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Oct. 10, 2009
How it's going: Kindergarten, Round 2
My 4-year-old started kindergarten this year. This is the second time I have taught kindergarten because we started homeschooling when my oldest was in 4th grade and my daughter was in kindergarten.
This boy is something else. I can see many years of interesting prayers being answered about this boy. We all adore him--he is just adorable in personality, and so enchanting. He looks exactly like his dad and amazingly, has so many of his same "quirks" (that is said in a GOOD way!).
He has Tourette Syndrome, which is nothing serious at this point and it seems to have no effect on our days, or his training. He is just slightly noisier and more fidgety than the other kids, due to his physical and audible tics.
He just started reading words, and he is so excited about this ability. I've never seen a child so excited about learning to read! He worked with his sister for two hours yesterday building words on his phonics board (a small magnetic board with letter tiles). The PBS show "Word World" helped him A LOT with this understanding. I have been putting together my own phonics and reading program for him, using the Abeka "A Handbook for Reading," Centrifuge Language Arts (resorting the pages to match the Abeka book), a generic phonics workbook I picked up that had good exercises, and a smattering of beginning readers. He makes his own wall cards with pictures for each sound, and we have his magnetic letter board.
We started his Kindergarten math (Making Math Meaningful), and flew through the first 25 weeks of it in two weeks trying to get to a point where we actually needed to slow down and start solidifying some concepts. He loves doing math and has a natural ability to grasp numerical concepts.
I have been noticing in this 4-year-old the fruit of his older brother's example. He has picked up on being neat, organized, and a hard worker (for a 4-year-old). He is enthusiastic about school and completes all his assignments willingly and diligently. He does chores well and without a fuss. No, seriously, he really does chores well and without a fuss. I know these things have been a breeze because of the example he sees daily from his older siblings. It's just they way his world is.
Train your oldest to be a good example!
In turn, I am really trying to teach my four-year-old all the ways he can be an example to his little brother (the 20-month-old). The bulk of my exhortations have to do with him being mindful of the example he is setting while playing, eating, working, and obeying.
I'm waiting for the "question" phase about God. He says prayers, reads the Bible with me and his Dad, sits in on family devotions and family "church" services, and hears explanations and exhortations about living to please Jesus, reminders that God made everything and is in charge of everything, and more. But he hasn't started yet to try to figure it all out. But I can't wait until he is eager to understand more!
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