School Update: Things God Made

I realized that I haven't given a school update in a while. School is going well and both kids are having a blast!

Princess TD is grasping all of the concepts we are learning. She has memorized 5 verses from the bible, and is practicing reading them as she recites them. She is doing awesome with phonics and is trying to sound out complex words. She's reading simple sentences and knows some sight words. We have just started talking about punctuation and capitalization. Her writing is improving every day. She loves writing notes to anyone who will take one! She even wrote a note to give to the marina worker at the lake that said "Hey Mr. Boat Man." The teenage kid behind the counter just chuckled when she gave it to him! He was great though, and said thanks and put it in the drawer with the money!

Last week in science, we talked about the things God made in combination with a discussion of the seasons, specifically fall. One of the suggested activities (which we didn't do, because I wanted to go to the park to find more leaves), was to go outside and collect some of the things God made and put them into a scrapbook. So last night, the kids were outside with Mr. TD while I was finishing dinner. Princess TD came running through the house to get to the back yard to get their buckets. I reminded her not to dig in the flower beds as she ran back out. She went through our yard and the yard of our neighbor across the street and filled her bucket. She dumped it out on our walk, and said, "Look Mommy, these are things God made!" I didn't tell her about the activity, so I guess this means she's understanding what I am teaching! It was great encouragement for me. Here's what she collected:

In math, we decided to do Kindergarten math, but to work through it quickly since most of it is review. Well, she's finished the first semester of math, and we'll be beginning the second semester this week. She's really loving that and is quick to grasp the concepts. She is really doing great and loves telling people she meets that she's homeschooled!

Little TD loves working with us. He will sit and color in his preschool book I made him. He listens intently to the stories and lessons I read. He loves to take his crayons and trace the letters and numbers. He loves playing with and stacking the Cuisenaire rods we have. He is starting to make drawings of people. They are really cute! They have big heads and little bodies. He appears to be developing along the same path that Princess TD did. I can tell his brain is working faster than the rest of him, and he gets frustrated sometimes that his body can't do what his brain says it can. He will catch up soon enough.

So, our update is that school is going well and I love that I get to be with them and see the light bulb come on when they figure something out! I feel so blessed that I have this opportunity to teach them, even on the crazy days!