October and Grandparents Day
FYI: to those who have had confusion issues about posting comments--sorry about that. I had an epic battle with the comment posting "preferences" and finally won, so you should be good to go.
Alrighty.
Friday was Grandparents' Day. Boy I was nervous about that. Turned out to be not so big a deal. I was grateful. Actually, it was mainly not a big deal because the grandmother of one of my students was in England during WWII and the kids were all interested in hearing her stories. Of course, I'm always nervous about having people in the room when I teach--esp. on Friday, the slowest and most relaxed day of the week for me. I'm glad that Parent Day will be on Tuesday--the day will appear to be more structured. It's just strange for me because you don't have Days for high school students--just open house, and nobody is judging your teaching for open house. God gives grace, though.
So, I've made it to October. This week is Jamestown/The Alamo week. I've gotten much better about reviewing history cards every day, thanks to my lesson a couple of weeks ago. And I get to learn along with them, which I enjoy. It really is simple to learn the basic events and dates this way. That way the rest of my random historical knowledge has some benchmarks to hang onto. Of course, that is the point behind the system. :)
Literature is somthing I'm still getting a handle on. I'm not used to having to rush through stuff, covering a bunch of short things as we go. Basically, we cover one or two books a quarter: reading in class, doing some worksheets and projects, discussing what is being read. It's way more. . .laid back,I guess...than what I'm used to. So basically I don't feel like I'm doing enough. Sigh. I do think, now that we're through our first book, that I have a better grasp on what to do than I did with this first book. That's good, I guess, I just wish the knowledge had been implanted a la The Matrix than having to learn by trial and error. I guess that just means they'll get more out of the next books! Also, if anyone knows of any good books about the Oregon/California trail for 6th graders, let me know. We need a different book than the one they read now.
This week is also a science week. Plants. Which means some outdoor excursions. Should be interesting. 5th grade boys outside. . .interesting.
It's hard to believe it's already October. And at the same time it seems so much longer than that. I suppose using a different teaching method (and teaching different grades) has really thrown off my usually time-guessing premonition. And, to add more to my plate, I start my volunteer job as home school varsity girls basketball coach tonight. Ack!!! I'm really nervous about that--mainly because I'm flying by the seat of my shorts with this one. Boy, oh, boy. I need a lot of grace!