Weekly Wrap-Up ~ The First Three Weeks

We’ve actually been “back-to-school” for three weeks now.  Back in the spring I decided that our first day of school for 2011-2012 would be July 18th…July and August in our area are usually really hot with a lot of humidity thrown in, so we might as well have some structured learning going on while we’re hiding inside with the A/C on .

 

For the first week back to school, I planned a pretty light schedule {only two subjects per kiddo ~ math & reading, and one family  subject ~ science}.  The second week remained the same, and then this past week we also added in writing.  I plan to add two to three subjects per week until we reach full capacity on August 22nd.

 

So here’s what we’ve accomplished in the past three weeks:

Ds9 broke in his new math curriculum, Teaching Textbooks 4, and so far so good.  He has completed 9 lessons so far, and both he and I are loving that he can do this subject independently .

 

Dd7 is continuing with her math curriculum from last year {CLE Math}.  The plan is for her to finish up the 1st grade text soon and then head into the 2nd grade text.

 

Both kiddos have been reading like mad the whole summer, filling bags full of library books to checkout during our weekly treks to the library. They’re not yet required to read from their reading lists yet, but they are reading .

 

Our current science curriculum is Exploring Creation With Botany from Apologia.  We have all of the books in the series, and I thought Botany would be the perfect choice for a summer study.  So far we’ve completed the first chapter {we’re still in summer mode}, and we were even able to put some of our new knowledge to the test on a recent family hike .

Both kiddos are using new writing programs this year.  I purchased IEW’s Student Writing Intensive A for ds9 and Write Shop Primary Books A & B for dd7 {she is extremely creative and this curriculum looks like such fun}. 

Ds9 watched his first DVD lesson for IEW this week…he was not at all excited about beginning writing, but Mr. Pudewa actually makes writing fun {really}, even ds9 admitted that he was funny . 

 

Dd7 and I completed two days of writing so far.  The first day she was a bit grumpy because she really wanted to join her brothers on the front porch instead of doing writing with mom, but she seemed to enjoy the second day, especially the read-aloud time with mom .

 

Next week I plan to add in spelling {for ds9} and Bible.  The plan is to have all subjects added in by August 22nd .