Week three...

Although a short week of actual desk time since we got ahead last week, and did work aboard the boat over the long weekend, it was, nonetheless, another full week of school.

In BIBLE CLASS we've been focusing on obedience and faith. Two things that little boys find difficult at times - heck people people often fall short too! Perhaps the biggest lesson learned however came when I told the boys on Thursday that they needed to complete a coloring page for homework and return it on today (Friday). My previous post describes in detail what led up to this point. We'd been learning about Noah this week, and how he was tasked by God to build the Ark - and what it took to obey. We also use this time to review Skip's weekly Bible Verse for his Kids4Truth Club on Wednesday nights. Each week he is tasked to memorize a new Bible truth. After Skip turns seven he'll also need to memorize the applicable Bible Verse, which will add to the level of difficulty but I'm sure he'll do fine.

Well when our school day began today, one little boy - Skip - learned that obedience and faith DO pay off, and was rewarded with two extra marbles in his jar. Harry, on the other hand, found that failing to obey has consequences...like staying inside at at recess and doing his coloring then. Two boys, one assignment, one happy outcome, one, not so much. (The real lesson however was learned at the end of the day - more on that later!)

MATH - which is quickly becoming Skip's favorite subject, we continue to reinforce our counting to 100, writing numbers properly, as well as shapes. Mommy didn't check the lesson plan book for the week carefully enough however, and realized we needed a Geoboard today - so after some quick thinking, opted for a virtual version. Skip loved it - and used some free time during class to play around with it. He is learning about angles, so the board helps to reinforce the concept and allows him to experiment with them.

Math is also Harry's best subject right now and he loves learning new numbers. Each day we practice writing the number of the week, then do several worksheets centered around that number. He loves this part of the day - and it's the only time I don't hear repeated requests for a break, bathroom run, or complaint about how tired he is! The shape we introduced this week was triangle, and again, we did lots of "triangle " activities and worksheets. Each day I'd task him to find me triangular objects, and he always manages to come up with several good examples.

For SOCIAL STUDIES we completed our first unit and have begun a new one on Communication and using our eyes. Skip does very well with it thusfar, though I wish it had more hands-on activities. Well see what happens in the next few weeks - I may need to supplement each Unit with some weekly projects to spark their enthusiasm just a little more.
Journaling continues to go well, and it's a fairly fun and painless time. This week his entries included his favorite snack, favorite place to visit and his favorite sport. I was surprised with more than one answer! Being a kid who doesn't love to draw, he seems not to mind the part of the exercise where he has to draw a picture to go along with his journal entries, and has even surprised me with the effort he put in a few times this week! There IS hope that he'll someday move beyond stick figures!

PENMANSHIP continues to also be painless. One the best things I love about the Horizon's curriculum we're using for this subject, is the weekly Bible verse. Each week they have a new verse and right now just read the verse each day. In a few weeks he'll begin writing it each day - paying attention to neatness. During Skip's lesson I generally give Harry a simpler, but similar practice sheet, so he too can work on his letter formations. It does seem to help!

During SCIENCE this week we learned about identifying and grouping by both shape and size. I find this Unit to be a bit too easy, so we try and incorporate it into our daily lives, providing practical applications. Over the weekend we had applied this to the sea critters we found, as well as gumballs in the kid's dispenser, the candies in the reward jar, and the building blocks they played with. Depending on how challenging the work gets in the next few weeks, I may also need to add some outside resources to the curriculum too. Both boys are very hands-on kinda kids, and thrive on "action".

All our READING this week centered on Labor Day, and community helpers. Books included Firemen Fight Fires, Mrs. Toggles Zipper, Good Night Gorilla, Just Going to the Dentist, and Diggerman. This theme seemed to really help them understand the meaning behind the holiday, and of course, and has been a daily reminder that we are to help & serve others.

PHONICS has begun to get a bit challenging after the first 20 days of review. Saxon is a pretty intense curriculum, and there's little room to slack off. With that in mind, I'm thinking I need to switch my schedule around, again. The work is not easy and still Skip does well, I think leaving it for last may not be the best idea after all. Right now we've been doing it right after lunch when I put Harry in for his rest/nap, but I think by then, Skip's not at his sharpest. Over the weekend I'm gonna look into swapping it with Math, which we currently do right after prayer, pledges, and Bible lesson. Guess that's MY homework this weekend!

Harry's phonics consists of a new letter a week. Previously we learned to read & recognize Aa, Bb, Tt, and Oo, inside out. This week we introduced L. Up until now, the letters have been just "things" Harry HAS TO memorize (are you envisioning the sigh from Harry?). This week however, a tiny little light bulb seems to have been turned on, and he's actually associating the letter with a sound. All week has pointed out "L" words to me. I am very encourage with that progress!

Over the weekend on the boat I came up with an alphabet version of the "Memory" game Harry loves to play and it was a huge hit. We made 2 sets of cards for each letter he has learned using both the upper and lower case letters. So with 5 letters we end up with 20 cards; i.e. 2 A's 2 a's etc. We mix them up, turn the cards over, and take turns picking two cards. If the cards are a pair (Upper case A, lower case a) it's a match. At the end, the one with the most matches wins. Harry is VERY GOOD at regular Memory, and absolutely LOVES this game!

In HANDS-ON we finally got around to painting the fire trucks the boys built two weeks ago! They put on old clothes and sat in the driveway with their wooden trucks and some red paint, and went to town. They did ask for help painting the tires & ladders, which they wanted black, and the windshield and the little pegs to hold the tires in, which they decided they wanted to color white. So that meant I was covered in black, white & red paint too. Oh well, a worthy cause!

Finally, I talked a little about the biggest Lesson the boys learned today with the homework assignment. Besides the fact that Skip got to go outside as usual at recess, and Harry didn't, the real payoff came when it was time to count the marbles in their jars. I totally copied Lisa's idea to reward the boys for their work, and moved our marble jar to the schoolroom. Each time they show up for school ON TIME they get a marble. If they have their Bibles, another marble. From then on, a marble is given each time they put forth a good effort in a subject, AND don't whine or say "I can't" or "Are we done yet?" A marble is also given for extraordinary effort. The boys lose a marble however, if they do not give me a good effort, or do sloppy, careless work. Since Harry has less subjects than Skip, the same applies for quiet play time, and DVD learning time. If he plays quietly and doesn't whine when play time is done, or Watches the DVD I have chosen for him, without complaint, he gets a marble. Of course he loses them for not following the rules (AND DOES HE LOSE THEM!)

Potentially, the kids can earn 7 marbles a day, so this week, since we were only in the class 3 days, they needed 15 to earn a Wendy's Happy Meal. Make no mistake, I don't cut them any slack during school and if they don't earn them, show up late, forget their Bible, they don't get the marbles. Keep in mind that Skip earned 2 extra today for handing in his homework...We, after counting the marbles, Skip had 16, enough for a Happy Meal. Had he not handed the homework in, he would have been short 1. He recognized that before I even pointed it out! Bingo! As for Harry - well he had 4 marbles and a ham sandwich with me for lunch. I need to point out that one's more than last week!

The point is though, Harry does get it! He counted his marbles at least 10 times, I suppose wishin' and hopin' they'd multiply! He also announced that next week he was going to do his work and not say "no".... Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but in the meantime, I'm hoping they both learned that obedience is the only way to go....

In all I've seen some encouraging moments this week and in the big scheme of things , "it's all good". As defiant as Harry can be about schoolwork, once he gives in, he does extremely well.

Fun stuff...

looking good for that Happy Meal...

Hmmm, let me count again, maybe I counted wrong...

Ta-Da

Hanging up his masterpiece...

This is one area of learning that Harry is happy to comply...

The dreaded homework sheet...

Consequences...

Math Meeting Book - part of Saxon's Grade 1 Math Program

The online Geoboard...it saved the day...

Our weekly quote - compliments of our Penmanship curriculum.