Refusing to Read

And not for the reason you might be thinking.

Miss G and I have been concentrating on her reading. She usually loves to read her silly sentences but today she told me she was not going to read a couple of my sentences anymore.

A couple of you may know that Miss G is full of drama. So full, in fact, that as we practice her reading flash cards she MUST act out or give an example of each word. This truly defeats the "flash" part of the card because it takes us a long time to get through them. She can read them all. She just has to act them all out. I've tried to keep her on task on many occasions but it's against her nature to mechanically read them.

Today, I wrote the following sentences for her to read:

I will not step on a squid and squish it.

And...

The mud went squish under my feet.

After she read the sentences she announced that she couldn't possibly read them again because they were too gross. And this is from my dirt lover.

I guess they weren't too gross because she re-read them to her Daddy tonight. Being gross and giggling about it must be different with your Daddy. There must be a gross acceptance level that mommies just don't have. It's just another perk of being a daddy.

So, when your children must be themselves and learn to read in their own dramatic way, try to turn it to your advantage instead of forcing them into a traditional school mold. It's taken me awhile to relax to her learning style, but I'm finally learning even if Daddy is the only one who can write gross sentences.

Homeschooling Update

Shhhh....she's sleeping......and her lips aren't moving. She is, however, making noise. Yes, she snores. My, how I love that noise maker!

I thought I'd give you a little homeschooling update. We are several weeks into our fall semester and it is going well, although, Miss G will tell you she hates to "do" school. Once we get going in the mornings she really gets into it, going so far as to hug and kiss her "History" binder.

In my continuing effort to upgrade my level of organization to Miss G's advanced level, we have made great strides this week in our scheduling. I now know not only what we're doing for the day but more importantly, according to Miss G, at what time we will do these things and in what order. The main subject that Miss G is focusing on this school year is reading. We are using "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington for our reading curriculum. Miss G is doing very well with it. I really like it too. The lessons are brief but thorough with reinforcement of previous lessons built into each subsequent lesson.

After we have concluded the daily lesson we also read short, mommy-made-up sentences to reinforce what we've just learned.

An example...

No! Grandma did not fib.

After Miss G finishes reading the sentence, we, of course, debate the sentence.

Miss G reads, "If I am six, I am big."

"Mommy, that's not true. You're not big when you're six. You have to be much older to be big. Jay (a little boy at church) is six and he's not big."

Next sentence, "The big hog bit him."

"Did it bite Daddy? Who did the big hog bite? I hope it wasn't Daddy."

Another sentence, "All the bad pigs bit all the good hens."

"Why would the pigs bite the hens? They shouldn't bite the hens. That would hurt them."

"Mommy fed the pig on the bed."

"Mommy! You shouldn't feed the pig in bed. That would make a mess. How would a pig get up in your bed? Did you pick it up? Daddy wouldn't like crumbs in his bed."

I'm not sure that Ms. Wise and Ms. Buffington intended to include debating principles into their beginning reading curriculum, but that's what happens at our house. Crossover curriculum....that's what I like to call it. Incorporating multiple subjects at once is a goal of mine....not really....I just made that up. Education is not a destination....it's a journey. (Does that sound better?) Oh well...we'll keep trudging forward. Something is working. Miss G is reading and that is NOT debatable.

Lapbooks

I have been without Miss G this week...(sniff, sniff)... so I have been working on her curriculum for this fall. Since she is only four years old, we are going to dive into all things that interest her. Right now that includes drawing, coloring, cutting and anything that has to do with glue. Can a person have too much glue? Not according to Miss G. Oh how she loves the stuff. She "accidentally" gets it on her fingers and then she pulls them stickily apart. It's great fun. I vaguely remember a time when yours truly was just as enamoured with the sticky white stuff. And don't get me started on paste! Do they still make that stuff? I'm going to have to look for it. Oh what fun we...I mean she could have with that.

But I digress...one of the tools we are going to use this fall is a lapbook. It's a book that you create about any subject you're studying. This website explains the concept much better than I could. I know that Miss G will thoroughly enjoy making her own book about subjects that interest her. We have already made a trial, "pretend" book and she loved it. We put the book together and she put stickers all over it. She carries it around with her stopping to read it from time to time. One of the benefits about creating these little books is that your student can re-read their books to reinforce the material they have learned.

You can also create little games with these books. While Miss G has been away, I created a matching number game for her. She can already count and recognize numbers and now it's time to recognize the number words. In the picture above, she'll take the numerals out of the envelope and put them by the correct number word. We're still working on our phonetics too so this will be a good way to reinforce phonetic reading of our number words.

The possibilities are endless for lapbooks. They're like little scrapbooks for your mind. Try a few in your life.

An Educational Swim

Miss G has really taken to swimming lately. I must give credit to the Red Cross swimming lessons that she recently completed. Their courses and instructors were great. The level of supervision was very comforting to the parents. There were only 4 kids in her Pre-K class with one instructor, two assistants and one life guard assigned just to them. I'll take a 1 to 1 ratio any day. As a result of these lessons, Miss G has become really confident and has begun putting her face in the water. She wants to swim every day.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. A puffy, animal-shaped cloud day with an amazing blue sky. We decided to go. As we drove up to the pool, negativity started creeping into my heart. At these moments I try not to say anything out loud because I don't want Miss G to catch or learn this annoying habit I have of looking for bad things. There, parked and taking up half of the parking lot, was a big yellow school bus that said "Kinder Kare" on its side. I glanced over at the pool and sure enough the "kiddie" part of the pool was swarming with little ones. I decided that I wouldn't let this sway our resolve and destroy Miss G's happiness and we'd swim anyway.

We found a spot beside the fence for our bag and towels and ran-walked to the pool. Miss G was undeterred by this hoard of little ones, in fact, she was excited that there were so many kids for her to play with. We found a narrow entry into the pool and took our spot. As soon as I sat down in the water I was swarmed by children. "My name is Marshall. My name is Joshua. Watch what we can do!" They all began to show me how they could swim and dive underwater. They crowded in until they were touching me and they all started talking at once. Thank goodness I'm not the least bit claustrophobic or I would have panicked. As I tried to keep an eye on Miss G, they continued talking and showing and touching. I thought to myself, these kids are starved for attention. They'll do anything to have me glance their way or acknowledge their presence. As I got around to talking to all of them, the hubbub quieted and they started to play with one another again.

I looked around for the people in charge of these little ones and I found the two. They were standing a good 30 yards away guarding the 3 1/2 foot line, making sure no one got past. I think how hard their job must be. How can two people care for 25 - 30 kids from the age of 4 to 7? That is an overwhelming responsibility, especially in water.

Miss G packed 2 water guns and a boat for our trip and asked if she could get them out. Knowing the issues that 3 toys will cause among so many but unwilling to say no, I told her that she would have to share. She agreed and got the toys. Again, we were swarmed. I got them all together and told them that we could all play with them if they could follow the rules. They would have to share and they could not squirt anyone in the face. They all agreed. They happily began to play with the toys. They even took turns trading with one another. This went on for a good ten minutes when one of the caretakers noticed they were playing with the toys and told them that wasn't allowed. The children could not understand why they weren't allowed to share the toys and I couldn't either, especially when they were sharing so well, but I obliged and put the toys away.

As Miss G continued to play, the children continually approached me. They wanted to talk and be heard. They wanted to touch and be touched. They wanted to tell what they knew. One even jumped on my back in a half hug, half tackle. Was God reminding me how blessed I am to be able to go swimming with my daughter in the middle of the day?

These children seemed smart and funny. They seemed to be well rounded, except for the one who spit on me. Why would they instantly take to me? Do I have one of those motherly faces? Did they crave an adult's attention so much that they would throw themselves at me? It struck me instantly that this is exactly what I'd been mulling over in my mind for the last several weeks about our decision to homeschool Miss G. This was exactly why we are willing go against the grain and homeschool our daughter. I want to talk with her...all day long. I want to see her...all day long. I want to touch and love her...all day long. I want to know exactly who she is and what she's thinking and judging by these children, that is exactly what they want too.

Homeschooling has lots of advantages for your child's education. Curriculum can be tailored to their needs. You can advance as quickly or slowly as they need. Your child receives hours of one-on-one "teacher" time that they wouldn't receive in public education. No one will care more than you do if they actually learn. All these reasons have been listed by other homeschoolers before me. They are not new, but they are valid and a small part of our decision to homeschool. If we only wanted to grow a highly educated young woman then here our reasons would stop.

Education is a good goal. Heaven is a better one. I want to be there, everyday, all day, to help grow her into a Godly woman. I don't want a stranger to instill their own agenda into her while I'm away. I want her to learn about all cultures and all governments and all the ideas of our history from a Christian perspective. I realize that there are good schools out there that can do all those things for their students. I just want to be the one to take that walk with her.

Homeschooling isn't for everyone. There are good schools whose education is top notch. There are fantastic teachers who go way above and beyond to help their students (my mom was one of them). Not every parent wants or can spend that much time with their child...but I do. I'm trying not to have unrealistic expectations. I know that it won't be easy and there will be hard days. Will it be worth it? Absolutely! Looking into her eyes and heart everyday, watching her grow in love and wisdom, is exactly what this mother wants. Ultimately, it's what every mother wants for their child no matter what their educational choice.

Silly Sentence Challenge

Miss G loves books. Any story to engage her already rampant imagination is welcomed by her. The picture above was taken at 15 months and by the carnage inflicted upon the spine you can tell that it was well loved.

I know I'm not the greatest conversationalist but it's hard to hear at lunch,

"Mommy, may we eat in the school room so I can listen to a story? Please!?!"

We do love stories from Audible.com.

Today she did her best giant stomp and said,

"Feet, five, fo, thumb. I smell the blood of an Englishmum."

She pointed her broken light saber at me and said,

"I've stolen your golden egg and now you're going to starve."

I raised my eyebrows as high as I could muster and summoned my superior wit and said,

"Oh yeah?"

and she said,

"Yeah! And my favorite food is grilled boys on toast."

"Well...I guess it's a good thing for me that I'm a girl."

As she stomped off down the hall I felt like I'd escaped a close one. I only have to be a half step ahead of her...right? I have the study of logic planned for her future curriculum. I'd better cross that off the list.

But...I digress...

Miss G is learning to read and Mommy is learning phonics. I grew up in an area and age when phonetic reading/spelling wasn't encouraged. We memorized words. Those that know me well know that my mind is like a steel sieve and for my mind to hold a memorized anything is near to impossible. I am hoping that as I learn the spelling rules, by teaching them to Miss G, I will finally be able to put some logical order to spelling.

Miss G has learned all the sounds of the alphabet and the short vowel sounds. I write "silly" sentences so she can sound them out and read them to me. Example:

The red dog sat on a big hot cat.

And now for the challenge...please send any and all "silly" sentences that you can think of to Miss G. She would be delighted to hear from everyone and read their sentence.

Also, if anyone has recommendations for first readers, please pass those along too. A person can never have too many books to read...or eat.