Sean finished Algebra book 6 today, doing well on the final test and telling me that his brain was working well today. I noticed it too; he was going on all burners. Neither of us can predict when his good days will be. Kieron did two lessons of Saxon today which brings him up to [...]
Math Thinking Sean is almost through with Book 6 of Key to Algebra. It is getting to feel like hard work. I remember getting to this point with Brendan when he used the series. I keep telling Sean that it gets to be second nature, factoring and simplifying, just like he can read now without [...]
I wanted to get this link to lots of notebooking resources up here. This is a continuation of my last post on notebooks. I was not a very consistent mom about keeping up a baby book, and I never got the hang of picture-taking until I got my digital camera. Lesson there — whenever I [...]
Have you read Cushla and her Books? It is about a disabled child who was read to by her parents and overcame some significant limitations through her relationship with books. The author’s depiction of Cushla’s response to different books at different developmental levels is perceptive and thought-provoking. (I think it was her grandmother, a reading [...]
Today was one of those days that seems very busy and full, yet I don’t get anywhere near checking off everything on my to-do list. On the whole, I like those days better than the ones where I haven’t planned enough and find myself drifting through the day spinning my wheels — and yes, that [...]
Sean is getting close to the end of Key to Algebra book 6. He will easily finish by mid-month, even if he keeps going at a slower pace. He still spends about the same time per day on math — 20 minutes or a bit more — but it takes longer to get through a [...]
Still thinking about notebooks …. in an earlier post, I wrote: I would like to start them (the kids) on a bit of very relaxed notebooking — after reading Cindy Rushton’s book and looking through my closet with the older kids’ notebooks and other bits of memorabilia. We never did it in a big way, [...]
We are scaling back on academics for Advent. That sounds sort of funny once I write it out, because our academics aren’t very intensive anyway. But I want some breathing room to do a few extras and just “be present” during the season. I told Sean that once he’s finished with Book 6 of Key [...]
Here he is being a youngest “Son of Willa Elder“, photo and costume courtesy of his sister. The other big movie favorites around here recently have been: Captains Courageous Boys Town It’s a Mad Mad Mad World Arsenic and Old Lace Bells of St Mary Paddy has been a counting demon recently. He counts EVERYTHING, [...]
Before today, I don’t think I’ve ever woken up on December 1st and thought: this is the day to start making Advent preparations. When I think about WHY this is so, I guess the term “living Advent,” comes to mind. It seems that every December for the past 11 years, we have been in some [...]
