Progress

I was sure this week wasn't going to amount to much...but today made up for the slow pace. It seems like I can pretty much count on one really good day a week. JT seemed to be more interested in learning today. We worked on fractions and decimals. Since we have finished our 3rd grade math and decided not to start the 4th grade material at all this year, we started really going deep into the fractions. I have a hard time knowing when he is really paying attention. That drives me nuts! He'll tell me that I should know he is usually paying attention when he looks like he isn't and isn't when he looks like he is. So today, he looked like he wasn't, but when I put problems on the board for him to work on, he did them perfectly. I had him take mixed numbers and turn them into improper fractions and back again. Then we took fractions and converted them into decimals. I really want him to have a good grasp on some of these concepts before he gets to the higher level math. I feel like too often the math curriculum in our country doesn't allow kids to really 'get it' before they move on. Then they drag the same stuff out again the next year. A preliminary look at our 4th grade math text shows me that we will only need a few months to cover the material for next year. In fact, it might only take 2 based on the lack of new concepts being introduced.

Another great thing happened today. I had been dreading the composition assignment for this test packet. The last one took us a week to really get around to doing. Today, I helped JT think through what he was going to write and left the room. When I returned in 10 minutes, the first half was done! With a little praise, he completed it in one sitting! This is pretty much unheard of around here. So, I laid on the praise pretty thick and he had some free time for an art project. Hopefully whatever magic happened today can be recreated the next time I say the words, "composition"!