Learning...

..is fun when your brothers and sisters are doing it alongside you!!

Yesterday we spent the day fishing with grandma J and grandpa Ed (both of the older kids are great at casting... we were so impressed with them... pictures to follow shortly).

Today, we are having a concentrated school day at home:

Math:

-fast math for E (6yrs old):

I gave up on calculadders for now, and made my own math sheets with a free program online. She gets two minutes to complete the page (9 questions) and then gets a smartie if she gets it all right in time. This is working so much better than the sheet of 25 or 30 we were working on before. Now she gets it done, learns her math facts, and feels a great sense of accomplishment. Slowly but surely we will teach her to increase her concentration time. Today she did all the +2, +3 and +4s. (One sheet for each... so the first sheet had in random order 2+2, 2+3, 2+4 etc..). The only problem I can see is that I need to invest in some more smarties because with fast math, and potty training, I'm giving them out all the time!!

-MathUSee for E: lesson 22 -- subtracting 8. Great job on this one too!!

-Z (4 years old): He is learning about the numbers and how to write them. I'm using the kindergarten teachers guide from handwriting without tears, the Stamp-and-see screen (like a little magnadoodle.. it's REALLY good) and some worksheets I printed off for free from A kids Heart. com He is really starting to love learning, and his fine motor control is improving every day.

English:

-E read to me two stories out of her little angel reader.. she's doing so good. She can read long sentences like the following: "Jean and Lee did not feel like helping mother. But they put down the dolls and ran to her." (that story is a keeper!!)

-E also did some writing exercises, adding -ed and -ing to words, and spelling words with ai and ay. She does really well at reading.

Science:-we spent a long time watching the chickadees outside our window, and a big black squirrel. We also looked at two wasps who were trying to fly through the glass window, and a big white moth on the porch.

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We had a snack of yogurt, and a good breakfast of eggs and toast. Now they are just finishing up a lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches, and are about to go play with one of their friends in the neighborhood who is also home schooled. I'm doing laundry, snapdragon is learning to go on the potty, and the babies are being babies. A lovely day.