School Update

Allyssa: 
Math: We're on Lesson 76 out of 112 in Saxon Math K. At this rate we'll finish before the end of the school year easily. She enjoys Math. We've added some memorization of skip counting to it. So far she's done 5s, 10s, and 2s. I think 3s are next in order for us.

Grammar: We're on Chapter 8 of Shurley Grammar. We're going slower than the book recommends. It is a Level 1 book. She can identify synonyms and antonyms. She knows how to classify a sentence that has these parts: subject noun, verb, and adverbs (up to 2). She also enjoys writing in her journal. She writes a couple of sentences each time. The sentences are complete.

Handwriting: Her handwriting has improved drastically as she no longer feels that it is a chore to do it. When we started when she was almost 5, she hated writing. She would write notes to people with words like "Happy birthday" or the person's name, but not with correct form, but when asked to practice a letter, she did not want to. We held off on formal instruction until Kindergarten, and started again. She was ready then. We've made it through all the capitals, which she now can write with good form, and we're most of the way through the lowercase letters. We should finish them up this week. She also can write numbers.

Spelling: Because we have not made it through all the letters in handwriting, we do all the Spelling work verbally. She does well in this and is on Lesson 7:1 this week. I split the lessons into 2 parts because the 25 words were a bit much for her to pay attention to verbally. We do a 12/13 split instead. She does very well in this as well. We are working on 3 letter words now.

Science: We've been learning about animals primarily though she enjoys reading a book about different science facts that we have as well.

History: We finished up the first quarter of Tapestry of Grace, and we are waiting to choose a new curriculum. While Allyssa learned a lot through TOG, I was not happy having to travel to town to get books each week. Right now, we're simply doing a topical study of Columbus, the Pilgrims, Jesus' birth, etc.

Geography: We have been reviewing what she has already learned primarily to help it stay in her memory. We go over, the major rivers in each continent, the continents, the major mountain ranges in the USA, and the oceans. She has these down, so I'm thinking about adding the mountain ranges in other continents.

Catechesis/Religion: We are working on memorizing the first 6 books of the New Testament, and hope to add to that soon. We also memorize the first stanza of a hymn each month. This month it is Thy Strong Word. We just finished learning the 10 Commandments and meanings, so we are now memorizing the Close of the Commandments (without meaning) this month. We plan to add Luther's Morning/Evening Prayers to her memory soon. Additionally, we are working to familiarize her with Bible Stories.

Logic: We're continuing reading one of Aesop's Fables each month. The kids still talk about the bird and pitcher from a couple of months ago.

David:
David is not in school. He likes to join us for Math. He is a participant with Catechesis/Religion. He listens to most of the books we read about History, Logic, and Science. He knows the jingles that we learn in Grammar (Parts of a sentence, Noun, Adverb, Verb, Adjective) and sings them with us most days. Today he randomly said my phone number, so I learned that he knows that. He is learning a lot just from listening in and being around us while we work on school.

Kaytlin:
Kaytlin is not in school either. She does seem to know the Verb Jingle from Grammar though because when we get the part where we clap our hands, she joins in right on cue. She also can identify her head, and while she's identified her tummy before, she won't do it any more. She says "mama" and "dada." She makes a howling noise for Aiti. She makes a sound for "more" and "head." She probably makes sounds for other stuff, too, but I don't remember. She likes to babble a lot.