We are still slowly building up to more formal schooling.  Part of this is that we are still working on his bad attitude.  If I ask him to write a word or even a letter, or if I ask him to read something in a book, he complains.  Part of this is him asserting his independence, part perfectionism, and part learning to obey without questioning.  I hope to be through this and be more consistent by mid-September.  That will also get him through the first couple weeks of school before I am a little more formal with our after-schooling.  With only 2 days a week in school, I will still be with him the majority of each week.  So here is what we worked on this week.

History/Geography -  Obviously we spent a little time on cowboys and Jamestown this week.  Also, last week I started reading "Paddle-to-the-Sea" by Holling, but while I think this is a charming story, S is not responding well.  And since this is an Ambleside Online Year 1 (age 6) book, I am not going push this now and will put it at the bottom of the list to come back to later in the year.

Literature - We started using "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson for poetry.  Our favorite poem this week is "Bed in Summer" which talks about having to go to bed while it's still day out in the summer.  We also started reading the second book in the Boxcar Children series called "Surprise Island".  We read quite a bit, but I will only report our book list reading, surprise finds, and perennial favorites here.

Reading - He is trying to earn a Webkinz and I give him 10 points for reading a book (while most chores earn 1 or 2), so he read several Level 1 books from the library.

Copywork - During the Frazier scavenger hunt, I realized S5 has forgotten how to form some letters on his own.  I haven't made him write much this summer (note to self - remember to practice writing year-round!).  He was really upset when he realized this and didn't want to do it if it wasn't "perfect".  So I went back to dotted lines for him to trace.  I'm not a worksheet person, but I have some sites bookmarked with free worksheets, so we will probably do some of these over the next couple of weeks.

Science/Nature - The September issue of Your Big Backyard arrived and we spent time learning about parrots, quails, and strange-looking creatures.  We also read a Cat in the Hat Learning Library book called "Wish for a Fish: All About Sea Creatures".  It's amazing how much information they can pack in that signature Seuss-style rhyme.  The author is Bonnie Worth.  If you haven't seen this series I suggest you check it out.  We have also read one about Seeds and Flowers.  I don't think it should be the definitive text for science, but it does present it in a different style than normal science books.