2013-2014 Week 12

I can't believe this is week 12, it doesn't seem like this year should be this far along. This was a good week.  I had a lot on the schedule and was determined to get every last thing done, even if it killed me.  

Everett did another couple grammar tests, which means that after our break for the holidays we're ready for him to start the regular lessons.  He completed a story for writing as well and finished a step in his new spelling book.  That lesson was really long as it was a full review of the last book all in one step.

Annika finished lesson 10 in Barton level 3, which means one more to go, and she's done with this level! She completed a lesson in writing, but it wasn't an easy one.  We had some teeth gnashing and hair pulling on my end, but when it was all said and done, it was a good piece of writing. 

Lucas did 3 reading lessons in All About Reading 2, completed a step in All About Spelling 1, and finished a set of penmanship pages. He also did a science lesson from Nancy Larson Science 2 with Matt on Friday. 

All of them did math and completed their current chapters for their Math U See levels.  Ev and Annika added some timeline figures to their timelines after we made the decision to go back to Time Travelers Early Modern Times and save Ancient history for next year. They also continued working on their cell models.  Those should be fully dry by Monday so they can do the last step and finish them up.  The last thing we did is re-evaluate the Latin program we picked.  There were a few issues with things not being presented before they popped up on the work pages. The program was hard for me to teach as it has no TM and is a program that the kids are supposed to watch a DVD or just read the book and learn.  This wasn't working for them.  We are planning on shelving Latin for Children, and trying First Form Latin instead.  I plan to use the DVD to teach myself a few lessons ahead of the kids and then I can use the excellent teachers manual they provide to teach the kids what I now know.  I'm going to get started on this over our holiday break and getting a good few lessons under my belt.  



One more light week to tie up some loose ends before we take a break until January 2014.

2013-2014 Week 11

We took off a week for Thanksgiving, and this week was pretty slow as well.  We all seem to be over the coughs and sniffles that were running wild a couple weeks ago.

This week we did a little math and a little science.  Ev and Annika worked on their cell models a little bit, and everyone did math until they got to a new chapter.  The rest of the week was spent crafting (making new stockings) and running errands/going to appointments.

All the kids had to go for dental cleanings, no cavities all around.  Yay.

I'm hoping to get quite a bit accomplished in the next 2 weeks before we take off for the holidays.

I did write a new article for From Sandbox to Socrates about my attempts to raise Dubia Roaches as a food source for Spock the bearded dragon.  That should be published soon.  I'm still surprised that they even invite me to write articles and contribute.  I consider the group of ladies that started that blog to be so much more knowledgable than I, they apparently see something in me I don't see in myself.

Yes these last few posts really stunk, but we didn't have much to report.

I hope you enjoy the slideshow of pictures of the kids with their St. Nick Stockings

 

2013-2014 Week 10

Another somewhat short week here.  The kids were still getting over their colds, but it is what it is.  

Everett managed to do 1 Grammar test as a review.  I think he has 2 more before we hit the new material.  He also started Step 1 in All About Spelling Level 5, this one will take us a while as it's like a recap of all we did in Level 4.  He watched a lesson on his IEW writing class DVDs and started working on a story chart outline.  He's finally back in MUS Pre-Algebra after a lot of gap filling and did a few math pages.  He is excited to be working with exponents.  He also watched the first lesson of LFC A and did an activity sheet and played on Headventure land to help work on the vocabulary of the lesson.  Annika joined him for the first part of a science lab on building a cell model out of Sculpey clay and Plaster of Paris, they'll finish it next week.  
  
Annika finished up her paragraph which was about summarizing a one paragraph story.  She did quite a few math pages working on multi-digit multiplication and is about 5 lessons away from finishing MUS Gamma.  She also celebrated her 12th birthday. 

Here's some photos of Ev and Anna working on the clay organelles for their cell models. 



  Lucas was the sickest this week and just did a penmanship page where he learned to make cursive lower case Ts and then did a few math pages.  He's working on single digit subtraction and loves the was Mr. Demme and the blocks from MUS work to show this.  

For history we just did some catching up on our timelines.  We also took a day to go enjoy nature.  We went to a local park and gathered leaves we can use to make a craft for Thanksgiving.  The kids loved it and seemed to enjoy looking for the brightest colored leaves.  They also had fun playing at the playground.  

Next week will be mostly a fun week doing since we have the holiday to look forward to.


 

2013-2014 Week 9

It was a short week Things kind of hit the fan toward the end of the week when Everett turned up sick, and then the weekend was crazy busy.  I'm late getting this up as we all started feeling icky come Sunday.

Everett has completed 2 of the GWG 7  tests as a review of things, he did really well.  I presented the last 2 steps in All About Spelling 4, and he worked the lessons, next week he'll take the test and then it's on to level 5.   He did some editing on his cephalopod paragraph, and will type up the final draft next week.    2 more math gap filling lessons were completed with 2 more to go.  He also did some reading for science and started Latin, although after some talking Matt and I did,  we may bump him down a level in this. 
  
Annika did 2 lessons in GWG 4 and although it's a bit tougher as there is more to read she's doing pretty well.    She watched the next lesson in Student Writing Intensive A and wrote a keyword outline.   Math went really well. I was worried about it, as it was 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication, but she seemed to grasp it with ease.  She also started Latin, using Latin For Children A, and is excited about it. 

Lucas continued to work on his cursive H pages. He took a spelling test and also finished lesson 11 in All About Reading 2.  In Math he completed lesson 17 and is doing well.  

History and art just didn't happen this week, but that happens from time to time.
Not sure that next week will be any better because it seems that I now have a head cold.

 

2013-2014 Week 8

Another week down. We got a decent amount accomplished and even got to have a few fun days while Matt was home on leave.   

Everett was having a rough time with Adverbs in grammar, so he did a few extra sentence labeling problems, but in the end we decided we need to step away from Analytical Grammar in favor of Growing with Grammar. He finished 2 steps in spelling, which I believe leaves us just 2 more until this book is done.  He finished his paragraph on Standard Time and started a new one on Cephalopods.  He completed 4 math lessons, and has only 4 more gap filling lesson left.  He did a microscope lab which involved looking at a slice of cork with the microscope.  Not a very exciting specimen, but it was mostly to walk him through how to make his own slides.  
  
Annika had a rough go of it with prepositions in grammar, and we've decided she will also make the switch to Growing with Grammar.    She finished her paragraph on Pearls, and will start a new chapter in her writing program next week.   She finished lesson 9 in her Barton program and did really well with it.  Just a few more lessons in this level and then it's on to level 4.  She worked with estimating in math this week, and had no problems with it. Next week it's on to 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication.  I'm so glad we started using Math U See this year, it's working really well for her.  She also completed a lesson on plant cells and how they are different from animal cells in science. 

Lucas started working on cursive H this week and said they are hard, because they are shaped weird.  Not sure why he feels that way. He finished 2 lessons in reading and took a spelling test on words with the sound of short o.  He also started learning how to spell works with the short sound of u. In math he worked on making 10 and making 9, just a few more facts and he'll have his addition facts completed. He learned about how things are made from different materials and that matter can be a solid, liquid, or a gas in science.  

For history we continued on our Sonlight journey, and learned about the Sumerians.  We covered the first writing, and I read a few more chapters of The Golden Goblet.  

Art this week consisted of doing some Halloween crafts with paint and canvas as well as the carving of Jack-o-lanterns. 

We also added in a little home ec, because I have a very good internet friend who has a Halloween birthday, so Annika made a cake.  We celebrated by eating the cake with grapefruit spoons, in honor of Julie.  Don't ask, it's a long story.  

Plenty of pictures this week.  

 

2013-2014 week 7

Well we got a little bit accomplished this week, not nearly as much as I'd hoped but we kind of burnt out toward the end because of all the running from appointments to activities, and all the other errands.  

Everett started took his grammar test on subject/verb for unit four and did really well.  He also started unit 5 on adverbs, one of his grammar nemeses.  He completed another step in spelling, almost to the end of the book, Yay!  He worked with metric measurements some more in math and commented that "it's so much easier than english measure, why haven't we switched?"  I told him I didn't know, that at one point there was a push to convert, but it never happened.  
  
Annika started working on prepositions in grammar.  So far it's going pretty well.   She finished her Oyster paragraph and started one on Pearls.  We worked a little more on Barton level 3 lesson 9, and she's doing well with her new spelling rule of when to use 'ch' and when to use 'tch'.  In math she began working with 2 digit multiplication and has decided to slow down for the last 9 lessons of this level, so she really understands it.  

Lucas started working on forming cursive 'Gs', began a lesson on syllabication of words with a single consonant between two vowels, and blazed through his math lessons on, counting by 5s, rectangles and squares, and doubles plus 1 facts.  

History and Science were interest led so nothing specific to report.  Annika and I took a learn to knit class and will have one more before they turn us loose.  Lucas had 2 baseball games, there are 2 more games and one more practice before the season is over.  Annika and I also worked on figuring out why Spock the Bearded Dragon wasn't eating so much.  Turns out he needs more baths and was sick of phoenix worms.  So we bought him some dubia roaches and bathing him daily and now he's eating like a pig and seems to be doing better. 

Next week we get the treat of Matt being home Thursday and Friday in addition to the weekend, so we'll see just how much school we get done those days.  I hope to fit a good amount in the beginning of the week. 

The only pictures I managed to get this week were of Annika working on grammar and the cat deciding he liked where Lucas's desk was moved to.

 

October 20, 2013 - School Room Reorganization

The kids and I were really having some issues in the school room the other day, the desks kept getting bumped, it was hard for me to help Everett without tripping over things along the way around Lucas's desk.  There wasn't enough room between the book cubby and my desk to sneak through to get to Annika's desk to help her.  Today I decided to change it up and separate us all.  The only subjects we do together anymore are Art and History, and we can use the small table in the Game Room or move to the Dining Room Table for that if needed.  

2013-2014 Week 6

The week ended up being what some call a LOW week, or Left Over Week.  This means that we basically just covered things we were unable to get to last week. The kids had a few days where they weren't feeling good so very little got done.  Overall I'm ok with it, and we'll just regroup and do our best to accomplish more next week. 

Everett started unit 4 in grammar covering Subject and Verb and also learned about verbals.  He did well on his grammar exercises, even doing more diagramming than the directions called for.  He completed step 22 in spelling, just a couple more weeks and this book will be done and then it's on to level 5.  He wrote a rough draft on Standard Time and started Unit 2 in science.  In Math he completed some pages on the metric system.  

Annika took her unit 3 test for grammar and got an A.  She's decided that pronouns are hard.    She edited her Oyster paragraph and continued lesson 9 in Barton reading and spelling.  She completed lesson 20 in Math U See Gamma and took the Unit 3 test, which she also got an A on.  In science she learned about the parts of an animal cell.  She is really enjoying the Nancy Larson Science lessons, it was definitely worth the money. 

Lucas completed his page on cursive Ds, and even did part of the page on Gs before realizing he'd gone a page too far.  He read An Elf in the Swiss Alps out of his All About Reading Level 2 reader, and loved the story about Ed the Elf.  He also took his 2nd spelling test, getting 100%.  In science he learned about natural vs. human made matter.  

History went well again this week, I continued reading The Golden Goblet aloud and we covered Chapter 2 from Story of the World Ancient Times.  This unit was about the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Egypt as well as the Nile River and King Narmer.  Lucas colored a picture depicting the story of Osiris and Set we read in the chapter, and Everett and Annika did summaries.  All 3 kids labeled a map of Egypt with the Upper and Lower Kindoms, the Nile River and drew the two kingdom crowns that later became 1. 

So over all I'm happy with what we did, and hope to get quite a bit more done next week. 

 

2013-2014 Week 5

Everett works on his history narration

Over all this was a pretty good week.  We had an appointment one day and the weather took a rainy turn later in the week, but that just meant we could stay inside and get quite a bit accomplished. 

Everett got an A on his Grammar test, which he was very proud of.   He completed another step in spelling, only a handful left until he moves to the next level.   He wrote a keyword outline for a paragraph on Standard Time, completed Unit 1 in science and worked on exponents in math. 

Annika working on her narration

Annika continued working on the pronoun unit in grammar, this unit is a tough one.  She'll take her test for it next week.  She wrote a rough draft for her Oyster paragraph, worked on editing it, and started lesson 9 in reading and spelling.  In science she continued working with the microscope this time looking at cheek cells and learning about the nucleus of a cell. 

Lucas and his coloring page

Lucas had another good week, he continued working on writing cursive Ds, read words that have beginning blends and learned about words with a short i sound for spelling. In math, he blazed through the lessons on circles and triangles.  For science he learned about the differences between natural and human-made items. 

In history we decided to not continue reading the book Mara: Daughter of the Nile, the kids felt it was a little too "soap-opera" for them.  We did continue reading The Golden Goblet, which they are enjoying.  I read aloud from Story of the World Volume 1, about the first nomads, and the older two kids wrote a narration about it.  Lucas colored a picture of a Shaduf and they all colored in some maps of the Fertile Crescent area.  I was really proud of Ev and Annika for doing written narrations for the first time and not a complaint could was lodged.  They both said they enjoyed it and want to do it routinely as part of history.  

For Art we finished our study of Piet Mondrian.  We each made an interpretation of one of his works with our own vision.  Next week we'll take a break from Meet the Masters to work on some fun Halloween art projects. 

 

2013-2014 Week 4

This week was a good but short week, the typical "life happens" things came up, but we still managed to get about 3.5 days in.  

Everett did an excellent job on Grammar this week speeding through unit 3 on prepositions and prepositional phrases, those pronouns are still a thorn in his side, but he's getting there.  He completed a spelling test which means he only has about 7 or 8 steps left in this book and then it's on to book 5.  He typed up the edited final draft of his mini report on Music, Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence, and completed his first microscope experiment for Unit 1 of biology.  He was using our new binocular scope and didn't care for it at all, so we decided to return it and bought a monocular one from Amazon that is perfect.  He also completed a few gap fillers in math, with reviews on the area of a trapezoid, area of a circle and circumference.  

Annika started Unit 3 in her Grammar book which covers pronouns, which are proving to be just as tough for her.  She completed lesson 8 in Barton reading and spelling level 3, wrote up a keyword outline on Oysters, completed 3 lessons in Math U See Gamma on multiplying by 6 as well as by 4.  In science she learned about how to use a microscope and also disliked the binocular scope.  She redid the lesson once we got the monocular scope and had much more fun.  She also enjoyed her biweekly art class where she continued working on a gift for her Uncle Tommy.  

Lucas had a good week, he completed 2 steps in All About Reading 2, which including reading a story about the Bantam Spy Club (which he read twice) he continues to impress me with how quickly he's catching on to reading.  He completed a lesson in All About Spelling 1, which included his first spelling test.  He did great, and his printing is really coming along as well.  He worked on learning to write cursive Ds and connecting them to As, completed lesson 10 in Math U See Alpha, as well as the Unit 1 test.  He was super excited as he got a 100% on his unit test in math and on his spelling test. 

We also started an artist unit on Piet Mondrian, and the kids learned about how he used simple primary colors, rectangles and squares of color, as well as vertical and horizontal lines to make pieces that can give you a sense of certain types of music.  They did there own simple drawings to learn the technique and next week will make their own version of a Mondrian.   In science he learned what a physicist is and worked with the categorizing items as living or non-living.  


We started our new history program from Sonlight Curriculum.  We are now using Core G: In Depth World History Part 1.  We read a chapter from The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times: and started reading The Golden Goblet and Mara: Daughter of the Nile.  The kids really seem to be enjoying the books and look forward to hearing more and working on maps and timelines next week. 

 

2013-2014 Week 3

This week was another pretty basic week, I didn't take any pictures so this will be short and to the point.

Everett worked continued working on pronouns, which have proven to be a real pain in his backside.  We found a few things in math that he needed some review on, so we put the higher level math aside and went back to work on parallel and perpendicular lines as well as finding the area of a triangle.  He began his Student Writing Intensive C, and completed a keyword outline and rough draft on a paragraph about music, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence.  He did pretty well, but we did have to go over the steps in the writing/editing process to refresh his memory.

Annika continued on lesson 8 of her Barton Reading and Spelling level 3.  This lesson has her working with the unit endings -ank, -ink, -onk, -unk, -ang, -ing, -ong, and -ung.  She also reviewed her previous spelling rules.  Math for her included finishing chapters 14 and 15 in Math U See Gamma, and her second unit test of the year.  She's doing really well with math and loves the new program.   Lastly for the week we went back to Student Writing Intensive A, and she wrote a small paragraph on Starfish.  She really enjoyed the topic and did quite well.  

Lucas worked on writing cursive As, and did many work pages from chapter 8 in Math U See Alpha.  He is learning to add 8 to a number.  He still wasn't feeling 100% so it was a pretty light week for him with lots of read aloud and snuggle time on the couch with mom.

We had a little discussion on history which just isn't cutting the mustard for them and they asked to go back to the beginning of the 4 year history cycle.  After a few days of research and thought I decided on Sonlight's Core G which looks like it includes many books the kids will enjoy and uses some old favorites as well.  I'm rather excited to be going into a different time period, the 19th century was really starting to bum us out.  

 

2013-2014 week 2

This week was pretty basic, I had recovered from the strange inner ear virus that made me feel like I was living on a tilt a whirl, we did get some lessons done, but Lucas and Annika seem have colds so we kept it light.

Everett worked on pronouns in grammar and struggled a little bit, he did excellent in math though when it came to multiplying negative numbers.  He started science this week and did the intro lab about learning the parts of our new microscope.

Annika worked through a bit of her reading, and on getting multiplicating by 6 down.  She also worked on grammar, but was learning about articles and adjectives.  She started her Nancy Larson science, and seemed to like it.  She learned a few science vocabulary words and is excited to start her unit on cells.

Lucas worked on writing cursive Cs, read The Grump in his All About Reading Reader, started Nancy Larson Science 2 in which we worked on living vs. non-living things, and worked on Adding 8 to a number.

Everett and Annika also finished their covered wagon project for their history lapbooks.  
The weekend got a little crazier as Fall little league started up.  I'm coaching again this season and am also the league Safety Officer.  We had our first game yesterday, and I was very proud of my team.  They made some really good plays and followed directions really well.

 

2013-2014 week 1

It was a pretty good first week of school for us here at Fawkes Academy.   We are taking it slow and will add in more subjects as we progress on.  This week we focused on Grammar, Reading/Phonics, Spelling, Math, and History.

Everett and Annika worked on their Grammar from Analytical Grammar and Junior Analytical Grammar respectively.  They did well, Everett remembered more than I thought he would, and Annika had no trouble reading the pages.  If you've followed me through this crazy journey with her and reading you'll know how much of an accomplishment this is.

I give a lot of the credit for Annika's great advancement in reading to the Barton Reading and Spelling program.  It is a program designed to help dyslexic, but can be used by anyone struggling with reading and spelling.  She loves the program, and it's easy for me to teach because it's all laid out and ready to go.   It saves us quite a bit of time as it teaches reading and spelling at the same time in a way she understands.

Lucas is also making great strides in reading through the use of All About Reading.  This program is such great fun.  He looks forward to it each and every day.  We have started level 2, after holding him off quite a bit this summer, and I believe we will progress rather quickly through it.  Level 3 is on order so we'll move right into that when we finish Level 2.   He also started a spelling program this year.  We are using All About Spelling, which dovetails nicely with All About Reading.  He completed steps 1-4 this week.  Everett is also using All About Spelling, but is on step 19 of Level 4.  I believe this level will be completed rather quickly, and we'll move right along into Level 5.

Math is quite a change from the last few years.  Lucas was doing ok with Saxon, but the lessons were really boring and not fun in the least.  Everett and Annika were using Teaching Textbooks for the past 2 years,and although it's a great program I found that the retention just wasn't there.  They could do the work by going through the motions, but they weren't really grasping the topics.   I did a lot of researching in the late spring and came to the decision to try Math U See.  I bought levels Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta. The biggest difference is that Math U See is a mastery based program unlike the other programs we used in the past which were incremental or spiral.   We started it a few weeks ago.  Annika is working on Gamma which focuses on multiplication to help nail down those facts and operation.  Lucas is working on Alpha to fill in any gaps in his single digit addition and subtraction.  They are both progressing rapidly, and I see us finishing these levels up within the next couple months and moving on to Delta for Annika, which focuses on Division and to Beta for Lucas, which focuses on multidigit addition and subtraction.   Everett did a quick review of some topics in Epsilon to brush up and master some fraction topics that he felt he didn't really understand.  He then expressed his interest in using this for his upper level math courses.  He opened up and talked to me about how he felt he did with Teaching Textbooks.  He said it was a fun program, but he didn't feel that he really had time to grasp a topic fully before having to move on.  He asked if we could use Math U See this year instead and I agreed.  He chose to start with Pre-Algebra again because there were things in the scope and sequence he said he didn't work on in Teaching Textbooks or that he simply couldn't remember how to do.  He'll work through both Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 this year.  He worked with Adding and Subtracting negative numbers, and although it proved a tricky topic, he did enjoy the lessons and seems to be understanding it now.  The Math U See manipulative blocks are a big hit with all the kids and really help them cement things in his mind.

The last subject we worked on this week was History.  We have a few lessons left in our study of the United States during the early 19th century.  We read about and discussed the Oregon and Santa Fe trails.  Everett and Annika worked on a project to add to their lapbooks about traveling in covered wagons.  Lucas is still in tag a long mode when it comes to history.  

Here's a slideshow of pictures from our week I hope you'll enjoy.

The building projects are done, the room is ready, the students and teacher are excited... It's time for the school year to start!

That's right the 2013-2014 school year begins tomorrow, September 3rd.  I had a few carpentry projects to finish so the room would be ready and I finished the last one today.  I then spent part of the afternoon getting the binders set up for the kids.  I have one left to do, but that will require a trip to an office supply store to get a binding cut off and have it drilled for a 3 ring binder.

Here are some pictures of our classroom with the new improvements.

I can't believe this is our 8th year of homeschooling.  It seems like just yesterday I was starting 2nd grade with Everett and Pre-K with Annika, while chasing baby Lucas around the house.  The kids say they are excited to get started, and I have to admit, I am too.  I think the programs I picked out will be excellent and will make for a great year.

The curriculum choices are as follows.

Everett- 9th Grade

• Grammar- Analytical Grammar
• Spelling- Finish the levels 4-7 of All About Spelling (he's already half way through level 4 so this is doable)
• Literature- Teaching the Classics method using the following books (if we have time we'll add others)
• Fishing in the Air, Creech
• Owl Moon, Yolen
• All the Places to Love, MacLachlan
• St. George and the Dragon, Hyman & Hodges
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, retold by Tolkein
• Tom Sawyer, Twain
• Frankenstein, Shelley

• Composition- IEW Student Writing Intensive level C
• Math- Math U See finish Pre-Algebra and then Algebra I
• History- Time Travelers finish early 19th century move on to the Civil War, Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression, and on to World War II
• Science- REAL Science Odyssey Biology level 2 along with added reading selections
• Art- Meet the Masters
• Latin- Latin Alive I

Annika- 6th Grade

• Reading and Spelling- Barton (currently in level 3, hoping to get through 4 and maybe 5 this year)
• Grammar- Junior Analytical Grammar
• Composition- IEW Student Writing Intensive level A
• Math- Math U See Finish Gamma, move on to Delta, and possibly Epsilon
• History- Time Travelers finish early 19th century  move on to the Civil War, Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression, and on to World War II
• Science- Nancy Larson Science level 4
• Art- Meet the Masters
• Latin- Latin for Children level A

Lucas- 2nd Grade

• Phonics- All About Reading level 2 and 3
• Spelling- All About Spelling level 1 and 2
• Penmanship- Handwriting Without Tears Cursive
• Math- Math U See finish Alpha, move on to Beta
• History- Tagging along as interested with older siblings
• Science- Nancy Larson level 2
• Art- Meet the Masters

Wow!  That's quite a list now that I type it all out.

To all my other homeschooling friends, I hope you have the type of year you envision in your minds, may it be engaging, productive, and above all fun.  To all my friends with children starting back to public school or who have already started may your year be filled with joy and may your children excel in all they do.  

Happy Schooling!

I've been such a slacker, time to get back on the blog.

It's been a long time since I posted here on the blog.  This past school year has been one of many ups and downs.  We had a lot of good times and a lot of frustrating times.  We finally just had to call it a year and be done.  We will be doing some summer schooling but nothing too intense.  

Lucas will continue with math boot camp to nail down those addition and subtraction operations.  

Everett will continue with spelling and will be doing a fractions and decimals boot camp for math.

Annika will continue with her Barton Reading and Spelling lessons as well as doing a multiplication and division math boot camp.  

Annika is also undergoing a lot of evaluations to make sure we know of any other underlying learning issues she has.  She is currently in therapy for some more speech issues and some auditory processing problems.   Barton has been a huge game changer for her in the area of language arts, but Matt and I feel we have to get her evaluated for any learning problems that could be on the table so we're better equipped to guide her through her education.  

All of our math boot camps will be done using the Math U See curriculum.  So far the kids are really enjoying it and we've already had a few "A-ha" moments. 

I hope you all have a fabulous summer. 

It's almost time to start up again

It's almost time to start back into the school routine, so I spent a little time today updating the shelves.  I moved out somethings we'd finished and moved in a few things we'll now need.  I also took some new pictures while the place is still somewhat clean.