It feels like we've run from one end of this week to the other, but in there we got a lot accomplished in the homeschool department. Here's what we did:
Phonics: We got the penny game back out again on Monday, and although we didn't quite finish the game, Monkey got in some great blending & reading practice. Since the point is to practice reading, I'm content with letting him call an end to the game after a certain point. Wednesday I had him choose a Bob Book to read to me. I gave him numbers 1-4 to choose from, and he chose #3, "Dot." It's a challenging thing for him still, but he's getting there. I'm seeing real improvement. I'm not sure where to go after the cvc words, so the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading is on its way and should be here in about a week. Monkey will still play games to learn, but I will have a better idea of what I'm doing and what's next. I'm looking forward to that!
Math: Surprisingly enough, Monkey did more with the Math Monsters when they were on paper. I let him use my good colored pencils, and he did more and more on his own with each one that he made. They were enough fun that he made several.
Nature Study: We finally got out to the park for nature study again. I have been missing this! I miss being outside, and I can tell that Monkey's observing is not as strong when we don't do this.
Monkey wasn't quite as into it as he usually is. I'm hoping that over the next week he remembers that this is fun.
Monkey was hoping to see animals at the children's farm, but this late in the season they've all gone back to the farms that provide them.
We finished off our trip to the park with a few minutes on the playground.
Kumon: We did a few pages, but since the point of these is basically to develop fine motor skills, and he was doing so much with the Math Monsters, I decided to let these go a little this week.
Read-Aloud: We're still working on Charlotte's Web, but we're getting close to the end now. Charlotte is making her egg sack, and Monkey is concerned about what's going to happen to Wilbur. This means that I'm going to have to choose another book soon. I love reading out loud, but the process of choosing another story to do is always a challenge.
We're also making good progress in reading the Scriptures. Monkey and I are reading the four Gospels, and we've made it into chapter 6 of Matthew. This is slow going: lots of stopping to explain, so every chapter takes several days. This week we discussed what is "adultery" (I told him it's when people who are not married try to make babies), "alms," and what is "in secret" as I read the Sermon on the Mount to him. I started reading the Book of Mormon to Raven. This is a bit trickier, because I like to do it when he's awake, but he's not awake a whole lot yet. The goal is to finish before his 3rd birthday, but with Monkey it was more like 3 3/4 years, because as he got bigger our rate slowed way down for questions and explanations. This is a good thing, it just makes that first trip through the book a long one. I love this reading chart for the Book of Mormon, so I made a similar one for the four Gospels.
8 comments:
Humming along -- I like that phrase! That's how I feel about our week, only sometimes the pace was presto. :-) A great week for you all!
We managed to keep it (mostly) to allegretto, but it seems like there were a lot of days where we were slipping in the last tittle bit in the evening. But yes, it was a good week.
Stopping by from the weekly wrap-up. Sounds like you had a great week!
We did. Thank you!
You seem so good at being consistent in your homeschooling. We hit about 2.5 days a week - plus the day he's at the tutorial - so I guess we're doing ok. =P It's so fabulous that Monkey is reading. =)
Being consistent is one of the terms of the agreement that Andy & I made when we decided to homeschool: I have to, or we've agreed to revisit if we're going to do it. Given that I KNOW that we're supposed to homeschool, having made it a matter of prayer, I had better be consistent!
Actually, one of the reasons we started doing things that were "school" in my mind was so that I could have plenty of time to practice before things start to "count." Being consistent over a long period of time is a HUGE weakness for me, so this was an area of some concern for both Andy & I. I needed this many years to practice putting school first, remembering school, etc. I'm doing well now, but it's only been this year that I started to feel like I was getting somewhere on the whole consistency thing.
It is so exciting that he's reading! The bummer is, he doesn't like it. Math is fun, but he complains about reading. It's gotten to the point now where it's work, and there's a certain amount of resistance. I keep insisting on a small amount of practice & try to give him choices: do you want this game or that, choose your Bob book from these 4. But it's his least favorite part of school. Still, he seems to like the games once we're playing, and he is getting better at the books. I keep hoping that sparkly *look* I was starting to see from him, before we ended up taking the whole summer off, as he started to realize he CAN do this, I hope that *look* comes back soon. It was exciting.
Sounds like a great week! I love that you recognized that he had done even fine motor work with his math. I often forget this and have to re evaluate as we go along. We are reading through the Old Testament this year.
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