Homeschool Log Monday 2/15/10

I'm sure no one else really cares one way or another but I wish I'd make up my mind how often I want to post on what we've been doing here for home school. I have changed my mind again and decided to go back to daily posting. It is really hard sometimes to remember everything we've done in a week even if I try to keep notes.

The last two weeks have been really unproductive due to Austin's time off after his injury and schedule disruptions due to the snow. But now that Austin is feeling a lot better I've told both Austin and Amanda that we are going to be sticking to our own schedule regardless of what public school does.

So here are my notes for today.

Both Austin and Amanda

Dance Mat Typing - both kids tried to do a typing lesson but the lesson kept freezing up and not letting them continue. We've had a lot of trouble with that recently so I think I'm going to check around and see what else I can find for free on the web. I'm curious whether anyone else out there has had any trouble with this site?

Both kids updated their blogs - Amanda's is here and Austin's is here.

We were able to get back to our afternoon reading time when I read aloud to them. I think this is one of our favorite time of the day. Today we read 1 Kings 22 and then three chapters from Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery. We are learning a lot about World War 1 as we read this book.

Both kids did their daily chores - cleaning, kitchen duty and helping with the younger kids - as well as taking care of their pets.

During their free time both Austin and Amanda enjoyed playing computer games.

Music - We enjoyed listening to Celtic Hymns throughout the day.

Austin

Austin started reading a new book today. While it isn't one I would have chosen I am glad to see him pick up a book on his own and begin reading it. So I'm allowing him to use it for his reading time. The book he chose is Pinocchio. This version is 89 pages long and is divided into 11 chapters. And although it may seem somewhat below his age level his trouble with visual spatial perception causes so much difficulty with reading that for now this is what he is comfortable with. When he finishes this book we will go back to reading the book he started before our unexpected two week break - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Great Illustrated Classics).

Each afternoon while the little kids are asleep I try to spend about 30 minutes each with Austin and Amanda on an activity of their choice. Austin's choice this afternoon was playing a game of Skip-Bo. This card game is a game of strategy as each person tries to get rid of his pile of cards by building sequential sets 1- 12.

Amanda

For our 30 minutes together Amanda chose to have me watch Disney music videos with her. While this was certainly not the kind of activity I had in mind, I have been thinking maybe I should know a little more about these music videos that she loves to watch. So I told her that I would today but tomorrow I would like her to choose something a little more constructive.