cliff notes for chris

 *read below before you start

we start our sit down school when ellie naps, i tell nate that we have to redeem the time and get er done while it's quiet and i am able to sit with him

we start with a devotion. we are finishing up a series with god rocks

 nate loves it

then we move onto a modified calendar.  i found last yr's calander was not nate's style so i mixed it up and guess what? he loves it!

it has a bunch of everything in it. it's a great way to warm up the brain for the day

 then nate gets to pick his lessons, in the order he wants.  after school each day i choose the classes for the following day. when nate starts school he picks the lesson he wants and puts it on the following day, so they don't get lost
he loves the freedom and enjoys knowing what he has to do that day. it also cuts out the arguing and fighting
i also sat down with him and defined the lessons so he knows what is included in english, math, reading etc....again, clear and precise. the way he likes it

 as he chooses the lesson he sees how much he has left and this gives him a feeling of security and control over hisday

 i just keep them on a ring and change them each day

 spelling

i'm using 2 programs together. althou this will change when i come back i now havess&s in my hands!  but for now i take and pick what i see/like and use it to fit nate's style
we were using all about reading, so i picked up the spelling used. we already had the tiles. i got a used sequential spelling, which i really like!  nate likes it too. at first i thought it was way too hard for grade 1, but after i taught the concept he LOVES it...and he likes spelling big words.ha

 nate uses the tile board to see the words he spells, i also teach lessons on this board

 i give him daily spelling tests on the small board. after i taught the lesson, i give him random words to spell
i thought he would not like spelling but he really enjoys it. i think he likes the challenge of it

 english
we do a page in the work book together. i get nate to read as much as he can

 then we move onto the all about reading program cards

 i noticed that he has a problem reading the words on the card?! so i write them on the board and he gets them?!?

 he loves to wipe them off after he read them
then we move onto the constant blends, we are working on the th, sh, ch, ck, ng and a few more

i also have to add, nate chose to dress up as a pirate 2 days this week, i did wash the costume over night so it's clean. ha. he also dressed up as superman

 daily color!
 i came up with this zero tangible reward system that i call "color your month"
everyday after school if nate was good and i mean good, no arguing, bad attitude etc...i make him work for this...i color the day.  if he was exceptional he gets a color and a sticker.  he got another sticker yesterday
i thought i'd try a self motivated system. i am keeping this. he loves seeing color!

the only thing he 'gets' is to see the colored block.  

daily writing

i keep it simple. i write to him, he writes back and we go over the verse for the week.  i chose a bunch of verses, printed them off, laminated them to reuse them and hung them up in the class

 reading

each day nate picks a book from the book basket to read out loud.  he loves this! he likes to choose for himself.....so far we have only read the science books ursi gave him last christmas....

 math!  we use math u see!
we do 2-3 pages. he reads the questions and works 80% on his own. i sit with him to help when needed (i use this semi quiet time to write out the following days writing)

 let him use the blocks for everything, and as long as he wants

 bingo dabber skip counting each day, while reading the numbers out loud
he's mastered it now, he just likes to do it for fun...haha  he is reviewing skip count by 5 next week so there will be new charts

if there is extra time for math give him patternables or review number place value with the cards i made up

-chris, there are no pictures of the 25 rules of grammar or creative writing

enjoy! have fun!


* i am leaving tomorrow for a mini vacation with my sister.  it has been 10 YEARS since we last vacationed together, a lot has changed since then! 

chris is staying home and taking my place while i'm gone.  he is not babysitting or watching the kids, he will be fathering them.  i am getting a bit annoyed with the comments about how great it is that chris is 'doing' this for me.  please, i did the same for him, where's my award?  that is another whole rant.  we are a TEAM.  we help each other.  i think it's sad that society still views fathers as not as involved partners.  we decided to have children together, we decided to home educate together, we decided to go to mcdonalds late last night together, we decide together. then team up to get the job done

n-e-ways.  my point was....haha.....chris is going to continue on with home schooling while i'm gone, i pre did all the lessons for the week and made up notes, charts and files for him.  but knowing chris likes details, i decided to bring my camera into the class and photo what i am talking about in my notes :)

so this blog is chris's cheat sheet for the week. haha

Posted by mel at 9:27 AM