Year Two Week One

We began our school year last week the day after we got home from camping.  I just couldn't stand to start school in August!  After one week, things have gone very well!  We're busy a lot more since I've got both big girls needing real education, so it takes a little bit longer than last year, but we're usually done for naps and have the afternoon to play and do other things.  I spend a lot of the day in our office/school room so I like to keep it clean and want to spruce it up a bit so it isn't so boring. 

Kylie is in 1st grade this year.

Her classes include Math, Handwriting, Grammar, Spelling, Reading, Reading Comprehension, Social Studies, Astronomy and Art.

I know, all parents say this, but Kylie is a smart little kid.  She remembers facts very well and can recite them with ease.  Her spelling needs work especially when she just writes a story on her own.  All rules go right out the window-she's all about writing phonetically.  Her reading is incredible though.  She never hesitates and doesn't ever need to sound out words, and I'm talking big words.  My main struggle with her is the crying and whining when she doesn't want to do something.  She isn't like this with other people (at church, in sports, etc.) so I know its just that she's used to doing it with me.  She's just really girly but I don't give in...if anything I threaten with more work.  She has yet to catch on.

Ava is in Kindergarten this year.

Her classes also include Math, Handwriting, Spelling, Reading, Social Studies, Astronomy and Art.  

Ava is the quiet smart kid.  Don't get me wrong, she's a loud little girl, but when she's figuring things out, she keeps quiet.  I'll start to help her because I think she's not understanding and she'll say "hold on, I'm thinking" then give me an answer.  She's a great little reader too.  She's remembering what certain letter combinations say so there is less sounding out each individual letter, and she's got quite a few words memorized.  When reading, she sounds out a word and after figuring it out, she goes back to the very beginning of a sentence and re-reads it all over again.  She likes to read "fast" like I do when I read to them so that is my guess as to why she does that.  It works because she in fact can read "fast" after she's figured out all the words in a sentence.  She's mainly just following along in Astronomy-I don't expect nearly as much out of her as I do Kylie since she's still learning to learn.  Kylie is too, but she's got an entire year on Ava....year and a half age wise and I can tell the difference  She did memorize the planets in order (yes, we include Pluto...for now anyway) in a matter of minutes to her own little tune.  She aced her first spelling test yesterday.  She doesn't whine much, but she gets easily distracted.

 Then there is Snow White, I mean Juliet.  She likes to be right in the thick of things.  She tries to invade her sisters' desk spaces with her own school work (usually coloring).  I let her get into our school cabinet and grab out whatever she wants to do.  She's doing much better with her letters and she actually colors in the lines very well.

 Whatever she does whether it be stickers on a paper or playing with shapes, they usually end up in a line of some sort.  You can see that in both of the photos of her.

Here is another rare moment of sweetness. They had taken a break and were watching Little Einsteins (since we now have DVR, I have 20 episodes taped...its awesome when there are no kid appropriate cartoons on mid afternoon) and I caught them snuggling.  I told them to look and smile and Kylie didn't, so Ava helped her.