And there went February....

I can't believe this is my last Feb. update!  It did go fast, but we are SO ready for spring!  The kids keep asking me "how long" until spring.  I'm longing to open  up the house as well as be able to send the kids out without the 15 minutes of getting on gear beforehand!  Still enough snow to get lost in out there... we'll have quite a messy spring!

We had a good, productive week.  Nothing huge to speak of.  We did have an 'easy' day on Friday... just history time lines, science models and ART again!  The kids are so excited to do art that I know I need to put it back into our schedule.  We used watercolor crayons and the kids really enjoyed that.  We studied what a "portrait" is.

History this week saw Rome fall...for the older kids they learned about Patrick (St. Patrick), the fall of the Western Roman Empire and Atilla the Hun.  Jayden went to town this week on his history narration.  He LOVES history just like his Mama.  For the younger two we talked about Augustine visiting Britain for the first time and the Anglo Saxons taking over part of Britain after the fall of the Romans.  They learned what a "bard" is and they heard a fun story that might have been told at that time.  The boys had fun finding bits and snippets of fairy tales they knew within this very old story....

We studied the brain and the nervous system this week in science.  The older two made a fun book that let them overlay the different parts of the brain to see where in the brain the different senses and such register.  The little boys added a brain to their "body".  (picts below)

Jayden has really hit a wall with long division.  It's not that he can't do it... it's that it is so detailed he just doesn't focus well and makes silly errors.  So, I cut him down to one sheet of math a day, but said he has to be very accurate.  That of course set him into a whirlwind because he thought I said "perfect".  No, I told him I just want him to really concentrate on accuracy.   He has just gotten it in his head that he hates long division.  (Thank you to a series of books he read that gave him this idea!  The characters were complaining about long division...)  We'll just slow down and "muddle" through... I think he'll really like fractions once we get there so it's just a matter of getting through this.  He knows what to do, just doesn't like it, so I'm not afraid of his skill level.  Everything else went well this week.  I graduated him from learning cursive.  He has beautiful handwriting and I told him once he finishes this book (he's almost done) he doesn't have to do another instruction book.  I had him write in cursive for one of his narrations this week and although he was very slow, he did well.  Latin was a review.... everything else went well....

Kylie had a good week too.  I took the hint of a comment from last week and taught her the nine multiples on her fingers.  She loved it and has a much better attitude toward 9's now!  Thank you!  Jayden never needed things like that so I forget to use them with Kylie.  She really responded well though so I need to be more mindful of that in the future.  I also made her some flashcards as she doesn't like the drill on MUS because it's timed.... does anyone know of another site similar to the drill on MUS, but isn't timed?  I really don't want to make flashcards if I don't have to.  I have some around here, just can't find them so I refuse to buy anymore!  Especially since she's the only one who won't do the drill on the computer.  Even though I tell her the time doesn't matter she freaks out.  Kylie finished her cursive book this week, however I am putting her in the next book.  Her writing is not as neat and being that she's only in 2nd grade I think some more practice would be good.  She doesn't mind the handwriting and is faster than Jayden so I thought it was a good idea just to keep her going.  Once she finished that I'll require some cursive in her daily work.  This was a harder week for her in writing (WWE).  Some weeks are just like that... she had a harder time with the comprehension questions this week.  Everything else is going well...

Rylan is finally back into routine... just to be interrupted again this coming week with some friends coming!  I finally feel like he's back on track and I'm having few problems with him during school.  It took this long to recover from Christmas and the month of January being so hectic!  God knew how to tame this mommy who loves change and could thrive on no routine be it not for her children who go crazy with no routine!  Rylan's math continues to be easy for him.. subtraction is no problem for him.  His writing is even getting a little better.  I wondered how the new handwriting book would go with smaller 1st grade lines, but he's handling it pretty well.  He is so fun to listen to when he reads.  He reads with expression and has to understand everything he reads.  I will not have to worry about comprehension with him!  If he doesn't understand he'll tell me!  I figured out this week that I think we need to take a break from AAS.  He will finish the first level this week and I think we'll set it aside awhile.  Although academically he can handle spelling, maturity wise he needs some time.  We'll pick it up again in a few months... probably fall.  I forget he's only 6 sometimes.  He's a bright kid with an excellent memory, but he still is only 6 and very much a busy boy!

Bryson had a good week too.  He finished working through writing all of his lower case letters, so I made up some words for him to copy.  He loves writing... so different from his older brother!  He's always asking me how to spell things, making maps and books... his creativity is huge too!  He's really fun to listen to... especially when he tells you about a dream he's had.  He's very animated as he tells it... you can almost see him reliving it.  Bryson loves reading and covered a couple more Bob books this week.  We're slowly getting to the place where he doesn't have to sound out every word.  The neat thing is he does not read monotone though... he does have expression, even though he has to sound out a lot.  Bryson's math is also easy for him, but again... don't want to push. 

Next week will be a short week with our friends coming Wed. afternoon... then the following week I'm going to bite the bullet and get the older two kids' testing done.  I have a bad attitude toward it, which I shouldn't.  But to me it's a waste of a week.  I have to turn around my attitude though!  I think the hardest thing this year with the two is that I can't combine them yet.  A lot of Ky's test is oral so she has to be separate from Jayden. Next year when I can combine them will be easier.  Also, Jayden's entire test seems to be timed this year... he does not do well under pressure so I'm hoping he'll be able to relax and not worry about the time.  Bad thing is he is a s l o w worker.... we'll forgo any other school and just concentrate on getting the testing done.  I'm hoping to get it done in 5 days.  We'll see how that goes.

 

Hard to see, but this is Rylan's body.  He had fun making the hair!

 

This is Bryson's (who has been very theatrical this week!)

He is very much a perfectionist like his oldest brother!

 

The animal pit the younger boys made

at the end of the stairs and then jumped in.

This accounted for about an hour of time

until Bryson got tired of going up and down

the stairs all the time! 

 

Jayden's portrait.  It's a character

from a current story he's writing with his brothers.

 

Kylie's portrait of her best friend, Chloe.

 

Rylan's "Captain Underpants"

Need I say more?

 

Bryson's portrait.  I'm not sure who this is, 

but I found the red hair interesting!  We don't

really know anyone with red hair!