This and That

As everyone knows I am still trying to figure out what to do with Aaron and Alyssa during school time.  Well play-doh has seemed to work the past couple of days.  Both of them have enjoyed playing play-doh during Seth's reading time!  It would be nice if this trend would keep up :-)

 See the stack of blankets and pillows in the background??  I really wish our school house was just a wee bit bigger for a nice story corner...it would look so much better.  I am hoping to at least be able to get some bean bags or something for Christmas.  I know there has to be a good solution for a good story corner...I just haven't thought of it yet :-)

 See Seth in the background concentrating hard on his workbook?!?  Thank you Aaron and Alyssa for being so good and letting him concentrate!  :-)

Seth is doing really really well with his reading!!!  It is really starting to click with him and I am so excited!!  I came up with my own reading "game" to give more practice.  I have been putting all the words from the workbook on flashcards.  Well we started a "book fund" - for each word he read correctly he earned a penny towards his book fund!   In a few weeks he is hoping to have enough money to go buy a Star Wars book :-)

After we do all of the scheduled school stuff (reading, math, bible, science, art, reading corner) all three kids can choose activities that they want to do independently, like puzzles or ipad games, play-doh, etc..., while I get everything prepped for the next day, or work on a blog post for our blog (like I'm doing right now), etc... We probably spend another hour after our "school" time in independent activities.  The kids love being in the school room :-) and this allows me to get everything that needs to be done for school done while we are are still out there so once we get back in the house I can concentrate on house chores and other stuff.

Today Alyssa wanted to help me.  So I plugged in computer cool school for her while I was on the laptop.  I really think she thinks she was helping!  I think her "writing" in the picture below was what she wanted to do tomorrow (I just wish I could read her writing LOL).

It really makes me feel good when the kids wake up excited about a day of school!  I guess I must be doing something right!  :-)

Until next time,

Kellie

Seth has homework!!

We started something new this week that I think is going to work out really well for us!  Seth has started having "homework"... or I guess for us it would probably be more appropriate to say "nap-work" LOL!

I have additional workbooks and resources (a lot that have come from my mom, a veteran public school teacher) to help Seth further grasp his phonics and reading concepts.  I have been having trouble figuring out how to incorporate them into our school time in the mornings.

I am also having trouble with Seth doing work independently... he wants me to be right there to let him know if he has the right answer or not before he puts anything on his paper (because he hates to have wrong answers).

So I figured out a way to kill these two birds with one stone - homework!!  I am saving some of the worksheets from my additional resources for Seth to do during his "nap" time.  He has not been taking naps for a while now but he still has to have quiet time in his room (so that I will be able to have some quiet time...Mommy needs her nap LOL).  Anyways, I am giving him his worksheet assignments to do during his quiet time.  He has to listen very carefully to the instructions so he will remember what he is suppose to do, and then he has to do the pages in his room, which is a different room than I am in.  He has to do his best to finish the worksheets to the best of his ability and then I will check his work after naptime is over.

Today was our second day to do this and he is doing very well with it (and even though I don't know if he will admit it I think he is enjoying it as well). This is not only teaching him how to work independently, it is also helping me to see what information he is truly retaining.  And of course he is able to concentrate on his work without his brother and sister pestering him.

I just thought I would share this in case there are others out there that could use this idea!

Until next time,
Kellie