Monday we had a very full day. School is actually lightening up a bit. We are finishing subjects and books here and there, but I am also trying to get more done in the subjects that we have left.
Paul finished his reading book. He stopped for this year somewhere in the third grade. I also dropped his phonics program because he has learned all the phonograms and now the book just focuses on the spelling rules and he will get that from Seton Spelling next year. He is done with Religion but I am dragging him through coloring the Mysteries of the Rosary. He also has a few more planets to color for Science.
Brendan is almost done with his reading. When he finishes this book he is done. He is done with Spelling as well, but I am still having him do some Grammar here and there. He will start a great Grammar program next Fall. He is in the middle of his Math book. Abeka Math 3 is a toughie! I remember John having a real time with it because the lessons are long and it advances pretty fast. When John took the placement test for Saxon, (no slouch there) we found that he could have taken the 5th grade course coming out of Abeka 3! I wanted to let him relax and review, so we did Saxon 54, the 4th grade. I will do the same for Brendan. He is doing really well in the Abeka program. Getting 95 to 100% on each test. I am not going to push real hard over the summer. He can do a lesson or two a week to stay sharp.
John has said Goodbye to Latin, Grammar, and very soon Math, except for drills over the summer. We got back his standardized tests and overall he did great but he has a weakness in the area of Computation. I know it's not that he can't get the answers, he has no problem with that, it's that he is never timed. So that is our plan for the summer. Timed drills. Brendan has to be a lot faster with his facts as well.
John has quite a bit of History left. I diverted him from his text book into a bunch of different books this year, which was a good way for him to learn, as he loves to read, but now we are only just coming to the Civil War. He also has quite a few states left to study in Geography, but his Notebook is beautiful! He has also done a beautiful Science Notebook. After he learned about Pluto he built a presentation in Google to prove his Hypothesis that Pluto is not a planet. It was really nice and we added it to his notebook.
I will be glad to see the end of the school year, but I don't feel like I am worn out. I feel really good about the year. I sure hope we have the same kind of year next year!
In a way, gas prices have really be a good thing. We are staying home much more in the afternoon and can be a lot more relaxed ab0ut the way the days go. It will be nice to have a break though, don't get me wrong. We will start a little later in the fall because we are going out to the West Coast in August.
I am ready for my review and then I get to start buying books!
