Week 1 on Day 61

Day 61 of our school year, and I crammed the first week of our new curriclum in! It was a very condensed version of the lessons provided, but since it was the introductory week, it was light anyway, so we accomplished much. I really do like this new curriculum--it sparks more conversations than we've had before, and the fact that it's all there laid out for me and done is such a blessing.

My Father's World provides Bible lessons too, which is a wonderful addition as I was wanting to incorporate a Bible study but just didn't have time. This year in the "Adventures" series, we focus on the different names of God and getting to know Him through the meanings of each of these names. Today we introduced the significance of names by focusing on the meanings of the kids' names. I had some prep: I had to write a letter to each of the children in which I gave the meaning of each name and the significance of why Mark and I chose each name. They seemed to enjoy receiving these letters, and it was fun for me to do as well.

We're plugging right along and keeping the same pace as before with our core subjects (the 3 Rs). Alex always amazes me with how quickly she picks up things. She has just recently begun doing a lot of her math mentally. When I look over it, I find myself marking her problems by carrying and borrowing to check her accuracy; she's generally always right! I'm not going to be the teacher who requires the student to "show her work" if that's not how she works best, so I guess I'll just "show the work" to check the work!

I do have to admit that I drew the afternoon out a bit too long. The kids' ability for academia pretty much expires at 2:00. If I school after the witching hour, it becomes a battle of wills and bad attitudes. But today I plodded on anyway. We did a science experiment, which the kids enjoyed (I think this occurred about 1:45, so we were safe). Then it was on to history. In this curriculum, we're studying American history, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. We had just finished studying Leif Ericsson and the Vikings in Story of the World, and the first week of MFW provided some much needed review. My little students did comply with listening fairly well and completing a couple of notebook pages; however, they kept asking, "Are we done now?"

Part of the afternoon was also an introduction to the US State Notebooks they will be creating. We talked about the American flag and the Pledge of Allegiance. After a discussion about the significance of the stars and the stripes, we finally finished our school day by decorating a very special dessert for after our leftover spaghetti dinner:

Forget posing for a picture...I'm taking my chances and going for the good stuff!