Week in Review: April 7-11

This week and next our friend Diego will be hanging out with us! The girls have enjoyed having him with us and he very quickly fell into our school day routine. I didn't know what to expect having someone new join us and I was so proud of how both the girls and Diego worked well throughout the week during our school time. 

Preschool: Patiently Awaiting the Next HOD Guide!

This week Grace finished lesson 100 in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons! I'm so proud of my girl, and it pleases my greatly to be able to say I've successfully taught all three of my girls to read. This one area is what scared me most about homeschooling, but I've been teaching reading now since 2009. We will be moving on to the Abeka K5 and 1st readers to reinforce and continue her phonics instruction, adding in All About Spelling in the fall. 

She has been spending some time with Reading Kingdom as well. It is not my favorite way to learn reading, but if you are looking for a computer-based reading instruction option this is one to check into. It is used by many schools, reading specialists, and homeschools. They also provide a 30 day trial so you can see if it is something you like. You can read my full review here. 

I had other things planned to do with Grace this week, but she came down with a cold, as did 3 more of us! So we mostly focused on reading and cuddling!

Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 22

Beth thoroughly enjoyed having a classmate this week. They did mostly different work, but at the same time. We studied about Benjamin Franklin inventing the wood stove and a sweet little family he helped. Our Bible verse was about being a cheerful giver and she discussed this very deeply with me. As the year has progressed she understands more and more about the verses we read, one of the main reasons I love Heart of Dakota.

I decided to go ahead and do the review workbook for first grade from Math Mammoth before we move on to 2nd grade math. She has filled in the gaps from where Rod and Staff left off, but doing this workbook is giving me greater peace of mind. She loves math and number so very much that she doesn't mind at all that it seems easy!

Beth enjoyed her journal this week which was a dot-to-dot of a bear and cub. Then she wrote about hibernating bears. This is one of the many books I bought for $1 during the Scholastic Dollar Days sales. I use a lot of these books for fun and this is definitely one of my favorites!

Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Unit 14

Rose is continuing on at full-speed and is thoroughly enjoying history! This week she did some of the reading on her own this week since I had an extra student. She didn't mind a bit although I missed the days she read! She read about China and Greece as well as the Silk Road. We started Hero Tales  this week which Rose adored. We also started Triumph for Flavius which Rose also enjoyed. I'd read some comments earlier in the week that this was not a favorite book for some, so I am pleased she is enjoying it so much.

Math is easier on some days than it is others. Whether it is a rough day or not, Life of Fred always leaves us with giggles! I'm so grateful for this unique way of looking at numbers and giving my girls a new perspective on how much fun math can really be.

I've also found out Rose really likes to diagram sentences. This may sound surprising, but she does! She's learned now to diagram the subject, predicate, adjective, articles, and conjunctions. I certainly didn't learn all this in 3rd grade and I'm excited to help her discover it all!

Diego

Diego missed a lot of school for the first six months because of his chemo treatments and we've continued his studies at our house during the break. One area he is really focusing on is handwriting. I was so proud of how hard he worked this week to be consistent with his letter sizes.

We're also working on some math work. We're doing the same 1st grade review workbook as Beth and this has been a great place for him to begin. Diego enjoyed the different ways of practicing his math facts. The review was very good.

This fun vocabulary worksheet was another way for him to practice his handwriting and reading. This is from another Scholastic Book from the dollar sale. I love having these resources!

It was different having another student for the week but didn't disrupt our routine nearly as much as I expected it to. In some ways I think the girls worked more diligently since they had a guest for the week! So another week has past and we are looking forward to celebrating Easter!