True to form, I started strong, but waned quickly. The 2019-2020 school year was complete CHAOS. We took our school on the road at the end of October. We drove up to Maine and spent time with great friends there. Then we made a home base at Grandma’s house in CT, while we visited NYC, NJ, and even flew to Spain and Israel. We finally returned home some time in January, only to move into a new home and get back on the road in February. This time we visited Costa Rica with friends. We arrived back home in time to quarantine due to the COVID-19 crisis. We began our quarantine on March 1, 2020 and it is now August…
August 19-26, 2019
This was a low key week. We did a lot a reading and working through that Minecraft workbook. Both kids did the open house at a new gymnastics studio, Tumblebees. Panda did great in her dancenastics class. Penguin also did well in her gymnastics class, but had a tougher time emotionally adjusting to a new group of people, but also loved the place. We signed up for a Thursday class. We also attended our first Quest Club meeting, which I am still undecided about. Then we went to Carowinds water park for fun. We then attended an open house for the Creative Drama Children’s Theater. Penguin signed up for a 30 min slot learning voice and piano, alternating or splitting…
August 12-18, 2019
We had a rest day on Monday. We did a lot of reading but no actual curriculum. Penguin read Peg + Cat: The Chicken Problem to me with very little difficulty. I was so impressed! We tried to take a bowling field trip, but the place was kind of gross, so we went to the Kaleideum North instead, with Sarah’s family. All the kids had a blast and we went to dinner afterwards. The rest of the week, we did Story Strips, Spanish review, and Minecraft math workbook (which is a REAL HIT). We took a field trip on Friday to the Universoul Circus, which was amazing beyond belief and all the kids had a great time. Penguin had a…
August 5-11, 2019
We started the free 1 year subscription for Teaching Textbooks for math that we won on a blog entry. It’s not a love connection, but it’s ok. It feels slow, and a bit less challenging than what we were doing. We also decided to do Real Science Odyssey Chemistry 1, by Blair Lee. I liked BFSU a lot, but it was so chaotic and not laid out well. The Chem book is good, but it’s also labor intensive on my part. I was hoping to do it 2x per week, but I’m thinking I might bring it down to 1, or double up both labs per unit on 1 day. Penguin reviewed her Spanish vocab, and then had a lesson…
August 1-4, 2019
We worked on handwriting for both girls, and started the Big Minecraft book. So far, it’s a hit!
Another New Year
Although we do “school” year round, our year begins on August 1. We spent this week fresh off of vacation. We were in Florida, and we had also taken a cruise to the Bahamas! This was a great adventure, but it’s time to get back to cracking. Penguin is 7.5 and starting 2nd grade. Panda is 4.5 and will be in PreK for another year. I intend on starting off slowly, but just easing into 1-2 day per week lessons until September starts. I want to get Penguin’s handwriting corrected, and some basic math facts solidified. I also want to make sure she has enough “sight words” in her arsenal. Panda, well, she’s already so far ahead for her age…