OH the joys of the first day back to school after Christmas break! It was a wonderful restful time. I wish we were easing back into things but we're jumping in and, after a few days of reveiw, we have some exciting NEW things to work on.

Miah will have Spanish this semester and her reading level has increased so she's moving on to higher level books (like it or not - lol). She's also beginning a Science unit on mammals and will have an animal report due January 30th.

Davis suddenly has an incredible urge to draw! He spends hours everyday sketching things that he sees. We'll try to incorporate that into his handwriting somehow =)

Today was the Christmas program at co-op and the pizza party. We had a little bit of class time to discuss the role of the President. I had the craft this time so we made top hats (they say "The president must wear lots of hats"). Of course, I forgot my camera (great yearbook editor I turned out to be) but we took this photo at home and, thankfully other moms took pictures during the program. =)

Watch a Panda grow! http://www.barricksinsurance.com/panda_bear.html

It's Thanksgiving week!! Short week!! We've been enjoying our new classroom up on the third floor. We're working on lots of Thanksgiving activities this week (mostly from edhelper.com) and learning Bible verses by listening to Hermie & Friends. Miah is working on Multiplication this week. Last week we did lots of borrowing and re-grouping AND verb sheets. Since it's a short week, we will not have spelling or Bible tests this week. Davis has been doing a great job with his letter sounds. We are FINALLY making progress! His math is coming along pretty good. Today he'll be getting lots of number and shapes practice at the blackboard!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's been a busy week! We moved the classroom up to the 3rd floor. This is just one corner. We actually have so much more room to work and store our things now!

We had a field trip last week to Midway Village and we learned lots about the pioneering days in our hometown. This week we had co-op. We're learning about the Pilgrims & Indians. Did you know that the early Americans believed that by taking a bath they were washing off all their protection from diseases? They only bathed once a month! No wonder so many of the early settlers died.

I signed up for a membership with www.edhelper.com and it's been wonderful having so many worksheets at my fingertips. This week Miah worked on:

Math - regrouping & borrowing

Grammar - identifying being & doing verbs in sentences

Handwriting - cursive sentences

Spelling - ck/k words

Bible - Matt 22:37-38

*she also read a short story about Thomas Edison and had a quiz on that.

Davis is working really hard on letter sounds and practicing writing his letters. I talked with Mrs. Schmidt at RCS and she said that it's not uncommon for kids to go into 1st grade still not knowing most of their letter sounds. She said that boys in particular sometimes need more time and that usually by mid-year first grade it kicks in. In math, he's doing a great job with addition but oddly still doesn't recognize all his numbers. He has to use a chart. I just keep trying new things and plugging along. He'll get it.

Well, the kids were sick all last week and into the weekend. I haven't been posting but the kids have been working. Finally I've come across a site that has muliplication review worksheets based on 1x's or 2x's, etc. A sheet of all 2x's or all 3x's. Seems like there would be tons out there but I've only been able to find mixed review. She finished up Chalkbox Kid & took her test on that. She's been doing spelling words, Bible verse and plural noun worksheets.

We're making some progress with Davis' letter sounds. He can get about 1/2 way through the flash cards without hints. I've talked to a few other teachers about it but it's the general opinion that his learning style is going to be different than Miah and I should keep trying various avenues. Yesterday he used the leapfrog Fridge Phonics for the flash cards that he missed and that allows him to hear the sound from someone besides Steve & I. Starfall also has a cute little video that shows the letter sounds. I love their "learn to read" area. Davis listened & watched "Zac the Rat" today. It's helpful because it goes slowly showing the letter sounds as it reads.

Co-op was fun yesterday for the kids. We are finishing up the voting process and also the presidential challenge (for gym). Davis' class had to run around the entire bldg & parking lot 1 time and Miah's class had 2 times. It was freezing outside so it was hard!