Week One at Island Christian Academy

has mercifully come to an end! Nah, not really, it wasn't that bad! In fact, we did a six-day week. Since it's Harry's birthday Tuesday, and it's a crummy weekend weatherwise, we did Monday's lessons today so we can Tuesday off and still stay on pace!

Let's see some highlights from what we covered:

Bible: We're using a combination of God's Story & Me which is 52 weeks of active devotionals for kids, as well as Gotta have God. This week we studied Creation and the boys are learning that all things come from God. We also read about Noah and the flood, and the importance of trust and faith. Both boys did well with the concepts and REALLY look forward to Bible time.

In Math it's all review. We're using Saxon, which overall is known to be a solid curriculum, but for now it's just basic stuff he already knows. I have to say my instinct was to double up on lessons, but I'm glad I didn't. Although it's review work for Skip, the summer tends to fry his brain, so just reinforcing what he already knows isn't necessarily a bad thing. For Harry, we focused on writing, recognizing, and grouping for numbers 1 -5. We also reviewed circles & squares. For Harry some is new, some is not, but he's does well when he gets into school mode. Generally he'll be gung-ho for the first 20 minutes, then lose interest, but he's realizing there is plenty of time for work & play during the school day! I think Skip's favorite part of Math however, is the "Math Meeting Book" which teaches them to read a calendar, write out dates in full, graphing things like weather conditions (how many days in each month it is sunny or rainy, etc.) patterns, and counting skills. It's a pretty neat little concept! As the year goes on, it will include learning to count out money to match the day (On the 22ND for example, he'd come up with coins to equal 22 cents), and a few more I can't recall without the book in front of me.

In History & Geography it's all very basic as well for the first three weeks or so. We are using a Bible based curriculum by Alpha Omega. There are 10 books in all and he's on book 1. The Theme is You Are Special and we covered topics such as "You are God's Child". "God Made Me" & All About You". Harry was able to do about 50 percent of the work - I just photocopied Skip's worksheets or found a similar page online. That seems to work well. It will be a few weeks before they get into anything new but as I said, it's good being able to get back into a school routine with work that isn't overwhelming.

We also do daily penmanship using Horizons, and Journaling. I found a great "fill in the blank" type journal specific to his grade level (one) and it's been great! Today it was "I like my home because" He gets to fill it in the way he likes, but can ask me to help with spelling if he wishes. I don't want to discourage him from expressing himself on paper by correcting the spelling or grammar, so I just let him go at it. Today he did ask for help spelling a work. I only plan to check it once a week to be sure he's actually writing "something", but haven't done that yet! A small corner of each page is reserved for pictures to go with what he writes. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't! During this time Harry practices writing letter or strokes in an notebook. Not too much resistance from him!

Science, which is also by Alpha Omega and starts with reviewing some basic concepts. Skip is on book 1 of 10 in the first grade series, and it's entitled You Learn With Your Eyes. We're half way through the book, so we're right on track. Since much of the work has had to do with colors and shapes, I've used this time to provide similar work for Harry. He has pretty much knows the 10 basic colors: red, blue, yellow, green, pink, purple, brown, black, white & orange. He sometimes confuses pink & purple, but getting better. The boys really enjoyed the class on blending colors. We used water and food coloring to create four basic colors, then blended them to create new colors. They then recorded their findings in their Science Journals.

I've been able to have them work together in learning the colors by making up simple games. For example, I'll hold up a purple triangle, and ask Harry to give me the color, and Skip the shape. Another game is similar - I hold up a colored card, and they try and see who can be first. Harry has to say the color, Skip has to hold up the word card for it -(i.e. purple or black) . They enjoy it very much and seems to be helping both in different ways!

During Hands-On (my term for what most would call Art) one day Mike took them outside they built firetrucks from a kit. THEY LOVED IT! On Monday they're gonna go outside and paint them. We've also done a flag art craft (emphasizing colors) but it didn't compare to working with TOOLS!

Skip uses Saxon for Phonics, and he's been reviewing the letters N,O,I, P,T. Pretty easy and basic, but he's learning keywords to help recall the sounds they make, and learning about coding words (long vowel, short, etc.)

All of our Reading Material has fit in with the topics we're covering in other subjects. We've read several versions of Noah's Ark, F is for flag, A book about shapes, and my favorite, Caps for Sale! We usually snuggle up on the couch in the classroom for this, so they look forward to this time. Harry manages to hold his own, and I do try to fit in a book every few days specifically for him.

We have not yet gotten around to ordering the Rosetta Stone for Russian. Quite honestly, my intent is to use in the evenings when Mike is home, as more a fun learning time for all of us. Why? For one, I forgot initially. Biggee! Then I realized that while the weather is still warm, the boys HATE to come indoors until they absolutely have to - which is when it's time to start their bedtime routines. So, I rethought it, and decided to wait until the boys are comfortable with and used to their school routine. I figure by early October, the won't be going outside after dinner because it'll be dark (we eat late!) and our nites will be long enough to introduce this concept!

As for field trips, we're visiting the all new Ocean Explorium on Tuesday for Harry's birthday, and will use the experience to reinforce some Science concepts! My goal is at least one outing every other week.

All in all, it was good, if not long, first week. Harry seems to need to have about 50/50 play/learn time, so we've adjusted our schedule several times, trying to get it to where it works for all of us. As it is now, Harry is done by 12:15 when we break for lunch, and immediately after that he naps while I do phonics with Skip. If Skip had work he didn't finish during the morning, he does so after the phonics.

All things considered, I'll give this week an "B+". Hey, you know, gotta leave some room for improvement!