This is not a homeschooling blog
But maybe I should start one... There are some milestones happening around here that I probably wouldn't have noticed if Emmett were going to kindergarten next year. Other homeschoolers (and maybe all other parents, really) may find these observations very familiar. They're exciting to me, though, just like his first real smile or when he started grabbing toys as an infant.
About six months ago, Emmett hated to write (and of course, when he did write it was very hard to read). So I bought him mazes, and connect-the-dots, and a brightly colored learn-to-write the alphabet workbook. I got a calligraphy book for myself so we could practice together. (An aside - that was eye-opening. Calligraphy is very frustrating!) He used these materials some and thought they were fun, but nothing really took hold.
Then the universe conspired with me to get him to learn to write: Our math workbooks (that he enjoys doing with me) started including practice writing numbers. His music class had(very simple) homework, and he needed to write to do it. For a while we simply stopped doing the math, but he wanted to do the music homework so I helped him. We'd do the work orally, then I'd write the answers with a highlighter. Finally, he'd trace my letters.
A couple of weeks ago when I got out the math workbook, I realized that he was writing numbers fine. Sometimes backwards, but fine! So we skipped past the writing practice, and went on with the math. Over the course of about six months, he went from writing very poorly to writing like a little kid who's just learning. It wasn't practice, it was just time. (Here's where all the unschooling parents can say, "well, duh!")
The other interesting learning milestone we've hit is interest in and understanding of addition. We've been playing with it whenever it comes up. The flashes of understanding are great to watch - he's been adding two small numbers without counting on his fingers some of the time, and he seems especially proud when he does that. We were doing 15 + 6, and when he went to count on his fingers I stopped him and asked him, "What's 15 + 5?" He answered "Twenty" and before I could finish saying "Well, then what must 15 + 6 be?" he had already shouted out "Twenty-one!"
About six months ago, Emmett hated to write (and of course, when he did write it was very hard to read). So I bought him mazes, and connect-the-dots, and a brightly colored learn-to-write the alphabet workbook. I got a calligraphy book for myself so we could practice together. (An aside - that was eye-opening. Calligraphy is very frustrating!) He used these materials some and thought they were fun, but nothing really took hold.
Then the universe conspired with me to get him to learn to write: Our math workbooks (that he enjoys doing with me) started including practice writing numbers. His music class had(very simple) homework, and he needed to write to do it. For a while we simply stopped doing the math, but he wanted to do the music homework so I helped him. We'd do the work orally, then I'd write the answers with a highlighter. Finally, he'd trace my letters.
A couple of weeks ago when I got out the math workbook, I realized that he was writing numbers fine. Sometimes backwards, but fine! So we skipped past the writing practice, and went on with the math. Over the course of about six months, he went from writing very poorly to writing like a little kid who's just learning. It wasn't practice, it was just time. (Here's where all the unschooling parents can say, "well, duh!")
The other interesting learning milestone we've hit is interest in and understanding of addition. We've been playing with it whenever it comes up. The flashes of understanding are great to watch - he's been adding two small numbers without counting on his fingers some of the time, and he seems especially proud when he does that. We were doing 15 + 6, and when he went to count on his fingers I stopped him and asked him, "What's 15 + 5?" He answered "Twenty" and before I could finish saying "Well, then what must 15 + 6 be?" he had already shouted out "Twenty-one!"
Comments
Trev still isn't writing.
Or drawing.
That shoots a hole in the "they want to express themselves before they want to understand their world" theory.
' Least in my house. :)