Thursday, June 27, 2013

Summer school

I'm sure I am going to flack or at least some eyerolls, but we will continue with some school work over the summer.  It is a very modified schedule with lots more projects, cooking, field trips and crafts, toss in a little math, a lot of reading and some history.  After my runaway weekend with Ben, I was feeling a little more clear-headed and motivated to finish the school year.  Having a toddler and a newborn can really throw a kink in your lesson plans, especially when they do not nap at the same time.
We have fallen behind in our schooling checklist, and I am OCD when it comes to my making my lists and checking them twice.
We recently switched math curricula, yes again.  LE started multiplication and all was well, except that she was still using her fingers to add and subtract her 6,7,8 and 9 families. So, we spent the past 4 months on speed drills for both girls and did our research.  We landed on Math U See.  With much apprehension from LE, she has finally decided she loves the new curriculum.  And she is successful with it.  Boo hasn't started the math pages yet b/c we are just using manipulatives.  Yes, math is one of the subjects where workbooks cannot be avoided.  So, I am excited what the future holds, I'll let you know in 9 months.
We have gotten behind on our history and science.  It seemed to be the two subjects that were marked off the list at the end of the day when I was scrambling to get dinner on the table at 5, my gym clothes on for my 6:00 class, a baby on my hip and a movie being inserted into the blu-ray disc to save my sanity.  The girls really love our history curriculum as long as we make sure to do the projects and not just listen to the stories.  This month we are working on the Greek Gods and LE is enthralled with them, who knew?  She is such a history buff.
For our fun reading, we are participating in the RR library reading program.  The girls read for 20 minutes each day.  I am reading Farmer Boy out loud to them and Daddy still reads Hank the Cow Dog each night.  They are on book #16.
We are only journaling on days after we have a field trip, or have something fun that we want to make sure we remember.
The girls are still taking piano lessons with Miss Ashley once a week, and each day we rotate a project between art, history, science, and responsibility (which is usually cooking).

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