Now that the first week of school is behind us, we can now settle into our old routines. It is always a challenge when you homeschool to switch from summer mode to school mode. Maybe because the kids don't actually leave the house to go to school, making it more difficult for them to adjust. Our first week had everything; laughter, tears, fun, grumpiness, excitement and disappointment... and this was just me! ha ha!
As we start our 2nd week I am a bit more relaxed in my expectations and have a better idea were we are headed. I now know that most of my time needs to be spent with X7, not only that but its not a huge chunk of time either. From start to finish it takes a little over an hour to do school with him. The thing is I need to start with him first.
It is also good to know that A9 can handle most of her school work on her own with some direction from me. There are only three subjects she needs me for.... read aloud time (including science), math (mostly on Mondays) and dictation.
This week A9 is going to start her typing class. I am using Typing Master Pro and we'll see how that goes. The website offers a free demo which I used during the summer. I really liked how it was set up so I went ahead and downloaded it!
Learning how to type also involves sitting correctly so I went ahead and purchased new desk chairs for both of them, got them at Target for $19.99.
The typing software goes at her own speed, "automatically recording personal study data for each student as well as calculating results and test scores. Multi-form exercises such as keyboard drills, typing games and tests, provide diversity whilst instant feedback and long-term progress statistics effectively maintain motivation.". I installed it on my computer as well so that I could have a typing refresher!
A9 will continue to read the Dear America Titanic book for American history and she has been reading Little Women as part of her independent reading time. Like I said before these Dear America books are double the size of the other books we read last year, which means they will take a little longer to get through. She is also starting her language lessons, piano, ballet and Co op on Friday.
He is also enjoying the science read a loud very much. I was afraid he would not be able to keep up with what I was reading but he was fine! His info retention is very good! I asked him questions about the lessons we read two days after we read it, and he knew the answers!
As far as math, no problems so far! It seems weird to say he is in 1st grade when he is doing 2nd grade math, handwriting and science. Oh well, it's homeschool, there doesn't need to be any grades really.
Today is Labor day which means Dh is here with us!! Enjoy your holiday!
