Day One

I had this (gif) written out for Monday, but I knew that this week it was very likely to take two days to do one day. Anyway, what Kieron actually did was to write out his name, address, birthdate etc in his best printing (to provide a baseline for this year) and then he did a math test on addition online, and a Latin Quia.

He just finished Journey to the Center of the Earth, and before that read The Lost World.

The little ones worked on phonics a bit.

We discussed how we are going to do our chore rotation this year. The two little ones (with my help) can stand in for Sean, who won't be around to do regular chores. They both are pretty positive about this -- the older kids were fortunate in that they were helping around the house when they were quite little -- my little ones haven't had that chance, and they have been (mostly) eagerly stepping up to the plate, feeling proud that they get to unload silverware from the dishwasher and that kind of thing.

It feels weird around here with just Kieron and the little ones to teach. Paddy is too young to have much attention for formal academics, and Aidan is too focused on the concrete. I think I shall memorize a list of goals for various subjects and then try to work them into a more floor-time approach. I know that sounds like "using" play -- it IS in a way but on the other hand it is more demanding and interactive for ME, and less deadening for THEM, than sitting down with a workbook (though we will do a bit of that, too).

As for Kieron, I am looking forward to a more interactive approach with him, and also looking forward to giving him more ownership of the process by letting him choose, give input, etc. He already is pretty good about making things his own, but I hope to keep on the upward curve. I plan to introduce a couple of courses a day during the week, and put them into his notebook, so that they are there for reference.

I know I said I was going to log in a weekly format, and I still intend to try that,.....but not for the first week. I'll probably have too much processing to do in the first week. Once things settle into a pattern I want my learning notes to look like this, and this. (I'll have to figure out how to fit 3 students into a compact weekly format though)

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone past -- it hardly seemed like we got in stride.