A Peek at Our Week

Well we finished reading The Light at Tern Rock this week.

Great book.  A bit of a tear jerker at the end.  It was a great reminder on forgiveness and what's important in life.  And it's pretty short, only 5 (kind of longish) chapters. Mackenzie seemed to like it.  She asked some pretty good questions so I'm sure she was listening. LOL

I think we're reading The Family Under the Bridge next.  I've been dying to read that one.

Must have been the week for tear jerkers.  We were reading about Moses for Bible.  And we were both sad when we got to the story where he died.  Mackenzie doesn't seem to be as "attached" to Joshua. 

We read the first story in Five True Dog Stories.  That Dox was one smart puppy!  Still don't want a dog though.

For history/social studies, we studied the different continents.  Nothing in depth just a look at some maps.  I was quite surprised at how into that Mackenzie was.  She liked the maps so much that we finished a weeks worth of "lessons" in two days.

Same thing with math this week.  She was really into and finished a few days early.  She was mad that there weren't anymore pages.  She got over it by teaching me how to add by ten's.  LOL  She's says I'm pretty good now.  She was really cute as my "teacher."

We are behind on science this week, as always.   We'll finish that up today after church.  We're studying trees and it's kind of hard when living in a place that doesn't have much more than palm trees. 

Now when we study frogs, we'll be good to go.  Tons and tons of frogs roaming around here. One night, on a walk, we stopped counting them when we hit one hundred.  We only walked a couple of streets.

Don't pick them up though, at least not without gloves.  Got some kind of poisonous thing going on with their skin.  Probably wouldn't kill ya, but if it some how gets in your mouth you aren't going to be feeling very good.

We totally skipped spelling this week.  Man we were really slackers. LOL 

Over Scheduled (flash back)

On Friday, school got waylaid because we had so many errands to do.  I can't even remember what we did. LOL  So we ended up having to play catch-up this weekend.

But it was a good week.  We finished 3 books, caught up on some science experiments, got all of our book work done.  Mackenzie's very excited to start some new books.  And one of them is really short, only 4 chapters, so we'll finish that this week too.

And today is Monday!  I love Mondays, we have no obligations.  It is the only day that we have to ourselves. 

Our schedule is crazy.

Tuesdays, I teach 2 dance classes (out of my home) then we have our bowling league.  (I'm a terrible bowler.  Highest handicap in the league. )

Wednesday, Mackenzie's swim lesson, and AWANA.  Mackenzie is a cubbie, I'm the Sparks director, and Kevin helps out with the Sparks also.

Thursday, 3 dance classes.  Thursdays is always a crockpot night. LOL 

Friday, Kindermusik and another swim lesson. 

Saturday, gymnastics.  And I'm thrilled that it doesn't involve my participation. Woo-hoo!

Sunday, church.  Now church is not normally considered an obligation. Except when they are desperate for help with the kids and I get "stuck" in the 3/4 yo room.  March is an obligation month this time.  The 3/4 yo class is not my cup of tea.  I don't mind any other age group except this one.

It's so weird because I taught pre-k in my college days and loved it.  Maybe it's just these particular 3 and 4 yo's.  LOL  Not many of them take direction well (or at all) and there's a great deal of  whining and being disrespectful.  And don't even ask about sharing.  It would seem they've never heard of it. LOL  Luckily, they're all really cute so you can't be too upset with them.

Although I was a tad upset with the pastor for running 30 minutes over on a day when they were particularly rowdy.    All of us workers were checking our watches wondering what was up. LOL 

Our School Supplies (flash back)

The spine of our school is Sonlight.

We both love to read, read, read and I knew that this was the only curriculum for us.  I also like their focus on a world view as opposed to more of a focus on the U.S.  (And I am a military wife and I love, love, love my country and will defend it with my last breath.)  But our country has only been around for a few hundred years, as opposed to the rest of the world.  It only makes more sense that you need to spend more time on the rest of the world.  I want her to have a heart for everyone, not just those around her.

Right now we're in SL's core K.  It is so much fun!!  So far there's only been one book that we didn't love but she got a lot out of it already.  We're way ahead of schedule when it comes to reading.  Technically we're in week 8, but in read alouds we're in the week 11 stuff.  Like I said, we love to read.  And she loves that Ergemiers Bible.  She drags that book around all day.  It melts a mommy's heart.

For LA, we use a few different things.  We're using SL's LA 1, not so much for the phonics, as she's an advanced reader. But more for the grammer and writing.  We did most of LA K, with core pre-k, but for some reason we both hated it.  We're liking LA 1 a lot better so I'm glad I gave SL LA another try.  She's really enjoying their readers, even though she is beyond them.  They are great for her fluency and it's so easy to add in more readers. 

For phonics we use Explode the Code and Headsprout Online phonics.  She's almost done with both levels of Headsprout.  It's a lot of fun and it's made a huge difference in her reading.  They introduce stuff in a totally different way than most phonics programs.  If you're intrigued, you can try the first 3 lessons free at www.headsprout.com .  

For math we're using Math-U-See and Singapore EB.  We're mostly focusing on MUS right now.  We love, love, love it.  I learned tons just watching the demo before I bought it. LOL  The way he introduces things like place value amazes me.  I can't believe how quickly she caught on to that.  She's really getting it and applying it. It's wonderful.  We love Mr. Demme.

She enjoys Singapore as well.  She's almost done with 2B.  Then I've got to decide if I want to continue doing 2 math programs or not.  I love MUS but it does have a very different scope and sequence then the "norm."  And if I ever move to a state that requires testing, that might be a problem. (And we never know where we're going to wind up. LOL) And you can't argue with Singapore's math program.  They do have the best math scores in the world.  They also have a great approach. 

We've also used Saxon K and couldn't stand it. It made us crazy!  More prep work then I wanted and she couldn't stand all the repetition.  "I already know patterns."  It was a great relief to ditch that one.  We still use all the manipulatives though.

For science, we're using SL K level.  I love that they send pretty much everything I'll ever need to more door.  Especially living here in Guam, where it's hard to find a lot of things.  And I don't like a lot of prep work.  If I have to go searching for supplies, we won't be doing the experiment. Sad but true. LOL   And the Discover and Do dvd that comes with the program is AMAZING.  She'd watch it all day long.  (And hey, if you didn't manage to get to the experiment, at least you've watched someone else do it. LOL)

We also do some critical thinking activities.  We've used Can You Find Me? , Visual Perceptual Skill Building, Building Thinking Skills, Mind Menders, Developing the Early Learner. 

I'll admit that the critical thinking stuff is the first to get thrown to the wayside when life gets hectic.  It's been a while since we've done any of it.  I think I need a kick in the pants.

I tend to neglect art a lot.  I hate the mess from crafts.  I've been managing to get in one artsy project a week so far.  And a good friend is going to be homeschooling her dd next year so we're going to do art together.  She's more creative and into crafts then I am.

For PE she does dance 2x week, swimming 2xweek, and gymnastics once.  Plus she owns a bike.

And we attend Kindermusik as our music lesson.  She's learning to read music and play a glockenspiel.  Very cool.  And I'm not musically inclined so it works our GREAT.

Sheesh, we do a lot.  How do we fit it all in? LOL

My Daughter (flash back)

What can I tell you about my Mackenzie?

She's an only child.  (And not for any lack of trying on our part.  Trying to have another child has become like a full-time job.  I suppose there are worse jobs. LOL)

She's newly 5. I hate that number.

Why must they grow up?

We think she's beautiful...

She loves knock knock jokes.  She'll make you crazy with them.

Her personality is...how shall I put it...Dramatic!!!!!!!  I believe a lot of people would define her as "spirited".  Maybe you've read that book.

She definately has a flair for the dramatic.  She's either really, really happy or really, really not.  If we lived near broadway, I'm sure she could get a job. ROFL

There's a slight chance her stubborness might come from me. Very slight though. LOL

She's also very, very loving.  She's more than happy to sit on your lap and receive lots of hugs and kisses and snuggles.  I hope that lasts for a while yet.  And she can say the sweetest thing sometimes.

She has  very big heart for our Lord.  I love that.   Her favorite book to read is one of her Bibles. Last March she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart. It was so sweet and of course I was bawling.  I'm not sure she really understands what a big decision that is, so we're holding off on baptism until she's old enough to understand.

She can be very sensitive.  She's easily embarassed and gets upset when she feels embarassed.  It'll break your heart.

Her favorite toys are books, barbies, dress up clothes, and babies.  She's all girl.

She keeps busy with dance classes, swimming lessons, kindermusik, awana, and gymnastics.  It's amazing that we ever have time for school. LOL

She's also pretty smart.  She pretty much taught herself to read with some help from the leapfrog people. 

Kevin insisted that we had her tested in reading, so we did.  She reads at a mid-3rd grade level, spells at a late first grade level, and comprehends at a 4th grade level.

I already knew how well she could read, so that part wasn't a surprise. The spelling suprised me.  I thought she'd be lower.  I'm not buying the comprehension level so much.  After all, I do spend all day everyday with her.  I think she got lucky with her guesses. LOL

We feel very blessed to have the priviledge of being her parents.  If she's the only one we ever have, we'll continue to praise God for giving us the best that he had.

Well I guess that's enough rambling for now.