Today we will follow the next set of students: a 3rd grader and a 4th grader. God is good in that I am able to pair them up, also. Both of them are required to be up at 7:00 and be ready to start school by 8:30 a.m. They, too, have subjects that they can take in the car with them if we head out to mass in the morning.
This year I decided to let them pick some subjects that they were interested in studying. So, while they might be similar in ability, they have somewhat different interests. Their day begins with the 3rd grader reading history books. At first he was studying the American Revolution and now he is back to some in-depth reading about the Civil War. The 4th grader starts with the current Saint book that she is reading.
For the next hour the 3rd grader practices his handwriting (I can't believe it but he has the nicest handwriting out of all of them!!!), works on his map skills book and spends some time with the French program. The 4th grader is studying US geography and learning the states and capitals, is also doing a map skills book and spends some time doing French.
After that we meet to do math together. For this age level I have been using Math U See. We watch the DVD lesson together and then will spend the next couple of days doing the worksheets. How well they are doing determines how many sheets they have to do. They end each lesson section with the test.
They each are assigned time during the morning to play with the little kids so that I can work with other students. Since we have finished our election study, I will be spending some time with them learning grammar and writing. We have also incorporated our read aloud time again and we are currently reading "The Bronze Bow".
After lunch I meet with the 3rd grader and we read from his St. Paul book together. Then the 4th grader joins us and we go over a lesson in the 1st St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism book together. During this time I also grade their math sheets and we discuss any projects they might be doing. We also plan their studies for the next day.
If they have finished all their work, they are free for the rest of the day. If they owe me any time for misbehaving, now is their time to pay up.
They seem to be enjoying the fact that they can do some of their work on their own. They also like being able to pick some of their subjects to study. I have found that this motivates them to keep up with the work, too.
Tomorrow I will bring you the last two students in our school. Until then, have a good day.
God Bless!
