Third quarter report

The end of October I wrote a sort of "first quarter" progress report for Nadia. I didn't do one for the second quarter, although at the end of December I did write an update on where she was at since it was her half birthday. If she were in school, I think it would be about time for her to receive her third quarter report card. Since the kids will be gone for a large portion of May (2 weeks in Florida plus they'll spend a few days driving down and a few days driving back), I think our school year will be wrapping up in early May although we will still do a little bit of schoolwork throughout the summer (at the very minimum reading) during the weeks we're at home.

Math: Next week she will finish the fifth chapter of the twelve chapter 2nd grade textbook. After that happens, we are going to set aside the math textbook for a few months and just focus on practicing counting money, using an analog clock, and using flashcards and iPad apps to have her memorize the basic addition and subtraction facts. We'll start chapter six (which includes the introduction of regrouping) when she starts second grade (end of August).

Art: I have not been nearly as faithful with doing art with her the last two months as I had been the first four months of the school year. The kids will be doing a six week art class at the co-op starting in the middle of March, and I have signed them up for an art night at the library that will take place in about 10 days. They do art projects at the Children's Museum once a month. Over the next two months I want to put FAR more time into art - colored pencils, paint, markers, etc. It will be easier to fit this in because we are taking a break from a few subjects for a few months.

P.E.: Over the last two months she has been taking weekly ice skating lessons (45 minutes each), playing on a basketball team (one hour practice on Thursday nights and a game each Saturday), and participating in a ninety minute gym class on Friday mornings (basketball, volleyball, karate, soccer, and dodgeball). On Monday she will return to the Level 2 gymnastics class (90 minutes each). When this eight week session is done we will take a break from gymnastics until the end of August. Ice skating and basketball will end March 12 and 14 and soccer practices will resume the very next week. The gym class on Friday mornings is supposed to resume in the near future, and I plan on signing the kids up for that again. I REALLY hope that over the next two months she learns to ride her bike without training wheels. Hopefully the weather will start feeling like spring in the near future. This will also mean we'll resume taking walks to different playgrounds (walking up to 3 miles a day).

Reading: She will finish the fourth grade reading curriculum (All About Reading) next week. We could have finished this a couple of months ago, but many times I opted to have her read something that tied in with what we were studying in social studies instead. For example, today she read three chapters of Gold Rush Days instead of the reader because we've been talking about the California gold rush this week. Half-way through this level she started the struggle for the first time in a long time. I would say her reading level is about 4.5. Words like "lasagna" and "deficient" still trip her up sometimes. I don't plan to purchase any additional reading curriculum for her. From now on we will just use picture books, the Bible, poetry, and chapter books to develop her decoding and comprehension skills. She's currently reading an Imagination Station chapter book on the Kindle (about the American Revolution).

Spelling: Next week she will start the eighth (of 28) lessons of the third grade spelling book. We will keep working on spelling over the next two months.

Handwriting: She recently finished the second grade textbook (Handwriting without Tears). She still has trouble with reversing some letters and numbers (such as p vs 9, b vs d, etc.). I am not going to even think of starting the third grade textbook (cursive) until she shows improvement with manuscript. Now that the handwriting textbook is done, I am going to have her write in her journal several days a week instead. She has been writing a lot more (of her own initiative) over the past two months.

Drama/Music: We are still working on learning a variety of patriotic songs ("You're a Grand old Flag" was one of the recent ones). She is still singing in the kids' choir at church, and she now practices the piano at least five days a week. She's singing a short solo at church this month (part of the song the kids' choir is singing), and I'm working with her to prepare her for her Annie audition that will take place next month.

Science: She just finished the ACSI first grade science book. Last year she did ABeka's first grade science book). We're going to take a break from doing a science textbook until August, but I want to read more picture books about science to them. Science field trips lately have included a program on trees at the library in Lewisburg (they had a guest speaker who was excellent), learning about animals that migrate at R.B. Winter State Park, and the children's museum in Bloomsburg. The next trip that I have planned is to learn about maple sugaring at the Montour Preserve.

Social Studies: This week we finished week 25 of the 34 week second grade curriculum "Adventures in U.S. History." We have finished all the read aloud chapter books included with the curriculum (Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, The Courage of Sarah Noble, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, Mountain Born, and In Grandma's Attic) with the exception of Sarah Whitcher's Story which isn't at our library and I opted not to purchase. We should finish this curriculum before the kids leave for Florida, and then we will take a break until August when we'll start the third grade curriculum "Exploring Countries and Cultures." We are hoping to take the kids to Jamestown and Williamsburg in either June or August, which will be wonderful for Nadia as we have studied colonial history this year!

Spanish: I finally got that started! She is working on Level 1 of Rosetta Stone Spanish. I am also planning on signing her up for a ten week Spanish class that will meet from 6:30-8:00 on Monday nights this summer.

Keyboarding: We haven't been too faithful with using the Keyboarding without tears or having her send emails. I'm planning to focus on that more this quarter!

Bible: In addition to what she does at church each week, at home we work on her Bible memory for AWANA and Upward basketball, have devotions and prayer at night before bed, and have various spiritual conversations throughout the day (teachable moments). A couple of weeks ago Nadia and I started reading the book of Matthew together. I read a few verses and then she reads a few verses and we keep going. Most days we read one chapter together and discuss it. I am planning to read through the New Testament with her over the coming months. We're about half-way through Matthew right now.

In summary, over the next two months I'd like to do an informal math review of time, money, addition, and subtraction, a lot more art, read books tied to topics we're studying in social studies, continue to work through the 3rd grade spelling book, do more journaling, keep making progress with piano lessons, finish Adventures in U. S. History, read more of the New Testament, and have her spend more time doing Rosetta Stone Spanish and keyboarding. We'll be taking a temporary break from handwriting, science, and math textbooks and a permanent break from using a formal reading curriculum. Hopefully the elimination of those will make it easier to spend more time on art, keyboarding, Spanish, and journaling. I try not to have "school" last more than two hours a day.