Olympics, cheap workbooks, and the past month in general.

I just don't update like I should. My intentions were to post here once a week. I never seem to have the time or inclination. My blog is so boring compared to some.

C and E are still doing well. I'm amazed at how quickly we complete a school day. I can't imagine how bored C must have been in ps. Math....still whizzing through. LA...she mostly whizzes through, unless she has a writing assignment. She's not a great writer, and doesn't like it. She did surprise me yesterday. She had to write a letter to a make believe friend in India, telling this friend about Christmas. She had the letter done, in correct form, and very well written in 5 minutes. I was very surprised, and it was her best written assignment yet. She still begs to do history/geography every day, even on weekends. We are slowing down now, because we've reached the rise of the Roman Empire, and it's pretty fascinating stuff for both of us, so we are adding in lots of extras outside her history book.

About 2 weeks ago I found some really cool workbooks at the Dollar Tree. 4 Science ones for C, and 4 Math and 1 Phonics/Reading one for E. Since they were just for fun, and not part of our curriculum, I handed them to the girls to do as they felt like it. C had hers all 4 done in 2 days. E had the math ones done, about 1 per day. The phonics one was 60 pages long, so it took her a whopping 2 days on that one alone. I told hubby maybe I should just hand them all their schoolbooks, and see how long they take to finish those. LOL

C loved, LOVED the Olympics! It was on all day at our house for the past 2 weeks. Her favorite sports were swimming and gymnastics, but she watched it all, every sport, every country. If something came on after her bedtime she knew who was competing, and asked me first thing in the morning to check online to find out scores. She either has a crush on Michael Phelps, or just really admired his record setting in swimming. She learned to average while the teams did qualifying rounds. She tallied the scores, divided them by the number of competitors, and tried to get the team score before the judges posted it. She watched so much swimming she learned to do the dolphin kick in our pool. I can't believe I work and work on teaching her proper swimming, and she learns one of the hardest strokes from watching TV. LOL She's impressive at it, too. very quick and graceful. I can't do it at all. I look like a whale having a seizure when I try.

Hope everyone reading this is doing great. : )

Summer school update

Story of turtle below.

Less than a month before the other kids go back to ps. We have been schooling off and on through the summer. 2 or 3 days/week, 2 hours each day for dd9, and maybe an hour each day for dd5.

C and I had a goal of the first 20 Math lessons, plus the investigations and tests that accompany them. We met that goal last week, and now are on "Math break". When we return full time to school I need a compass for her lessons. Since when do 4th graders use compasses?!?

C and I also had a goal to finsish 2 chapters in her LA book. We are only about 2/3 of the way through that goal. Sentence structure and Capitalization is boring, so we both tend to spend most of our "school time" on Math or History/Geography.

History...well, we are both LOVING Ancient times. She asks for us to do that almost daily. I am learning as much as she is. I don't remember learning any of this in school. We are over halfway through the book, and we spend about an hour each day that we do it.

We have done no formal science, but I have found out LIFE is science. Things always seem to come up. An example: 2 days ago a large snapping turtle appears in our driveway. This led to observing the turtle, calling the Humane Society and having them come pick up the turtle (after interrogating them as to their intentions after getting the turtle), watching how they captured the angry, jumping, snapping, and hissing (yes, they hiss) creature, and then spending an hour or two researching snapping turtles online. Both girls drew their own snappping turtle, and C added a list of interesting facts on her page. E was able to just tell me the facts. Then E and I read 2 stories in Aesop's Fables that had to do with turtles. I have seen plenty of turtles in my life fishing and camping, but never one in our own driveway that needed to be removed to a safe location. And for any of you concerned about what happened to it, my husband was getting a load of gravel down at the pit, and actually spoke to the Humane Society guys while they released the turtle in the beautiful, wild area around the old gravel pits and lakes. So he is much better off.

Back to the update. E has finished 50 out of 100 lessons in Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. (cheesy name, not-too-bad book) She is about 1/3 through 1st grade phonics, almost halfway through her K math book, and is averaging a 100% in spelling. She is working on memorizing the Pledge of Allegiance. (unlike a certain presidential nominee...oh, wait! That's a different blog)

E loves "playing" with the globe, and can locate the equator, the continents, the Oceans, and Hawaii. She also knows the difference between the North and South poles, and knows by name the Pacific Ocean. She can tell me tons of information about Africa, it's people, it's animals, and it's major features, such as rainforests, deserts, and savannah's. She knows the Sahara is the largest desert in the world, and where it is. She knows the Nile is the longest river in the world, and can point it out, too.

I have a short unit study prepared for both girls featuring the Olympics, since it's almost time for them to begin. C and I are already studying ancient Greece, so it works out great, and I didn't even plan it that way.

Hope everyone is having a good summer.