The Lesgaux School

Bushes are boy trees. by D, age 4

T’s drawing of race car #16 crash.

D seems a bit overwhelmed and overschooled. He has been reluctant to participate. So, since he is only 4, I have decided to revise his schedule. He worked for 45 minutes today before I lost his attention. We’ll aim for 30 minutes per day. I can’t have him burn out before age 5!

Here is his new schedule, effective immediately:

Monday – Math & Phonics
Tuesday – Copywork & Phonics
Wednesday – Math & Phonics
Thursday – Handwriting & Phonics

As you can see, we will no longer do all subjects on all days. Phonics = Reading = the most important subject of all. Therefore, I have it scheduled daily. Copywork will consist of copying the months of the year for a year booklet we are making. After that, we’ll choose other things to copy – one word at first, then two, then three – you get the idea. Some days, we’ll do copywork in conjunction with phonics. For handwriting, we’ll be working through the Handwriting Without Tears workbook until we complete the alphabet.

I originally thought to list the library books we check out in order to give a glimpse of what the boys have been reading (aloud with Mama or quietly to themselves). However, I have, for now, abandoned this effort, as it is too overwhelming, as we often have over 40 books checked out at a time. Plus, I am still a newbie when it comes to blog template changes.

I will post a sample list of this library round as soon as DH can show me how to quickly edit a list of “I haven’t really counted how many” library items.

Today we haven’t done school yet. We went to our Well-Trained Mind Park Day this morning. Only one other family showed up, with only one friend, a 7yo boy. T & D and he had fun climbing trees and hurling ball moss at each other. T & D also rode bikes and swung on the swing set. (I can never get that verb tense correct.) R hiked all around the park, climbed the chain ladder, slid down the slide by himself and tried to climb the same tree the big boys were in. He had so much fun.

After that, it was lunch and a much needed quiet time, still in progress. T & I both woke up at 4am for unknown reasons. If T doesn’t fall asleep, I plan to put him to bed a little early.

Later, T will unload the dishwasher and I and D will clean the kitchen. T will then start his school work. I hope to take ,the boys to the pool this evening, since DH will be taking the van to the mechanic tomorrow to have the transmission pan gasket replaced and the AC checked/recharged.

We plan to attend Austin Area Homeschoolers park day Thursday, if the repairman comes early enough (for D’s window AC). It’s just our luck that the ACs would give out when the weatherman has just forcast 100 degree heat for the rest of the week.

From time to time, we memorize short poems. Today, we reviewed a poem we memorized early last year. Both T & D were able to listen to a refresher reading, and then recite the poem flawlessly. Here it is:

It’s Friday. The end of our first official week of school for the 2005-2006 school year. (The public schools don’t start until August 16, but we get to take some days off in October to go to the beach – it’s Texas, so it’s still warm enough to swim. Also, we can take some days off to visit with Grandmother and maybe Mema. More swimming anyone?) Things went well. T loves his new language workbook. We are still learning usage and parts of speech from First Language Lessons, but I am supplementing with Spectrum Language Arts, which focuses more on mechanics, punctuation, and proofreading. D is speeding through Kindergarten math. He is eager to move on to 1st grade work.

D decided to discontinue Spanish for the time being. He always has the option to start again. I’m a bit sad about this, but I try to remember that I want him to learn enthusiastically, not grudgingly. He still wants to learn all of the words in his book, My First 1000 Words in Spanish. In the meantime, I’m looking for a good at-home Spanish program. So far, I’m investigating the Power Glide and Rosetta Stone programs. The latter even offers Welsh, which is my languange of choice. I was also looking at our local library’s online card catalog and found scads of Spanish Instruction programs on cassette, DVD, Videocassette, and CD-ROM. Plus, I plan to search Half Price Books for some elementary texts. I don’t think we’ll lack for Spanish.

In addition, I plan to teach the kids Latin. A friend has already been teaching her kids from a workbook. I want to ask her about it. Latin is not on the slate until 4th grade, but I may start it early, if only for myself. I have to keep up with the kids, who are leaping headfirst into quantum physics. Do you know the meaning of the word “spaghettification”? It’s part of the theory surrounding black holes, string theory, etc. I’ll leave you to your own research.

Also on the possibility list, homeschool soccer for the younger set – everybody gets to touch the ball. Older kids are also welcome. It’s free, and it’s in the morning. We tried last year to go to this. Maybe we’ll succeed this year.

This is our wish list for our home school. I will update this post frequently as the needs arise and change.

Look for these at Amazon, Half.Com, Rainbow Resource , Office Depot or other supplier. Rainbow or Half.com usually have the best prices for books & curricula. You can also support your local economy. Print this list out and take it with you.

For books especially, but for all items…USED IS OK. As long as there are few signs of use that would prevent us from using it. (Highlighting is ok as long as it isn’t much. Activities have to be free of marks. Dog-ears ok, tears are not.)

Books & Curricula
Spelling Power, by Beverly L. Adams-Gordon ISBN: 188882719X
A Day In the Life of Murphy, by Alice Provensen
Wordly Wise 3000 Book A - Vocabulary Curriculum for 2nd grade ISBN: 0838824250
Wordly Wise 3000 Book A Key ISBN: 0838824285
Key to Measurement Complete Set or Single Books, available at Rainbow Resource.

Office/School Supplies
Clear Contact Paper
Scotch Tape
Art Paper
Crayola Brand Crayons