Wrapping Up Week 2 of School at Frontier West

My my my, it's quite amazing how much you can get done with only two students!!!

Accomplishments:

In math, both kids have "knocked out" the first several concepts:
time: Yaya--telling time in 5 minute increments and Elliot--elapsed time: done (please note, when I say "done," it means "done for now"--we will revisit these concepts throughout the year, but "done for now" means that they've mastered it sufficiently for now
number sense: YaYa--place value to the thousands and Elliot--place value to the billions: done
addition and subtraction: YaYa--two digit without re-grouping, Elliot--up to 4 digit with regrouping: done. YaYa has begun working on two digit addition and subtraction with regrouping, but hasn't mastered it yet.

In reading, we're halfway through our "read to" novel, Shiloh. They've been responding to this reading every day, focusing on the main character's character traits and what happens every time he lies (a little moral lesson here, too!). They've also been reading and taking notes about articles from Time for Kids and Keep Texas Wild (the children's section of Texas Parks and Wildlife).

In writing, YaYa has completed her first story (Duke, the Superhero--a fantasy story where Duke, our dog, fights evil and wins): brainstorming, done; first draft, done; revising, done; editing, done; publishing, done. She even got minilessons on quotation marks and compound sentences, and immediately incorporated her new knowledge into her story. Elliot is on the revising step for his first piece (Jesus Christ My Lord--a mini-biographical sketch of Jesus and why He is important). We'll be using a thesaurus as he revises to "spice up" his piece a little.

In science, we've investigated droughts in depth (no pun intended). We've moved on to hurricanes.

In social studies, YaYa is plugging away on her research on the Texas Indians. We'll use her information as our "starting place" for Texas History. Elliot is still gathering information about Davy Crockett.

We have school from about 9:15 a.m. (starting with the Pledge of Allegiance, a devotional, and a song) and work work work until about 1:30-1:45 p.m. with a lunch break in there, following the menu they planned. We've been pretty intensely working and learning. That intensity allowed us to take last Friday off completely, and take most of tomorrow (Friday) off as well. We will do a little work in the morning before we head out for hair appointments and my mom's retirement party.

Life is good at Frontier West! Yee Haw!!