We are Establishing a Routine

The girls were dressed, fed and in the classroom ready to go by 8 this morning so we started early. I am so glad to see they are getting better and better at this routine so quick. I too am getting better at the preparation. I am really figuring out that having a copier is my absolute savior right now. Being able to copy each lesson ahead of time so that I can follow along is key. I then organized them in folders according to subject for each grade so that it is ready to go at arm's reach. I had their Handwriting and Grammar in their "Work Boxes" ready to go so they could come in and get started on their independent work which was nice. They are being troopers about the workbooks. They know they have to work ahead soon because we have field trips coming up. Friday is our first field trip and we have 2 fun ones next week!!!

The Apologia series is amazing! The kids learned about how to classify different plants today and what Binomial Nomenclature is and how it is used when classify plants. They learned about Taxonomy and how it is the "Plant" version of how biologists classify something....plants:) They are so excited to learn these big scientific words. We made note cards with the definitions and vocab words as I wrote them on the white board and then we did a journal page about Botany and they drew some pictures about what they have learned so far. Then we did an art project with rolling pins and leaves we collected from outside by inking them down with dabbers and then pressing the leaves on paper and rolling them out. They really enjoyed this!

Now that I am teaching my children I am starting to see what their strengths really are which is really fun and interesting. My oldest is AMAZING at Algebra which I didn't know she was so good at. I noticed yesterday she was breezing through some of those problems so I chose an entire lesson on it today with more difficult things and to make it fun, I let her do all of her work on the white board. SHE LOVED THAT! She breezed through the problems. She absolutely loves Algebra so we will definitely be using a lot of that in each lesson. The twins did well with their lesson and are learning a lot with word problems which they were not too familiar with. This is really important with Math so I am eager to get them on track with that. The Xtramath racing games on the computer is something they look forward to everyday and it breaks up the day quite well.

We are starting our Literature part of the curriculum with our first selections today. My oldest chose Hoot by Carl Hiaasen and the twins chose Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary. There are many writing pieces to integrate with each of these books and comprehension quizzes and activities. Teacherspayteachers.com has been my savior when it comes to this area thanks to a special teacher friend of mine who has been helping me a ton! THANKS NICOLE! They are reading independently during downtime in class as well as before bed which helps them wind down.

History was more facts on Ohio History and tomorrow we start our adventure on The Story of the World which I cannot wait for! I am learning just as much as they are and it is so much fun.