It was nice to find out that after 2 1/2 months of no textbooks the girls have not only maintained, but advanced. We picked up on our Math exactly where we left off, and except for having to remind Mary that she needed to borrow (I didn't have to re-teach it, just remind her that she needed to use it) they have taken off. Katie, who had been struggling with adding on a number line, just gets it now.
Last spring we finished the last of the readers I had for Mary, so we just took a break from reading for awhile. Now she is reading library books, her Wildlife Explorers notebook and instruction pages for whatever independently. Big jump from grudgingly reading, and only wanting to read aloud to me, to using reading to learn what she wants to. It makes a huge difference in how I can plan our day-to-day activities. It frees up time that I can now spend with Katie and Emily.
Speaking of Katie, I pulled out the reader she was ready for back when we took our break...in three days she has read it completely and easily. Thankfully, I have a pile of them through the 2nd grade level so we will just move on to the next one. All that extra practice of reading every picture book I read to Emily and Robbie over my shoulder has paid off.
They are enjoying the unit on Tropical Rainforests that we are doing for science. So much so they have pushed me to do about two weeks worth of reading this week. As the big assignment Mary and Katie are each drawing a mural, and idea from the old curriculum "My World Science." Since, we have started out so well I've decided we are going to head out the the Museum of Life and Science. In the Insect and Butterfly house they have a large assortment of tropical insects and poisonous dart frogs. Of course, there are also a lot of fun activities and a new Sound and Movement exhibit.
It should be a good day
Peace,
Amy
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