We had a wonderful week and all enjoyed the cool turn in the weather. Fall is here and so are the days of pumpkins, leaf jumping, and apple recipes. Try my recipe for Friendly Neighbor Caramel Apple Ice Cream Bowls for a yummy treat!
And now on to our school week!
It has taken a few weeks but we seem to have our routine running three guides well in hand. I'm not going to claim every day runs perfectly, but some of the earlier kinks have smoothed out. One of those kinks was keeping Grace occupied, content, and quiet during school time for her older sisters.
Little Hands to Heaven: Unit 7
Grace knows which books are hers and always pulls out her Bible first. She never tires of reading the stories and is improving on her ability to retain what I read to her. If I ask her a question she says, "I don't know that. Read it again Mama," and I happily oblige. This week we learned all about Moses. She really loved the story about Moses in the river and wanted to read that one over and over.
She continues to enjoy her About Three Rod and Staff books and does so well tracing. I am also pleased to see how well she holds her pencil. I tried giving her a pencil grip, but she seems to do better just holding it on her own. I may have to remind her to hold it lower, but overall she does great on her own.
One of the activities I've found Grace loves to do is sorting. She'll sort alphabet tiles, erasers, colored beads...anything! She is so very pleased with herself when she can organize these little doo-dads into jars or compartments. I'm happy to indulge this little sweetheart!
Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 10
Beth is so easy to teach! She loves school and gets frustrated with me when I won't let her keep going! I don't want to rush her too quickly through this guide, but I am allowing her to move a little more quickly through her math book. I have tried slowing her down some so I can make sure she is mastering concepts like time, money, and the calendar.
She also really enjoys spelling. We're working on handwriting, but she is so pleased with herself when she is able to spell words all on her own. One of the things I enjoy most about homeschooling is being there to see the joy and satisfaction my girls feel as they learn something new. I love being my girls' teacher!
Bigger Hearts for His Glory: Unit 9
We really love Bigger Hearts! Rose has completed the three previous guides from Heart of Dakota and each one gets better. She is learning so many new academic skills including research, vocabulary, diagramming and narration. Narration is basically retelling information in her own words. Think of it like summary on a higher level with more emphasis put on making it sound like a story. Our history and science are meant to be read aloud, but since she is reading on a 5th grade level and asked to read it on her own, I allow her to. Sometimes we take turns. Some days I still read it all. We still discuss the material together afterwards but I'm glad she enjoys doing this independently.
This week Rose learned how to do carry addition in math. She was so excited and found it very easy to do. The only hang-up we had was that she tends to charge ahead without waiting for me to teach her a new concept. She had to go back and redo the first section, but she just laughed about it instead of getting frustrated for having to redo the section, which surprised me!
One new skill we're working on this year is expository writing. I want to make sure Rose learns how to write well so starting this year we are working with a writing curriculum published by Scholastic called Grade 2 Writing Curriculum: Week-by-Week Lessons. I have been very pleased how it has taught her how to think through an idea, sequence her sentences, and create appropriate introduction and concluding sentences. I feel this has been a great introduction to formal writing for her this year. Rose has completed 8 of these assignments and her writing improves each time! Her favorite part is the typing and now she is anxious to learn how to type formally. Maybe in a couple of years!
Happy Fall everyone! I hope you all have as much fun as we are this season!
Your girls are adorable! They must have a great teacher because they seem to love to learn :)
ReplyDeleteYou're so sweet :) Let me completely honest and tell you every day is not as beautiful as these depict! We do however have a lot of fun homeschooling. I have to say this is probably my favorite part of the day. We have much less fussing and complaining during our homeschool time. I won't say they never fuss or complain, but for the most part it's a great time.
DeleteI also have a FABULOUS curriculum that I can't say enough good things about!
I enjoy reading your posts. Since your oldest daughter is a week ahead of my son in Bigger I also enjoying seeing if I can get a 'sneak peek'.
ReplyDeleteHave fun!
I'm so glad you stop by :) I too like reading how everyone does different projects. Thanks for your encouragement!
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