Learning Life Through Unschooling

Nov. 14, 2006

Early readers

Sometimes there are downsides to having an early reader. This morning, Matthew read the wrapper to his oatmeal breakfast bar and it said, "It's great warm too! Remove From Wrapper. Microwave on HIGH for approx. 10 seconds." So as Hubby is leaving for work, he informs me that Matthew told him that we need to discuss Matthew's use of the microwave. Apparently Matthew warmed up his bar this morning all by himself before we woke up. Thank goodness he followed the directions to the letter!

On the other hand, sometimes we get very silly things out of him because he can read complex words and usually can tell me their meaning but the pronunciation is way off. Especially words that sound nothing like they 'should', phonetically speaking. But yesterday we got a very good laugh. So we were running to grab a load of mulch so Hubby can winterize the garden. And Rose is in the back of the van quietly singing a song by doing the "duh duh duuuuhhhh duh duuuhhh duh.." version. She's so quiet that we can't hear her. Matthew says, "Daddy, can you sing the Cocker Spaniel song so Rose will stop doing the duh duuuuhhh's?" Hubby and I look at each other. "Cocker Spaniel song??? I don't know any cocker spaniel song. Do you mean a song from Lady and the Tramp?" Matthew says, "No...YOU know!" "We're really not sure. Can you sing a little bit of it?" He starts humming the tune to the Star Spangled Banner.

The background: Rose is a little song hound. Every night, she requests song after song when being put to bed. And every night, Hubby obliges. Her favorite all-time song is The Star Spangled Banner. So almost every night, he sings that one to her. Through her closed door, Matthew is on the other side of the wall in his room, waiting for Hubby to tuck him in and listening to the songs. He's not much of a singer himself so he only occasionally will request something like the Spiderman or Larryboy theme songs. So Hubby and I start full in on "Oh say does that Cocker Spaniel baaaaaaaaaay...." It does fit pretty well. ;)

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Jul. 15, 2006

Reading List

Posted in Reading

I enjoy reading other bloggers reading lists so I'm listing some of our recent titles for you.

Matthew (almost 6yrs, reading on his own):
Magazines: Dig (kids archaeology mag), Ranger Rick and My Big Backyard.
Series chapter books he's been going through: Magic School Bus, Bionicles, LarryBoy, Amelia Bedelia, Bunnicula
Other books: The Hissing Cockroach, Giant Jam Sandwich, The Great Kapok Tree
Favorite book: "I just have too many favorites to pick ONE, Mommy!"

Rose (almost 3 1/2yrs, having stories read to her):
Magazines: Baby Animals (she LOVES this one - it's a great preschool age mag, more like a booklet)
Books: Mice Are Nice (her new favorite - she actually HUGGED this book when I finished reading it and now she's on the "can we get a mouse?" bandwagon), So Many Bunnies, First Thousand Words in Spanish, 1001 Things to Spot (in fact, all the search type books from Usborne), Joey's Cat
Long time favorite: Snuggle Puppy by Boynton

Jade (15 mos):
Books: many board books, her favorites are by Boynton. She also likes the Step 1 early reader books - they only have a couple sentences on each page and she will sit for them. ;)

Me (Laurie, 399 mos):
Magazines: Creating Keepsakes
Books: Photoshop for Dummies, Photography, Starting From Home, Down to the Bonny Glen, Windows to the Soul and all the books listed on Rose's list.
Blogs: Well, most of them are listed to the right. ;)
On my list to be read: The Sound and the Fury, The Year of the Dog

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Jul. 10, 2006

More on Reading

Posted in Reading

Since Matthew taught himself to read, I'm often intrigued about how he does it. Did he memorize words? Does he sound them out? Did he teach himself phonics?

This weekend, he told me he just finished reading The Time Warp Trio, but he pronounced trio with a long i [TRY o]. I told him how trio is pronounced and he said it a couple times and continued with his mini book report. When he was done, I asked him what trio meant and he told me, "it means there are three of them". It's fascinating to watch him learn things.

Rose is working on early reading skills. This reminds me of where Matthew started on his reading-on-his-own journey. I would read him a book and he would read it over and over to himself after I left. He had an excellent memory and I presume that in the beginning, it was word memorization. That led to environmental reading, such as when kids begin to see the red circle target and know that means they are at the store, Target. The first sign I noticed Matthew ever 'read' was the red exit sign at the Science Center when we went to a special moon exhibit just after he turned 4. He was reading small words two months after and full fledged reading came quickly after that. Rose also likes to grab a book and lay down next to Matthew, already engrossed in his own, and pretend to read. I don't expect Rose to have the same experience or time frame as he did but I know she's on a similar road to reading and it's a neat science experiment on my part to watch how their journeys compare and contrast.

Jade took about 10 big steps today!! Her record was sticking at 5 but last night, I saw her very intently concentrating on it. She stood up, looked down at her feet and then took one step and then another. Then she'd flop on the floor, head to the side, laughing wildly with pride. Then she'd stand up and do it again. And then I saw it - the LOOK. She looked me in the eyes with her own glistening with astonishment as if to say, "Look!!! I can make them MOVE!" Next she'll be wanting something pretty to put on them.

At Jade's 15 month checkup last week, my pediatrician practically shamed me that I didn't know how many words she was saying. Well honestly, if you have 3 kids under the age of 6, it's hard to say when a babble changes into a word, believe you me! With the first child, even a hint of a 'm' sound is the word, 'mama' in a mothers eyes. But by the third child, the other two are non-stop loud talkers and who can really say what the third child is saying? I know I've heard a distinct 'mama' and 'dada' and 'mo' (more) from her but anything else? I'm not sure. Lots of babbling. Am I worried? No. But I've been encouraging her to say certain words for two weeks now. I know she CAN say them. I know she HAS said them. I know she HAS said them in the right context. But will she? Nope. Not for applause, not for her dear siblings, not even for a cookie. She refuses. Instead she laughs at me and makes babbles in completely different letter sounds. I was beginning to waiver in my strong conviction that she would talk just as well as the next toddler in no time. When...

The four of us were having lunch today and Matthew started whispering something to me. It wasn't a secret - just a whisper. I whispered back to him. Rose jumped on the bandwagon too. Then, just beside me, Jade leaned forward in her highchair and...yes, she whispered babble at us. We all laughed and thought it was a cute coincidence but Matthew started the game again and for the second time, Jade leaned forward and whispered at us.

Yeah, she'll be talking in no time at all. Heck with the pediatrician's 'chart'...after all, we're unschoolers. We do things in our own time. ;)

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