Monday, August 16, 2010

First day of School 2010/2011!





Today was our first day of school at Seoul of Hamilton Academy! We had a great start and it's going much smoother than it did last year. For some reason I had a really hard time getting back into it and it seemed to take so long. This year I am trying to be more laid back...at least for now:).

Having a baby in the mix has been a bit of a struggle but I'm hoping it'll get easier with each day. He still takes a morning nap which definitely helps but I'm not sure what's going to happen when he drops it! Ephram loves to be where we are which is awesome but hard when he's talking/babbling, etc. while Kinsey's trying to do a lesson or the others are trying to concentrate. Cailey and Braden don't have a lot of 'down' time when I'm teaching because they learn together and Ephram tends to FREAK OUT even more when I send Kinsey in to play with him. It's gonna be interesting!

Kinsey LOVES school and is up the earliest so I've been able to teach her while the others are eating breakfast. Kinsey's doing math, phonics, and journal. Sometimes she'll sit with us for History and Science but I am taking it SUPER slow with her because she's won't be 5 until October and I don't want to rush it!

After we had the kiddos spring testing done it was suggested to catch Braden up to where Cailey was and teach them together. (Technically he'll be doing third grade this year.) I did my best to get through the grammar book and the rest of 2nd grade math with him (he was 1/2 way through it) this summer. It didn't go as planned and I still have about 50 math lessons to go but he's sitting in on Cailey's math too so that when he finishes his they will be together. Braden is THRILLED to be doing everything with Cailey and continues to soak it all in. It's actually been a lot easier teaching them both together since we were already doing it for History, Science, Drawing, etc. One thing I didn't think about was that I need TWO copies of books that I hadn't planned on getting. Sharing a dictionary and an English book slows things down a lot since they do it together so I've got to get another one:).

Cailey is starting her third grade year. I remember when I was in school it seemed to get much harder in third grade and I took my first real test. (A science one...and I failed...and got in a lot of trouble). We are taking one day at a time but so far it's been great. She LOVES having Braden with her in everything and has had a great attitude about school. I am truly amazed at how much they remember from last year and thankful we haven't had to back track. We are going 'light' this week because next week is our beach vacation and then we'll start for good when we get back.



I have been wanting desks for the school room all summer and found these that we LOVE a few weeks ago. Brian and I had to go on a road trip to get them...and then he had to sand and paint them...BUT we are SO happy with the results! They were only $15 and everything I found online was over $100 plus shipping...EACH! We ended up letting the kiddos pick the colors and painted Ephram's green until he can tell us what color he wants. Cailey picked turquoise, Kinsey wanted 'pink pink you stink', and Braden wanted yellow. The kids LOVE having their own space to work and store their things. We still do group work at the long table but they do their independent work at their desks.

Curriculum (hasn't changed too much from the last two years):
*everything is done 4 days unless marked

Bible- Who is God?
Math- Right Start Math (K for Kinsey and 3rd for Braden and Cailey)
Phonics- Ordinary Parents Guide for Teaching Phonics (for Kinsey)
Grammar- Rod and Staff English (3rd)
Typing- Mavis Beacon Typing (Braden and Cailey) (2 days)
Science- Apologia Anatomy and Physiology (2 days)
History- Story of the World (year 3) (2 or 3 days)
Writing- Just Write (1 or 2 days)
Copywork and Dictation (Cailey and Braden) (alternate days, so 2 each)
Journal- writing prompts (varies)
Art- artistic pursuits and draw write now (1 day each)
Reading- Abeka readers and novels
Flashmaster- (Braden and Cailey)
Handwriting- Zaner Bloser
Spelling- Spelling Power (Cailey and Braden)
Music- MusicAce
Letter Writing (1 day)

I think that's all...if not, I'm sure we do it and I just forgot to write it:).

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