We had another great day today! Elliot continues to impress me each day. He is such a diligent student. He is also becoming quite the little reader. We’ve done Bob books all summer and he flew through the first two sets of those and we are now on the third set. We’ve also started reading some “I Can Read” books too and he’s so proud that he can read “real books”.
We’ve had a chance to use both ”Explode the Code” and “A Reason for Handwriting” and I have to say that I love them both and I’m really excited that both of these turned out to be good picks. Since he was reading so well already, we started with the second book of “Explode the Code” and he’s already progressing in his ability to read longer words with consonant blends. I really like that there is a nice balance of reading, and writing/spelling in the lessons. “A Reason for Handwriting” is also just a really neat program. One things I love about it is the unique way it teaches children how to remember where each letter goes on the line. Each lessons starts out showing the letter inside a treehouse. Within the treehouse there is the floor, the ceiling, and the roofline. Some letters also hang down the ladder down to the ground as well. It’s a lot easier and less confusing than trying to explain “This letter goes up to this line and comes all the way down to this line…..and then you cross it at that line.” Also, after they have the letter formation down in Kindergarten, from first grade on up, the practice sentences they write are all from scripture, which I love! They practice the same verse throughout the week and at the end of the week they make a special copy written out in their best writing and they are supposed to send it to a friend.
We’re eagerly anticipating starting our “Five in a Row”. We’ve decided to hold off on that for a few weeks. Caroline will be going to a Mother’s Day Out program two days a week so that Elliot and I can focus more on our school work. On those days, we are going to be doing most of our “Five in a Row” stuff since we’ll really want to be able to focus and get the most out of it. We can’t wait to begin!
His handwriting is almost better than mine.
Another beautiful day=lunch outside! (and yes, those little pouches are technically baby food, but they are awesome for kids too! They’re organic, mess-free, and the only way my kids would ever consider things like parsnips and peas to be a “special treat”.
Enjoying a good book on the front porch