One of the ways I work is to try to establish habits of doing certain things, rather than having lessons per se.\u00a0 So we have a habit of reading, a habit of drawing and now I am helping Antonia establish a habit of writing.\u00a0 Before I go any further, I should say that ‘lessons’ were a pre-requisite to this habit.\u00a0 On the other hand lessons do get in the way of living habits, so a balance has to be found.\u00a0 In Antonia’s kindergarten year we regularly spent 10 minutes a day on handwriting practice.\u00a0 Last year, we got the most common spelling words down, though we crammed this into about 6 weeks and did it orally.\u00a0 Now Antonia can pretty much write, not perfectly, but well enough, at least in English.\u00a0 The lessons aren’t over, because we’re going to start touch-typing as soon as I think it will reasonably fit in our schedule (maybe when her multiplication tables are all done, which will be soon).<\/p>\n
Once she could write I bought her a pretty journal book, and she began to write in it four or five times a week.\u00a0 My job is to make times for her to do this, but she writes whatever she likes.\u00a0 Now that she understands what ‘spelling’ means, she usually asks me about any word she is unsure of.\u00a0 She has also learned a lot of punctuation along the way.\u00a0 It’s kind of fascinating to see your own child expressing herself in writing, if you are a parent that is!\u00a0 So I’m going to indulge and record some of the things she came out with.\u00a0 The first was a story in 16 parts.\u00a0 It fell apart a bit at the end, but it started pretty well, so here are just the first nine parts:<\/p>\n
“There was once a little dog.\u00a0 She liked her bone.\u00a0 There was also a fox who liked bones.\u00a0 One night the fox stole her bone.\u00a0 In the morning she wanted her bone.\u00a0 She saw that her bone was gone!\u00a0 It was lucky she had another bone.\u00a0 The next night the fox came again!\u00a0 He stole the second bone!\u00a0 It was a trap.\u00a0 The dog bounced onto the fox.\u00a0 The fox ran away.\u00a0 The next day the fox stole all her forty-five bones.\u00a0 She was very sad.<\/font><\/p>\n
Very soon the dog went to find the fox.\u00a0 She was planning a revenge.\u00a0 She found the fox!\u00a0 She jumped onto him.\u00a0 “Grrrr!” said the dog.\u00a0 They had a battle.\u00a0 The fox won.\u00a0 The dog had a cut.\u00a0 The fight was not finished.\u00a0 The dog won the second part.\u00a0 The fox scowled.\u00a0 The dog got her forty seven bones back.\u00a0 Then the fox’s wife came out and screamed.\u00a0 She said “I love you”.\u00a0 She ran to the dog.\u00a0 “What!” screamed the fox.\u00a0 Then super-rabbit came along.\u00a0 She pounced onto the fox.\u00a0 The dog had time to run away with the fox’s wife.”<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Then we have nature observations:<\/p>\n
Be a bee
\nA wasp nest is under my garden steps.\u00a0 I do not know how it got there!\u00a0 Should I ask them?\u00a0 Maybe not.<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\nPassages about what she has learned:<\/p>\n
Egypt
\nEgypt is a nice place.\u00a0 I like the Sphinx.\u00a0 The Sphinx is bigger than you.\u00a0 It is there to scare people off pyramids.\u00a0 Its body looks like a lion.\u00a0 Its head looks like a pharoah’s head. <\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\nOr authobiographical details:<\/p>\n
All about me
\nI homeschool.\u00a0 My Mummy homeschools me.\u00a0 I learn several things in a day.\u00a0 My Mummy does not always help me. \u00a0<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\nI am not sure that that last sentence is not a reproach!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the ways I work is to try to establish habits of doing certain things, rather than having lessons per se.\u00a0 So we have a habit of reading, a habit of drawing and now I am helping Antonia establish a habit of writing.\u00a0 Before I go any further, I should say that ‘lessons’ were … Continue reading Writing<\/span>