Apologies for the gaps in the posts here. I've been horribly side-tracked by FB lately and am just coming back into my own. The recent changes there did it for me, and I've come to realize that I liked being able to come here and check out our progress and easily review things from the past. So ya, I think I'm back to stay this time! LOL!
When we left off: my 5 yr old was just beginning 1st grade materials. She was not reading though we had begun 100 Easy Lessons. Today I am pleased to say that she has just completed the 100 Easy Lessons book.
YAY!! CONGRATS Miss S! :)
We have started working our way through the Explode the Code Books. And I'm just pleased as punch that we've made it this far. She is reading way more fluidly and fluently than I did at her age! LOL! So there in itself I consider our work so far a success! :)
She seems to love math.
Our first few weeks with 1st grade were a struggle. She is a high energy kid, who loves to move and is never still for long, unless something so occupies her mind that she is too distracted to move! LOL! I read a book over the summer "How to get your child off the refrigerator and on to learning" and OMG if S isn't that child! Our first day of school she was on the chair, on the table, and the floor, falling off the chair, under the table, on the floor, before we had even gotten past the first page of what we were doing. I spent far too much time wrangling her in the early days, trying to get her to sit and work with me, yelling and getting very mad. Finally, I plead with my dh and my sis and my mum for ideas... and the best advice I got was from dh. We decided to plan our school work in snippets of time, we started off with 15 minutes. And then she got to play for 45, ya I know a little excessive but well it worked. We are now down to 30 mins work and 30 mins of play! (which leaves time for the other 2 - 15 for littlest and 15 for the oldest if she needs it!) We do 3-4 subjects a day, depending on her attention span, and my ability to keep it together too! So things are working out slowly and we are making great progress. We do struggle some days.
We took all our school materials off to the beach for the month of September, where we had an awesome time. The girls spent some good time on the beach enjoying the sand and surf, and learning so much about marine life and the stars, and so much much more. I wish I could say I was glad to return home, but I was not. I have much work to do here to get thing organized and feel better about this place.
So there you have it. That is what we've been up to!
