dress up for homeschool

No, not like getting all dressed up at all.
F got a new dress up outfit to be dressed like an girl in India. She came to class like that. Then G, who get pretty silly a lot came dressed in a banana costume. They were both eagerly invited to work with the calendar and say the Pledge Of Allegiance. Then class began.

F got right to work in her phonic book and after a little direction did two pages independently. In the meantime G had to face her dreaded math class.  She had a bit of fun today as we continued to add three numbers, she found the puzzle in each one that made it possible rather than impossible.

But math went on...and on...and on....OK that is an exaggeration.  She counts by tens just fine but has a huge block if counting by tens from 15 or 38 etc.  So after finding some fun ways to do it she finally got it.  IT was exciting. She got a big star stuck to her forehead. We then began to buy the banana. I marked her with a price tag and made a story that kept increasing the price by ten. SHE loved it and she did well.

I should have stopped there!  We then went to do the book work and she did great until she had to add a quarter and a dime. WHAT ?  We just spent the entire class time on this skill but when it got put to her in a different fashion she was stumped. I ended up congratulating her on a good class effort and said we were way past time and so we stopped math. 

I would like to post all the fancy good parts of school and teaching but then I would not learn  from it and I do not want those who read this to think that homeschooling is about great achievements all of the time. There are real hurdles to jump, real frustrations.  I am so thankful to teach her math at home. I believe she would have been left in the dark and fake or fail her way through it.  After all, just because a child does not achieve well in one class does not stop them from going into the next grade.

After math G worked independently in reading, phonics, language and writing. She is such a great learner overall.

F wanted the same fun attention in her class as well. F is nearing the end of the Kindergarten math book and I really thought we would be doing this Kindergarten thing for two years. NOT THE CASE!  So I found a fun way for her to use the ruler and measure things. She began as a sour puss but quickly brightened up the room.

I continue to not be doing well in my health so I did not spend as much time to do the lessons overall.  Still they did all core classes today.

They are making a garden with K in the backyard as well.  I find this exciting, their yard has been the least of their concerns since they moved in. Now that K is a homemaker she is trying to make in nice overall and find pride in it.  She was a paralegal before and found pride in a job well done.  I know she will feel it as the yard becomes more home like as well.