To celebrate the New Year, Asher and Savannah were able to stay up after Rosalynne went to sleep and play a rousing game of Scaventure with Mom and Dad. It was a blast! They didn't want the fun to stop, and if Trevor didn't have to work so early tomorrow, I think we would have continued to play for at least another few rounds and just planned on starting school a little later than usual tomorrow.
The kids are having a pretty good week in school so far. They don't seem to mind not taking more time off to celebrate the holidays. Since we aren't traveling to visit family this year, a shorter vacation works well into our plans, and we might take a slightly longer spring break when the weather permits traveling.
So far we have a little over two weeks to complete our Ocean Animals Research Project. This week we are devoting to learning more about five select animals. Next week we'll be typing up the information we've learned and the week after that we'll be putting it all together, either in a book or a presentation poster. Stay tuned for pictures. Asher seems to be really interested in snails and jellyfish, whereas Savannah is leaning towards whales and starfish. I'm excited to see their final projects. We've spent weeks learning about the Ocean, water cycle, pollution, and animals.
Progress in reading seems to be going well. Savannah is already an avid reader. She has been reading Chapter books for the last few months without a struggle. It's amazing. Asher's strong suit is more Math, but his reading is improving more every day, and what's even better is that his attitude about reading is improving. He's always loved books, but devoted his time entirely to the pictures before, whereas now he will make a concerted effort to read the words. In the last couple of weeks it seems like something has clicked and his reading skills seem to be improving rapidly. He is able to read Chapter books, but for him it seems like a tedious task, and he often prefers to read leveled readers more. I don't think it will be long, however, before we will be saying good-bye to all the leveled readers.
At my last count, Asher and Savannah have learned about 200 words/phrases in sign language. They are proficient in fingerspelling, numbers, and ordinal numbers. I would estimate that after this week, they will know approximately 250 words/phrases. Signing is becoming more and more natural for them, and they often respond by signing and verbalizing simultaneously.
Grammar and Writing is going well. They both have very active imaginations, the only problem seems to be writing fast enough to keep up with the thoughts in their heads. It is clearly difficult for them at times.
This month, they will be starting CFK (CrossFit Kids). We thought it would be a good way for them to socialize with other kids, but also to learn about the importance of physical activity, eating healthy, and exercising. They are looking forward to their first class. We are still trying to find a music tutor, but haven't had much luck in that arena. Savannah is also expressing interest in Dance, so we have been looking at local studios.
Anyway, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year, and is able to spend some time with friends and family to celebrate; I know we'll be doing some special crafts and activities to celebrate the New Year tomorrow. I hope your New Year begins with a bang!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
After the Holidays....
Gearing up for our first post-break school day tomorrow, and I think I'm actually excited! Everything is prepped and ready. We will be continuing our Ocean Animals Research Projects for a few more weeks in Science, and we have incorporated a "Healthy Me" Science portion, which involves menu planning and eating healthy with an exercise/fit element.
We are also moving on to a lot of new and more directed ASL curricula. Until this point I've been basing our ASL lessons on the Language Tree DVD set, which has worked great, but as we've exhausted both volumes of Language Tree, I am moving on to Lou and Barbara Fant's book of ASL phrases. Admittedly, some of these are not really things a child would need to say, but I will be able to pick and choose the vocabulary and phrase options from this book much more easily than I could from Language Tree, which was all DVD based.
Math still seems to be somewhat of a review, with the kids still working on two-digit subtraction, when they are both quite capable of doing three digit subtraction with regrouping, but I think with so many other intense subjects, taking it a little easier in Math isn't a bad thing.
In Grammar and Writing, we are working on pronouns and their usage in sentences this week to determine the subject of sentences, compound words in Reading and Spelling, and continuing our study of the fifty states for Social Studies. I'm curious to see how much the kids remember after having a week off.
It was a much needed break, and while I contemplated giving the kids a two-week vacation, I think they will be happier if we wait and plan to take another week-long vacation later in the year. This year I am contemplating limiting our summer vacation to only three or four weeks, and then starting back up with a Third Grade curriculum. The benefit would be that we could take more breaks, more often, throughout our school year, but a downside would be that we never truly get an extended break and one year of school could easily blend in with the next year, making it difficult to accurately determine progress and ability levels. It would also give me less time to prepare.
Our first year of homeschooling was sudden (because we hadn't intended on homeschooling our son, but decided we had to after all the trouble with the school), and it often felt like I wasn't adequately prepared. Last year went quite a bit better, but with moving and having a somewhat convoluted schedule, there were some difficulties, from not being prepared to having packed school supplies I didn't anticipate needing or wanting before the move. Overall, however, I was happy with the kids' progress. But this year has been outstanding! The kids are happy, they are energetic and determined, and they seem to really enjoy learning even more this year. We have only had two truly difficult days so far this year and we're already half-way through our school year. I'm extremely impressed with their attitudes and progress.
I don't know if this year is going better because I'm more prepared, or if we all just know what to expect from homeschooling now, but this is by far our best experience yet! I'm not saying we don't have the occasional grumping about an assignment, but that is pretty much it, and even grumpiness is fairly rare. I almost think it's an age thing. They have just reached an age and maturity level where they no longer 'act-out' in that fashion.
Regardless, this year is going great and I am looking forward to school tomorrow after a week off to have fun and rejuvenate.
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| The kids are learning about the Oceans, pollution, and the creatures from the deep. |
We are also moving on to a lot of new and more directed ASL curricula. Until this point I've been basing our ASL lessons on the Language Tree DVD set, which has worked great, but as we've exhausted both volumes of Language Tree, I am moving on to Lou and Barbara Fant's book of ASL phrases. Admittedly, some of these are not really things a child would need to say, but I will be able to pick and choose the vocabulary and phrase options from this book much more easily than I could from Language Tree, which was all DVD based.
Math still seems to be somewhat of a review, with the kids still working on two-digit subtraction, when they are both quite capable of doing three digit subtraction with regrouping, but I think with so many other intense subjects, taking it a little easier in Math isn't a bad thing.
In Grammar and Writing, we are working on pronouns and their usage in sentences this week to determine the subject of sentences, compound words in Reading and Spelling, and continuing our study of the fifty states for Social Studies. I'm curious to see how much the kids remember after having a week off.
 |
| It might look busy, but we have a lot of fun! The kids are learning about the 50 states. |
It was a much needed break, and while I contemplated giving the kids a two-week vacation, I think they will be happier if we wait and plan to take another week-long vacation later in the year. This year I am contemplating limiting our summer vacation to only three or four weeks, and then starting back up with a Third Grade curriculum. The benefit would be that we could take more breaks, more often, throughout our school year, but a downside would be that we never truly get an extended break and one year of school could easily blend in with the next year, making it difficult to accurately determine progress and ability levels. It would also give me less time to prepare.
Our first year of homeschooling was sudden (because we hadn't intended on homeschooling our son, but decided we had to after all the trouble with the school), and it often felt like I wasn't adequately prepared. Last year went quite a bit better, but with moving and having a somewhat convoluted schedule, there were some difficulties, from not being prepared to having packed school supplies I didn't anticipate needing or wanting before the move. Overall, however, I was happy with the kids' progress. But this year has been outstanding! The kids are happy, they are energetic and determined, and they seem to really enjoy learning even more this year. We have only had two truly difficult days so far this year and we're already half-way through our school year. I'm extremely impressed with their attitudes and progress.
I don't know if this year is going better because I'm more prepared, or if we all just know what to expect from homeschooling now, but this is by far our best experience yet! I'm not saying we don't have the occasional grumping about an assignment, but that is pretty much it, and even grumpiness is fairly rare. I almost think it's an age thing. They have just reached an age and maturity level where they no longer 'act-out' in that fashion.
Regardless, this year is going great and I am looking forward to school tomorrow after a week off to have fun and rejuvenate.
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| Holiday Cooking! |
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