Math, Letters, and the Hope for Good Weather

Despite this being a crazy-busy, post-Disneyland week, we were surprisingly able to get some things done! During the morning, Aidyn and I played with his math manipulatives, practiced counting, adding, subtracting, and grouping by color. We also played with pretend money. Counting pennies, we worked on simple addition and subtraction. After explaining how a dime stands in place for ten pennies, we counted in tens, which was new for Aidyn. Once we counted to 100, I would hand him a pretend dollar. He suggested that he "buy" stuff, so he ran to his room to choose "merchandise" to put up for sale. He decided that he wanted to buy a truck for five dollars, so we counted out dimes in tens until reaching 100, five times. I'm so glad that he loves playing with math manipulatives and is using the pieces and information practically before he sees abstract addition problems.

We also have been working on his letters. Using our blue pocket chart with alphabet cards displayed on it, we sing the alphabet and point to each letter as we go. Then I have him playfully identify random letters. He usually gets 23/26 correct, and the other three he answers after hearing clues like the phonetic sound or what word starts with that letter, for example.

If the weather decides to get less miserable and wet, I would like to take Aidyn on a small hike to observe the trees, new buds, and saplings.

ABC's, Calendar, and Beethoven

This morning, following our 'brain shake,' Aidyn and I worked on his letters. We recited the alphabet and he did the usual naming of the letters. Today he correctly identified 22 letters! Afterward, I pulled down the X and showed him how one would draw an X. I asked him to practice on a blank sheet of paper. Once he had it down, I showed him our new calendar explaining the name of our current month, the year, and all the boxes representing the days. I also talked about how we are on day 7 of the month and asked him to count the days gone by. Then I allowed him to draw big X's on those days. I imagine his X's will be near-perfect by December. ; )

After hanging the calendar back up, he colored a picture of two boys having a snowball fight near a snowman and two children on a sled. When finished, we hole-punched the sheet and placed it in his binder. He showed initiative to learn how to hole-punch by himself, so I brought him blank paper and left him alone with the project. After some trial and error, he learned how to do it sufficiently enough. Then I pulled out an animal tracks worksheet. On it were pictures of a raccoon, a chipmunk, a deer, a rabbit, and a wolf alongside jumbled animal tracks. We talked about who would belong to what track based on size, shape, and whether or not the animal had claws. What fun! We matched all the animals to their tracks, and then Aidyn hole-punched it and added it to his binder.

When table time was over, we listened and danced to Beethoven. We interpreted some of the music and moved accordingly. "This sounds like people tiptoeing in the snow," I suggested, and we tiptoed around the living room. When the music got boisterous, Aidyn said, "This is chasing music. Run!" After running around, twirling, and dancing, Aidyn said it was time to put on 'lunch music.' So I put on slower tunes and made grilled cheese sandwiches for the family. Excellent homeschool morning if I don't say so myself!

ABC's and 123's--Day 1

Today went remarkably well. In the morning after our "brain shake" (apple juice, frozen blueberries, banana, and ground flax seeds mixed in a blender), Aidyn and I worked on his letters. He correctly identified 21, and we reviewed the ones he missed with silly songs. Afterward he colored an alphabet worksheet that he said looked like "alphabet noodles." When he finished, he helped me hole-punch and place his work in his binder. Then it was time for counting games. I brought out our set of eight popsicle molds and asked him to count them. Then I proceeded to pretend to take away one, and ask him to count again. Using math language, Aidyn and I practiced counting, adding, and subtracting. Then we counted blocks. We would first count the entire lot of blocks, then classify them. I would ask him, "Okay, how many red cylinders are there? How many green cubes? How many colored blocks? How many triangles?" So not only did we work on counting, but we used mathematical language and geometric figures to bring it to life.

Later in the day, we took a trip to the library and stocked up on snow-related books. We're all set to go to the snow on Wednesday. We plan on taking thermoses of hot chocolate and edible snowperson pieces (a carrot for the nose, for example), so that once he melts, woodland animals can munch on the remains. We're looking forward to the little getaway.

ABC's and 123's

Week of January 4th:

Theme: ABC's and 123's
Adventures in Nature Theme: Getting to Know Snow
Music: Beethoven

This week we will be reviewing the alphabet and number system through instruction, games, and activities. Our Adventure in Nature is 'Getting to Know Snow,' so we will be taking a trip to the snow to explore it, touch it, build a snowperson, and watch for 'snowprints' of different animals. Our books will include stories about the snow along with some ABC's and counting books. Our sixth composer in line, Beethoven, will continue our sampling of famous composers this week.

Practice Makes Progress---With Letters!

I'm so proud of my little guy. He has gotten comfortable with our "letter time" and actually climbs into his seat enthusiastically. Today we began with the alphabet song. Then I went through the letters, asking Aidyn what each one was. The other day we focused only on lowercase letters, so today was uppercase letters. He only missed six!

He had been experiencing difficulty with letter M, so before we started, I had printed out an M worksheet with mountains in the background to help him remember the shape of M. The worksheet was turned over next to his markers and crayons until the letter work was complete. After finishing, I flipped over the page, and he happily colored away. While he brought color to the letter M and the mountains, I played around with some alphabet cards. Seeing me arrange them, Aidyn excitedly asked if those were next. So we went through the whole deck. I placed three cards in front of him: an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, and a word that started with the same letter. I would ask him what each letter was, and he only missed two! When Grandma came to watch, he would point and say, "That's uppercase M and lowercase m." Then we would sound out the word, "M-m-monkey!" On the back awaited a picture of a monkey, and we had fun making guessing about what kind of pictures would appear on the back ("Will it be a silly monkey or a mean monkey?"). Today was one of those days that we accomplished much while having fun.

I've also been pulling together my resources for next year's curriculum. I have a wonderful book that I will be using called Adventures in Nature that contains weekly themes involving the outdoor world. Those fun and engaging activities will be an addendum to our plans.

We also are debating about taking a small, quick trip to Disneyland for the 2010 unOfficial Homeschool Day on February 26th.

More Letter Practice

Although it was Christmas Eve, Aidyn and I worked on his letters after breakfast. First, I randomly pointed to each letter and marked down ones that he did not know. Today's total was eight. He took turns whispering the answers and yelling the answers. Then, as I did yesterday, I flipped over the letters he got right, leaving only his problem letters. We reviewed them, and then played a card game with them, each picking a card, naming it, and checking to see if our chosen letters made words. His combination made an actual word, so he "won." We reviewed the problem letters once more before I flipped the rest back around. We sang the ABC song twice. First, per Aidyn's request, I sang it, pointing to each letter. Then Aidyn sang it as I pointed to the letters. I'm pleased that he can now recite the entire alphabet song and recognize at least 18 letters by sight!

More Letter Work

After gulping down some freshly-squeezed orange juice, Aidyn worked on his letters with the help of his blue pocket chart and his Mama. First I randomly pointed to letters, and he guessed them. Each letter that stumped him was written on a piece of paper to revisit later. Then we cycled through the alphabet song twice, pointing to each letter as we sung. Still in a playing mood, Aidyn watched as I flipped over the letters he knew, only exposing the seven letters he didn't know. I named each letter twice and asked him to repeat after me, then we played a game.

"I will point to a letter and you must say as fast as you can to get a point," I said.

My Crayola marker, or makeshift pointer, dashed to a letter and Aidyn would spout out the name. Some he struggled with, particularly "M" and "N." Then we moved on to a different game.

"When I point to a letter, say its name as LOUD as you can!" I said.

After I pointed to a letter, he would shout its name at the top of his lungs.

"Ah, you can say it louder than that," I teased, to which he responded with an even louder burst.

When our game was over, Aidyn had "scored" ten points, and he was a proud boy.

After that game, Aidyn surprisingly asked to make some words. I asked him which words he would like to make.

"Cat," he said. So letter sound by letter sound, we constructed the word 'cat.' Then he asked to do "hat" like Cat in the Hat. So I asked him what makes the "Hh, Hh sound like someone is h-h-hot!" We had fun rearranging letters, spelling, and reading whole words.

Afterward, I made an alphabet chart on Microsoft Word to help me keep track of his progress. After he learns all his letters thoroughly, we'll move onto phonics.

Letter Work

Yesterday while at the table, Aidyn ate Spaghetti-Os for the very first time. They were of the alphabet-noodle variety, so Aidyn accidentally went on a letter hunt in his bowl. Afterward, I worked with him on his letters with our blue pocket chart. I randomly pointed to letters, and he identified them. He asked to sing the alphabet song, so we did as we followed the letters. Also, lately has been interested in spelling two words: his name and 'elephant.' Of course, he needs help but when I tell him we need a p, for example, he points right to it. We have been enjoying our blue pocket chart thus far, and it is becoming an integral part of our learning.

Later in the afternoon, we watched several alphabet videos including many Letter People videos. I have fond memories of watching those episodes in my kindergarten class, and I'm pleased Aidyn gets enjoyment out of them. A particular one that stands out is Miss A. To help with the A's phonetic sound, Miss A sings about how she always goes, "Aaaaa-choo!" We also watched two of our favorite ABC song videos: Sesame Street's African Alphabet Song and Sesame Street's Fairy Alphabet.

In the evening, we took Aidyn to see Santa Claus. Being his third time seeing St. Nick, he handled it amazingly well. He waved at him, smiled with him, and talked to him. It's a relief to know that I no longer have to worry about timidity with Santa Claus. After we did a little Christmas shopping, the family drove to the infamous local house that goes absolutely CRAZY with lights and decorations. We drove by extra slowly and absorbed the Christmas cheer. At night, we had a good friend stop by, we exchanged gifts and caught up.

Additionally, I have been putting together a new arranged curriculum for Aidyn to use next year along with our other planned activities. It's sure to be a fun year in 2010!

Gingerbread Boy

Yesterday Aidyn and I made a giant Gingerbread Boy from scratch. He donned his imaginary chef's hat and helped me add ingredients to the bowl, mix them up, and taste the dough afterward. When our dough was finished, Aidyn and I kneaded it until it was ready for baking. Then the two of us spread the aromatic dough in a boy-shaped cake pan. Baking the Gingerbread Boy filled the home with such a warm, sugary smell that I wish we could have bottled! Once our creation was finished, we pulled him out and decorated him. After making the frosting, I spread some for his eyes, smiling grin, arm and leg sleeves, and buttons. Aidyn delicately placed gumdrops for his eyes, nose, buttons, and sleeve decorations. He was quite a handsome Gingerbread Boy when we were finished. And tasty! I'm glad that Aidyn is becoming more dextrous with baking: he's cracking eggs better, stirring better, and exhibiting more patience for our goods to be done. Most of all, I am proud that he is excited to work with me on kitchen projects.

We have also been listening to Franz Joseph Haydn this week, our fourth composer. Aidyn has definitely adapted to the music and enjoys hearing it. His favorite so far, according to him, is Bach.

Additionally this afternoon, I bought Aidyn a blue pocket chart (finally!) and some alphabet, word, and picture cards. The uppercase and lowercase letters were all jumbled, and, surprisingly, Aidyn asked if he could help me fix them. I laid all the lowercase letters on the table and pulled one capital letter at a time. "Will you find the uppercase G?" I'd ask. He looked through the sea of letters and produced lowercase g. He matched the whole alphabet and was only stumped by a handful of letters; for the most part, he can identify most of the letters. After I hung our letters on the chart, Aidyn pointed to several letters, unprovoked, and said their sound. Pointing at V, he said, "That one says Vvvvvvv," and then pointing at S, "That one says, "Ssssss," like a snake. "There's Z for Zorro and Zurg," he noted. His favorite phonic game is when I ask, "what does U say?" and dramatically pretend to punch his tummy. Equally dramatic, he groans, "Uuuuh."

I am excited about this new phase in Aidyn's learning. He's become such a verbose motor-mouth. He asks so many wonderful questions, makes great observations and deductions, and has a pretty wide vocabulary range, surprisingly me daily with certain words he knows. "Jerry is exercising for he can have big muscles," he said today. Yesterday he informed me, "I can be a (sic) archer and shoots my bow and arrow on a hill." "Can we build a tobaggan for me for I can go doooown the hill in the snow?" he asked, while I had no clue what a tobaggan was. I thought he was just making up words. When I asked him what a "tobaggan" was, he answered, "a sled that you can get in and go 'weeeee' down the hill real fast."

I've made plans for next year's curriculum, still keeping it fun and explorative, and I cannot wait to see what journeys we go on!

ABC Train

Through play time with our Melissa and Doug Alphabet Train Puzzle, Aidyn has been mastering his ABC's, letter recognition, phonics, and puzzling skills. We have been playing everyday and Aidyn can put together the puzzle up to letter G on his own. When I join in, we sing the alphabet to discover which letter comes next. He used to rely on the pictures on each piece to help him find the letter, but we are gradually moving toward looking for letters first. When we find the correct letter, we look at it, compare it to other letters, and say its sound. If a letter is particularly difficult to find, I spout out all sorts of words that begin with that letter. If I had to wager how many letters he can correctly identify, I would say 20/26 as he still confuses some letters for others. This is a huge improvement from where he was before, and he has learned this solely on playing this game! He can sing the alphabet song in its entirety but gets a bit scrambled at the ever-difficult L-M-N-O-P section.

Seeing him taking strides of improvement makes me proud beyond words, and I love that he's learning many things about letters through this game instead of only memorizing the song.