Reading with the Boys~

The boys continue to love reading their Bob books.

 Learning the sight words is often tricky so we are using our magnetic letters

to build and read as quickly as we can~

 They switch trays when finished and work next set~

I think the cool thing is hearing how excited they are when they spot one

in a book or on a sign when we're out and about.

Reading is the most exciting thing a child can learn...

immediately their whole world opens up!!!

Keep up the good work boys!

Moments to Remember~

Setting up in the mornings is working so well.

I go before everyone is up to set up all their materials and make checklists.

I love our schoolroom and have one more addition to share later this week~

 Because SJ got a teaset for her birthday, it has given EC a new love for her set as well.

I can't think of a better K activity to start the day~

 The boys are really flourishing with the BOB books~

So proud of them!!!

Waiting until they are ready~ {Boys}

Boys in general bloom a little later than girls and I have witnessed it over and over through my years teaching in public schools. 

The concern then...

 I had no choice but to push them through the lessons and skills chasing a test looming out there in the future. {always getting ready for the next thing}

I am thankful for the time learning at home affords us when my children need time to bloom on their own time table.

WP came home at 3 and PC at almost 5 putting them far behind boys of their same age having grown up with natural families and no trauma. I didn't let all that keep me from introducing them both to books, letters, numbers, art, music, puzzles, tons of outside time among a million other things.

I will admit I worried over their slow learning and progression compared to the pace of other children and I did want to push them BUT for what? There was no reason to accelerate them. TIME when learning at home is one of the sweetest gifts we are given! 

All that being said, I have used several different methods in teaching the boys letters, numbers, writing, and reading. One of the most effective has been writing in a journal every single day as well as free choice games/centers offered to them. We have worked through A, B, and C books of Explode the Code as well as some emergent readers to learn the first few sight words. 

Really it just comes down to waiting until they are ready...

Last week I pulled out the BOB books and have taken two weeks with the first book... (time is on my side) and guess what? They GET it!!!

They are looking for 'at' hiding in words everywhere!

It has been so wonderful watching it happen~

They love our new white board and I love that it is magnetic.

I ordered magnetic letters with vowels being red and they are learning most words have to have a red letter in it. :)

The first day, I made the words with them and they read then wrote.

The next day, I made them a word family book with the 'at' family words inside~

They read them, built them, and wrote them.

I gave them their new book today and they were all over it!

I'm pretty sure they are READY now!!! PTL!

Sensory Handwriting with Salt Boxes~

Handwriting can get boring after a while and truly I have found it improves
with modeling each day in journals.
I saw a post here and wanted to try with my crew.
I gathered the supplies of
salt, box, a photo with everyone, and sentence strips~

 Made a set of Capital letters with lowercase on the back as well as names.
Both were well received by all the kids~

We also read some of our bird books from the library as well as a WONDERFUL book,
Whose Nest? that Aunt Amy gave us... we LOVE it~

 The bitty girls are really starting to get the hang of school and loved playing
a little dice/color the duck game from here~
{Helped that I let them color with smelly markers!}

 Big news... the boys began their BOB books adventure
and they love them!
We are working on the AT family this week~

 They are great reading buddies.
This afternoon the big girls went out with their nature box~

to capture, document, and release creatures in the yard.

Reading Practice~

I think using the Bob books really are a great resource when teaching the littles to read.

SJ has really blossomed this year and works very hard.

Once we take a picture walk and make some predictions, we do a little word work~

Rainbow tracing and stamping.

Blossoming into a great reader!