Zeke had another good day of school. He took on 3 new letters and tested well on them plus the previous 10 he's learned. He's half-way home to a full writing knowledge of all 26 letters. He also read two books to me and happily earned his computer time.
What I'm noticing is that our "language of instruction" is becoming second nature. This is the language that tells him where to place his pencil [2 on the clock just below the middle dotted line], what direction to write [in the direction in which we read and write], how much space to leave between the letters [comfortably close to the left margin line], and more. His posture, with regular reminders, is good and his pencil-holding is much more confident. This methodology is very challenging, but he does well with praise. He likes to be tested much more than he likes to practice. In many respects, the tests become his practice.
I'm holding back on the other subjects for the time being. Readin' and 'Ritin' are sufficient. 'Rithmatic can wait a little longer. [Religion, however, is now part of the Friday morning class.]
15 years ago
3 comments:
That's right. Go with what he's interested in at first then let him start reading for himself "about" the other curriculum areas.
Have you chosen a math curriculum yet? If not I highly recommend "Math U See." The emphasis is on learning when to add, subtract, multiply, etc. not just how to do it. It gave Josh a really good working understanding of how math works. He was doing simple algebra problems in 3rd grade. It uses Legos-like manipulatives that helped me see what he understood and what he didn't get.
Last year we did Saxon Home Edition [level K] and we have Saxon level 1 for this year. It has a lot of manipulables and a lot of mental math and I really liked how it was organized for me. He and I could often do 3 lessons at a pop and he would often ask to do it. It also included a study of calendars, clocks and various patterns he sees in his life. It was quite good.
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