Red Letter Days

Some days with home education nothing seems to go right so when those red letter days arrive it's so nice. We had several red letter days this week.

On Thursday I finally figured a way of explaining to Matt about a problem he was having with multiplying decimal fractions. Matt is good at maths but he's like me. He has to understand it thoroughly not do it mechanically. It was music to my ears to hear such words as, "Oh I get it now. Ah, I really understand it now. That makes sense."

On Tuesday Anika had her first day at uni. Off she went full of excitement and came home saying how much she enjoyed it. Then Friday we celebrated her 18th birthday.

Also on Tuesday I made a discovery. Last year I had started to write a science outline that I could use with Mike (age 6) this year. I figured with my training I ought to be able to do a good job. The training wasn't the problem. Problem number one was lack of time. I started the year using a book but it really wasn't working out for us. Some of what I could find on the internet looked great for older children (9 and up) but there wasn't anything for younger children. So I decided to go and have a look at some homeschool forums and found this classic science curriculum designed for home school families. Not only does it have material suitable for Mike's age but it also has everything there set out on a day by day basis, covers all the great basic stuff and explains all those first principles of testing etc in a parent guide. A bonus is that the first year is a free download. I downloaded the first unit and started straightaway. Mike thinks the cartoons are hilarious. We'll be back next year to buy the second level. Meanwhile I donated to the cup of coffee account of the creator.

Something told me before I looked too far that it had to be good. The author goes by the name of Mr Q (no relation). How's that for a co-incidence?