Well, we started back to school Tuesday. We had a really great week! I was so nervous about teaching 2 Sonlight cores, but it wasn't a problem. We started each day by 9:00 ( Lily has decided to be an early riser). As the kids ate breakfast I would review the 21 Rules of This House. This book is great! I especially like rules 4, 5, and 6: We consider one another's interests ahead of our own. We speak quietly and respectfully with one another. And we do not hurt one another with unkind words or deeds. I think it made a BIG improvement on the attitudes and especially on how the kids treat each other. This only took like 10 minutes each morning. We are using Sonlight 3 for Science. So I also read that while they ate. I worried this would be to easy for Donna but I think I'll be able to adjust it to her level. By then they were done eating so we did our spelling. We are using Sequential Spelling. I like it but it takes my son WAY longer than the girls and they get a little bored waiting for him. I don't want to have to teach this twice so they'll just have to wait. I have to use a dry erase board to teach this so I bought Lacey a small board and she does her "lessons" on that. Her lessons consist of her drawing lots of 0's on the board. I tried showing her how to make a little a but she was so not interested!
I did learn a neat trick to keep Kyle from mixing up his b's and d's. I got this tip from the Sonlight forum. I told him b has a big belly and d had a big derriere. I had to explain a derriere was a big butt, which of course he thought was hilarious. So now he likes going around saying d has a big butt. At least he hasn't mixed his letters up again!
After Spelling the girls went off and did their seat work while me and Kyle worked on his Sonlight. Lacey sometimes listened in to the Bible and both kids liked Curious George and Make Way for Ducklings. He enjoyed The Boxcar Kids, which I was afraid he wouldn't like. Thankfully the chapters are pretty short so he doesn't get bored with it. Kyle likes Hero Tales okay. He likes it way better if I let him interrupt and talk about everything that's going on. That's a little hard because by now Lily is getting cranky and ready for her nap. After his Sonlight, we work on phonics and his reading lesson. By this time Lily is usually taking a bath so we sit on the bathroom counter while he reads to me.
After her bath he does his seat work and I nurse Lily while I read SOTW to the girls. They color a page from the activity guide while I'm reading. Lily lays down for her nap and we do our map work. Then I read I, Juan de Parajo to them. This is a good book. I don't like it as much as Catherine Called Birdy but it's pretty good and both girls are (pretty much) enjoying it. After that they go finish their seat work. And I correct Kyle's seat work. I know once we start Core 7 it will take me longer because then we'll have Bible and hopefully language. This week for language I just had them start a journal. I'm trying to establish a nighttime routine of them reading a chapter in their Bible and writing in their journal each night before they go to bed.
Well that was our week of school! Hopefully next week will go as smoothly.
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