Tuesday, July 25, 2006

New School Year

Monday was the first day of grade one (and preschool), and things are going great!! The kids are so excited to start school again. I went out to walmart and bought them each a brand new backpack. Z also got a big box of crayons, and E got a binder to keep all of her school work in.

We started on monday morning with mass at 8am and then came home to a snack around the kitchen table while we read our religion book. Then we did spelling (which after a month off I was surprised by how much E retained), math, and science (learning about the weather).

The kids also have new chores for the year because they are so big: Z puts away the cutlery from the dishwasher, and E puts all the cups, plates and bowls up on the counter (she can't reach the cupboards yet).

We also took some time to sit on the floor and do some new puzzles that we bought. Both Z and E are good at putting them together, and it's a fun activity for me to help out with too.

Today, Z is cutting paper (his favorite activity) and E is drawing a picture of a princess to go along with the saint story we just read (St. Alice, who happened to be a princess).

E has begged to do science every day because she is so interested in learning about the world around her... I love her curiosity and hunger for knowledge. Yesterday in science we learned about why we have seasons (because the earth is tilted slightly), and she grasped the concept almost faster than I did :-) I think we'll have lots of fun this year.

This is what we finally decided on for our curriculum:

Math: math-u-see Alpha
Spelling/reading/writing: Spell to Write and Read (using cursive writing)
Religion: Faith and Life 1 (mondays), Saint Stories and other short catholic stories (tues), Treasure of My Catholic Faith 1 (Weds), Catholic Mosaic (thurs and friday).
Science: Noeo Biology 1 (daddy is doing all the science experiments on saturdays)
History: Connecting with History volume 1 (beginners level)
Art: Artistic Pursuits vol 1

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