We just wrapped up our fourth week! We are 1/9 of the way through our school year! Getting through the first month is usually the hardest. We are establishing a schedule, learning our routine, and getting used to our new books. We have started all of our subjects at this point and, so far, we are enjoying them all.
This week has been a week of learning about Lilly. I have posted before about teaching Lilly to read, you can see it here. I have tried so many things with her. It seems like we always take two steps forward and one step back. I have found things that seem to work, but then it's like she forgets everything she learned.; or if she is tired, she just can't focus to do it.
I know she learns well and retains a lot when I read to her, and when we talk through things. Aidan does as well. That has made science, history, geography, Bible, and literature easy to teach. I read and we talk. Both kids retain well. I can use cds for Latin and the kids remember what they hear. Even Matthew has started singing Song School Latin with us! Lilly is also able to memorize math facts and Bible verses if we say them aloud together. She can use manipulatives to show understanding on math concepts.
Our real struggle has been finding a method that works for her for reading. I think I have finally found a combination of programs that works. I won't really know until we have been at it a little longer, but I am hopeful! I needed only one book to teach Aidan to read, but Lilly needs a multi sensory method. She needs to hear, see, touch, and manipulate the letters and words with her hands.
I started the year with Explode the Code and All About Spelling 1. We used the phonogram cards and an app on my phone to memorize all the sounds a letter can make. After 2 weeks she knew them all. She actually knew most of the sounds, but we needed to work on the letters that made 2-4 sounds. (That is Step 1 in the program.)
Now we are working on hearing sounds in words (step 2). She is great with hearing and identifying the first sound, and she can separate the sounds on her own. She is struggling with hearing the last sound in words. So we are working on that.
I decided we needed more drill, more practice. She would not, however, sit for me and drill, and I don't have all day to sit with her. We would both go crazy anyway! So I signed up for a free trial of Reading Eggs. She loves it! She has advanced from Map 2 to Map 5 or 6 in only 5 days. She would play all day if I let her! She is feeling more confident, and she begged to read to me last night. We pulled out a Bob Book and she sounded out the first few pages very easily. She got tired fast, so we stopped. I was so proud of her, and she was excited!
I am thrilled to have found something that seems to be working!
Now for our funny of the week. We were studying the Emancipation Proclamation. We read about Lincoln discussing the proclamation with his cabinet. Lilly looked at me with a look that said, "He was crazy!" And then she said, as she glanced at our kitchen cabinets, "He discussed it with his CABINET?!?!" I love when kids take things so literally. We followed up with a short civics lesson. Now she knows that he did not talk to his kitchen cabinets.
We had a productive and busy week. The only thing we were unable to do was our astronomy lab. It requires going outside on a clear night to look at the stars and draw pictures. If has been cloudy and rainy! If we get a clear night this weekend we will be outside to look at the stars!
No comments:
Post a Comment