First Grade - Check!

On Tuesday, Bean finished up first grade!  I am so proud of her!  She worked hard this year.  There were a few tears and some arguing, but overall she was a delight to work with.  I told her that over her break she will still have to do some reading every day.  She didn't really like that, but I reminded her that reading well takes practice and in order to keep growing as a reader she needs to practice.  As long as I keep it exciting for her then I think we'll be ok.

I still haven't begun my prep work for our next year.  I have some ideas of what I want to order, but I don't know when I will get there.  For now we are just going to enjoy some days of reading and playing.

Sounds good to me.

Bug is still going.  He has a few more weeks until he wraps things up.

And Now... Invertebrates

This week Bug is diving into the world of invertebrates.  Fun stuff!

Plants, Buds... What Happens?

Bean's current science experiment:

This is a twig cut from the tree in front of our house.  Bean has been learning about all kinds of great things in science this year and one of them is how some plants (like trees) form buds.  Leaves will fall off of a tree in the fall and it goes dormant in the winter.  Even though it looks like it is dead, it is not.  The tree actually has buds on it that you can see if you look closely.  The buds hold leaves and such in them until spring when with the proper temperature, water, and sunlight the leaves emerge.  This can be easily replicated but cutting a twig and placing it in a glass or vase (you'll need to snip up the end of the twig a bit so the water soaks in better).  It takes a couple of weeks, but once they start opening up it is science amazement for kids!

The Wonderful World of Vertebrates

Bug has been studying vertebrates in science.  He did a great job on his charts!

Finishing Up First Grade

Today Bean finished up first grade math.  Can you hear that?  It's the big sigh of relief, haha!

Seriously though, I think we are both happy it's over.

We're both looking forward to the break from it.  We both need the break from it.

I do have some supplemental materials to use with her over our break, but we won't be doing them every day and I am working on making them more into a fun time rather than a "math time."

Usually by this time every year I already have the next school year's curriculum in hand and have begun the planning.  Not this year, though.  I haven't ordered anything.  This year has just wiped me out.  There has been so much that has gone on and I'm pooped from it all.  I have a good idea of what all I want to order and I'll get there eventually, but I'm not in any sort of a rush over it.