Thursday, August 23, 2012

Week 3

If I can figure out how to post pictures from the iPad without them being huge and grainy, I'll start adding more pics again. If not, I will still add pics but less frequently because then I have to steal my husband's laptop to manage it.

This week Sweet Pea daily worked on math, writing, science, and we added the Sonlight Core E back in. She does this by herself with help as needed, then I correct with her and she fixes her mistakes.

Little Bird is working on handwriting with Cursive First. She is still perfecting her numbers, then we embark on the exciting world of cursive letters. Once she can easily make all the numbers, I plan to add math in daily. She's also doing phonics daily and has almost completed the kindy phonics program from Hooked on Phonics. After she does we will move sideways into the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. She's also having time with me daily for Sonlight Core A. We are currently using their Language Arts as well, but I will drop that once she can write well and then we will do copy work.

We start the school day together with religion, both girls and my little boy following along as they are able. Right now we start with Egermeier's Bible Storybook. We then sing a hymn from LSB together a few times, working on the same one until we all know it. I then read any applicable Arch Books from Cph that go along with the Bible storybook reading, we recite the three chief parts of the Catechism, I read a section from My First Catechism from Cph, and then we sing the hymn again. We close with Luther's morning prayer.

After this my two year old is ready to wander away to play with blocks, color, or do playdoh.

Both girls stay at the table so I can work closely with Little Bird and help Sweet Pea as needed.

So far, this has worked really well! I'm hoping it continues.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Week 2

Sweet Pea is now daily doing math- Saxon, and writing- Classical Writing. She enjoys the writing and tolerates the math. She's also reading through, "...if you were there when they signed the constitution". 

Little Bird has been working on phonics- HOP K, and coloring to increase her fine motor control and hand strength. I think we are going to try handwriting again next week. Every day she has me read her a book about being a big sister since we are having another baby soon.

My little Moose at two can count to twenty. He's also perfecting his coloring skills.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

New school year

This is my first school year with two official students. I have a big kindergartener and a third grader!  My, how time flies. It really seems like very recent history when Sweet Pea was starting kindergarten.
My philosophy at heart hasn't really changed, but how it plays out has. Some of it has just been the learning process of me learning about my children. Some of it is the wildly different learning styles of my two girls. Some of it is natural changes with time.
For my oldest the bulk of the plan to to continue on with what we started last year. We are about half way through American history with Sonlight so it's natural to continue on to the second half and finish the story. Alongside US history we will keep studying Greek and Norse mythology. Math is another logical progression for now. Continue with Saxon. We're still chugging with Latin and French, although with less intensity then I pictured when we started. Science is earth/space, although she has recently expressed some interest in chemistry and we may explore that as well. I am still looking for a religion curricula that requires less of me putting it together, but I don't think it's out there right now.
Little Bird has done really well with beginning phonics. I'm loosely hoping to be done with the bulk of phonics instruction by the end of the year. We will see! She hasn't done a lot of handwriting yet formally. I have tried a few times to introduce cursive and she hasn't been ready. She prints on her own and writes little words. I'd like to see some more progress on that this year. She also hasn't done written math yet because Saxon K is mostly manipulative based. By the end of the year I'd like to have made that switch. We will read through the Sonlight Core A books for general social studies and literature and she's welcome to listen in on her big sister's mythology. Latin and French together, religion, too.
Ok, now how this is playing out in practicality vs. my repetitive planning posts (hey, you can repeat things sporadically!) is a lot of time reading together, math and writing as seat work, and goals of consistently cheerfully accomplished work.
Since we are just starting for the year I'm having each of them daily work on a single subject until that is going smoothly. I'm hoping next week to add another subject. For Sweet Pea that's daily math and for Little Bird it's reading and phonics.

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