Let's plan!

Day 2: Plan together one thing you've always wanted to learn about.

We have had a very busy Saturday today but it was the perfect day for us (G man and I) to sit down and plan out a project.  There was some planning that had to do with just me.  I had already planned to finish our curriculum in the upcoming month, but we will continue math and some reading through out the summer.  This may be a project that we begin during the summer on top of our continued work.

I explained what a project is and what it might look like.  Gibson thought for a minute and said he likes the Moon, doing school work, Transformers, and watching TV.  Since our school work consists of thematic units we have already completed a unit study on the moon.  I was overjoyed that he listed school in his list of likes.  Transformers are awesome toys but what type of project could we do with that?  So I ran with TV.  I told him that we couldn't just watch TV for our project but we could create our own TV show if he wanted to do that.  His eyes lit up and he started telling me all kinds of ideas for his show.  Jackpot!!

Now we get to start really planning.  Are we going to do a web show or video camera?  Are we going to have a script or wing it? Are we going to use drawings, people, or toys to portray it?  Who is going to pay for the costs?  What topic will our show be about? Is it a continuing show with episodes or a short movie?  We are busy busy busy trying to rein in our ideas.  We may not be able to wait until the summer!!

Loving homeschooling!

Well our state's homeschool convention is coming up next month and it is all that is on my mind!  Last year was our first year to attend and it was amazing.  We are all signed up this year and I have went through the workshop lists and the vendor lists about a hundred times!  I love how this time helps us as a couple prepare for the future of our kids.  G man and Little miss don't attend with us because this is our time to review our goals for them, our homeschool vision, and revamp what isn't working!  In an effort to reign in all this excitement I have decided to start another 30 day challenge.  I really enjoy the 30 day challenges.  This one is 30 days to a better homeschool.  You can see the complete 30 day list here.  (NOTE this will probably not be done in 30 consecutive days since we school in a traditional 5 day week.)

Day 1: Say only positive, supportive things about your child's work.

G man has been working for almost 2 years now on sight words.  He started reading in December and is doing well.  (He is reading age appropriate books that mainly consist of sight words.)  My biggest frustration as of late is that he forgets words that he has been working on since day 1 and sometimes even the word he just sounded out one page back.  Or my biggest frustration he will sound out the word gut /g/, /u/, /t/ perfectly but then he will say "fan" or some other off the wall word!  I just want to scream!!!  But then I sit back and wonder... have I praised his efforts? (Please note I do get excited about his learning with him, this is just a pet peeve that works well with today's challenge.)

Today I made sure that Little miss was ready to listen to a story and made sure I was too.  We got out his BOB book and curled up to listen.  G man started off great and then he hit his first bump in the road... instead of "the" he read "ta-he" so I gently reminded him how to say it.  He was so proud of himself when he finished. Little miss and I stood and clapped for him.

Some of the supportive phrases I used:
     "I like how you took your time on that word you didn't know."
     "Wow!  You read that page great!"
     "I like how you used the picture to help you read the words."
     "You remembered the question mark and tried to change your voice.  I like that effort."

Reading time today was much less painful for me than most and even though I don't show G man my frustrations I also don't praise him enough.  He felt so much more confidant in his reading today.

                         

Both of these are the types of books G man likes to read.