Our 15 Minute Summer Schooling Days
The boys were beyond thrilled to be staying home today. They were glad we didn't have plans to go anywhere but I warned them that if we were staying home we should probably get some schoolwork done. We're trying to squeeze in some quick lessons on the days we are home.
Our goal is to spend just 15 minutes or so on schoolwork each day to keep up their skills.
Evan and I sat down to read another mini book today and then I told him that for practicing sight words I had a new book I wanted him to try called Cut and Paste Sight Word Sentences.
We read the three sight words at the bottom of the page, talked about capitalization, punctuation, the order of words, etc. and then he cut out the words. He arranged them to make a sentence, glued it to his page, and copied the three words neatly on the handwriting line.
He really did not want to draw a picture to go with his sentence and I wasn't surprised since he hates to draw or even color. I explained that for some kids drawing is a lot of fun and that is why the authors of the book leave a nice big space for kids to draw but that he did not HAVE to draw a picture. He was happy that within 15 minutes he was done school for the day.
Ian did 1 page in his math book and then I asked him to either read a book (or a chapter in a book), pick a page in his comprehension book, pick a page in his writing workbook, a cursive page, or even pick a page out of Alec's Draw Wright Now book-- anything "language arts."
He chose to do a page in his math book adding decimals (which I don't recall ever doing with him but he related it to money and taught himself). I checked on him part way through the page; saw that he had them all correct and told him he didn't have to do them all, it was obvious he understood what he was doing.
He then chose to try out the Draw Write Now book and drew a platypus.
While Alec was waiting for his turn with the Draw Write Now book he read the rest of his Minecraft book that he's been studying for days now & trying to learn how to better survive in survival mode.
Once he was done his drawing and writing about the skunk school was finished for the day. I am always amazed by his creativity though. While working on the background for the skunk he talked about the skunks habitat. He drew a pile of dead leaves for the skunk to forage in for worms, he drew a stream lined with rocks and pebbles and even a pebble bridge for the skunk to cross so he could get back to his den (a hollowed out log) when he was done searching for food. He loves being able to draw such adorable, accurate animal pictures. I love having a writing curriculum that he loves to use!
We had a wonderful afternoon hanging out with cousins and aunts swimming in the lake and the pool. They played with their 11 month old cousin helping her to walk, showing her toys, and listening to her "talk." They ran, played, jumped and swam spending the whole day outside in the fresh air.
We ended our night with some fishing and then read book before bed; finally finishing another chapter in Harry Potter. We're settling into a nice routine with staying up just a bit later enjoying the longer, lazier days of summer.
Our goal is to spend just 15 minutes or so on schoolwork each day to keep up their skills.
Evan and I sat down to read another mini book today and then I told him that for practicing sight words I had a new book I wanted him to try called Cut and Paste Sight Word Sentences.
We read the three sight words at the bottom of the page, talked about capitalization, punctuation, the order of words, etc. and then he cut out the words. He arranged them to make a sentence, glued it to his page, and copied the three words neatly on the handwriting line.
He really did not want to draw a picture to go with his sentence and I wasn't surprised since he hates to draw or even color. I explained that for some kids drawing is a lot of fun and that is why the authors of the book leave a nice big space for kids to draw but that he did not HAVE to draw a picture. He was happy that within 15 minutes he was done school for the day.
Ian did 1 page in his math book and then I asked him to either read a book (or a chapter in a book), pick a page in his comprehension book, pick a page in his writing workbook, a cursive page, or even pick a page out of Alec's Draw Wright Now book-- anything "language arts."
He chose to do a page in his math book adding decimals (which I don't recall ever doing with him but he related it to money and taught himself). I checked on him part way through the page; saw that he had them all correct and told him he didn't have to do them all, it was obvious he understood what he was doing.
He then chose to try out the Draw Write Now book and drew a platypus.
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| The drawings come out so good too! |
Once he was done his drawing and writing about the skunk school was finished for the day. I am always amazed by his creativity though. While working on the background for the skunk he talked about the skunks habitat. He drew a pile of dead leaves for the skunk to forage in for worms, he drew a stream lined with rocks and pebbles and even a pebble bridge for the skunk to cross so he could get back to his den (a hollowed out log) when he was done searching for food. He loves being able to draw such adorable, accurate animal pictures. I love having a writing curriculum that he loves to use!
We had a wonderful afternoon hanging out with cousins and aunts swimming in the lake and the pool. They played with their 11 month old cousin helping her to walk, showing her toys, and listening to her "talk." They ran, played, jumped and swam spending the whole day outside in the fresh air.
We ended our night with some fishing and then read book before bed; finally finishing another chapter in Harry Potter. We're settling into a nice routine with staying up just a bit later enjoying the longer, lazier days of summer.
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