What Grade is This?

We've been doing great this past month.  Slowly but surely learning what works for our school and what doesn't.  For instance most of the text books that we got were for 1st grade and they weren't challenging enough by half.  So we turned some of them back in for 2nd grade materials or we just ignored them and did some unschooling for the subject.  For instance of Monday we went whale watching.  We learned about baleen whales vs. toothed whales.  We discussed what both types of whales eat and how they go about catching their prey.  Also discussed the classification of whales as mammals.  We never touched a text book but we sure did learn a ton.  We'll work on whales, expanding our knowledge, for the rest of the week.  Next week we'll move onto whatever else catches our fancy. 

What worries me about this is that when we move in June I either need to continue homeschooling or convince his next school to test him for grade level placement.  Because honestly at the pace that we're going he'll be done with 2nd grade at the end of the summer.  September being 7 months from now that's plenty of time to cover all of the material.  The other issue is that even if they test him would it be right to put an almost seven year old in class with a bunch of eight and nine year olds.  That seems like a recipe for bullying. Maybe a Montessori or Waldorf school would be better but I'm not sure that we could afford the cost of tuition to a good one. 

Jaws and Owls and Rockets Oh My!!!

Busy day here at "school"!!  Today we watched a documentary on Great White Sharks returning to the Cape Cod region.  Discussed what the scientists are doing to track them, what is making them come back and the habitats, food of, and predators of the GWS.  Awesome science day.

We also read a book called "The Littlest Owl" and discussed it's characters, plot and setting.  He read half of it and I read the other half. He had a bit of trouble with the contractions but for the most part could sound out all the words without any real help from me.  Except an occasional reminder about the "bossy E"

We also did an experiment with baking soda and vinegar in preparation for our bottle rocket later on this week. 

More importantly JayBirds behavior is improving as he becomes less stressed.  He's definitely enjoying one on one reading time.  Instead of being stressed and easily aggravated he's reverting back to my happy and perpetually curious JayBird. 

Our first week went great!!!  We're slowly getting into a groove.  After all it's a big adjustment for both him and me.  The noise level has certainly gone up in the house, he constantly chatters just like a blue-jay. I was worried about choosing what level to start at because his teacher had told us he wasn't performing at grade level.  But we did some basic review and he just looked bored. Once I tried some second grade material he perked right up.  I still mix in some review of 1st grade concepts just to be sure but he seems to enjoy the challenge. 
For instance he's been reading books to me and my hubby and I've been checking their grade level online.  Most seem to be right at 2.6 or halfway through the 2nd grade.  Of course we still have to read along with him for when he occasionally gets stuck.  He is sounding out words on his own, and using context clues to help him with words that are new to him. 
Now we just need to figure out how to build that rocket.....

Starting Homeschooling

My son JayBird is doing horribly at school.  He started first grade this year (public school) and he's been coming home with a time-out slip 3 or 4 days a week.  Mostly for talking, getting in and out of his chair, silly noises etc...  So the teacher recommended ADD/ADHD/Aspergers testing.  Testing completed, turns out he has a high IQ and according to the Dr. is probably bored out of his mind in class.  So I have an advanced learner with the emotional maturity of well a 6 year old boy...