Sunday, September 14, 2008

Our Week of Learning, Addendum

I forgot to say we're using the Saxon math curriculum. We're on lesson 97 of 112. I'll probably wait until January to go on to 1st grade math while we strengthen our writing skills (especially numbers!). I'm not sure if I'll continue with Saxon or try something like Calvert or Singapore Math. Saxon comes with a HUGE teacher manual, which is great for someone with no teaching experience. I would be fine with just the student portion of the math book with explanations as needed. Singapore Math is pretty much that so it costs about one fourth of what Saxon costs. I like Saxon, but I'm paying for a lot more than I really need. Anyway... we'll see what happens with that.

We also did another experiment on Friday morning with putting white carnations in glasses of colored water. The petals haven't changed color yet, 48 hours later. You can see tiny bits of color in maybe 3-4 pinhead-sized places on each flower, but that's it. I freshly cut the stems before putting them in the water. Maybe they're basically dead grocery store flowers so they're not sucking up the water as fast as fresh flowers. I don't know. We'll just see what happens.

In the meantime, we're so excited about going crayfish hunting this week!! I'm going to call Metro to see where one of the best spots might be so our trip isn't a bust. We'll bring mason jars and a big clear bucket and some pond nets and some crayfish bait. Should be a blast. With the weather around 90 degrees through Tuesday, it should be fun to get a little wet. I'm so thankful for this extended bit of summer weather. Last year we didn't get it at all. We went BAM into the wet weather and that was it until we emerged many months later. I hope this lasts through September.

Off to the wading pool later this morning! Yay!

2 comments:

Rebecca and Andrew said...

Sounds like you all are having a great end to the summer! We have a wonderful swim, crayfish/minnow catching area about a mile from our house (North fork area of the Lewis River). It's probably about 40 minutes away from you, but if you ever wanna cool off and visit, we'd love the company! The salmon and steelhead fishing is also amazing. (Although, we haven't been very lucky this past year! =)

Unknown said...

What fun! You are so much more ambitious than I. Or should I say your little girl is! Our limit is about 15 min before my boys turn into dinosaurs. Ever teach a two-clawed T-Rex how to write?

We are doing Saxon math k and like it, but I think I feel the same way as you.