Monday, Monday!

Ah, yes! I was going to entitle this "Thank God Monday is over"...but it isn't quite over and I am not sure I want it to be. Mondays are usually challenging with Hunky and Handsome adjusting back to my routine after a weekend of flexible schedules. Today was no different there! Wake up calls of the morning resulted in such efforts that "hyper" comes to mind! But we did manage to get through the science and math pretty quickly. Science was a computer programmed curriculum with nine lessons per topic. Handsome was on lesson nine of "Force". He has learned about the following words this section: Science, force, gravity, energy, location, speed, wheels, friction, and machines. He made a little race car (part of the science kit) on the first lesson and then used it in all the other lessons for the experiments. Pretty basic stuff, but Handsome liked the hand-on learning. This week we will go back to Apologia Science and study birds (Chapter two of Winged Creatures).

For math we did a number hunt. I made flash cards from 1-100 with each number family in a different color. This was partly to assist Handsome in remembering the families, but also to assure that Hunky could participate in the hunt. I made big posters with each family on it in the appropriate color and after they found all the cards, they had to put them in the right family via the posters. Hunky did really well since he knows ALL his colors very well. Then Handsome and I put them in order, thus fulfilling our counting to 100 requirements. We also reviewed sets and counting by tens, and introduced the big and little concept from the book. He did three of the activities suggested as well.

Later, during "recess" the father of these marvelous children came outside to inquire of Handsome as to the whereabouts of the new double-sided facet extension he had put on the spiket. As expected, Handsome knew where it was...on the other end of the hose! His response was, "Yeah, Dad, that makes the water come out of two sides!" Never had Daddy nor I even considered that idea, so we both had to smile and shake our heads. Handsome would prefer that recess last a loooong time...and sometimes has difficulty focusing again. I have learned to pace him and plan around his needs. I have also discovered that there are ways to include school in recess...like today when he discovered that the air blower that used to inflate the water slide can suck a plastic cup into its side and hold it there. We turned that into an experiment about suction and air pressure, which had been a science topic not long ago. And the nature part of science is a continual discovery. I even manage to get our Bible lessons and sometimes math and reading in during recess. This does not replace the book work or suggestions, but reinforces the topics we have learned. I find it makes him more willing to "hit the books" so to speak, if he can relate it to something we have discovered during our fun times.

So, now it is on to get my hair cut. I am planning on going to a ladies retreat with my new church, and would like to look a little more presentable than I do at this moment!

Well, I am glad that Monday is almost over...because I look forward to each new day and its adventures...I hope you find life as interesting and blessed as I do!