Weekly report

Every week is filled to the brim with learning, errands, adventures and fun. This is mat man from the Handwriting Without Tears PreK book. H made him the other day. She is getting really good at following instructions and drawing things. He's made from the pieces that we usually use to put together letters.

Math:

Z is learning his plus 1 facts, and has really enjoyed his once-a-week Kindergarten class where they were counting apples, putting numbers in order and coloring apples different colors. Poor colorblind kid: the red apples were all colored green and the green apples were all colored yellow.

E is doing great in saxon 3. We have been learning about measuring, telling time, counting coins, adding doubles, double plus 1, and the +3 facts. All in all, math has been pretty easy so far.

Latin:

We've finished the first 5 lessons. yahoo! Lots of vocabulary. Today we played a game with the flashcards, and I was surprised by how many words Z knows.

Language Arts:

Z is making great strides in writing. Today he was so fired up, he did 28 pages in his handwriting book. He learned all the captial letters, all the numbers and lots of the lower case letters. He is also getting good at sounding out 3 and 4 letter words with the short vowels. Teaching reading is so. much. easier. the second time around.

E is learning about adjectives and determiners and how to diagram sentences on paper. I never learned this as a child, and she already knows more grammar than her father :-) Did you know that adjectives tell what kind, how many, which one and whose? :-)
E is also enjoying reading. She is reading quickly and with good comprehension. I'm thrilled! Right now she is reading the 3rd book in the Happy Little Family series. After that, I'm not sure what I'll make her move onto. I'm having her read every afternoon for a good 30-45min from a book of my choosing, and then at bed time she can read whatever she wants. After each book, she does up a page for her reading notebook with a few sentences about the book and a picture, if she wants.

H is starting to learn a little school too! She cries if I don't let her do big girl schoolwork like her siblings, so she is enjoying working through the preK handwriting without tears book. It's a great book for her stage and is learning lots. She can make a big L, and an I. She has also done lots of coloring and counting, and learning her colors.

History:

Ancient Greece is where we're settled for awhile. We've been busy reading Black Ships before Troy, and listening to Story Nory's collection of Greek Myths. We're learning about the Trojan Horse, fair Helen of Troy, and all the crazy adventures of Odysseys. I'm fascinated as I have never heard any of these stories before.

Science:

We learned about the Scientific Method, chemical reactions and what a solution is. We're excited to start all the fun experiments in our new chemistry book Super Science Concoctions.

Piano:

On to a new book! E finished her piano adventures primer and is moving on to Piano Adventures 1. She is doing great and loves to play her songs every day.

Geography:

we learned North, South, East and West and helped Little Bo Peep find her lost sheep while we were at it.