It appears as if I missed the entire month of May for weekly recaps. Oops! In my defense, I spent 10 days traveling during the month and then the last week trying to get back to reality. My parents were also here for part of that time. Company always adds a level of complication, even if it's the most pleasant kind of distraction. So for May, I think I'll just hit the highlights.
During May we have been reading, writing and doing lots of math. We finished several subjects early so we've pared our days down to the basics. It's been nice to have more time for pleasure reading and math review.
M6 comes to the end of this school year as a first-second grader. She completed all of her First Language Lessons for first and second grades. She's well into second grade math skills. The only places that she's firmly in the first grade territory is with reading and writing. Those subjects have been more challenging for her but she's made impressive progress. M6 is becoming a true reader and I very rarely hear the words, "I don't feel like reading." In all of her subjects I think she has a strong feeling of accomplishment but it's in reading that the progress is easy to see.
S9 has changed from a reader into a voracious reader. While we were in Europe, he read Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard and loved every page of it. The book was one I hadn't heard of but H12 asked to read it because an excerpt from the book was used in her Analytical Grammar book. She loved it and recommended it to S9 because it was a dog book that let the dog live at the end. S9 refuses to be exposed to dead dogs in literature. I can't blame him. He's also fallen in love with the Redwall books by Brian Jacques. We've listened to several of them on CD and he is now reading Lord Brocktree. It's a pleasure to see him enjoying books so much. His math skills have also continued to improve. I'm debating whether I'll give him another year in pre-algebra activities or start him with H12 in algebra. They are at about the same skill and knowledge level but there really is no reason to rush. I'll be thinking about math more over the summer.
H12 is a writer. She completed the NaNoWriMo challenge this year and has continued to write regularly. She's currently working on historical fiction. The challenge with H12 is to get her to do other things besides writing. I think the biggest change this year for H12 has been in the attitude about math. Last year it was a trial that had to be born. This year, I've seen, her sparkle with pride in her ability and accomplishments. She'd still tell you that she hates math but it's not because she feels stupid or unable. It's because she would prefer to be reading or writing. She knows that she has the ability and intelligence to do math she'd just rather not. That confidence is huge for both of us.
Wow! We've done it. Another year is complete and we are looking forward to summer. We are done with all our subjects and regular studies. We are going to do our CAT testing next week. I am hoping that being done with the daily routine of school will make testing less of a chore. I am planning to test on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday we'll plan something fun to celebrate. We all deserve a celebration!
