Posted in Language

Today Ethan asked me to take a narration for him.  No I didn't fall down dead with shock.  I restrained myself and happily obliged. 

Ethan had drawn several pictures and wanted me to type up the information that went with them.  Let me tell you...thank goodness I took speed typing in high school.  Even then it was hard to keep up with the sentences he wanted me to capture in writing.

He also insisted that I share his "information" with you.  Originally he wanted me to link my blog with his so you could all visit.  But as we keep his blog a private domain for his own safety, I convinced him to settle for a reproduction of his work on my blog.  He's happy enough with that but itching to hit the real stage of the internet with his own blog. 

So for your reading pleasure, please enjoy...Ethan's

Posted in Language

In my post about reading aloud I mentioned that we began reading aloud to our boys from an early age.  Today I was scanning in some old photos and came across these beauties and I wanted to share them with you.

It doesn't show quite how early we started ... we were really eager to ensure our boys loved books ... but it's not too far off from the very early days.  I'm guessing Ethan is about 4 months old here.  

Posted in Language

The two most common complaints I've heard from homeschooling mummas regarding read alouds are that they don't know what to read and that their children just won't sit still long enough to listen.  So I thought I'd explain how we started out with reading to our children and how I get my boys to listen for so long. 

Firstly my boys have been read picture books since they were VERY little and they've been borrowing books from the local library for almost as long.  So the desire to be read to is something I didn't have to work too hard at.  All day they would be bringing my husband and I books to read aloud to them.  They would sit and listen to quite a large pile of picture books before showing signs of needing to move on.


However I did find that the move from picture books to novels was a different kettle of fish.  With a picture book open in front of us they could sit motionless for ages as though they were transfixed in front of the tv.  With a novel however the boys started to fidget and squirm.  Hubby and I didn't cope well with this at first.  We are both very used to reading aloud to school children and they are expected to sit STILL and at least LOOK attentive. 

We didn't know any other children as young as ours, at the time, who were being read novels (or many who were being read to at ALL for that matter!!).  We started questioning whether it was an age appropriate expectation for them to listen to novels.  But I had read a lot of homeschooling titles and knew that there WERE young children in the world being read far more advanced novels that what we were attempting. 

Selecting our first novel was also a challenge for us at first.  I hadn't "discovered" internet book purchasing at that time...well nothing like the relationship I have with online book shopping now.  So I went looking at the local book stores. 

From looking at their shelves it seemed that publishers hadn't found much of a market for novels for younger children.  All of the novels on offer were for a preteen or teen audience and hardly appropriate for that audience either!! 

So I returned to my own shelves and pulled out a few Enid Blyton books I remembered reading in my youth.  Through necessity these books ended up being our first.  I just couldn't find anything else that seemed easy enough for them to comprehend.  I also wanted something that had complete adventures in each short chapter. 

The Blyton books were an okay start but not one I'd recommend to everyone.  The way I justify it now was that any start was a good start.  So my recommendation for starting is to just try something that you think will work as a start for your children. 

After only two of the Blyton books Hubby and I were begging each other to pleeeeeeease take each other's turns at reading aloud that book.  It seems that there's only so much of Miss Blyton's books that we could cope with and it wasn't long before the boys started to show signs that they were feeling the same way.  

"Where to next?" I thought which is when I DID start looking online and found Sonlight (there are other great book lists but this was a nice start for us and one which I still use).  They have lots of superb titles that are highly recommended by other homeschoolers who want to read aloud to their young children.  So I bought several of these and so began our love of reading aloud novels to our boys.  With a good novel the task is easy and now hubby and I squabble over who gets to read which titles. 

So a good start to novel reading is to find good book recommendations from other homeschool families preferrably with similar views about what's appropriate.

The next issue you'll encounter, as we did, was squirmy children who found it hard to sit still while listening.  Without the visuals to occupy them they began to wiggle and make a nuisance of themselves.  To the untrained eye it looks like they are not "listening" but I've found this not to be true.  They are listening but they just can't sit still without the motivation of illustrations.  Perhaps this will change with maturity...but even I find it hard to do nothing and listen to audio.  I get restless and start looking for something to occupy my hands...ironing and driving are my preferred listening locations.   So this might just be how people are wired. 

As a result I don't enforce sitting still while I read aloud.  I sit comfortably on the couch with our pile of read alouds in a basket beside me and my boys are welcome to come and go from the couch as they choose.  The only two restrictions they have are that they must stay in the same room and they must play quietly without talking. 

At first I did find this situation difficult.  I was not used to reading aloud to children who didn't LOOK like they were listening to me.  I did feel at times like I was reading aloud to myself.  But I persisted and reassured myself that they were listening by stopping now and again to test their comprehension.  Amazingly they were actually listening.  I also knew they were listening when they would pipe up and ask me a question about what I had just read.  At other times they would leave their play and come and sit beside me to listen to an exciting or interesting part of the book.  We also do lots of narrations which help me see how well they are listening. 

So my other piece of advice regarding read alouds would be to let your children DO something while you read aloud to them.   Let them engage their body in an activity while their mind listens to you read aloud to them.

Nowadays we read aloud a LOT to our children.  Hubby reads a chapter from a novel each night at bedtime, along with numerous favourite picture books.  At this time hubby expects them to sit still while he reads.  He struggles to accept movement while he's reading.  He's a school teacher at heart and just can't get into the swing of reading to moving children. 

During the day I read aloud to the boys for one to two hours.  This was my goal for this year - to read aloud more to the boys.  I've heard and read so many times that if all you do in your homeschool day is one thing, it should be reading aloud. 

Today we read for two and a half hours (I only know the exact time because Ethan is in a "timing everything" mood).  This was a bit longer than normal but not totally out of the norm for us. 

We keep our read alouds in a basket on our couch and read one to several chapters from each most days of the week.  I also add in various information titles for whatever topics we are learning about at the time.  So there's always plenty to read.

While I read aloud to the boys today Brayden sat and explored the art of butterfly printing and watercolour painting.  By the end of my reading I had a bench full of wet paintings (Later in the day the boys set up an "Art Gallery" in their bedroom). 

Ethan chose to do several different things.  At first he painted alongside his brother. 

Then he moved to the floor and made roads with letter bricks and a baseboard. 

After that he bounced around on a large ball for a while. 

Finally he pulled out our Junior Roadblock game and began playing with the cars on the board. 

After all of this he came to the computer with me and made a wonderful narration about what we had read, almost word for word detail in some parts so he was definitely listening.

Posted in Language

"Torn"...that's the only way to describe how I feel about teaching writing. 

I'm in two minds about how to go about facilitating the process of learning to write.   Let me tell you, teaching reading was a BREEZE compared to this. 

I'm feeling the pressure from bureaucrats (who insist it is their job to watch over our shoulders) to do more writing with Ethan as he would not compare well if they merely held up his writing sample next to his schooled peers' writing samples.  My head tells me this is possibly a good thing.  I would like to see more writing too.  And people do look at your child's literacy skills an an indicator of how well you are homeschooling your child.  In fact as homeschooling mummas don't we all sometimes wonder (even if it's just a niggling deep down fleeting moment)  if our students' literacy skills are an indicator of how well we are doing our job.  I know I have had had these thoughts..."Once they are reading and writing I will know for sure that I can do this homeschooling thing," until then I will be prone to wonder....and by then, I'm sure I'll find something else to be unsure about. 

As a result we've been doing writing daily.  Some writing lessons are good and I am pleased with the result and I think Ethan is too.  But usually by the next day I'm met with great reluctance.  Yes he'll do the task but if I could see inside of his head I would surely see him counting out the words he would have to write and considering ways to be more efficient with his sentence length. 

We're also working separately on all the different sub strands of writing - grammar, spelling, handwriting, textual structure etc.  When I don't require my little student to combine all of these things into a written piece he is as happy as a pig in mud...okay he tolerates it.  It's school and it must be endured so he can get to the really good stuff...reading aloud, science experiments and such.  

My heart is telling me that imposed artificial writing situations are not productive to producing an enthusiastic or successful writer.  I know the seed for these things is within my child as he's done many narrations that show that he enjoys communicating his thoughts, that he can sequence them well and articulate his thoughts in well constructed, occasionally quite mature, sentences.  Just don't ask him to transfer these thoughts from his head down through his hands.  A lot of words get lost in that translation!!

To me it seems like these contrived writing sessions work in a similar way to a baby being prematurely propped up to walk.  They can not do it without support.  The first time you hold bub up and walk their legs along, they might think it's a wonderful game but after a few times they intentionally drop their little legs out from under them.  They do not yet have the internal motivation to try it for long and they certainly can not do it successfully alone.  Yes they do have some of the many skills required for the job but putting them all together is the trick.  Over time, and not always with others looking on, they test out their skills, until one day they take off walking.  I think writing is a bit like this.  There does seem to be some sort of personal timetable at play.

Now I wouldn't go as far as saying that it's best to leave writing to develop by itself.  I do think it's important to teach specific skills.  It doesn't have to be taught through a textbook.  The teaching could happen through incidental discussions but I do think it needs that nudge and a little facilitating on our side.  Just like neglected babies will not learn to sit, walk or talk without the proper conditions.  My thoughts are that writing doesn't just happen because you exist.  I do think a nudge in the right environment can be helpful.   

However, dragging my child to the writing "finishing line" is not going to do the job either.  That would be like "helping" a butterfly out of its cocoon. 

I know.  On paper...or is that page...the solution seems so simple.  Step back.  Wait for writing to happen while nudging those important skills along.  Toss out those dreadful contrived writing sessions and then delude myself that the homeschool officials will be fine with my new position on writing.  And smile nicely at all the other naysayers.

My heart knows this is the answer but my head is chicken.  My heart does not fear.  It knows the way to go and the right things to do.   It's my head that makes life more complicated than it needs to be.  It's the source of insecurities and imagined fears. 

Who will win this battle of wills between the head and the heart?? 

My heart needs to strike the winning blow to the head...gosh that sounds painful...but it probably will be. 

Posted in Language

This past week Ethan has been writing a letter to his Daddy everyday.  He then hid it from him to stumble across in places like on his pillow or in place of his bookmark in the book he reads each night.   I initiated this writing as a purposeful reason for Ethan to write. 

I'm personally not too keen on the genre of Creative Writing for young children, especially boys. 
*  It's not an entirely useful skill in life unless you chose to be a author later in life...certainly not in proportion to the emphasis that is placed on it in education.
*  It's very difficult for beginning writers to be creative and to create an entertaining plot from thin air.  They need lots of life experience to draw from which is something young children lack.  You'll notice that young children usually innovate on a known story rather than creating an original storyline which of course is fine, in my opinion.  School teachers however will not think favourably of such a thing.
*  It's also not something that boys in general enjoy.  Boys think about facts and purpose, not relationships and plots...generally speaking from my own experience of course. 
So that's why I choose to use purposeful genres for our writing experiences.

Of course getting those all important words on paper is still like pulling teeth for some children...mine included.  The writing we did this week was a huge milestone for us.  Usually Ethan digs his heels in after one sentence.  To him a full stop is the "pens down" sign. 

However this particular writing task was much more enjoyable for Ethan.  He loved the excitement of hiding the letter and waiting for a reply which he knew would come the next day.  Daddy played a game of hide and seek with his replies too.  One morning it was on the fridge and another it was on Ethan's pillow beside him when he woke up. 

In one letter that Daddy wrote to Ethan he asked if Ethan could write him an acrostic poem.  This led to an impromptu search for information about what an acrostic poem was and how to write one.  I was very impressed with how this experience panned out.  Ordinarily I would have dreaded a poetry lesson (it's VERY high on my personally disliked things..."OH!" I hear you all gasping.  I'm happy to read it but please don't make me write it.  Pull my fingernails out with pliers instead...please!!!)  But this was a such a natural lead in that the pain of poetry writing was anesthetised for me and hopefully my distaste for it wasn't passed on to Ethan.  He worked really long and hard on his acrostic poem and I'm very impressed with it.  Who'd have thought that one of my offspring could write and enjoy poetry.