Just a good day

We seem to be falling into a really good routine these days.  The kids are working on their schoolwork everyday and we are getting to do some of those extra things.

The last 2 days Cairn has been working on finishing up her Literature unit on King Arthur.  She made a lapbook instead of doing worksheets and she has had a great time.  She has a couple more things to add and then I will take pictures to add to the blog.  She is also working on her writing.  She has such a negative attitude about writing that we have just been doing some very simple writing assignments just to get her in the habit of writing.  She has improved tremendously in her attitude.  After doing several assignments, this week I am having her edit some of them and then I will have her rewrite one into a final paper.  Then next week she will start working on writing to a prompt or question.  I hope she has more confidence now.

Skylar is finishing up another unit on subtraction.  This week we have been concentrating on word problems and trying to decide if you should add or subtract.  She is still enjoying her Draw, Write, Now books and draws a picture everyday.  She doesn't like doing the backgrounds so much but she likes to learn how to draw new things.

Andrew has been focusing on piano and learning the rest of his letters.  All day long I get, "what does this say?"  Skylar suggested he start doing Reading Eggs and since I don't want to pay for it since I get it for free from the school, we had Andrew start at the very first map and lesson of Skylar's account.  He LOVED it today.  He was so excited about learning a letter we hadn't covered yet and being able to "read" words on the computer.  He didn't really read them because the computer said it but he could match the words to the pictures after the computer said it and he felt like he was reading.  Doesn't matter to me - he was happy and excited.  As always Andrew is around when Skylar is doing her math.  Over the past 3 days he has answered every question correctly that I have asked Skylar in regards to "do you add or subtract in this problem."  So while he was outside riding his scooter today, I asked him a couple questions and he still got them right.  Maybe I should be doing her math curriculum with him

Everyday the kids have a list of the assignments they are supposed to get finished (I print them off of Homeschool Planet-I am part of their beta test - I love the program).  I took Science and History off of their list and made a list for myself.  As soon as I see the kids need a change or when they finish their work I pull out my list and start working on it.  It seems to have helped with them not feeling overwhelmed.  In history, we are learning about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it.  In science, we are working on our Air unit from the Magic School bus.  I have introduced the periodic table again also.  Yesterday we did an experiment with a glass, water and a piece of cardboard.  We filled the glass with water, put the cardboard on the top and then flipped it over.  We got it to hold one time and the kids thought I was doing magic.  Then we talked about the real reason.  We also talked about how scientists make observations before they make inferences.  That little discussion has also helped with some behavior stuff too.  Now, when someone says, "she is mad at me" I can ask them if they are inferring that.  It has made them stop and think a couple times and then realized that the other person wasn't mad but busy or frustrated at something else or some other reason.