"A House by Pooh Corner"

Been a hectic day, so I didn't do much this evening - just read about 1/2 a chapter to them from "A House by Pooh Corner" - the original book.  It doesn't have many pictures.  Delta enjoyed it, but not sure if he got what was going on that much...

Seperate Lessons

Had a session right this morning (kids wanted to play) - and it went pretty good - but I definitely will have to start teaching them separately I think.   We played the Blocks game ok - but Echo wasn't able to handle "UP".....  She was tending to want to say UP for all of the cards instead of reading what was on each card.  If I took out "UP", after a couple of tries she was doing good with just "U" and "P".   Delta was having no problems reading the cards - just having a problem with which card to start with (ie, what direction to go....)  - so I think I need to stick with just "U" and "P" with Echo for a while, but can probably add "PUP" for Delta.....

 

Not sure how much more we can do today - turns out that with no notice at all, I'm babysitting Zulu too....   I hate how the fact that I'm home all day makes it prone to being asked to babysit - but at least I wasn't the first person she tried to get a hold of....   (It is a holiday here, so her daycare is closed.... and she got a call asking if she could come in to work - and it would be worth time-and-a-half....)

Another Lesson

Well, today went ok (yes, I taught them on a Sunday....)  - I did the blocks game - they were fascinated by it, and Delta was thrilled that he can be earning money!   We added in "UP" - and there was a touch of confusion.   I also only went through it the once with them (we sit on the floor, which is hard work for me....) - but they were getting it.  So they each have 6 cents to their name!   I figure on Saturdays, we can count up the money they have earned, and figure out Tithing, and leave a note in it of the previous weeks total, so that we are only paying Tithing on the increase each week...  so we get some math in too!

 

While Echo was in Quiet time, Delta wanted something to do, so from a suggestion of my mom's, I got out a deck of cards - and I showed him how to sort it into the 4 suits.  That was great because he sat down and did it, and I just checked when he was done - and he had them all right.  Great math!.    Another time I'll have him sort them into the values, and he can later sort them into suits - and then into increasing value.....

This evening's session went pretty good too.  It is funny - Echo seems to remember a touch more between lessons - but gets a little confused during the lesson - and Delta needs reminders at the beginning of the lesson - but then generally doesn't get confused....

 

Taking it slow still - just working with "U", "P", and "UP".....  not sure if I'll introduce "PUP" tomorrow or not.....      And I suspect at some time I'm going to have to deal with them being at different stages.....

Evening

I have to admit that this bit of effort I'm doing so far hasn't been that bad at all.... The kids have been all for it, and although it is slow going (which this program says to take it slow) - I can see progress in just 2 days.

Evening game - well, let me first say that I wasn't sure I was in the mood to do it at all - the kids had been driving me crazy since about 4pm (too much pent-up energy I think) - and I'm a bit upset over something else.... but I took a big breath and asked who wanted to play the Reading game. Delta wasn't too keen on it, but I mentioned that it was really bedtime, and he decided he wanted to play, with the understanding that it was bedtime afterwards.

Anyway, a bit of review over the 2 sounds - still a touch of confusion, but not bad - and off we went. Echo almost always got the card right - just got to remind her to say what it says..... she a couple of times missed which character wanted the card...lol. Delta made a few mistakes too - but not too many.

Once again, I didn't do the blocks game yet - I want to discuss with Mike about the "reward" in that game....

I honestly don't think that school would be a good idea for Delta. He really didn't like preschool this year before we pulled him - I don't think he likes that many kids around. He is bright, and he is a sensitive young man. Although he can play energetically and CAN get rough, it just isn't his basic nature.

2nd Day, Learning to Read

Day 2 is going pretty good so far.   Had to review what "U" says (Delta had forgotten) - and introduced "P" sound.    They both picked up on in right away.   (Delta did a search for "P" in a wordsearch - didn't bother with Echo was she was still eating (it was a time filler sort-of for Delta too) - and I was pleased to hear him saying the sound each time he found it.  ) 

 

Played the ledge game with the 2 letters.  As I expected, it created a bit of confusion, especially for Echo.   Other than a couple of mistakes at the beginning, Delta got it right each time.   Echo made more mistakes, but seemed to be getting it.  I think she'll have it a bit better by this evening - although I may try the blocks game with them to "mix-it-up" a bit to keep things fun....

Second Homeschool Lesson

Well, the after-supper session went just as well....  Delta was disappointed we were doing the same letter, but was ok with a promise of a new letter sound tomorrow.  Delta has the game down pat (ie, the structure of it) - Echo has to be reminded to say the letter sound instead of just moving the card.   Again, they wanted to continue longer than I did - but I think it is important to quit while they still want to play - it keeps them interested for the next time.

 

I decided to hold off on the blocks game until they have 2 letters to do....  and I'm still deciding on the "incentive" with it.   The blocks game can have them do a LOT more repetitions of the sounds - especially later as they will have to do multiple words for each turn....   But you need something to "pay" them for as they play it....   I'm thinking of getting them piggy banks, and letting them earn pennies.    Little snacks are suggested in the book - but when I had tried that with Delta, it was too hard to get his attention away from the food!

 

 

Oh, and Delta is 4 and a half.  This program is designed for 2 years old all the way up to school aged kids having problems with their reading.  Most kids will be reading at more than a grade 1 level doing it about 10 min a day - within about 60 days.....    The older children do learn faster.  (ie, I'm sure if I was just doing Delta, I could have done both U and P today....  with tomorrow working on "UP")

Started Homeschool

I have started our homeschool program!!!  (well, of course my children were learning at home all along - but now I'm working more at it....)

We are doing  Swimming Lessons and just playing for Phys-ed..... (been doing for a while....   btw - Delta earned his "floater" level and is doing great on "glider" level....)

We are doing Violin Lessons for Music (been doing for a while....   btw - Delta is starting to get to play on 1 string on the violin now....   Echo (not in lessons) can name many parts of the violin, can do a bow, and can sing "A" pretty much in pitch...

Math is just being done through play - They have Mega-Blocks, and Lego.  Delta can count to 10 very accurately, and knows the relationship between the items he is counting and the numbers.  He can sometimes do to 20, but sometimes misses numbers.   Echo can count to 10 consistantly, but almost always misses "4".  I suspect it is just a sequence of sounds to her though.

And - here is the new stuff.   I have started working on Teaching them to read (using Teach your child to read in 10 minutes a day).  Last night, I printed up 14 "business" cards with the letters/words for the first 8 or 9 "steps" of the program for playing the block game.  On the other 6 cards, I did pictures of cartoon caracters they like for a small variation of the "ledge" game.   This morning, I printed of 2 word searches with a lot of words with "U" in it.  They won't be searching for the words, just the "U"'s.

 

So after lunch, I announced that we were going to play school!   Mommy (and Daddy) are the principal, so we decide what will be taught.  Delta is the teacher, and Echo is the student.   I told Delta that although he knows the names to all the letters, that right now, we are learning what they SAY.    I then taught him U  (soft uhhhh sound) and showed him that he can teach it by having his student trace the letter with her finger while saying Uhhhh.   He tried it a few times himself, then helped Echo do it.

 

Then I had them sit at the table with the word searches, to circle all the U's they find.  Delta found most of them.   Echo was mostly just scribling over the paper, even though I helped her circle some.  (not sure how they do it with 2 year olds!!!!)

 

Then we played the modified Ledge game.   I put the character cards down, and put the U down.  Mommy says "Mickey Mouse would like uhhhh" - and then ask Delta.  Delta then underlines the U with his finger, while saying uh, and moves it to Mickey Mouse.    We did that with both of them for a while, then I announced that we were out of time.  They didn't want to stop - so I've promised we can play it again later.

 

I'll also introduce the block game later.....

 

The big problem is going to be the fact that Delta can learn this faster than Echo, and I'm not sure how long the teacher role will have him not worry about it.    We'll see....

 

Oh, and I printed a Sudoku puzzle for Delta to try later....