Since homeschooling is all about finding what works for your child, there's bound to be lots of tweaking--especially during your first few years. I've known for the last couple of weeks that I was going to have to do something different for Clayton because what we were doing was not working for him. I personally loved using Before Five in a Row and small unit studies on different topics, but it was all overwhelming for Clayton. He simply wasn't ready for most of the activities that went along with those studies. So I revisited my main goals for this year. At the top of the list was letter and number recognition, especially those letters in his name and the numbers 0-5. And today I began a new approach, loosely based on Katrina Lyybert's Letter of the Week. It's very simple, and involves lots of repetition, but Clayton almost always responds and thrives on simple routines. I'm hoping this new method will help get rid of some of the distracting material for him.
And here's an update on the handwriting dilemma: I bought him a dry erase board, and he is much more willing to at least try writing on this surface. I suppose the reduced amount of friction is much easier for him. We'll be using this a lot now that we are solely focusing on letters and numbers. He's already made great progress and just look at how great he did with "D" and "H":
The only drawback is he almost always has to draw on his shirt first, and dry erase markers are not washable like his other markers . . .
3 comments:
I am so glad you posted this.
I was a bit overwhelmed with finding something that worked with Daniel and his body not cooperating with him, or his voice. But we have been working on spelling his name and reading works. Of course he can't say them to me but i have been holding up (ex. a pair of shoes) and then there are 4 words on his computer typed out and he has to select the word to go with the object...and he is getting it!! So no I might not be doing things in the "right" order but I am happy to have found something that works for Daniel! I am going to have to check back into your posts on homeschooling as I didn't really pay to closely when we werent' doing it!! :)
Good job, mom. As someone who's worked in education, I can tell you that repetition is the name of the game. You're giving him a foundation now and that's the most important thing.
Go to Hobby Lobby and pick out a little cheap, plain apron that fits him. If you send it my way I will embroider his name on it, and numbers, too, if you want. That can be his "drawing" shirt, so it won't matter if he draws on it. I'd love to do something like that for him, and his shirts would stay protected.
Post a Comment