Weekly Wrap-Up 3/11 - 3/15: Sick week

Both kids were battling sickness this past week. Tank was diagnosed with a double ear infection and Monster came down with a terrible cough. School was pushed to the very minimum, but we did get some reading and math in.

Tank showed that she is learning a lot from sitting in on Monster's lessons. She can show any number from 1-100 on the abacus :). It is amazing!! I had no idea! I love that RightStart places a lot of emphasis on place value. Both kids are understanding how to make tens quickly. We didn't work through any lessons in RS A, but just talked about math and worked with the abacus to solve problems around the house.

Monster is really taking off in reading. We worked on reading Dr. Seuss books this week and he can figure out words that he has never seen quickly. I have to remind him of rules at times, but he loves being able to figure out a word by sounding it out. He is still pointing out words on the T.V. that he can recognize all the time. Tank makes leaps in reading that amaze me. She is starting to recognize common cvc words instead of sounding them out. Bob Books are much easier to read when she isn't sounding out "cat" ten times. I really don't think she will need to work through AAR. I'm trying to think of a way to convince her not to follow in big brother's footsteps. I have Logic of English Foundations and may begin it with her next week.

Overall, we had a wonderful week. We all needed to recharge and still managed to learn new things on a very sleep-deprived week.

Weekly Review 3/4 – 3/8

Bible: This week we covered the next five stories in The Beginner’s Bible. We were introduced to Isaac and Jacob. This is still the kids favorite part of the day.

Reading: Monster completed lessons 14 and 15. We are still working on the first rule of silent “e”. Monster seems to be catching on and picking up the words quickly. Words that follow a specific rule make the most sense to him.

Math: Monster completed lessons 33-38. He worked on adding with the abacus on his own and I am trying to encourage him to work them out mentally. If he doesn’t realize the answer right away, the abacus is right next to him at all times. Math is still easy according to Monster .

Handwriting: Monster practiced letters o, g, c, and e. Handwriting is becoming an easier task for him. We haven’t worked on writing outside of his workbook, but will start to practice copywork after he learns how to properly form all of his lowercase letters.

Other:  This week I decided to row The Glorious Flight by Alice and Martin Provensen. Monster was interested for the first few days, but his interest was still gone after a couple of readings. He was very excited about the field trip planned to the C.R. Smith American Airlines Museum, though.

Update time!

   

Bible: This week we read about Noah and Abraham. We are making our way through The Beginner’s Bible. This has actually turned out to be the kids favorite part of school .

Reading: Monster worked on lessons 12 and 13. The focus is one learning the first rule of silent “e”. It took him a bit to catch on, but he is starting to notice it all around now. The fluency sheets can be very overwhelming and I usually split them into a couple of days. Tank sits in on the lessons when she wants and tend to figure out words before Monster. This doesn’t seem to frustrate him though, thankfully. I can’t wait to start on AAR 1 with her this fall. We are reading through the Bob Books from Set 1 when she brings them to me, but she still sounds out each word, every single time. This is perfectly normal and I don’t want to push her to read sooner than she is ready.

Math: Monster worked through lessons 27-32. I am still feeling the RightStart love and so is Monster. The lessons are the perfect length and progress at a perfect pace for Monster. I’m looking at an option for next year that will be easy to afterschool with. RightStart can be time consuming and needs to be done together the entire time. I believe his reading and handwriting skills will be one a level that allows him to complete some workbook math on his own. I am looking into Singapore (again!) to see if it will be a good fit. I could then teach a short lesson from the HIG and textbook and then set him free to finish the workbook portion on his own while I make dinner or clean nearby. Tank will start RightStart in the fall while Monster is at school and can’t wait!

Handwriting: Monster is now working on writing his letters after finishing up all the lessons on his numbers. HIs fine motor skills are shocking compared to where we were before Christmas. He is confident in his ability to form letters and doesn’t complain about handwriting time at all anymore.

 

Everything else: We are currently reading through A Treasury of Mother Goose and The Story of Dr. Dolittle. We haven’t done any art lessons, history, or science formally this past week. If Monster had an interest in a topic, I would simply discuss it with him or search online. This gave Mom a much needed planning break.

However, I recently discovered Charlotte Mason .

Reading about her educational philosophy has totally rejuvenated my spirit. I love the idea of incorporating all subjects together. Which leads me back to FIAR. However, this time there will be much less planning. No printed worksheets, no over-planned lessons that hardly interest the kids, and no pre-conceived idea of how the week will go. I will look up a local place to visit for a field trip and request a few optional books from the library. However, I won’t plan time what days to read each one. I will simply place them in a bin in the area we typically school and allow the kids to look through them. If they are interested in one, we will read it. If they could care less about one, it will simply stay in the bin until it returns to the library. I think this will cause me less stress and allow me to simply enjoy the spark of learning a book can bring.