We’re midway through Term 3 now, over the hump I think….
Everyone has settled into their little routines and it doesn’t seem quite as chaotic in the mornings….
Our school day is starting at 7.30am when Andrew dials in for a Guided Reading lesson with his class teacher. If the day’s running smoothly and he has finished his morning chores early, he quite often dials his teacher 5 minutes prior….just to have a chat.
Lachlan starts the day with some spelling, handwriting and quiet reading. That is when I can pull him away from his “author” work. He’s taken on a challenge to write a story ….. it’s about a station with 90000 head of Hereford cattle and brumbies of course! Couldn’t imagine he’d write anything different.
After each paragraph, he digresses to the illustrations…..
Lachlan is always up for a challenge. Last week the big boys had a couple of competitions simultaneously on Mathletics. Both beat their Personal Best scores, motivated by sibling rivalry! Goal setting tickles Lach’s fancy and I used this to have his Maths finished most days by smoko.
Hamish dials in for his lesson at 8.30. He’s pretty good at working independently and listening to the class teacher’s instructions. I’m amazed at how far we’ve moved the Prep program forward in Queensland. Hamish is well on his way to mastering the first 100 Magic Words. Five years ago, when Andrew was a preppie, there was no expectation that they would read any words….
Learning the Magic Words has of course, opened the door to independent reading.
One of the most rewarding things to watch is a child emerge as a reader.
Adelaide is able to participate in three ekindy web lessons a week. Delivering play based learning through a web lesson has been wonderful for her. The stimulation that comes from seeing her teacher or peers participate in an activity is a perfect anecdote for this little girl. She thrives in a social sense.
My heart sometimes beats a little faster when we slosh around the paint beside the computer or conduct a science experiment whilst tangled in the phone cord….
And when we are not online, sorting and grouping, threading and painting, exploring and investigating, reading and recording the free play happens almost of its own accord.
Eliza is becoming one of the crew. She looks to the bigger kids for direction. Sometimes it is good direction and other times, not so much….
With play dough, though, you can hardly go wrong.
Eliza is getting stronger and more sure footed everyday, but still her preferred gait is her bottom slide.
And as a result, all her trousers look like these…..
She may not be walking yet but she is certainly well on her way to talking….
Perhaps we should skip the playdough and do some walking lessons?!
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