We have miraculously stayed on schedule for the first two weeks. Well, almost. My 5yo and 7yo are still finishing up some language arts from last year before they move on. But, they did language arts instead of skipping!
My BKSK 8 guy is holding up. He says his schoolwork "sucks," but he gets it all done. He reads the chapters in the assigned history books (A History of US and Before Columbus) and writes the answers from the questions in the student guide in a spiral notebook. I agree about the sucking part. I once had a class in high school where all we did was read the textbook and answer the questions on paper. Boring. I retained nothing. I can't even remember what that class was about. This is where additional activities would make information stick, but unless he is willing, the projects will not be assigned. He is also reading Guests for literature. The main character is a 13yo boy who is coming of age and struggling to find his identity. It is an easy read. He says the book is "good." We'll save our soul-searching discussions for a better book later in the year ;)
The BKSK 4 RH group learned about William Wilberforce. Neither one had an easy time comprehending the book as written. I spent a lot of time paraphrasing and summarizing. They do however understand that the whole point of learning about Wilberforce was that he managed to abolish slavery in Britain without war and it took him 18 years to do it. We did end up just reading ahead and finishing up today so we would have something else to look forward to on Monday.
They are plugging along in BKSK 4 Science as well. Diary of an Early American Boy is also difficult to read and we stop and look at the illustrations frequently. The kids have enjoyed learning about how things used to be done on a farm and comparing how we do things now on our hobby farm. We work through the activity sheets together after the reading so I know they both understand. When we read about the mill wheel, I had to find modern day examples to help them visualize what a mill wheel was. We started with Zelda: Ocarina of Time when Link is jumping on the mill wheel for jewels, remembered that one time Pa needed to make some money on Little House on the Prairie and dug a sluice for a guy, and ended with episodes of Pokemon where Pikachu needed more electricity. Video games and TV are finally educational! I find myself reminding them that listening to hard books is part of their education. Trying to understand is like push ups for their brains.
My BKSK 1 group skips a day or two here, but it doesn't take more than 15-20 minutes to catch up. And since I've been teaching my kids for so long and I know their learning styles, I know some shortcuts to make learning for them a little easier. These Usborne books can be overwhelming and dry for little kids. We covered food and cooking, clothing, and hair, jewelry, and makeup this week. Food and Cooking was the assignment that needed catching up and we did it right before dinner. The baby had been fussing all day and my husband wasn't home to help out, so dinner was a daunting task. How fun it was to think about just skipping dinner and calling it a "hands on" lesson about starvation. Instead we had a simple meal of corn on the cob while playing on the swing set. While learning about clothing, my 5yo wanted to run around in his underpants while the weather was still warm. I told my husband he was experimenting with clothing and climate for a joke. This morning, my 5yo asked me if I was going to shave my head so I could be beautiful. This is a perfect example of assessment of learning.
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