Bear is so eager to learn to tie her shoes that I put out a pair of shoes with laces and she worked on tying a knot. She tried to go further, but got frustrated so I ended that early and told her to master knot tying first.
Sensorial:
She mastered the trinomial cube (of which I have no picture) and was visibly proud of herself for doing so.
She also worked for a long time one day with pattern blocks.
This was the first time she initiated making her own pictures with the blocks.
Besides at least an hour's worth of "Where's the Cake?", Bear did a bit of work on time. She can tell the time to the hour and half hour. Next week, I'll introduce quarter after and quarter to.
This was a follow up worksheet on telling time to the hour.
We decorated eggs using fruits and vegetables for our dye red cabbage, carrots and onion skin, and frozen strawberries.
We also used hole reinforcers.
Writing/Spelling:
Our pretend play of being letter carriers turned into a writing lesson when she decided to write everyone real letters to deliver. She wanted to write "are" and had written down just the "r" (she spells very phonetically, which is an important stage in spelling development). I asked her if she thought it might need vowels. "A magic "e"?" she replied. I agreed, but pointed out that it might need a vowel in front too. I asked if she remembered what vowel went with the "r" to make "ar" but she didn't remember. So I put down all the "ar" words I could think of, leaving out the "a". I set out all the vowels and asked her if she could remember now which one would help the words say "car" "far" etc. After first choosing "o", she correctly chose "a".
Wow, Bear is doing great considering that she is younger than Anna. Anna still spells very phonetically most of the time, and she hates writing. I like the idea of using natural dyes for eggs - that's how we colored eggs when I was a child. Mostly we used onion skins.
ReplyDeleteWhere on earth did you find shoes that actually lace up? I thought they only made velcro ones any more--unless you can buy in Europe. ...
ReplyDeleteBear is very advance for her age. I haven't done much in terms of phonics but I've assessed K and she's now decoding at a 4th grade level and more or less spelling conventionally. I think having a good memory helps but as a former teacher, I can't help wondering if she's going to stumble because she never got the phonics. Do you think I should still teach it to her at some point? It's really hard right now because she runs away if I try to correct her or to teach her in any way.
ReplyDeleteL spells like that as well. She spells Daddy Dedy because that is how she says it!
ReplyDeleteSome other ideas for tying I've seen are taping a shoelace in the middle to the corner of her little table and also sitting with your legs out and tying a skipping rope aroung your legs.
L is also showing a lot of interest in tying so we'll have to try them.
I love the hole reinforcer egg! And Bear's pattern block picture that she made all on her own is really neat!
ReplyDelete@bug - My m-i-l got those at Walmart and then decorated them herself. They come in quite garish colors. Target usually sells lace up running shoes in preschool sizes as well and I went today to get her some as she has outgrown her last pair, but they were out.
ReplyDelete@JL - I think phonics is important but if she isn't interested right now, it's not like you can force her. Keep the lessons incidental and playful, as if you weren't teaching at all and she'll pick up the rules fast. I think Bear picks them up and retains them just from me showing her patterns (phonics ones) and exceptions when I am reading aloud to her. Bear doesn't much like taking the time to slow down and sound out, even though she technically is able if I get her to.