Teaching Tuesday - Week 6

We started our week with doing something a little different for Math.

 We played Chess!  This is a game that Josh got for Christmas (that he asked for) called "No Stress Chess".  It's pretty cool and even I have learned a few basics.  Josh really wanted to play this today so I used it for math (and a little phonics) and made the boys "read" the cards (that tell what move to take) by looking at the first letter and then figuring out their move based on the instructions shown in the picture on the card.  We also worked on how to take a move in the diagonal since that is hard for them to grasp at this point. 

 Over the last few weeks I've noticed that Handwriting is almost torture for Nate.  So much so that his handwriting page was taking him well over an hour and it was like pulling teeth.  So, I made a change to his assignment.  As you can see in the photo he only had to do the daily letter - not write out all of the review letters.  He was so excited that he proudly wrote out all of his "N"'s and then showed me all of the "perfect" letters (the circles).  Such a simple change with huge results. 

Josh, on the other hand, likes handwriting and does a pretty good job at getting it all done.  I don't expect perfection - instead I just like them reviewing letters.  They will be writing letters for the rest of their life, they can perfect them as they go along ;-)

This week, now that Darryl is back to work, I've had to take over the "PE" class in our school.  When Darryl was home, he would take 2-3 walks a day so the boys go to ride bikes every time.  So now, as long as the weather cooperates (no rain!) we go for a walk right after lunch.  On this particular day, Josh took along his "purse" (that red bag) that constantly fell off his bike HA!  Yes, Josh is wearing one rain boot and one flip flop - he has a thing about wearing two different shoes - and he is amazing without training wheels now.  Nate CAN ride without training wheels but he says he is not ready for those wheels to come off his bike yet!   Right now, as I've mentioned before, the boys also do Soccer for "PE".  Throw in the games at AWANA on Wednesday and these boys are doing a ton of running!

 These week the boys started "Book-It".  Book it is a reading goal program sponsored by Pizza Hut.  The teacher picked the monthly goal for the students.  I used this program when I taught elementary school and it was an easy way to get kids motivated to read.  The program starts with 5 year old K-5ers but I didn't tell Nate that which is really ok.  The boys each have a goal this month to have 10 books read to them.  If they reach that goal they earn a certificate for a free Pizza.  Well, Josh does.  Nate doesn't like pizza anyway so I've told him he earns breadsticks, which he loves very much!  As we go through the school year I will increase their reading goal and I am hopeful that by the end (March) they will be reading to US!

 Josh loves the piano.  No, I have not started formal lessons - he really isn't ready.  BUT he is asking questions, listening to explanations, and remembering what I teach him.  He sits down almost every day and plays through his entire book. 

The boys have also enjoyed their Leap Readers this week.  I love it when they grab them and "read" the books.  This week Josh got out some of the tracing papers and practiced making his letters.

We had a very successful week.  We have our little routine down and the boys love working in the playroom on their lapdesks to complete their daily work.