Homeschool Mid-Year Update | Boaz

Well, we're a little over half way through the school year now, and I'm due for an update on Bo. I had previously typed up a more detailed post, but I lost it and didn't have the heart to start over. So, here's a quick update on Bo and the 3 Rs.



For reference, Bo started Kindergarten at 5 1/2 and turned 6 at the end of December.

Reading

Bo is on Lesson 28 out of 53, so a little over half way through All About Reading Level 1. He does great with it as long as I keep the lessons short. He picks up on new concepts quick, comprehends what he's reading, and loves the stories and hands on activities.

We will soon take a break from AAR 1 to review Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level B. He probably places towards the end of Level A, but I didn't want to start at the end of the book. So, I had Bo read all the words in McGuffey's Eclectic Primer - many of which have phonograms not taught until Level 3 in AAR. I taught him how to read using the accent marks, and he caught on. Bo is learning to read very quickly, so I am curious to give Eclectic Foundations a try.

Writing

When Bo turned 6, he asked me if he could be in the first grade now. I told him not yet because he didn't know how to write a sentence. Well, he wrote his first sentence and then started writing little short three sentence stories that same night.

He has been writing in upper case letters up to this point, so I told him that a sentence begins with a capital letter and if he wants to write a sentence he needs to start writing in lower case. We are working on lower case in Italic Handwriting A, but he says uppercase is easier. I took a break from the handwriting book and made him practice sheets. He traces the alphabet and numbers 0-9 twice each two times a week now.

When he writes, he asks others to spell words for him, or else he'll ask us to write so he can copy it. He came to me tonight to ask me to write a list of ice pops he wants to make this summer, and then he copied it all onto a little flier labeled "ice pop stand." :) Then he listed all the flavors he wants to make. ♥

I don't push writing at this age because in my experience, children need time to develop their fine motor skills, and I want them to enjoy writing when they do. I'm so thankful that Sonlight taught me that it was okay to write their narrations my first year of homeschooling. I wrote for Dylan until he was 7 and I'll never forget the moment when he decided that he would write for himself, and from that moment on, he did all his writing. Bo is like Dylan in so many ways so I love that I can use my experience to be a better teacher and mom to him.

Arithmetic 

Bo finished half of Math U See Beta (Lessons 1-15) and decided he was ready for a break. I'm perfectly fine with that and said he could do the second half of Beta for 1st grade if he wants to.

Thoughts

I really wanted Bo's Kindergarten year to be special, but we've mostly focused on the 3R's this year. We've read through the Burgess animal collection, and we've rowed a few books, but most of my attention has been on the older two. Maybe that's where it needs to be right now and when I consider all that I have done with Bo at age 2age 3 and for Preschool and 4K, I tell myself that's okay.

2 comments

  1. Great update! It sounds like he is having a fabulous kindergarten year. Focusing on the 3 Rs at this age is important. I'm sure he is listening in and participating some with your older ones, too. I think we tend to focus on different children and their needs each year, and that's perfectly fine. That's why we homeschool, right? :-)

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  2. Thank you for your encouragement, Megan! You're right - the three Rs are important and I tend to focus on the fun stuff more because I want my kids to love learning. And yes, that's the beauty of homeschooling!

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