Thoughts on Reading and Writing

I'm a novice and I'm still figuring out homeschooling. Luke's a kindergartner and I usually espouse a no-need-to-rush philosophy. It is possible that one of the reasons I cling to that no rush policy is because it alleviates guilt for my usually-benign negligent parenting practices. Anyway, the point is: I'm still figuring things out and I need to believe that that's okay.

When something is important to you, you make time for it.
This weekend I've been thinking about how reading is really, really important to me and so I make time for reading everyday. Pete, Luke, and I have storytime together every day, usually twice a day. And then Luke and I have another reading time for novels when Pete is napping.

Then, I try to give myself time to read. Sometimes I can read in front of the children, but often I lock myself in the bathroom with a book. I love books. I love words. I love the sounds of the words, especially the staccato consonate sounds. Brandon loves it when I read in bed...not really. Because I read silently for a spell and then break out whispering so I can hear those beautiful consonate sounds. He begs me to stop doing it, saying, "I'd rather you just read out loud than read like that!" But I'll keep reading this way until the day I die.

Because the words, "day I die" sound so good when spoken quietly. Ah! Spoken quietly. Two good words for whispering.

My grandchildren will think I'm terribly creepy and crazy with my not-so-silent reading.

Moving on.
To Writing.

Luke writes often. He draws pictures every day of his own accord and has been doing some invented spelling and labelling. (For example, he drew the same house that he often draws, with each of us in a window. But in the attic, there were suitcases, each labelled with a family member's initials. So, Brandon's was labelled, "BBBB." And there was one for the family, "LPCB." You get the picture. He sounded out "stop" and put up sticky note signs on the doors. He says I can unlock the art cabinet now because he'll see that sign and stop before opening it and allowing Pete to paint the bed. [I wish I was joking.]) 

So, Luke's drawings fill drawers, and paper the fridge, and find themselves folded into crazy shapes under my pillow. Little Boy Love Letters.

Even though Luke has been writing on his own, I think I should set aside a little bit of time when we can write side-by-side, so that I'm physically there to answer any questions if he has them, and so I'm making time to do my own writing.

This whole idea of making time for your priorities has got me thinking, "What do I think is important to me that I'm not really making time for?" It makes me think I really should be taking up the guitar, among other things.

A day of interest-led learning for a kindergartner

Last night, as I planned for today, I listed:
For Luke: practice piano kindly, read aloud, and play with a friend.
For Pete: stories, play outside, a nap
For Carrie: exercise, the essentials (scriptures and prayer, I've just begun calling them "the essentials" so that I'll think of them as essential.)
For the family: return overdue books, empty dishwasher and keep the kitchen clean

So, I didn't plan any lessons. I just let nature take its course. Here is what we've (they've) done so far:
Piano Practice -when he dawdled, I sang quietly, "I will be kind, I will be kind." I think Luke liked it.
Play-doh (my only job was to pretend to eat something every now and then and avoid the kitchen where I would inevitably say, "No, you can't use that apple corer/lemon zester/pie server." I did take away the mesh strainer, though.)
Rhymes with lists of rhyming words. We were talking and one of us said, "box" or "fox," and Luke said, "Hey that rhymes!" He then made up a verse:
Fox box wearing socks.
Hawks flying overhead!
Then, I said, "Wait, I'll go get paper!" And we wrote down words that rhymed with fox, box, and hawks and had a mini-phonics lesson, made up of me saying, "Hey look--the ah sound is made by the letter O, and AW, and just an A sometimes. And then "x" says the same sound as "cks." But this had to be quick, but Luke was more interested in actually making up rhymes, of course. *Remember--Real and meaningful experiences yield skills, skills practice or teaching can, but doesn't necessarily, yield real and meaningful experiences.

Then we made up other rhyming verses together.
Trees bees in a hive
At the flowers they arrive.
When the sun is in its sky,
All the bees will buzz and fly.
To the flowers they will go
Carrying pollen to help them grow.
In this verse and the "Fox box" one, Luke's contributions are in blue. I was pleasantly surprised that his rhyme for hive was arrive.

In the next one, I wrote most of it, but when I paused, after pink, Luke piped up, "As pink as a rose!" What a cutie.
Up, up in the sky
Kites and balloons flying high.
The spring wind blows across my nose.
My cheeks are pink --as pink as a rose.
Outside all day in the sun
I'm so glad that Spring has come.

I pretended to be a witch and carried the boys on my broom to my gingerbread house where I wanted to fatten them up. "What can I tempt you with, my pretty? Will you eat icecream, chocolate chip cookies, a juicy steak?" It didn't matter what I said, Luke said, "No," because he understood that I was trying to make him plump for eating. but each time Luke said, "No" or "Uh-uh." Pete quietly and resolutely said, "Yes."

We read stories, had lunch, Pete took a nap, and Luke and I started another book, The Trumpet of the Swan. I adore that book. I read it to Luke when he was four, but he's forgotten it. Goody! That means we have to read it again.

Now Luke is playing at a friend's house.

From this former school teacher's perspective, we did something in each of these subjects: Reading and literacy, drama, social studies, music, and math. (Math-this book.)

Word Wall

Luke picks a word. Together, we add it to the Word Wall. (Butcher paper on the wall above his bed? Honestly, haven't purchased it yet.)

Skills it addresses (hypothetically): phonics, sight words, print

Will probably never happen but...
As he gets older, could also use this concept for new vocabulary words with columns for taxonomy or sorting: noun, verb, adverb, etc. Could be a list of words he/we come across in reading and need to look up. Could be a spelling tool.

P.S. I once saw a child's bedroom where the walls were ringed with 4x6 cards, each with one word printed on them. I think they were "sight words."