The microscope and all the new books came last Wednesday. The microscope has been a huge hit! We spent all of Wednesday afternoon setting it up and looking at bug parts. Then on Thursday morning, we picked flowers and cut them apart and looked at them. We saw plant cells! We looked at skin cells from the inside of my mouth (gross I know, but the kids loved it).
We kept plugging along with math. It's feels so good to be doing it every day. Math is one of those subjects that needs to be done regularly. Keller is still working on techniques for working math problems in his head. During one lesson, he just wasn't getting it. I just kept repeating myself in the same tone of voice ( I was being patient)! Finally he says: "Oh, I know, I could just do this..." and then he went ahead and did what I had been explaining over and over. Yep. You could do that, Keller... LOL. It's fun to watch the "light" come on.
Winston Grammar is a hit! I love it. It's a visual and tactile way to learn all the parts of speech and sentence mechanics, and it's fun. I just didn't use the First Language Lessons of the Well Trained Mind. I don't know why, but we just couldn't get thrilled about it. Winston is better at getting the student involved.
Spelling is rolling right along. Both kids are doing the Spelling Workout books.
We started cursive writing! Keller has been begging me to do this for more than six months! How sad. I kept telling myself that I would research cursive writing books and choose the best. Finally I just broke down and ordered the first one that I saw. Of course, he loves it. He just wanted to learn it, forget about how.
Still doing our journal pages. Nothing new here.
This coming week, what we need to do better:
Get back into picture scriptures. The kids are begging for them.
Fill out Keller's weekly planner. The days go so much smoother when I do this!
Ella is bitter because Keller is learning cursive and grammar, and she's not doing these. The grammar program said that kids don't think abstractly enough to really understand parts of speech at her age. I'm not letting her do cursive, because we need more work on printing first. So, since she's feeling bitter I need to find something special that's just for her. Hmmm. Ideas?
I need to make cards for spelling and Latin. Making cards with words for them to know works so well, but I didn't do it last week. Must do it this week. Now in fact.
I need more ideas on what to do with Mary during school. For now, I've been filling pots and pans with water and letting her play with them out on the deck, but this only works when it's warm outside! Filling up the kitchen sink with water and bubbles works too. Anyone have any other ideas for occupying a precocious two-year-old?
That's it for now! I welcome comments, especially those with ideas!
We kept plugging along with math. It's feels so good to be doing it every day. Math is one of those subjects that needs to be done regularly. Keller is still working on techniques for working math problems in his head. During one lesson, he just wasn't getting it. I just kept repeating myself in the same tone of voice ( I was being patient)! Finally he says: "Oh, I know, I could just do this..." and then he went ahead and did what I had been explaining over and over. Yep. You could do that, Keller... LOL. It's fun to watch the "light" come on.
Winston Grammar is a hit! I love it. It's a visual and tactile way to learn all the parts of speech and sentence mechanics, and it's fun. I just didn't use the First Language Lessons of the Well Trained Mind. I don't know why, but we just couldn't get thrilled about it. Winston is better at getting the student involved.
Spelling is rolling right along. Both kids are doing the Spelling Workout books.
We started cursive writing! Keller has been begging me to do this for more than six months! How sad. I kept telling myself that I would research cursive writing books and choose the best. Finally I just broke down and ordered the first one that I saw. Of course, he loves it. He just wanted to learn it, forget about how.
Still doing our journal pages. Nothing new here.
This coming week, what we need to do better:
Get back into picture scriptures. The kids are begging for them.
Fill out Keller's weekly planner. The days go so much smoother when I do this!
Ella is bitter because Keller is learning cursive and grammar, and she's not doing these. The grammar program said that kids don't think abstractly enough to really understand parts of speech at her age. I'm not letting her do cursive, because we need more work on printing first. So, since she's feeling bitter I need to find something special that's just for her. Hmmm. Ideas?
I need to make cards for spelling and Latin. Making cards with words for them to know works so well, but I didn't do it last week. Must do it this week. Now in fact.
I need more ideas on what to do with Mary during school. For now, I've been filling pots and pans with water and letting her play with them out on the deck, but this only works when it's warm outside! Filling up the kitchen sink with water and bubbles works too. Anyone have any other ideas for occupying a precocious two-year-old?
That's it for now! I welcome comments, especially those with ideas!
5 comments:
Let's see. Flannel board with flannel pictures for Ella. Or stamping with oversized stamps. Save old food containers and clean them out and tape shut and pull out only at school time? We have puzzles and play-doh just for school time. Paper dolls. Just some ideas.
Ok, those ideas were for Mary, not Ella. For Ella, find something that she can take ownership of like maybe a craft that the other kids aren't involved in. Or maybe a few spanish flashcards, basic words that would be a novelty to know. Could come in handy down the road. Something that Keller doesn't know.
Sounds great! So now I want to know--what kind of microscope? and which cursive book? My 7yo wants to start cursive, and I'm like you, I want to research all the options.
For Ella, my 4yo was bitter at one point, and we started FIAR with books his older brother had already done so it was something just for him.
For Mary, no ideas, I have a website bookmarked on my other computer, which is being obnoxious lately, with tons of ideas for toddlers/preschoolers. I'll see if I can retrieve it and send it to you. One good idea is to get a rubbermaid and fill it with rice and let her scoop and pour and dig. It's relatively unmessy.
how about sand? do you have a sandbox? I was not wanting a sandbox because of the sand being brought into the house...but it is amazing for keeping kids busy. My 2 yr. old LOVES it, and plays in it for a good hour. Even if you don't have a sandbox, you get some and put in a large container. I like the rice idea too...
p.s. you're amazing.
I generally keep my kids busy with "Little Mermaid" or "Meet the Robinsons". Just kidding (sort of). Seriously...you are amazing. I love reading all about what you are doing. It makes me want to come over to your house for school.
I agree with Jen - sand keeps them very occupied. I also found that sifting flour can keep them busy for hours. When Austin was a toddler, I had a bucket of flour that was his (I did use other flour for baking). I let him do it on the floor (drove my husband insane). But he seriously spent hours building hills with the flour sifter. If you don't want it all over the floor (and I don't blame you), you could put it in a big plastic container and put Mary inside. That's my crazy idea!
Post a Comment