Summer is plugging along...

Quick recap:

• Kids did Soccer Camp 2 wks ago
• Great-grandma spent the week with us last week
• I've been working on our homeschool co-op's web site with another homeschool mom
• I'm addicted to reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I just started book 3. I will probably have it finished before the 4th one is released on August 2 - so long as my family doesn't take a stand and remove the book from my face.
• The 5yo's 1st grade books arrived. She finished her handwriting book, and now we're taking Explode the Code 3 at top speed (and skipping some pages...shhh!)

And a hot air balloon landed in our front yard. I have photos. Can't promise to post them, though.

Curriculum buying

I am about done buying curric for the fall. I went to the BJUP Meeting yesterday and looked through lots of books. I ordered the stuff I would need for 1st gr. for my 5/6 yo. I looked at BJUP's science and history, and surprised myself by liking it! But I already have science & history for this year, and I am happy with my choices. I spoke with the representative about managing 2 kids, 2 years apart. He gave some great suggestions that I hadn't thought of before. Of course, I knew sci & history (& Bible) can be combined. But he also suggested that Grammar & Writing assignments be combined, and some of the spelling (but the older one will still need some of the older stuff to make her learning complete). I don't think I will combine this year, since the 5yo is still in the "learning phonics" stage of reading, but I think we could combine next year, and then just have separate maths and reading, and a mix of spelling levels.

Also, I flipped through BJUP's spelling program and discovered that it was EXACTLY what I was trying to create myself, but wasn't able to do as confidently. I wanted something that taught spelling by word family, and also taught word endings (-ing, -er, est, -ed), and also included Dictation Sentences. And call me completely wacky, but I was happy to see that the TM also included a dictation order to the words when giving the test! LOL. I tend to get completely disgruntled when faced with making choices like what order to say the spelling words in, LOL. I also liked the TM activities that called attention to the spelling patterns by drawing boxes and emphasizing certain letters.

I do have to say that I'm a bit overwhelmed at the concept of teaching 2 kids 2 complete boxed curriculums for math & LA. I'm working on some ideas to keep it manageable. One main thought is that not everything needs to be finished every day. Also, it seems a majority of 1st gr for us is character training - learning how to work and learn and not throw a temper tantrum about it.

I am happy to have the summer as a slow start & learning curve time. It won't be as confusing this fall because we won't have this big box full of new unopened books to start. We'll also slowly finish books at different times throughout the year, so that we can always look forward to getting a something new!

Weekly Review (2 weeks)

We did a little school and a lot of vacation over the past 2 weeks. Here's an update...

School: the only thing noteworthy here is that the 7yo learned addition with regrouping (aka carrying), but has probably forgotten it by now because that was a week ago! The 7yo is also slowly plugging through her first short novel called Garfield and the Beast in the Basement (yeah, from the Garfield comics she loves so much). I was NOT going to carry 20 picture books for her to read in the car:) She is enjoying the book, but adamantly refuses with all of her soul to read more than 1 chapter per day. There are 12 short chapters (2-3 pgs each, large print), and so, it will be a long time before she finishes. Also, the 5yo continues to astound me with the words she figures out on her own. I've taught her half the phonics and sight words as I did her sister (you know, 2nd child syndrome), and yet she seems to figure it out somehow.

Vacation:
Friday - headed to the U.P. and camped at Tahquamenon Falls. Busy place!
Saturday - started hiking at lower Tahquamenon Falls and hiked 6 miles to upper Tahquamenon Falls on some rather wild and muddy terrain. The kids did better than Mama. The 7yo is especially good at plugging through. We were rather exhausted after that! Drove to Pictured Rocks and camped for the night. Swam in the very cold Lake Superior.
Sunday - drove through the beautiful Pictured Rocks park and then took a 2 1/2 hr cruise on a boat along the Pictured Rocks and Lake Superior. Sunday night - headed back towards lower penninsula and stayed with the kids' grandma. Along the way home, we stopped at the beach and swam in Lake MI, with its rocking waves.
Monday - spent the morning at Grandma's and then headed over to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Camped at Sleeping Bear, and then headed south.
Tuesday - went to MI Adventures Amusement Park and Water Park - very fun!! No waiting in line. We were celebrating that the 7yo can now ride rollar coasters. Two rollar coasters later and she decided she liked the toddler rides, like the carousel, the flying elephants, and these cars that they rode (slowly) around a track. The kids' favorite thing to do was to pick a pretty horse on the carousel and pretend they were princesses, or pick a pretty car and pretend they were driving it. Yawn. Pretty boring stuff. Mama and Daddy took turns enjoying the real rides, and especially liked the water slides with the intertubes. Ate at an all you can eat Chinese buffet called Wok and Roll, with a giant photo of a baby's face on it, LOL. Returned home Tuesday night at 2am; very tired people.

Wordless Wednesday

They aren't just for Math anymore. Here are some things to do with Math U See blocks, Unifix Cubes, and 10 Base Blocks...

At the drive in

Last night we went to a drive in movie theatre. The kids wore pjs, we brought pillows, blankets, drinks, and snacks, and planned on a late night. We watched WallE and Get Smart. We had a great time and didn't get home until after 2am. My 7yo learned telling time last week, and now thinks its fun to figure out am, pm, and try to catch the clock on an exact hour. She thought it was pretty neat to see the time change to 2:00, and know that it was 2 in the morning! It is now 10am and they are still sleeping. I don't expect to get a whole lot of school accomplished today.