Off to a good start

Here are a few highlights from our first week of school:
1. McKenzie read two week's worth of literature this week (I am sure this will slow down as the writing assignments increase, but I took that to be a great sign)

2. Thanks to the webinars that I participated in this summer I felt the freedom to let McKenzie read on her own. She retained far more than I thought she would. When I read aloud to both girls McKenzie would say things like, "oh the Huns. I read about the Huns today." That was usually followed up by a description of the Huns or another people group that she had read about. This will revolutionize our school day. I have been grateful for the advice all week.

3. Paige (1st grade) begging to go first on the assignments that she does with my help.

4. The geography challenge is working. Yesterday while they were cleaning up their toys the girls kept asking each other questions like, "what is a mesa?" Our jar is filling up.

5. Base 10 blocks are awesome. This summer I bought a set of base 10 blocks. Saxon math does not use base 10 blocks. When I added them to an order the woman on the phone questioned me. "Aren't you using Saxon?" I figure a great teacher would not strictly follow one curriculum. A great teacher would combine ideas from several different programs. This week right as Mckenzie was starting to get frustrated with a few work book pages I pulled out the base 10 blocks. Her demeanor totally changed. She was able to finish the assignment with a smile.

6. Both girls are responding well to a Bible study method that I thought I would try. Again, I got this idea from the webinars. Basically we are trying a scaled back version of the Kay Arthur method. Now, this particular method has never appealed to me. However, when I heard Marcia Somerville talk about using the Kay Arthur method with her children, a light went off in my head. I printed off 1John in large font and we are color/picture coding the words. They are enjoying it. I will let you know in a few weeks if they are learning more about 1 John this way.

This first week was not without typical bumps in the road. My three year old got sick, we had a church event that kept us out way too late, and had some of the general chaos that comes with small children. Overall, a great start to our school year.