Today we started school on time with our morning prayers and a story from Angel Food for Boys and Girls.  Next, we worked on our memory verse from the Friendly Defender Catholic Flash Cards series.  We are supposed to work on a hymn during this "together time" but I keep forgetting about it!

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Math time was next.  Abigail and Alexis began their math period by working on a math facts drill sheet.  Each day they do 100 problems in 5 minutes or less.   It helps them learn the facts (I make them write each one they miss 5 times) and it keeps them on their toes.  I know from experience that it is absolutely vital that they have their math facts down cold!  Oddly enough, they seem to like it!  After they finished their drill sheet, they worked the next lesson in their math books.  We use Rod & Staff and we absolutely love it! 

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While the older girls were working on their math lessons, Aubrey and I were playing with her number line and reviewing quantities up to 10.  She then did 2 pages in her math book - Counting with Numbers - also published by Rod & Staff.

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After math we took a break.  The girls rode their scooters while I checked their math lessons.  Then I took the girls on a short walk so they would be ready to sit at their desks again for spelling and penmanship.

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During spelling/penmanship class I also teach phonics to Aubrey.  We are using Little Angel Reader Book A and Workbook.  Today we were working on the letter T and she did an art project involving popsicle sticks, yarn and lots of glue!  She also practiced writing a row of Tt 's and the numbers 1 - 8. 

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Abigail and Alexis each chose an activity to work on with their spelling words.  Abigail used the Scrabble game tiles to spell out her words and Alexis typed her spelling words on the computer using a different font for each word.  I found many great spelling activities (ready to be printed on card stock!)HERE.

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Spelling and Penmanship took about 30 minutes so we took a break to make some Pumpkin Muffins for our snack.  After we put the muffins in the oven, the girls and I went outside to play "Spelling Baseball".  They had a blast.  Aubrey rode her bicycle (in our driveway) while we played.

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We came back in to check on the muffins.  We couldn't wait to eat them so we had them for dessert after lunch. 

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Next we did Grammar.   I had been doing this separately with the older two but most of the time it didn't get done at all!  Today I started using First Language Lessons - Level 3 for both of them.  The only grammar that Abigail has had is through Latin.  Alexis did First Language Lessons levels 1 &2 already.  FLL-3 is a good fit for Abigail and Alexis is right on target so I'm happy.

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Aubrey doesn't have any work to do during this time so I let her watch a TV show of her choice.  She always falls asleep.  This is a good way to get her to take a nap!

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Finally, we did our history lessons.  Abigail is reading George Washington's World and is making entries in her History Notebook.  We are waiting for her history textbook to arrive.  Alexis read about Marco Polo in How Our Nation Began.  She answered the Study Summary questions in her workbook and did the mapwork for that lesson.  That ended our history lessons and our school time!

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Today I received Drawn Into the Heart of Reading and I am excited about using this for the girls' reading program.  They are doing alot of textbook/workbook stuff this year and this program allows me to choose living books for their reading assignments.