This is my 3rd year teaching my kids. I love the flexibility of teaching my kids. And I love that we are not just learning during school hours. I get to know everything they are studying so I can give them real life examples. If you would have asked me 4 years ago if I would home school my kids – I would have said, no way! I’m not that crazy!
My oldest son went to a Christian School for Kindergarten. He did awesome and learned so much. He had amazing teachers and he tested into 2nd grade levels on all of his subjects.
We moved to a place that didn’t have the best options for public or private schools, so the best option for our family was home school. I was terrified because I am a horrible student – how would I be as a teacher? I figured my son did so well in Kindergarten that I really count mess it up too much. (We are doing awesome and he is still super smart! He is now in 3rd grade.)
This year was even more terrifying for me. My middle child was going to start Kindergarten. It was up to me to teach him how to read, write, do math, and more. I’m not creative. I probably don’t have patience like my oldest son’s teacher. I could totally mess this up and he will never learn to read. (Ok, I know I was over-reacting a little :))
The first few months of school were so stressful. I felt like a failure because it just didn’t seem like he was “getting it”. What else could I do? So I pulled out the most basic study aid we all use – index cards! I cut the cards in half and put all the letter we had learned so far on them. Then on half of a full index card I added the blends that we had learned.
We would say all the letter sounds and then the blends. Then we would create words. It took about 2 weeks but it worked! I almost cried this weekend when my son read a book to my husband. He was so excited and proud of himself – and I was so proud too!
I know this isn’t a genius idea but it worked. If you are working with letters and sounds with your kids – try it out. It may work. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder. It is awesome to watch your kids learn new thing!
My 3rd grader even had fun creating words for his brother to read. It was a really exciting week for us!
Do you have any great ideas that helped your kids learn something new? Please leave me a comment – I need all the help I can get.
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Wednesday 7th of May 2014
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