Months 4 & 5 Review

I forgot to do a review of our progress for September, and by the time I got around to it, I was halfway through the month of October and decided to just wait and do two months worth at once.  First, the extracurricular things.

We have been very busy.  In September we visited a butterfly farm.  It was really cute and the girls enjoyed letting the butterflies sit on their fingers.  There was also a little presentation about butterflies which set the girls on a butterfly information binge that we are still working on.

I caught Lydia reading her sisters a family favorite all on their own.  I love to see times like this.

For dress like a pirate day, we went to Krispy Kreme and got 2 dozen free donuts.  Two instead of 3 because Adelaide didn't want to be a pirate, only a bunny and for some reason that didn't count.

A few weeks ago, Tyler had a week vacation and we had a blast exploring our new area.  There are many things to see and do within an hour or two of our new home.  One of our favorite things was exploring Hanging Rock State Park.  There were many beautiful waterfalls and the girls were champs at hiking.  Eleanor, especially, would have gone miles and miles.

Dad with the girls behind a waterfall

Eleanor and Dad seeing a waterfall on their own without the rest of us because we were too tired after a full day of hiking.

Lydia looking at our first waterfall.

We spent a day at a nearby city park that had a carousel and train.  We got passes and rode them many times.  We also rented a canoe and Dad took the girls out on a really pretty lake for their first rides on a canoe.  

Eleanor on the carousel.

Dad and Adelaide on the train.

We also explored the traditional English gardens at Reynolda Gardens.  It was a fun morning and really pretty place.  The girls enjoyed frolicking in the garden.  They literally frolicked, but it was good to see.  We'll go back sometime, I think.

Our last family activity was to visit Old Salem.  This was probably the biggest bust, simply because the girls are a little small to enjoy the history aspect, although they did enjoy a lot of the more hands-on elements.  They enjoyed a puppet show, running the cider press, and the water pump.

Adelaide liked pumping water.

We had a fun Halloween.  Daddy had to leave to go to work at 7, so he took the girls out for a little early trick-or-treating and then we handed candy out to the kids who came by.

Add caption

Now for our school report:

Math:

Lydia had started fighting me on math and I was getting sick of how much time it took and decided that although it worked fairly well, we needed something more streamlined.  I switched Lydia over to Christian Light Education Math.  By all accounts, it was supposed to have all the pros of Saxon but be more streamlined, and this is exactly what I have found it to be.  It is a Mennonite math program and I am LOVING it.  We doubled up on the first several lessons in an effort to catch up since she was starting late and now our lessons are taking about a half hour a day.  She has completed through Lesson 32.  There are many more lessons in CLE than there were in Saxon in a given year, so we will be doing math most days, even when we don't do other school in an effort to get it done before next year.

Eleanor finished Essential Math A a while ago and is now well into B.  She is on page 64 (out of 158).  She is doing an amazing job and I'm already looking towards what she will do once she finishes.  She is also doing a great job with Miquon.  She is almost halfway through Miquon Orange.  I think I will try to introduce more math games rather than just worksheets in an effort to slow her down and help her have a deeper understanding of math.

Reading:

Lydia finished OPGTR!  This was a major milestone.  We've been working on OPGTR since Lydia turned 4 years old and she went from not being able to blend two-letter words to now being able read fluently on about a 4th grade level.  She also finished her first chapter book, The Boxcar Children, and is halfway through Sarah, Plain, and Tall.  I found this reading list by Mensa and have decided to have Lydia work through it.  She has also started Book-It again and I'm struggling to figure out goals for her.  I'll just have to think on it.

Eleanor is on Lesson 46 in OPGTR.  She has moved from CVC words to simple blends.  She is doing a great job with it too.  She enjoys reading Bob books and has finished the first 8.

Language Arts: