So Monday morning we all rose and attempted to follow the new routine.... much grace and patience was given because it was NEW to all of us;) And we started with a fussy toddler and two kiddos complaining with headaches :( It was a reminder to me that it's a routine and NOT a strict schedule... we do what we can.
Tuesday and Thursday we spent most of our mornings doing errands... groceries, library, getting stocked with water, bread and milk since we have a hurricane coming. We spent Tuesday afternoon driving (more to share about this) so the kids brought schoolwork with them and we read ALL of our history in a parking lot while Brian was visiting at the hospital! Thursday after a quick shop and picking up a neighbor from the doctors, I knew I was sick and attempted to rest after I got the kids down for early naps.... not sure what is going on with me :(
So what did we get done???
We started our mornings with Psalms at breakfast:)
Inspired by the book we used in Bible study with our homeschooling group we have started to look for things we know about God from Psalms. It's hard for them, but I think it's better than just reading through it and checking it off a "to do" list!
We have a pretty long prayer list and the kids were volunteering to pray for each request, but it was getting hard to remember everything. Then Chris and Anna decided to do prayer cards... index cards with the dated request on the back... my kids are soo wise! Anyway, they LOVED it and were thinking of other people to pray for (and make cards for). Very sweet and too simple!!
And then we tackled our "book work"!
Anna did mostly reviewing this week. Her books finally came in Wednesday:) But it was just better to stick with the reviewing while Lydia and Chris started getting settled into their books;)
MATH
Anna reviewed subtraction facts and subtracting with borrowing! It was a great refresher;) She did start on her first Saxon 3 lesson, too!! She was eager to get into her new math workbook;)
Chris did 3 math lessons! He rocks at math! I was a little hesitant with giving him an "assessment" on the 2nd day because we hadn't reviewed some of the concepts all summer... but I was pleasantly surprised that he had retained soo much;)
Lydia begged to start math! She was ready LAST week and she carried around her workbook Monday until we finally came to her "math time" ! She has done a lovely job finishing 4 lessons!
Language Arts
I've spoiled Anna (and probably all of them) this summer by letting them read only what they wanted. So this week I"d had to push them to read books from our historical topics/time periods! I've definitely been met with resistance! Anna also worked on giving words endings (like y, ed & ing) and grammar (thanks Miss Sue sue!!) terms as a review before starting Spelling Power. She took her 1st placement test on Friday:)
Chris is working on a list of 1st grade sight words for his Spelling words. We read over the 4 the words he has and he wrote them a few times!
Lydia is working on her color words! Kids learn to identify colors, but often to teach them the color words gets neglected (like by me!!). So Lydia is doing color words worksheets.... she thinks it's "baby work" :)
On the first day we did an "About Me" on the first day! And I let the younger two trace most of it... an easy first day:)
Lydia and Chris have done 2 Grammar lessons together! I KNOW Chris is ready, but Lydia is a little hesitant to participate :( So we'll see if she continues to do it with us, I'm going to give it a couple more weeks!
History
We read about how Queen Elizabeth began queen and what kind of queen she was. We colored, did the map and quizzed each other about Henry VIII wives and children;) There are some fun books about Queen Elizabeth... one is a journal format similar to the American Girls books (Anna liked that one). I like Ten Queens which contains a chapter about Queen Elizabeth.
Science
Anna started on our first week of Chemistry alone :/ She was excited to start, so she did her Definitions page with a couple of questions about how to word the entries.
On Thursday while we were out and waiting in the car I read some of the book Drop of Water. It was a fun and beautiful introduction to water, molecules and phases of water;) Beautiful pictures... beautiful:)
Friday we did our first two experiments:) I planned only to do one ... a drop of food coloring into a jar of water...
and watched it disperse!
but then I got caught up in the simple experiment and we did it with heated water, ice water and tap water:) And watched how quickly the coloring moved in the hot water tan the others!
As I read to them from our science book, I saw blank stares as I read about atoms, neutrons, protons, electrons and a nucleus:) So I drew them one and they made their own to put into their science notebooks.
Other
While in the car this week, we've been listening to music from Handel. One CD was a biography of Handel focusing on "The Water Music" and a CD Brian picked up at Dollar Tree YEARS ago;) I'm hoping to play these for a while and learn a little more about Handel the next few weeks and then move on to someone else;) Trying to sneak in some music appreciation;)
We have been watching the news following the path of Irene and the events in Tripoli this week! We're ready for some rain.... but hoping Irene stays off the coast! We're ready though with flashlights and water!
We were hoping to go to a Splash Pad for our annual homeschool back-to-school gathering on Friday night. Unfortunately Hurricane Irene has postponed our plans :( Just praying that everyone has prepared and is ready!
I realized this week.... that with the school year officially started now SCHOOL is going to have to be our priority again! I have a couple of different things that are pulling on me... but i have to stay focused! On the right priorities!
Picture of the Week
Nate's 1st day of School
Nate was soo "off" and fussy Monday while Anna tried to keep him during her time with him!! She worked her little tail off those 15 minutes!
Linking up to Weekly Wrap-Up !!!
11 comments:
It is so hard to start back after a break and find the right balance with everything. It sounds like it went pretty well though. Are you feeling better now?
I hope the hurricane stays away from you all!
Wow! For feeling sick, you accomplished so much your first week back!
LOVE the magnetic calendar! I thought about getting one this year for my 6-year-old but opted to do a paper, laminate and velcro version I made with free on-line printables and stickers I had for a calendar I never used. Hopefully it works out!
Glad Anna liked Queen E's journal and the water book. I was so impressed that she was working on chemistry voluntarily!
I love watch the kids blossom. Lyida came in chattering (she used to be so shy.) And Chris has a great curiosity.
Thanks so much for sharing your family's school journey. It's definitely special for me to see the seeds planting in the library growing in their lives.
Looks like a great week with lots accomplished! Hope you feel better to start off next week.
Don't you just love being able to have the flexibility of making your science experiment last as long as you want it to? I enjoyed reading your post!
Andrea@Whatever
Wow looks like a full week..back to school as usual. I also homeschool my 2 girls we are not starting until after labor day here so we have one more week until official school begins:) We are really looking forward to getting back into a good routine though! Well I will be praying that God's hand is covering you and your family through this storm! Thank God for faith in times like this! Abundant Blessings to you! stopped by from the hop and now following, please stop by and say Hi if you get time!
Forest Rose
http://homeschoolmama3.blogspot.com/
Hope you are feeling better soon. So sorry we didnt get to visit tonight. Hopefully we will reschedule soon!
Loved seeing your school day. We haven't started yet, but I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine (although I'm going to miss the summer!).
What a fun week! I like the idea of listing what you know about God. I hope you are staying safe!
That is so precious! It looks like you are doing wonderfully!
We have that same magnetic calendar - isn't it great? I love it!
I love your prayer card index card idea too!
Kelly, you are wonderful. So inspiring! I'm not homeschooling my kids, but always get so many great ideas from what you do. :) Your kids are VERY blessed to have you as their mommmy!!
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