Week 7, day 4

Bible (Catechism, Bible story, memory verse): We reviewed memory verses in the car on the way to CBS, and did catechism and Bible story after lunch. We read the story of Balaam and the donkey.

Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature): Still hot and humid. P felt that, if it was 10 minutes before 2, it should really be 2:50 instead of 1:50. I explained the reasoning, but I don't know if she accepted it.

Handwriting: P finished the handwriting workbook today! I'm halfway inclined to simply let the Language Arts copywork take care of handwriting practice for the rest of the school year. She asked if she could do the first grade phonics workbook I picked up for free during handwriting time in the future, and I don't see any reason not to let her.

Language Arts: P wrote 3 words from dictation without any trouble, though she objected to my request that she not put a comma after the last word in the list. I explained to her that lists don't have commas at the end, but finally agreed that if she really wanted to, she could put one anyway. She was to draw "a" pictures on a blank worksheet, and drew an apple, an alligator, an apron, and an ant. She wrote "ant" herself. I'm looking forward to next week, when we'll be back to the typical schedule of introducing and reviewing a new letter (this week was a general review week, with fewer interesting activities).

Math (5-a-day, other activities): P did her 5-a-day perfectly, and insisted on finishing her hundreds chart today. She wrote all the numbers from 51 to 100. I then let her use pennies to investigate the pattern of numbers where both digits were the same (11, 22, 33, etc). She found that they all lined up diagonally. (A year or two from now, I'll help her discover that the multiples of 9 line up diagonally in the opposite direction, and ask her why that works.) Then both kids played at making patterns using the coins but not using the hundreds chart. E created a portrait of his grandmother using pennies, dimes, and nickels. I wish I'd thought to photograph it. P pulled out coins at random and counted their value.

E's "school": The cardboard triangle activity was completely rejected. While P was doing her seatwork, I gave E assignments with the geoboard and rubber bands ("make 2 triangles that are different sizes").

Geography and/or science: This didn't happen again today. I had a dentist appointment that ate up the second half of the afternoon.

Other: No piano practice today, either - I got back too late to preside over anything like that, and P is not independent enough to do it without me.