Today was our first day trying out the new phonics/reading materials with T. We still did a lesson in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Today was #78. We did the new Abeka phonics lesson and it was so simple and easy. We reviewed the 5 vowels today and the sounds they make. I was tempted to rush on and do a few more lessons since it was easy for him, but I realized that's what he needs. The slow and steady review. He had the sounds down pat, so we worked more on being able to name the 5 vowels when asked. He did pretty good!

Then we did the accompanying writing page with it and he said, "Mom, I like this writing so much better than what we were doing!" Then I saw the light bulb go off when he was writing and realized he was writing the vowels we had just reviewed. It seemed to reinforce the lesson. Our other handwriting was just random things that didn't connect to anything.

We also started memorizing a poem called "The Elephant" from our spelling book. You spend several weeks on a poem until they know it by heart. He really liked it.

On top of all this, we did a history lesson, 2 math lessons, and a Bible lesson. I see so much improvement in T this year! There is no way he could have handled all of that "load" several months ago. He did very well.

Now, Z on the other hand, is struggling to get anything done. I think he has spring fever even though it is cool and rainy here. He finally finished his work at 10:00 tonight. Yikes! But he procrastinated all day long and I had to keep him at it.

I signed him up for a Starbase class starting next Monday. It goes 5 Mondays in a row and teaches math, science, and engineering skills. It is all based on aviation/space/rockets and they go to classes at the National Guard base. It's all free! They do all kinds of activities, experiments, and even get to tour real planes and ride in real military vehicles. Pretty neat! He doesn't know he's going yet--he's just going to have to go. I know he'll love it once he goes, but he doesn't seem interested in anything right now. Maybe it's his age!?!