The only downside is that I'm not going to be able to include Charlotte as much as we were with Adventures. I think it is just going to be easier to plan on doing K with her and plan on doing ECC separately with Sam. *big sigh* She is a distraction and the material is just a little over her head. I can read and summarize everything to keep her engaged or I can teach to him and lose her. Since this is going to be his only time working through ECC I need to teach to him so he can get the full benefit.
So far the biggest hits for Charlotte have been music, art, science projects (not the readings) and Kingdom Tales. We will keep her involved with these.
If I continue to summarize the science reading during our time outdoors then I will not need to plan on doing a separate science with her. This is easier than it sounds! I keep a running list of topics that Sam and I have read with Properties of Ecosystems, then in the afternoon I try to point out examples. The key is to make it seem natural and not like a lesson. So far she has added the words habitat and niche into her vocabulary and I didn't have to try to get a 5 yo to sit through Properties of Ecosystems.
This next week, I am going to try to get Charlotte started a little earlier and do all of her K stuff. Perhaps Sam can do bookbasket, math drill and math during this time. I will send her on her way and work through the main parts of ECC with Sam. We will try this a few weeks and make adjustments if needed.
I decided to go ahead and start Writing Strands 3 with Sam instead of waiting. He has been enjoying that as well. Ok....maybe enjoying writing is a bit of stretch..... he has been doing WS3 without complaint and impressed with his outcome. Yesterday, he had to write 5 sentences adding information each time. To make this process a little less painful, I wrote alternating sentences so he only had to write 3 of the 5 sentences. Lesson learned---he could write an interesting, long sentence with lots of information and it didn't hurt....too much. No more "He was a tall man." sentences!
We forgot to do the Nature Walk exercise from week 1 last week. I sent Sam outdoors to mark off our 1 foot square so we could check our Backyard Habitat and he included his favorite climbing tree in his square. Most kids probably do this experiment and look down...dig around in the ground....check out the little bugs. Sam did this experiment and looked UP! He spent an hour up in the tree keeping track of all the birds.
Of course, no blog account of week 2 of ECC would be complete without a picture of the World Cake. Big Sis' helped Sam and Charlotte with the decorating of the cake. Big Sis' wanted to know why I didn't use MFW ECC when she was 8 and she has insisted on being included in any future cooking plans that are included with our lessons. College students like to eat!
4 comments:
Looks like a great week, Wendy! We weren't able to ever get the hang of WS, so I'm impressed with the 'ease' in which you use it!
...on the combining thing, I find it easy some weeks, hard others. As long as I'm not trying to do EVERYTHING in both programs, things go well!
Have a great week!
Kathi
P.S. We skipped ECC back in 2007, so I'm looking forward to following along with your family (inspiration for next year!)
Hi Wendy! I'll be doing K and ECC together beginning in July, so I'm definitely getting a good sneak peek at my future here!
We're hoping to rearrange some of the K units since dd is already reading (like move penguins so it corresponds with Antarctica, kangaroos so they correspond with Australia, etc. But I'm not sure how doable that will end up being. :P
Meanwhile, I'll definitely keep track of your school for inspiration and ideas! Blessings to you! :)
Wow fun! We start ECC in the beginning of August. Love the World cake. We plan to do ECC in a 4 day week too so I look forward to reading how it works for you.
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