Mr. Brilliant got off to a rough start. Monday was his first day of school and he felt it awfully unfair of me to ask him to start school a day before his sister started school. My son feels the injustices of his life very keenly.
This week we read (Stuart Little, a biography of Thomas Edison). We continued work we started last term on ‘By the Great Horn Spoon’. In Math we worked on multiplication facts and place values, with a little money work thrown in for fun. Mr. B played a game of Risk with his dad using ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Risk set. (My brother-in-law purchased that set about 10 years ago, we never used it, now I know why). The game didn’t go well but my husband tells me Mr. B is learning strategy and finally ending his habit of cheating if he thinks he is losing.
We used a number of worksheets. I’m not a big fan of worksheets but my son likes to work on his own, at his own pace. Worksheets allow him to get back into the swing of school work without my standing over him every second. He also likes the feeling of mastery that the worksheets allow. He can pick up the sheets and go hide in his room, he doesn’t need me to explain. We will phase out the worksheets as he becomes comfortable working on his own projects. Right now he is still trying to avoid work in favor of video games.
We do copy work. This is something many home schoolers hate. My husband disagrees with my choice to use copy work. My son says he hates it, but he does it willingly. One thing Mr. B never learned at school is to do a thing well, just to have done it well. I require him to slow down and do his best work on the copy work. Best handwriting, proof-reading for spelling and punctuation. The work is super easy and it gives him a feeling of success.
Hmmm… Even though everything he worked at, at school in 2nd and 3rd grade, Mr. B never felt he was doing things well. He was always being told he could do better. Perhaps that is why the copy work and worksheets are both boring him yet focusing him. Success is easily observed, improvement swiftly achieved. I must ponder this thought awhile.
We start each school day with journal writing. Mr. B hated that at school, he hates it at home.
We spent some time drawing mice this week. Mr. B drawings were nearly perfect. Rather worried about that, as he took no enjoyment out of that exercise, but sweated until he’d completed it as close to a perfect copy of what was in the book.
No outside lessons this week, will be starting those over the next three weeks.
A+ Homeschool 