Handwriting Practice and Reading

I began working more with Corbin a couple of weeks ago; on handwriting, numbers, a Phonics program called Reading Made Easy.

We've done four lessons in RME and he's become familiar with the aaaa (short a) sound, and the p and mmm sounds. So, with help, he can 'read' the sounds am and ap. We will continue to work with these sounds in future lessons. We've also played some listening games where he tells me which word has the aaa sound. And of course, we like to read books together.

For Handwriting we are using a curriculum called A Reason For Handwriting, which is the same we are using with Logan and Hailey, just different levels. He has been working on tracing/writing circles (o's) properly, and today he worked on those, as well as straight and slanted lines. He already knows how to spell and write his name, so I always have him print his name on his paper. He will also sometimes, on his own, try to copy things I've written on the board for the others. I just let him do that; it keeps him busy! We won't start formal copy work until 1st grade I don't think.

In Math, we are learning to count to twenty; he can already count to ten and part-way to twenty but doesn't get the second half all correct. He is able to write numbers 1-5, and understands the relationship between each number and that number of objects. The curriculum we are using for this subject is Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics.

We have some books for History and Science, too. However, I'm sure he will not retain as much of those things. We do discuss, with all of the kids, locations of places. We have a world map, a map of the U.S., and a map of North America on our walls in the dining room. Often, after dinner, one of the kids will ask a question about some state or country, so we will point out where it is or talk about who lives there, etc. Last night we did this; Corbin was asking me about various states and he wanted to know the names. As he was pointing to two and telling me the colors so I would know which ones he meant, he said, "What are the brown and green ones up there by Canada?" No joke, my 4 year old asked me this! (he meant North and South Dakota) So, he is remembering some of these things we talk about. I'm so pleased that he is learning, actually, that they all are learning so much. And Geography (and math) has always been a weakness with me, so I'm especially glad that my kids seem to have a good grasp on it for their ages. Of course, I'm learning too, and I love that!