Mar. 18, 2009
Homeschool Q&A - Part 5
It has been almost a year since my first four posts on this topic. You can read the four original posts here: one, two, three, four. Since that time, my children have progressed in their learning, I have found more helpful resources, and another friend shared with me that she and her husband want to homeschool their children. As I went through my original posts to share them with my other friend, I realized I could add something to the information I shared previously. My friend has kindergarten and younger age children and I thought that some of the things we've been learning and using this year would be of help to her as well as others.
Most of what I will share below is an extension of my earlier post, part three. We have continued with our informal, eclectic style of learning this year and have been having a lot of fun. Some of the lesson ideas I planned to do did not materialize and others I did not think of, spontaneously popped up and refreshed us with their newness. What that last sentence means is first, I sometimes plan too much and we can't do everything, and second, by cultivating wonder in our children we sometimes go off on learning tangents we did not plan, but that are intriguing and necessary in order to foster a love of learning.
For instance, here are a few of the questions my daughter has asked in the past couple months and some of the things we have learned as a result:
"What do bears eat?" - Generally speaking, bears like to eat honey, berries, fish, and some smaller animals.
"Do bats have tails?" - Yes, bats do have tails. Their tails are built into their wing structure. They are awake at night and sleep during the day. They sleep upside down. They like to eat insects. They have excellent hearing.
"What is an opossum?" - An opossum is a mammal with grey hair on its body, a white face and long, skinny pink tail. They are marsupials and the mothers carry their babies in a pouch (like kangaroos). They hang upside down by their tails. They sleep a lot. They don't move quickly - we learned this when we nearly ran over one on our way home one evening, thus prompting this particular mini-unit study.
We are still working on reinforcing phonics and some sight words as a precursor to reading. DD is impatient to read, but does not always think about what sounds the letters make before she guesses what the word she is looking at says. So we're still taking it slowly - but I don't think it will be long before she gets it and is reading.
With her handwriting, she still tends to want to write her letters any old way instead of following the instructions to form the letters in a specific pattern. It may seem like a small thing now, but eventually knowing how to correctly form the letters will help her be able to write more quickly and fluidly. We now have bright alphabet strips on our wall so she can look at the letter and see the arrows to know how she should write each letter.
We also have been doing copywork to give her practice writing words and phrases with correct upper and lower case letters and proper size and spacing.
We have done several different unit studies so far, some with lapbooks to remember the things we learned (some lapbooks have been started but, alas, not completed yet). Most of these unit studies were inspired by books we were reading, and a couple were the result of activities that caught our interest. We have learned about Johnny Appleseed, Laura Ingalls Wilder and the "Little House In the Big Woods", rainforest animals and habitat (after attending a rainforest show sponsored by a local Christian school), and Chinese Spring Festival (aka: Chinese New Year).
I'm sure you've noticed the theme of animals, animals, animals in the above activities. Animals of many kinds seem to be a great favorite with our DD. In fact, animals I wouldn't touch with a 25 foot pole are delightful and intensely interesting to her. Perhaps she will be a veterinarian or zoologist some day. See the photo from the rainforest show below for proof:
How many of you would like to cozy up to a giant albino constrictor (expert handler present or not)? Apparently my daughter thought it was the greatest thing. And I learned that she can be braver than I am in some things, and snakes are not slimy - it was warm, smooth and soft (and she thought it would be a good pet). DS liked the birds at the show, especially the one that flew right over our heads and brushed us with her wing! I am much more comfortable with birds.
For math we have been counting higher, practicing writing the numbers, learning to read a digital clock, using manipulatives, and lots of practical mental math skills. DD clearly has her Daddy's brain when it comes to numbers. I have to really be prepared and know the answer before I ask her anything, because she is very quick. I have been researching math programs and really like what I have learned about Math-U-See. Hopefully we can start using that program this summer or in the fall.
With our DS so many things have progressed since last spring. He attends an Early Intervention preschool class three days a week in order to have access to the therapy he needs to catch up developmentally with his peers. He really seems to be enjoying this class and will be staying on through next year. After he turns six, he will not be able to remain in the EI preschool environment. However, we will cross that bridge when we get there.
For Christmas we added Preschool Prep Company's "Meet The Colors" to our DVD library. This has proven to be one of the best choices we have made for him as far as learning tools goes. Since December, he has not only learned the basic colors, but can consistently name the color of nearly anything in sight - something he seems to do all day, every day! He enjoys the other Preschool Prep titles we have (letters, numbers & shapes) and can say many of their names, but finds it difficult to identify them when asked. After thinking about it, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps his vision does not allow him to see the shapes of the objects (letters, numbers, shapes etc.) clearly enough to be able to identify them. However, colors are not bound by a shape so they were easier for him to learn.
To help with his letters, numbers & shapes I plan to make large size, textured items to hang on the wall and put in simple learning folders for him to use. I'm not sure if this is the final solution, or just a step in the right direction, but we'll give it a try.
DS is doing an excellent job of correctly naming many different animals and identifying the sounds they make. He knows the standard farm animals (cow, horse, sheep, chicken, rooster, duck, pig, goat), several forest animals (bear, deer, rabbit, mouse, owl), some zoo animals (giraffe, elephant, hippo, zebra, camel, tiger, lion, panda, monkey) and the familiar dog, cat, fish, and bird. Oh and one of his favorites - dinosaurs!
Another wonderful change is that DS actually likes having books read to him now! I LOVE books so this is a big thing with me! In fact, he will come and ask for "book?" many times during the day, and is more than happy to have the same book read to him over and over again. They must have pictures though. He cares little for a story, regardless of how interesting it may be, if there are no pictures to look at. I am so excited to see how much he is enjoying books now. He wants to share them with everyone. His sister was not feeling well a couple days ago, and while she curled up on one end of the couch, he sat at the other end with several bright books "reading" the pictures! I'm not sure she fully appreciated his translation of the stories (he still speaks largely in "gibberish") but he was content and seemed delighted to be "reading" to her for a change. It was very sweet!
In his EI class, they have several crafty projects they work on each week. Because he is regularly encouraged to work with paint, glue and other gooey materials, he now actually enjoys these substances. He still is not a huge fan of play-dough, but I think that will come in time. It is a good tool for strengthening his hand muscles and finger dexterity, so I'm not giving up on it yet. I saw how much he enjoyed crafty projects when I had the children make some Valentine's Day pictures for their Daddy. My DS spontaneously requested different colors of markers to color with, cheerfully glued and sticker-ed, and when his first picture was done, promptly asked to make another one! Below are photos of the Valentine pictures he made:
His sister made these pictures:
One other thing before I wrap this up. A couple of months ago I came across a blog site called "Tot School". In it are ideas for learning geared toward toddlers and pre-preschoolers. I have found that many of these ideas work well for my DS, as his development is currently in that age bracket. Some of the ideas do not work because of his vision issues, but may be adapted with larger items. I'm still working on figuring out how to adapt the ideas for him specifically, but the ideas are great.
|
