Teaching Tuesday - Week 7

Things shifted a little bit this week and it was kind of interesting to see.

1) Josh discovered that he loves to do his school/seat work first thing in the morning.  His words to me were, "I don't love school so if I get my work done first thing, I can play the rest of the day."

2) Nate is not loving school.  His words:  "My arms hurt, my feet hurt, my hand is broken, my pencil doesn't work, my mind keeps thinking on other things. .. " and so on.

3) We finished our first "Life of Fred" book and are waiting on the next one to arrive.  The boys actually miss Fred and his adventures!

So, how does this all impact us at school this week and in the coming weeks?

1) I have no problem with Josh (or Nate) doing their seat work anytime during the day.  This work consists of their basic math pages, their handwriting page and, right now, their phonics worksheets.  I'm available to answer any questions but, thanks to routine, they understand the basics of each of the pages.  This is actually the concept of "workboxes" except without the boxes.  Instead I just have their pages stacked together, ready to be done.   As of right now, we still gather most days at the table around 1:00 to do our Life of Fred work, Science and Social Studies readings and to review their AWANA verses.

2) Nate is only four.  I started him with the K-5 material because he and Josh like to do the same stuff.  Last year when he did basic pre-school stuff he gave me the same excuses so, obviously, he just doesn't like doing the work!  I'm not forcing it - especially the handwriting.  I am "making" him do school each day even though he begs not to because I know that he needs to sit down and do something.  With that said, it's ok if he doesn't do everything on every page.  He can do K-5 next year too :-)

3) Because we finished Life of Fred on Monday, the boys had a lighter school load the rest of the week, which is fine.

I keep telling myself I want to add more creative fun activities but, so far, I haven't.  The boys have been playing outside for hours and hours each day.  The weather is perfect - cool but sunny - for outside play and I'd rather them enjoy that right now.  It won't be long and it will be snowy and cold  and they will NEED some fun inside activities, crafts and games to break up the day.  I guess I should plan for THOSE things and be ready.

In science this week we started learning about Ants.  Call me crazy but I'm thinking an ant farm would be something they would enjoy.  They have also been begging for a small fish tank and Glow in the Dark fish.  (yes, they are real).  Both might make some good Christmas Gifts and provide some fun entertainment for the winter HA!