Posted in School Time

I love it when a plan comes together.

I also love that quote from huge 80's hit 'The A-Team'.

But, I do love it when a plan comes together. It's great when everything you planned on doing for the week is accomplished and you're at the point where you envisioned you would be.

That happened this week.

We started out Monday with a regular work load but began tapering off during the week to get ready for Christmas and a week off of formal studies.

Here's how it brokedown...

Kaitlynn is beginning to read and I didn't want to let off. I put off a lot of math work and we worked together with her phonics lessons, edhelper.com worksheets, and the book we're using that I found at Old Fashioned Education, Word Master. When we started this reading thing during the summer, she really didn't want to do it. It was a struggle just to get her to sound out any letters of the alphabet. But, now it's a different story. I can't keep her from wanting to read something.

We also worked on handwriting this week. I'm not using any type of handwriting curriculum right now. We're sticking with copywork. I will write down a quote from a book and she copies it a few times. I then go over it and show her any mistakes and how to form the letters correctly. This is working great.

This wasn't planned, but she wanted to do it anyway... this week she began learning how to type on the computer. I am working with Matthew right now and using a great website, BBC Schools Dance Mat Typing, and Kaitlynn thought it was pretty cool. She wanted to learn. So, this week she went on the site and worked with her home row keys. They also have a place where you can actually print out the exercises and do them offline. This was great. Kaitlynn, and Matthew, both typed them into a Word document as practice. Then I could time them.

That was Kaitlynn's week pretty much. We did do a little social studies and science, music (she's playing the piano and learing it by herself), and bible studies.

Matthew is the one that I worry about the most. Here's why. He is 7 years old and if following the public school system he should be in 2nd grade. However, everything we do for him is between third and fifth grade. I worry that I push him too hard. But, everything I give him to do, he can do easily.

For example, we started division this week and he picked it up pretty fast.  We begin dividing with remainders and multiplying with two digits after vacation.

Also, we went to the library and got the Usborne Internet linked book "World of Plants". If you've never used one of these types of books... they're awesome. They have links to a bunch of different places on the internet with videos, slideshows, worksheets, diagrams, etc. It's great.  Anyway, this week he's studying how plants eat and breathe. I mean the inner workings of it all. He wrote out the definition of vocabulary words (using a dictionary), filled in four diagrams showing how roots draw in water from the soil, learned about photsynthesis from a video at this site.

He did some reading in Literature, wrote out vocabulary words, did some latin translations, studied about Elijah and Elisha, and past and present tense verbs. He also studied Alaska and Hawaii. I don't think I left anything out.

Kimberly had a pretty easy week. Her math lesson this week was on using angles and triangles to help with orienteering. It was a great lesson and she picked up pretty fast. I really like this CIMT math program. It's free (that's always great) and pretty thorough. After vacation we start with angles in circles though. I have to really do a refresher on that one. I didn't do well with geomerty in school and it's coming back to haunt me!

Her bible study and history were all pretty straightforward. Reading, discussion questions and essays. She did do an online study of Thomas Becket this past week and did ok with it. In English we are studing how to write a play and in Literature it's a Hunchback of Notre Dame study. She has a test tomorrow and I hope she does pretty good as she is slacking a lot these past couple of weeks. It seems that she doesn't think she has to put as much effort into her work at home as she had to in public school. I hope it's just a phase.

My goal with her is by the end of June we start seriously looking at colleges and preparing for what she wants to do. I have to begin working on her study habits and focus. I am also going to start introducing her to books like "The 7 Habit of Highly Effective People", by Covey. I believe that high school should be approached like a full time career and that it's not too early to begin learning how to succeed.

That was our week. I think. I probably left something out, I'm sure but it all went rather smoothly and as planned. We accomplished a lot and I know that the kids are pretty much on track with where I would like them to be.