Playing Catch Up

Technically, I don't have to "catch up" to a certain point after we took a few weeks off from schooling. (I was sick, then Roni had pneumonia, then she was at science/history camp for a week). But I don't like the idea of year-round schooling for us (I need the break and the kids like being able to play with their friends in the summer). I have a feeling that we will end up doing some amount of schooling through the summer months, maybe two days/week?, but I don't want to need to.

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So, we are having a marathon schooling week. Yesterday, we did over 4 hours of math (completed 5 lessons) plus we made pumpkin pies from scratch, an idea I got from Owlhaven. We even used her recipes. The pies turned out fantastic, but I think I would have liked a more pumpkin-y taste. The girls did great making the crust and pressing them into the pie plates. We look forward to sharing the pies with friends and neighbors.

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Today, we are going to do two language arts lessons and one math lesson, in addition to getting started on First Reconciliation stuff. I think I'd also like to see what's in store for Little Flowers this month, so we can do some of that as well. It sounds ambitious, considering we just spent 2 hours doing ONE language arts lesson, but I think if we plow into the second lesson, she'll get it in no time.

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We started a few weeks ago printing stuff from Crayola.com and Enchanted Learning for Sally. We are doing two letters per day (usually), with handwriting sheets and coloring pages related to the letters. She is enjoying it and she's even doing some other things to help prepare for Geography Club and Little Flowers. I don't know why I didn't do this stuff for her sooner (maybe she just wasn't as interested in sitting with us?). We've instituted a new rule of no tv during the day and it's made a huge difference in how much Sally wants to do school-wise.

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We do need to be more consistent with piano practice and I think when we return from our trip next week, I'll be searching out someone to come tune the piano.

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I was on a conference for our core curriculum a few weeks ago and learned of this concept of block-teaching. And I think it will be a great help to know that if they want to keep going in a certain subject one day, that's okay and one of the wonderful things about homeschooling. Also, with this curriculum, if she has mastered the skill, she doesn't HAVE to complete each component of a lesson. What a concept! It's good to have them practice, but it doesn't have to be boring for them, even if the lesson is a good one. Practice doesn't always make perfect, sometimes it just creates boredom. What a concept!

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So, what kind of things have you found make your homeschooling day go more smoothly?