Curly, Curly Cursive

Cursive writing isn't always easy to read.  Your grandma (or great-grandma)'s handwriting might need a magnifying glass and super-secret decoder ring to get through.

When I was in third grade, we were taught cursive.  Many schools still teach it, and most of them still choose to do so in third grade.  I think that at the very least, knowing how to READ cursive writing is very important.

I've done some reading lately that suggests that children find cursive easier to learn (rather than teaching printing first).  I've also read recently that cursive words are easier for people with dyslexia because they are looking at the word as a whole- instead of a conglomeration of lines and squiggles.

The first few days of learning cursive at our house have not been lots of fun.  Sohn does NOT like reading/writing/spelling or anything under that umbrella.  Clearly, a creative solution was in order.

I realized that the solution was ART.  Instead of looking at cursive writing as WRITING, I needed to approach it as DRAWING.  When I talked to Sohn about this, and gave him some examples, he thought it made sense and was willing to give it a try.

So this morning, I pulled out a huge dry-erase board and some dry-erase markers and we began to draw loopy letters.  Instead of gripping the markers, I taught him how to gently hold them and use his arm to guide them.  Use a loose arm- this isn't precision work, it is flowing, creative, and fun.

We started with capital A and started working through the alphabet.  His letters aren't perfect, but they are SO much better than they were yesterday.  We will continue through the capital letters, then move on to lowercase.  This seems to be working for us, hooray!

We noticed that the cursive "G" looks kind of like an owl...

Sohn also began his dual-enrollment classes today.  He is taking art, music, and PE at the public school near us (the same school that Tochter attends).  The first day seems to have gone well- I think it will be great for him.

Subtraction Success!

Sohn has never understood "regrouping" in subtraction. Example: 45-37 is really confusing because he didn't understand how to move 10 to the 5 worth 15 (making the 4 a 3).

His teachers were never able to explain this concept in a way that he could understand, and as much as I tried to explain it I have not been successful either.

Until today. My math goal for this week was to explain this concept in a way that he would understand. I dumped a handful of dimes and pennies onto the counter and asked him to use them to represent the number 63. (6 dimes, 3 pennies) On a sheet of paper, I wrote the number 63. Then I crossed out the 6 and wrote a 5, and turned 3 into 13. I moved one dime away, but added 10 pennies. "Is this still 63 cents?" Yep. Making progress. After a few more examples, we moved on. Talked about the "tens column" and the "ones column" and how we can move from one to the other- demonstrated with coins. Then we moved on to subtraction... and the concept makes sense!

I asked him if he wanted me to print some subtraction worksheets, or if he just wanted to use the online math program & he chose the online. First question he was given was 3 digit subtraction (659-491) and he had the right answer before I had finished writing the question on my scratch pad. The kid is a math whiz- does mental math faster than I can use my calculator!

First Day

Today is our first official day as homeschoolers.  I decided that a blog would be a great way to document our progress through this experience, hoping that it helps to keep us organized and on track.

Sohn is 9 (3rd grade) and we've decided to homeschool him because he is dyslexic.  Traditional teaching methods are not very helpful to him and he becomes very frustrated.  Two years of working with the teachers and trying to get him the best help had me looking at other solutions.  I was TIRED.  He was tired.  We were sick of being frustrated with school and knew that there had to be a better way.

Don't get me wrong- I'm nervous about this.  I NEVER wanted to be a homeschool mom.  I never had even passing thoughts that I would be the best teacher for my children.  But in our opinion, this is the best option for my son- so this is what I'm doing.

Tochter (6, 1st grade), is staying in school.  She thrives on social situations and needs the structure of the classroom environment.  To homeschool her would be a detriment to her education. 

SO.  Today we got Tochter to her first day in a new school- walked her in to her classroom, helped her get her things put away and got her settled in.  She was nervous about a new school, and wasn't thrilled that I had to leave, but she knew that (A) Moms & Dads can't stay at school all day and that (B) I had to get home because Sohn was starting his "school" today also.

I'd sat down with Sohn last week and discussed my plans/goals for this first week with him.  Last night we talked again about his first writing assignment- the first thing I wanted him to do today- and I wanted him to think about a book to read today.

Sohn sat down and wrote (with little complaint) on the topic I'd asked him to work on.  I told him that I didn't care about spelling, but I just wanted him to get his thoughts on paper.  His spelling stinks, so I didn't want him to stress about it- just wanted him to practice writing.  He did pretty good, especially considering how much he hates to write.  Kid did 10 minutes last week on how archaic it is that we still use pen/pencil and paper to communicate.  :)

Next we settled in for some reading.  He'd chosen a book about the 50 states and how they got their names.  I told him I want a minimum of 30 minutes of reading (aloud) every day- it took us almost that long to get through Alabama and Alaska.  We'll do some more later today.

He is currently practicing his typing.  He asked last week to learn how to type, so I found a great learn-to-type website  that he's been using.  He thought it was pretty hard to remember what keys were under his fingers, so I put a piece of tape on each finger and wrote which letter of the home row that finger is supposed to cover.

And that has been the start of our day.  I will try to update this at least once every school day, using it as a way to keep track of what we are doing (and what progress we make!).