Weekly Wrap Up and What My Children Are Reading

On September 6th we started school and I think we are mostly into a routine now, for the most part at least.  With a newborn it's tough to have any sort of routine, but we are doing pretty good.  Things will be different when Baby Matty sleeps less.  So the first week I started with Marrissa and Wyatt the Letter of the Week preK curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler.   She suggests starting with vowels.  So far we've done A, E, and this week was I.  The kids (all of them) are loving it.  I have a hard time keeping Kristyn and Cora concentrating on their schoolwork, but we've compromised and instead of me doing the craft with the younger kids, K and C are helping them.  It is working sooooo well.

Each day I have a small package of three or four activities, or coloring for them to do.  Three or four days a week (sometimes only one or two) we have a craft to do.  I still need rechargeable batteries for my camera so I can show you what we are doing, but I put the completed activities that I can in a duotang for M and W.  They think it's the greatest thing.  And they have something to show Daddy!

Kristyn and Cora are working in the grade 2 math workbook from ACSI.  They are really enjoying that; we do two pages (sometimes more) most days.  Kristyn is learning to tell time.  I think she's getting it.  Cora is working on geometry and sorting.  In addition to math, we are doing Building A Life (character study from ACSI) and God's Wonderful Works (a science program looking at the 7 days of creation).  These last two subjects, I have to "teach" (read the book and explain the content) them so I try to do those while Rayna is sleeping because she just gets into too much while I'm distracted with teaching the oldest two.  The math is more self-directed than these other two (especially the character study).

We are learning a lot more Bible this year.  The character study looks at the life of Daniel and his friends and has verses accompanying each virtue.  The science has us learning Genesis 1:1-5 so far and later we add more of Genesis 1.  Then the LOTW has a verse as well.  We are using Sing The Word for our LOTW memory verses.  Even Wyatt and Rayna are learning the verses.  You should hear Wyatt say Genesis 1:1-5!!!  He has almost the whole thing memorized!

 

So what have we been reading? We've been reading the "If You Give. . . " series of books by Laura Joffe Numeroff because they start with the letter I.  We've read about iguanas.  The book we've really enjoyed the most though is Dr Suess's Green Eggs and Ham.  We had it out for the week we did the letter E, but Wyatt wasn't ready to give it up yet.  We read it over and over and over.  I just returned it today.  Time to find a new bedtime story.  Rayna received Silly Sally as a gift from the library.  It's so silly.


Cora said to me this week, "I LOOOVVVEEE reading!"  YAY!  I'm so glad.  She's reading Junie B. Jones books.  She goes through a couple a week, I think.  I may have to have her keep track because I'm not reading them, nor am I keeping track of the ones she gets from the library.  The other day she told me she was up until after 11 reading.  Sound like anyone you know, Grandma Johnny?


Kristyn is not a reader, yet.  She may never be and that's okay.  However, I am going to be making some changes I think and will be requiring daily reading - silent and reading aloud.  I'm just not sure how to work it into our day.  I've started reading our read-alouds at lots of different times of day, but the silent reading is tougher.  (Our current read-aloud is the Little House series - book 2.)


I am reading lots too.  I am currently trying to get through Bringing Up Boys and The Read-Aloud Handbook.  Those two are my focus right now.  Also I'm working on a few others that you can see in my Fall Into Reading 2010 post.


Striving to learn and live God's purposes,