Review of the Week #6

This was a pretty good week overall. We only got 2 group times in, but we are switching things around again. Read my previous post to hear how the new preschool works. We started that this week, because the 2 oldest just need one on one time with me for Greek and Math. It can be very taxing on me, but I'm figuring out how to manage it. The past 2 years most of my energy has been mainly focused on my baby twins- the pregnancy and nursing. The kids still did their workbooks and plowed through stuff, but we would spend a lot of time going back and filling in holes. It was not the most efficient way to learn, but we that's all I could do. It has been nice to get back into it and now I'm figuring out how to make the whole process efficient.

A couple weeks ago I adopted Diane Hopkins method from www.lovetolearn.net for getting everybody ready on time except we're using marbles instead of dimes. They can keep the marbles or trade them in for minutes on the wii. Each kid gets a marble when they are dressed and ready to go at 9:30. They have a zone of the house to clean and their rooms have to be done too as well as their breakfast dishes rinsed and teeth brushed in order to earn the marble. Then we have a short group time singing a couple songs, have a prayer review our scripture of the week and do some yoga/ stretching. Then I set the timer and I take one girl to work with one on one while the others do preschool with the other girl as the teacher. It was so nice this week!! The other change I implemented was to keep the time the girls work on math to an hour a day even if they don't finish their alloted pages so that they are not overwhelmed. This is especially important for the older girl because there are some math concepts that take her a while to sink in. In the past we would spend a couple hours trying to get the concept down and it was frustrating for me and for her, so now once the timer goes off we stop. I think it helps her to focus better during that short time knowing it will end and it saves my sanity because I just don't have time to spend any more than that.

We didn't do Spanish or French this week. I did find my mp3 player though. wE only did history and science once, but that's how it goes. The boys got to do preschool, we read a bunch of books from the library, we went to a reenactment of the journey to Bethlehem which was great. And everybody has kept up with what they were supposed to. Good overall, always room for improvement. I'm excited to try some new things this coming week!