little breakthroughs

Ahhh Summer. I'll admit is is hard to do school in the Summer but really what are they doing all day.  Once swim team is over there will be a lot of hours to fill. Today we worked on writing, which I think will prove to be our biggest challenge. It is hard to write and it takes a lot of patience. Sarah and I are not known for our patience so I think this will be interesting. The revising and editing process is particularly difficult for her. Her mind wanders,  she gets bored and she just wants to put down anything to get it over with.  I can understand her frustration because it is frustrating.  We fight and today she cried a little but in the end she said to me " Oh I guess I can do it myself" This is a huge breakthrough. Sarah thinks she is unable to finish the work without a ridiculous amount of help. What she calls help is basically giving her the answers.  When she finally does accomplish the work on her own she feels proud, even if it is not perfect.  I feel proud too.

Math Camp and The French and Indian War

Summer school is underway amidst swim team, play dates and camps. Sarah has been really great about doing some school everyday.  This is a kid who LOVES routine. Every morning after she returns from swim practice, she showers, gets dressed and comes downstairs with her backpack ready for school. Some days we can only fit in a couple of hours but hey, it is summer.  


Today we started the French and Indian War.  I am noticing that on most curriculum sites and textbooks, Fourth graders study the Revolutionary War. Sarah has not studied the birth of our nation but she has heard of it.  I guess that's something. 


 She also went to Math Puzzle camp this afternoon for a couple of hours. To Sarah's surprise it is more Math than camp. It really is a mix of kids from third to fifth grade. When I picked her up, a little girl came up to her, said nothing, but handed her an elaborate origami  bird made out of a piece of notebook paper.  I thought it was very sweet. Sarah was also arguing with another girl about passing notes in class...she will find the drama wherever she goes but it sparked a conversation on the way home.  

Mr Poppers Penguins

Last week we read Mr Poppers Penguins. I say we because I read it as well as Sarah. I am  figuring out that I will be doing a lot of reading because I need to read everything she does.  As a reward for finishing the book and because we love movies, we are going to see the movie tonight. Now Sarah can be one of those obnoxious people who leaves the theater saying " the book was so much better than the movie".  


We are taking most of the day off...Shopping for Fathers Day gifts and enjoying a perfect day at the  pool  Finally!!  It hasn't felt much like summer so far so we are all excited to get some sun. 

Grade it!

 I realized how fond Sarah is of grades. She likes As and she will try to do what she can to get one. I explained it was a writing exercise and that I would not be grading it but that would not fly. She Screamed GRADE IT!! I  complied and I thought it was a C.  By the third draft she was much improved and I was happy to give her an A. I think I have to go out and buy more red pens. Whatever works.....

She also wants to keep her books in her backpack and take it to her room at night. She loves routine, so we will have to keep things very ordered which is inherently hard for me. At first I argued saying, no keep everything in one place and she cried. I had no real basis for my point except preference. Why not?

The Eve of School

Tomorrow is the first day of home school. I have been so focused on math and reading that I haven't fully researched Social Studies. I was going through the curriculum and it was about ancient civilizations. Sarah has learned nothing about this. I looked back at the fourth grade in our online program and saw that fourth grad included an introduction to this topic. I can"t very well start the fifth grade without the basics from fourth grade. The fourth grade also covered the Revolutionary war which Sarah has only really heard of. I honestly do not know what they did in fourth grade SS at her school. They learned about map reading and the regions of the united stares and I really think that is about all. A whole year, 45 minutes a day and all you learned was how to read a map and limited geography of the regions of the US. I am a little  mad at myself that I didn't pay attention more to her studies. Her SS spiral notebook came home at the end of the year and there were about ten pages filled out.  Now I know. I feel like I learn so much everyday. 


Although we are doing an abbreviated school day in the summer, tomorrow should be fun. I think we will work from 10- 12 and see what we get done. I will gage Sarah's attentiveness and a lot will depend on the weather. If it is a hot day she will go swimming in the afternoon..if not maybe more school. Either way it is the beginning of year round school.  I will try to chronicle our progress in this blog so I have a record of our journey into homeschooling.  I am nervous and excited and hope I can work out some kinks in the next 2 months.  

Little House

     Sarah finished reading Little House in the Big Woods yesterday. Her assignment was to write a paragraph about Mary and Laura's  relationship and compare it to her own with her sister Jessica. The paragraph was adorable. She wrote that she couldn't really compare it because she and Jessica get along perfectly and are so alike.
    We are trying to write often so that eventually it is not overwhelming.  After I gave her the assignment this morning, she just sat at the table and when I asked what was wrong she said that she didn't understand it. I said "you can ask me if you don't understand something" She just smiled. I think she is so used to just trying to figure it out and getting frustrated that it didn't even occur to her to ask for help. She often asks for help when she actually knows the answer to things but I think she is really just asking for affirmation.
 

The first day of Summer

Today was the first day of Summer Vacation and it began with rain and 60 degree temperatures coming off of a brutally hot week. I heard my first "Im Bored" today which was a little surprising being that it is the first day and all. The problem was solved when friends began arriving at the door so they could all be bored together.


 On Monday we begin our first day of fifth grade. Although the summer will be a modified school day it will at least get the ball rolling.  I think we will work from a minimum of 2 hours a day in the summer. 10-12 am seems like a good schedule at first, after swim team practice and before the pool opens at noon. Like everything it will be trial and error at first.  I am reading The Well Trained Mind  which is a guide to classical homeschooling. I will post my opinions as I get into it. It seems a little overwhelming at first but pretty comprehensive.