School Lately

We are all still really enjoying having school at home and going to our Classical Conversations Community every Tuesday. The kids are really making progress and I love seeing them learn new things. Here's what we've been up to:


Math:
Leah is about a week away from finishing her Level 1 Math book. She's only in Level 1 because we did some switching of curriculums about halfway through the year and tried a few different things before we finally found one we like. I'm not sure how the Level 1 compares with what other 2nd graders are learning but I feel like it's pretty advanced, or at least on target. Leah struggles a little with math and it takes her awhile to get through a lesson, but she's starting to grasp some of the harder concepts and we do a lot of games to learn addition & subtraction facts. Andrew also finished his Kindergarten level Math book. It's a subject he seems to really enjoy and grasp easily-- so far.

Language:
Leah also finished up her Level 2 Spelling & Grammar books. Spelling is one area in which I've definitely seen improvement. She has a knack for remembering spelling rules. She may not be as good at memorizing definitions of parts of speech for grammar, but she still gets most of the concepts. She is starting to enjoy writing more, although her handwriting is still not great! She is also learning cursive and loves that! She loves to do word puzzles like codes or crosswords so I try to incorporate those into her spelling lessons.

Andrew is progressing in his reading, as well. He is not a natural-born reader like Leah but he does know how to blend the letters together to make words and can read most short-vowel words and those with blends. He is pretty good at handwriting and careful to form his letters correctly. He loves things like color-by-numbers and dot-to-dots and is very meticulous when coloring.

Science:
In science we have been doing earth science both at CC and at home. Andrew, especially, loves doing science projects, or anything hands-on. I try to keep science simple at this point. We tested rocks and minerals using various tests that geologists use to determine what type they are.

We did everyone's science favorite: an erupting volcano.

Now that earth science is finished, we're going to do some astronomy. We made a model of how the earth rotates around the sun and the moon rotates around the earth.

History:

This year we started a four-year chronological study of world history, beginning at the creation of the world. We use an amazing set of books called The Story of the World. I wish I had learned history the way these books teach it. They are written like stories, but are actual facts and events. Putting them in chronological order and including art, music, and literature from that time period helps put everything in perspective. So this year is Ancient History. We have made laurel wreaths when we studied the first Olympics. We made King Tut's headdress. We made African masks & shaker instruments. Leah says history is her favorite subject and I give the credit to both CC and The Story of the World.

We have only 3 more weeks left in Classical Conversations this year. The kids have memorized a ton of stuff, learned a lot, and have built some really great friendships. I have seen them both mature in their interactions with others and in how they focus and learn.

Both Leah and Andrew are also taking piano lessons from Daddy this year. They don't exactly love it now, but they do want to learn and like playing around on the piano. I know it will help them in a lot of ways so I'm hoping they will stick with it.