I didn't write a journal entry on the 11th, so I am combining the two today.
Yesterday and today were much better with the new listen and obey chart. I didn't have to remind Deacon to stay on task at all either day, which made me extremely happy. Yesterday we finished Unit 1 part 3 of the Columbus based curriculum. We didn't work on the text book today. Today we did math, a spelling test, keyboarding, art, sign language review, language review, music, and journal. I love the use of a journal for Deacon. It helps with sentence structure, penmanship, memory, abstract thinking, and so much more. Today's math was telling time on an analog clock and placement values. Art was coloring a picture of Christopher Columbus' ship and the country of Italy. I was impressed with how well he did on both. He still bears down too hard with the crayon, but he says it is because he likes it to be bright and he likes the way it feels when he colors like that. We worked on coloring in one pattern instead of all zig-zagged. He remembered all of the signs we have learned so far, and I contacted the Knoxville Center of the Deaf about ASL courses for the both of us. They offer an 8 week course in September and another in March. They meet once a week from 6 to 8pm in South Knoxville. I think it would be a good idea to try to attend the classes. They can teach him ASL much better than I ever could. I'm also looking forward to starting Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish in the spring. Now is the perfect time for him to learn multiple languages. The Rosetta Stone Spanish has 6 levels altogether, I believe. Daniel and I look forward to learning it with him. I'm trying to talk Daniel into attending the ASL courses with us as well. Since we don't know anyone who uses it as a main form of communication, we need some way to make sure he uses it so he doesn't lose it.
He did so wonderful in keyboarding today. He really likes the dance mat typing. He did R and U today. I push the keyboard tray all the way in so he can't see the keyboard, otherwise he is tempted to cheat a bit, lol. I'm glad we found the dance mat typing course, it's been an excellent resource since it makes him want to learn to type so he can hear the song at the end of each lesson. I'm very impressed with it. For music this week we've just been singing along to radio Disney. I need to find some more things online for us to use. Maybe later in the year I can find someone local who teaches piano or guitar lessons for an affordable rate. He'd like guitar I think. The local boys and girls club offers lessons, but I can't sign him up for them. They do it on certain days and only allow so many people at a time each day they do them to attend. The good thing about the Boys and Girls club lessons is that they are free of charge, but I'd like to be there with him to see what he is learning so we can review it each day.
In bible we are still working on Psalm 23. It is a long one, and hard for him to remember anything more than "The Lord is my shepherd." I don't intend to keep going until he has it memorized, but I'd like for him to have a good handle on it before we move on to another memory verse or memory project. I'd like to find a good bible story book soon. I just need to go to the bookstore and look around. He is still reading Junie B. Jones for his independent reading, which he has been doing since before the school year started. I like the fact that he really gets into those books and I don't have to tell him he has to read for 20 minutes when he gets lost in it for an hour or more. I have been researching crafts to do online and I think we will attempt to make a globe in the next few days. I'd also like to make the milk carton Columbus ships soon. I think he will enjoy that. After he did all of his school work today he played on pbskids.com for a few hours. He loves that site, and it has a lot of educational games on it. He is doing his journal now. I told him he could write about anything he wanted to write about and he has chosen to write about "his" cat Ella. It's going to break my heart when we give her away. He is very attached to her, as am I, but we can't continue to keep her when she has an avoidance of the litter box sometimes.
Deacon has gotten all A's in everything but a few math worksheets where he got a B so far this year. I let him correct the missed problems, but I still keep the original grade. I have been told that no homeschooled child should make less than a 100 on any assignment, but I feel that is dishonest. We do work through what he has missed and work on correcting it and re-enforcing the lesson, but I don't feel comfortable giving him a 100 unless that is what he got on the paper the first time. I think he is enjoying being homeschooled. He has more freedom to work at his pace and he doesn't get told no when he asks to get a drink or use the bathroom. Lunch is when he gets hungry and we do things in the order he chooses. After this year, I am curious if I will feel comfortable trying to do preschool with Calen next year. Calen wants to do school now, but isn't able to follow directions on what to do in a preschool workbook, so I let him color in the room with us. he thinks that is school and he is proud to be going to school with Deacon. Dallin naps while we work. When Dallin wakes up, I get Daniel up. Luckily Dallin is a long napper. He will sleep from 10:30 or 11:30 until 2 or 3pm. This helps a lot with trying to get everything done and let Daniel sleep. As Dallin gets older I don't think it will be as much of a problem since he will know what I mean when I tell him he has to be quiet and I will be able to turn my back on him for more than a few seconds at a time and trust he isn't into something he shouldn't be. We are learning to adapt our plans to what works for us on a daily basis. What works on Monday may not work at all on Tuesday, but we learn, adjust, and continue on. With that I will end today's entry. Only time will tell what tomorrow will bring in our journey.
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