning then went to Michael's for arts and craft supplies. Of course I spent about twice what I planned! But we got lots of neat stuff including a 99cent sewing kit that Joss is gaga over. She has been sewing paper pockets and is wants to make straw hats like we heard about in Litte House in the Big Woods (just finished listening in the car - our second time with it, we read it at the beginning of winter too). She really gets into the handicrafts.
After Michael's we were going to get our lunch on the road (fast food) and have a quick picnic lunch on our way to the grocery store. We stopped at a nearby nature center, just to eat, but ended up staying for almost two hours and walking the path that goes around and through the marsh. We saw seagulls, Canadian Geese, Ducks and a Muskrat. It was so nice out and we hadn't been to the nature center in so long that it just sucked us in and wouldn't let us out in time to do the grocery shopping!
So I ended up doing a 10pm grocery run with the baby. Oh well, we had fun together and he rode sitting in the cart for the first time. My back can't take constant slinging anymore so I was glad he liked it. I was also glad I had alcohol swabs in my pocket so I could wipe down that bar that all babies desperately want to get their mouth on when they ride in the cart.
Thursday was intended to be a school day. Our cousin Malcolm, a first grader, was coming over and him and Jossy have really enjoyed doing school together in the past. In fact on a recent car ride, Malc taught J all his spelling words and the concept of silent e! (He says it whispers to the other vowel "Say your name! Say your name!") So that was a good plan but we had hs playgroup in the morning and they had agreed to meet at a playground near my house. So our first act when he got here was to get everybody ready and in the wagon to walk the 8 blocks to the park. The kids cooperated very nicely taking turns pushing and riding in the wagon on the way there. The way home wasn't so great but that is to be expected! Especially since we were all having such a good time that we stayed for almost 3 hours!! Those kids were wiped!
The kids had tons of fun at the park. Zeff is playing more and more WITH other kids and less alongside play. He was actually getting along and cooperating with 4 bigger boys as they dug in the sand with some toy dump trucks. At one point he had been away from the kids playing in the sand eating snack and when he rejoined them he ran up and grabbed a truck. They told him pretty nicely that he had messed up their hill. I tried to help him say sorry but he was embarassed and turned away. Now I thought this was really sweet - even though he didn't apologize the two bigger boys said "We forgive you anyway!" And forgave him again when he got up the courage a little later to apologize. What sweet kids for him to hang with.
On the way home J and M were bickering about pulling the wagon. With no input from me they both decided thtat God didn't want them to fight and started cooperating and paying each other compliments, they called it "building eachother up,"
Jossy: You are as handsome as my daddy.
Malcolm: You are as handsome as your mommy and my mommy put together.
J: Your hair is very shiny.
M: I know, I just washed it.
They are in the same Sunday School class, so the building up thing must be from that but I thought it was pretty adorable. They are truly best friends.
After we came home the kids dug in the backyard mot of the pm. When they weren't doing that, they were working on their clubhouse in the kids room (A web of yarn hung all over the bunkbed and crib with construction paper flags and a big cardboard tube taped to the side of the bunkbed.) Did we get school done? No, but a big reason our family homeschools is that we think playing in the mud and building clubhouses are at least as important as "school" for a young child, especially on the second nice day of the spring. I am realizing that we are not going to complete K in the next few months. I probably need 5 more months at the rate we are going but that is fine. We had a baby this year and in the beginning could not always complete a whole lesson a day and were averaging 2-3 lesons/week. We are now consistently completing 4/week but with nice days and summer activities coming up we won't finish before fall. We will keep doing LA and Math and any fun games and activities or Science that comes along, but will not slow down to complete those. Right now school is fun for Joss and only takes 30-45" a day so we should be able to do that while still fully enjoying the summer. Then we will start 1st whenever we finish K and continue at the same rate. I feel good about this plan even if we end up taking more than a calendar year to finish each grade esp since Joss wouldn't officially start K till this upcoming fall anyway. We'll see how it goes with Zeff but for Joss starting "early" has really taken the pressure off.
Well, my big kids are still sleeping so baby and I better get some housework done b4 they wake up. I love this little baby but he needs a sleep mask - he thinks just cuz the sun is up that he should be too! Oh well, he's got my genes too so that shouldn't last long! Bye!
Tuesday AM we completed our household routines and school in the AM. Joss is really coming along quickly with her reading and has surpassed the Math but fortunately enjoys the act of filling in the worksheets so I keep handing them out! I am so pleased to have purchased this curriculum as I probably wouldn't have thought she was ready for the phonics she is doing. Since math is one of her talents it ensures that we don't miss any concepts as she is leaping ahead! Ex. she is comfortably and competently writing and solving addition equations, except she still can't reliably make 5 and 8! Calvert forces us to go through each concept (like number formation) so she has a sturdy foundation for future skills.
When her friend got here we did a craft project (easter hats) and went to the park. We sang an easter song on the way to and from the park and had a great time.
Wednesday was also nice, got a lesson and a half done in the morning then went to Michael's for arts and craft supplies. Of course I spent about twice what I planned! But we got lots of neat stuff including a 99cent sewing kit that Joss is gaga over. She has been sewing paper pockets and is wants to make straw hats like we heard about in Litte House in the Big Woods (just finished listening in the car - our second time with it, we read it at the beginning of winter too). She really gets into the handicrafts.
After Michael's we were going to get our lunch on the road (fast food) and have a quick picnic lunch on our way to the grocery store. We stopped at a nearby nature center, just to eat, but ended up staying for almost two hours and walking the path that goes around and through the marsh. We saw seagulls, Canadian Geese, Ducks and a Muskrat. It was so nice out and we hadn't been to the nature center in so long that it just sucked us in and wouldn't let us out in time to do the grocery shopping!
So I ended up doing a 10pm grocery run with the baby. Oh well, we had fun together and he rode sitting in the cart for the first time. My back can't take constant slinging anymore so I was glad he liked it. I was also glad I had alcohol swabs in my pocket so I could wipe down that bar that all babies desperately want to get their mouth on when they ride in the cart.
Thursday was intended to be a school day. Our cousin Malcolm, a first grader, was coming over and him and Jossy have really enjoyed doing school together in the past. In fact on a recent car ride, Malc taught J all his spelling words and the concept of silent e! (He says it whispers to the other vowel "Say your name! Say your name!") So that was a good plan but we had hs playgroup in the morning and they had agreed to meet at a playground near my house. So our first act when he got here was to get everybody ready and in the wagon to walk the 8 blocks to the park. The kids cooperated very nicely taking turns pushing and riding in the wagon on the way there. The way home wasn't so great but that is to be expected! Especially since we were all having such a good time that we stayed for almost 3 hours!! Those kids were wiped!
The kids had tons of fun at the park. Zeff is playing more and more WITH other kids and less alongside play. He was actually getting along and cooperating with 4 bigger boys as they dug in the sand with some toy dump trucks. At one point he had been away from the kids playing in the sand eating snack and when he rejoined them he ran up and grabbed a truck. They told him pretty nicely that he had messed up their hill. I tried to help him say sorry but he was embarassed and turned away. Now I thought this was really sweet - even though he didn't apologize the two bigger boys said "We forgive you anyway!" And forgave him again when he got up the courage a little later to apologize. What sweet kids for him to hang with.
On the way home J and M were bickering about pulling the wagon. With no input from me they both decided thtat God didn't want them to fight and started cooperating and paying each other compliments, they called it "building eachother up,"
Jossy: You are as handsome as my daddy.
Malcolm: You are as handsome as your mommy and my mommy put together.
J: Your hair is very shiny.
M: I know, I just washed it.
They are in the same Sunday School class, so the building up thing must be from that but I thought it was pretty adorable. They are truly best friends.
After we came home the kids dug in the backyard mot of the pm. When they weren't doing that, they were working on their clubhouse in the kids room (A web of yarn hung all over the bunkbed and crib with construction paper flags and a big cardboard tube taped to the side of the bunkbed.) Did we get school done? No, but a big reason our family homeschools is that we think playing in the mud and building clubhouses are at least as important as "school" for a young child, especially on the second nice day of the spring. I am realizing that we are not going to complete K in the next few months. I probably need 5 more months at the rate we are going but that is fine. We had a baby this year and in the beginning could not always complete a whole lesson a day and were averaging 2-3 lesons/week. We are now consistently completing 4/week but with nice days and summer activities coming up we won't finish before fall. We will keep doing LA and Math and any fun games and activities or Science that comes along, but will not slow down to complete those. Right now school is fun for Joss and only takes 30-45" a day so we should be able to do that while still fully enjoying the summer. Then we will start 1st whenever we finish K and continue at the same rate. I feel good about this plan even if we end up taking more than a calendar year to finish each grade esp since Joss wouldn't officially start K till this upcoming fall anyway. We'll see how it goes with Zeff but for Joss starting "early" has really taken the pressure off.
Well, my big kids are still sleeping so baby and I better get some housework done b4 they wake up. I love this little baby but he needs a sleep mask - he thinks just cuz the sun is up that he should be too! Oh well, he's got my genes too so that shouldn't last long! Bye!
posted by KatyM @ 8:19 AM
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