School Update

We just started our 18th week of school. There are days when things do not go as planned. Days when the kids are crabby and would rather stare at the wall than do school. Days when the teacher wants to drive up to the nearest public school and push them out and drive away. But those days are few are far between. This has been an extremely productive and enjoyable year :)

Both boys love reading. They would much rather sit down with a pile of books than sit down with a worksheet to complete. They each spend at least an hour reading each day. Sonlight provides books for them to read that coincide with their history lessons. In addition to these great books I add some classic literature.

I want to add a disclaimer- I try and discourage the boys from reading books that are in a series. (For example Geronimo Stilton and the Boxcar Children.) My reasoning can best be explained with an analogy. I feel that series books are like Saturday morning cartoons. They are short potions of a larger story. They can normally be read in one or two sittings. And require little if any thinking on the part of the reader.

Classic literature is like a full length feature film. They contain a large story that fully develops the characters (books like Treasure Island and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland). The reader must pay attention in order to understand fully what is going on in the story. These books normally take a week or two to finish.

There is another reason I discourage series books and encourage the challenge of reading classic literature, and that is pride. My boys are so proud of themselves when they finish a "real" book. I will hear the loud close of a book, peer into the room and see my son beaming. He accomplished something great. This is not a response associated with a little paper back series book.

OK I am done ranting :) Back to the school update! Asher has become an avid reader. In the last few days he has finished Little House on the Prairie and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. He started reading How to Train Your Dragon and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I did not suggest the Harry Potter book. I wanted to wait a few years. But last night I found out that this little reader had been secretly reading this book for days! I made sure he was comprehending the story line before I agreed to let him continue. Joshua is also enjoying some great books at the moment. He is working on a biography of George Washington Carver, Robinson Crusoe, and he has been dabbling in Greek Myths.

Math and science are going great as well. The boys used electricity to pop a balloon :) We had to do that a couple of times because it was so cool!

Elliana LOVES school. I am using Sonlight's pre-K program with her and it is a perfect match. She is starting to read three letter words. She seems to be picking up reading pretty easily. We are working on numbers as well. I also add in some extra poetry and read alouds to the core program.