Got lax again

We haven't managed to get started on SL2 as yet so Charlie has only been doing Singapore Maths over the last week. Will hopefully get a chance to start on SL2 tomorrow as its only really the first couple of days that need me helping/supervising because its a recap of SL1. Once I've started him off I'll let him go it alone.

He's been doing a lot of reading again and also a lot of map drawing, he's been particularly keen on contour maps and has been trying some of these out, including drawing one of Soar Mill Cove where we stayed in May for my dad's 60th.

He's surprising me with the whole maths thing at the moment as he seems a little bit more capable than I'd realised. I'm beginning to wonder whether the EC maths wasn't working for him because I had no input in it, whereas with workbook maths he brings it to me to check when he has finished. Or maybe he has been playing me all along and is far more capable at maths than he makes out and just hates it so much he does it wrong on purpose - I will be furious if I find out that is what he's been doing! Having said that he has to use rods, blocks or fingers for adding and subtracting without fail. I wonder if this is a problem for a very nearly 10 year old but I don't see how I can take his fingers or blocks etc away when he really can't do any mental maths at all. Sigh - I suppose I can't really say anything because I still use my fingers for maths when I want to make doubly sure of something.