Back to School

Well, after 17 very busy, but refreshing days, school resumed yesterday. I have to say, while I enjoyed my break very much and was able to accomplish a great deal of work, it really was a blessing to have a routine to follow for the day. The children jumped right back in to the flow of the classroom and were wonderfully behaved. In fact, it was one of the most peaceful first days back from a holiday that I have ever had, as a teacher or a student.

We are very excited to have plans for the entire term. Heather and I sat down the other day for 3 hours and we hashed out every unit we are teaching this term. It was such a relief to have an outline with topics for the next ten weeks. In case anyone is interested, here are the topics I am planning to cover:

Grade 4 & 5:
Math: place value, fractions, multiples, mental math
Natural Science: world weather, the earth, the solar system
Economics: Entrepreneurs
Technology: Places to live, recycling, products for sale

Grade 6 & 7:
Math: place value, decimals, fractions, divisibility rules
Natural Science: world weather, the earth and biomes, natural disasters, solar system
Economics: Entrepreneurs
Technology: Making memory boxes, simple machines

If you have any wonderful ideas for me to consider when teaching these topics, I am open to suggestions.