We had a pretty good week in our homeschool! We are still easing into our school year, adding a new subject each week. Since it is so hot in Arkansas, we have been sticking to working in the afternoons so we can have some time outside in the mornings.
Our first week back we started out with Math. Our second week we added in IEW PAL for 1st and 2nd and SWI A for 4th and 6th. This week we added in All About Spelling for 1st, 2nd, and 4th.
I am having Anthony and Christian do All About Spelling Level One together, even though Anthony is a little more advanced than Christian, it gives him confidence, and it saves me from trying to do 3 different levels. Plus, he though he "knows a million words from Reading Kingdom" (his words) by going through All About Spelling too he will learn the spelling rules. We try to complete one step per week, unless the children just need more practice with that list of words. You can read more about my All about Spelling routine here. I have a white board for each of them as it is much more fun to write spelling words on those than it is to write on paper! You can buy small ones at Walmart for around $2.50. We are also using the All About Reading Level one readers and reading the corresponding stories as we complete the spelling lessons.
Alex (4th grade) had started Level 3 last year, so we started up where we left off. Because the readers are not yet available for Level 3, (but they will be starting September 9th, and the Level 3 set looks fabulous! Click here for more info) we have been reading some readers I bought last year from the Sonlight list. This week we read Step Into Reading Level 4 Pompeii Buried Alive.
For IEW SWI A we wrote keyword outline and paragraphs on Sea Stars and Oysters. We are really loving this curriculum! Nick (6th grade) can do the outlines and paragraphs on his own, but Alex (4th grade) needs a bit of help. Alex is doing much better than I expected this early in the year. He is really getting the hang of it, and just needs a bit of help with the writing. It is hard when you are dyslexic not only to read, but to writte as well. when you have to concentrate really hard on forming the letters and writing the words, it can make you forget what you want to say. So he has been doing the outlines on his own and dictating the paragraphs to me to write for him, and that has been working really well.
Christian and Anthony are using PAL writing. I printed out the workbook and used a comb binder to make it into a book for each of them (I do wish I had bought a different comb binder, mine is NOT a good one!) They are working on writing words correctly in lines and spaces. They both still form several of their letters incorrectly, so I am going to have them work everyday on the iPad on the Handwriting Without Tears app. They just did an update and added the lowercase letters too! I was very excited to see that!
For Math we watch the lesson DVD on Mondays and complete one worksheet per day 4 days per week. They do their Math independently unless they are having trouble, or I have to read the word problems to them. Sometimes if they are having trouble, I have them do the extra 2 worksheets on the concept that are included in the book. Also Math U See has a worksheet generator on their website that you can print more worksheets for free if you need more than what is included in the book. We have never needed to use that, but it is good that the option is available!
Miss Lillian (4) has been very busy with her schoolwork! Not only has she continued working this week on Logic of English, All About Reading Pre-1, and Time For Learning, she got some new review items in the mail this week. We are reviewing I Can Do Math 2 and Max and Alphie's Adventures 2 from Fundanoodle. We just got them yesterday and as soon as they came, she had to get started working on them. These workbooks are really cute and come with stickers! I had never heard of this company until they came up for review. Lillian has already completed several pages in both books.
The exciting news that we got this week was that our Homeschool Art Classes will be starting up again next week! The children can't wait!
Daddy is off on Monday, so we are off too! Back to school on Tuesday. We will be adding Bible into our schedule. Usually that is part of our morning schoolwork and the first thing we start with everyday, but because I had 2 different Bible reviews this summer, we had not been working altogether. We will be working altogether starting Tuesday, although we are sticking to just afternoons for a little bit longer.
*link to AAR Level 3 is my affiliate link. I only form affiliate relationships with companies whose products I actually use and can recommend!
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