Our First Week

This first week was fun and with the exception of Wednesday... we did school every day. There was no set schedule. Playdates and activities were planned and so we naturally fell into our "whenever and wherever" habit. I do plan to try to somewhat keep to a schedule next week but I'm not planning on being rigid with it. Surprisingly (especially because I'm Mamarazzi)
I didn't take any pictures.

The hardest part of this week was struggling with balancing Aidan and Ainsley. Aidan wants my full, undivided attention and whenever I start working with Ainsley... all of sudden... Aidan doesn't understand anything and has amazingly forgotten everything... even something as simple as writing the letter "a". So, I had to work with having them work independently while I do something with the other.... and I imagine I'll be working with that for some time. I did figure out though... that they must be separated and not at the same table... because then neither will get anything done.

MATH

Aidan reviewed math facts and addition. She did addition problems using a number line, a hundred board, manipulatives, etc. I felt that the first week should be a straightforward, easy week. I also went ahead and introduced her to Number Bonds... which I had not done so before. (It's the first thing in Singapore 1a and I put that off until January.) She understood it fine and was actually somewhat bored with it. I had the idea to just introduce her to concepts she'll encounter later... just so that we can breeze through them without a glitch.... but it's obviously not necessary.

Ainsley did counting exercises, patterns, and sorting. She also worked on number recognition. So far her favorite thing to do is simply sit with me and a small wipe board and do various exercises. (lol... so why do I have a room full of manipulatives?)

LANGUAGE

Aidan worked on E.T.C. She did two lessons out of book 1.5. Our goal is to do the whole book by December so that we start on both 2 and 2.5 in January. I started her on working with the Spelling book she has as well.

Ainsley practiced with her phonic cards I made her and... again... with the wipe board. She seems to enjoy sounding it out but it's mostly a game... not a serious thing to her.

READING

I had Aidan run through her list of reading words this week and of course, Aidan read a lot of books... the majority on her own. She has really branched out into quite a little reader. She reads for pleasure and wants to bring books with her wherever she goes. She even insisted on bringing some to the pool! I know that when she reads on her own... she skips the words she doesn't know.. so that kindof worries me because I don't want her to develop bad habits... but I also do not want to discourage her from picking books up by herself.
So... hmmm?

Ainsley was read to. :-)

SCIENCE

We had no formal Science lesson this week except what Aidan did on Time4Learning. I believe she did lessons on parts of a plant and what part they each play and did nonliving v.s. living things.

ART

This week we worked on collages... having fun and making them.

THOUGHTS

We did not get everything in Aidan's folder done. There is a copywork page and one math worksheet she did not complete. However, considering the randomness of this week, I'm surprised we finished all that we did. Next week... since we do not have as many things scheduled... I plan to stick with schooling in the mornings and have Aidan do T4L during Ainsley's nap time. I've recently started having Aidan stay up in the afternoons and have "quiet time" instead of a nap because she would stay up too late at night. So far... this is working out and quiet time is a perfect time for her to play on the computer.