It went pretty well today -- we are definitely building a rhythm. I have a tendency to neglect the little ones' academics in favor of the older ones, but today I brought out the HWT letterforms, and the Audobon bird cards, and some colored foam shapes for them to sort. They played with the Duplos and waffle blocks. They got a bit tense over the bird cards -- not sure why, but Paddy kept wanting to crumple them up in high spirits, which scared Aidan.
Sean: Algebra, Greek, Latin, Drawing and Vocabulary.
Kieron: Math, Greek (started partway through book 2), Latin,
Both read a section of Civilizations of the Past (a textbook) about maps and globes. I'm going to have a geography focus this year, partly because Kieron couldn't pick out Chicago as the only city in a group of states in one of his thinking skills questions! But also, 6th grade's customarily been our time to focus on world cultures; and serendipitously, some of my favorite homeschool blogs are talking about geography this year (or living it!).
Paddy wants to "make a movie" (he wants me to take stop-action pics of his duplo or stuffie warfare, and then he knows how to make them into a slideshow).
We had our first day of "no computer till afternoon" and it went pretty well -- the kids seemed to play more productively and creatively.
The main glitch in how things are going homeschoolwise are the times in the morning when the littlies want my attention and don't get it immediately because I am with the olders...... and also, how FAST we get through what I've assigned. Sigh..... I am trying to think of a solution for that which doesn't involve busywork or bogging them down with loads o work. Partly I suppose it's because I haven't really gotten more than the basic "short lessons" off the ground.
Montessori and the Science of Reading
3 weeks ago
Willa, it is so funny that your kids zooming through things is what you are figuring out how to fix. Mine are the opposite. It seems like the more I streamline and the less I give them, the longer it seems to take. Even with just math, latin and a little reading we are pushing the morning hours. SIGH! I find that we as a whole (esp. the littles) are so much happier if the bulk is in the morning. But how to do this? I think the first key for us is in waking up! Mine are slow risers. I am thinking of starting to gradually wake them up earlier. We will see if that does it! Are yours early risers?
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day tomorrow.