This week I had one of those moments that causes me to remember why we homeschool. My kindergartener, who was totally clueless about the alphabet 2 weeks ago, came running to me carrying an electronic “guitar” toy whose keys were alphabetized a-i. He points to the keys and excitedly exclaims, “Look, it’s Hopeful ‘h’!!” He continues on, “Oh, there’s Boy ‘b,’ and Dancing ‘d’ too!” He goes through all the keys so excited to have found the friends that he’s met on Alphabet Island during his first two weeks of school. I wanted to cry! What a blessing to see those light bulbs coming on in his head as his world expands. That’s one of the reasons we homeschool. I want to be the one who teaches him those things. The past two weeks have brought us closer as we spend a couple hours of one on one time together “doing school” each day.

     I’m more relaxed with this little guy, as he is number 4 on my school roster. I didn’t push him to learn the alphabet or do any writing before we started formal Kindergarten (mostly because there wasn’t the time to do it!) and he certainly didn’t volunteer to do it on his own. Why rush him? He turned five in August and everything I’m teaching him now is being absorbed with no problems. His 21-month-old brother sits with us however, and takes everything in as well. He makes all of the phonics sounds with us and LOVES listening to the Alphabet Island CD.

      When I found the Alphabet Island program I knew it would be perfect for him. My husband questioned the cost of the program and asked why I couldn’t use the program that I used to teach the other kids to read. I knew that the FREE copy of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons that I used with the others just wouldn’t work with this active learner. He needed something to capture his attention that he would want to remember. I couldn’t be more pleased with Alphabet Island! It’s creator, Susan Mortimer, is a genius! Of course I knew that from having used her science and Bible programs in the past.

      Here’s what we do each day thus far:

*We listen to a sweet little song that she sings about the Island describing each character who lives there. I’m beginning to see the relationship of their names and personalities to the letter of the alphabet that makes up part of their appearance. Active ‘a,’ for instance, is a baby wearing a diaper. He makes the short ‘a’ sound like a baby crying. Of course!

*Then we sing along to a unique version of the alphabet song (forwards and backwards!) sang by a remarkable likeness of Hap Palmer (could it be??)

*We then have a worksheet showing the correct formation of the letter with a creative poem describing how to write it. My little fellow has great success writing the letter with his finger in a pan of cornmeal before attempting to use a pencil on paper.

*He colors the character on the large reproducible poster taped to the fridge above his table.

*I say different words and he chooses the Alphabet Island character card which corresponds to the beginning sound of that word, thus reviewing previously learned letters.

*I randomly ask him to write previously learned letters.

*Lastly is another worksheet which reviews the new letter and its sounds. After every three letters is a review lesson covering the last three letters learned.

      I’ve listened ahead to the CD (or rather the 2 year old has!) and I’m very excited about what’s in store. For instance, there’s a special song about Qualified ‘q.’ It goes:

Qualified ‘q’ does quality work and he’s hardly slowed down by his crippled foot. Understanding ‘u’ gives him a hand whenever he wants to walk or stand.”

How clever is THAT??