Tama 2 moves to homeschool blog. Tamāhine 2 will start correspondence 2010

I know tama 2 has turned five and by rights that means I should start recording the information about his schooling on the homeschooling blog, and I'll definitely be doing so. But I've chosen to put this blog post on the école par correspondence however because most of these things I bought (Brain Quest) or discovered (WatchKnow website) for pre-school/kindergarten and they will be introduced to tamāhine 2 once she gets started with her own learning.

Speaking of tamāhine 2, I'm hoping to get her enrolled with the Correspondence School in the next week or two. [I've at least filled in the form and with a bit of luck whaiāipo will tell me later today that he managed to get a certified copy of her birth certificate and posted it away for me?!]

I'm looking forward to starting her with some learning activities because today she let me know in no uncertain terms that she was unhappy to see her older siblings commence school work.

I need to create a schedule to include her more somehow.

At the moment my thoughts are to turn my attention to her by having the three big kids work on Time4Learning. This is what I semi-tried today ... but a little too late. Had I realised she would have a meltdown I would've organised this idea immediately. The only thing that delayed me from giving her attention was the fact that I hadn't finished working with tama 2 as he read his Montessori lessons before he started his Time4Learning lessons. I had to somehow appease her while completing tama 2's lesson. Okay, so in all reality it's a matter of a 15-minute block, but 15 minutes can feel like an hour when you're trying to teach and pacify at the same time. I'm sure you know what I mean, lol. It was my decision to keep working with tama 2 so I paid the consequences of running between the two, but again, it was my decision not to give in to her entirely.

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I bought these Brain Quest cards off TradeMe for only $7.00. To buy them brand new they're well over $20. It's cheaper to bring them in from the UK would you believe?! If I had enough money I'd buy them via the Book Depository in the UK. They offer free worldwide delivery and have a discount running until the 11th of December (I think). I've been dithering about whether to purchase some books from there or not with the homeschooling money which I should receive on Friday morning. It's a hard call whether to throw them on my visa when I know I have a new baby coming and bills. Plus I always panic that maybe my application for supervision allowance is delayed for some reason. It happened to a friend of mine, so who's to know eh?! What to do? What to do? ... Look, knowing me, I'm bound to go ahead and put the order in today or tomorrow!!!! The books are for school and when you get a good discount, you've gotta be mad not to take advantage of these things eh?!


This next screenshot is via Internet4Classrooms. There's lots of great resources at Internet4Classrooms but some require me to be handy (which is fine when I'm not busy with littlies) a lot sooner than say when we use Time4Learning. When he has lessons with Time4Learning he can at least ask his older brother and sister for help if he gets stuck on anything. None of the children are old enough to be whipping around the internet without my supervision. I allow them to explore Time4Learning, FreeWorldU, BrainPopJr to name but a few, but other than that they must remain at a website I have assigned them to.

Something new I've been pointed in the direction of is WatchKnow. I've only got as far as setting up an account and browsing the Language Arts section.

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This time last year we were involving ourselves with a lot of Christmas-type activities. This year we're a little slower off the mark. Many reasons as to why, but here's tama 2 enjoying himself as Santa. It was so funny to see him come out of the front room to surprise me.

Merry Christmas

♥♥♥♥♥

So, if I don't post to this blog again until some time in 2010 it's because I'll have a new baby and having a break.

I think that will do for this post. Time to enjoy the day and work on the new schedule.


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If you're wandering whether Timez Attack is worth it ... IT IS

When we purchased Timez Attack earlier this year, we knew we were investing in a great educational game.

Initially, the kids spent every night playing/learning. This probably went on for a fortnight plus. Then, as expected, the novelty wore off. Now we simply try to incorporate it as often as possible into our days (or nights), even if it's only for 15 minutes. Something is better than nothing.

The kids still really enjoy it, just not on the go-hard level that they did when we first started.

Today I had the kids start at the beginning again (ie the two timestable). Tama 2 tends to keep repeating the two timestable even though he has it down-pat. I remind myself he's only four years old, so let him repeat the two's if that's what he wants. Sometimes he'll attempt the three's but overall he'll simply delete his pseudonym and create a new one!!!

As an aside, when we purchased it, I paid for a CD version as well as the downloadable version. I was very impressed with the speed in which it arrived. From memory, I am quite sure it only took five days!!! I know it wasn't more than a week that's for sure. Considering it was coming from the States, that's awesome service.

When I sit back and think about what I've spent money on for schooling, I would have to say that I think this is one of the greatest value-for-money purchases made to date.

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Tama 2 worked on Montessori lessons 9 and 10 today. I would've been happy to leave it at the end of lesson 9, but he did that so well that I encouraged him to do lesson 10. We were just about ready to continue with lesson 10 when suddenly he showed the signs of "I've had enough." However, I wanted him to continue so I said to him, "shall we see how quickly you can get it done?" We timed him and he read all 27 sentences in nine minutes. I was very excited for him, yet he was just keen to hear me say he could have a break! [Oh well, at least I got the result I wanted.]

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The rain which was forecast for Monday and Tuesday finally arrived today. However, we had a few fine spells so it was "outside" as soon as we were able. It's odd weather we're experiencing; cold when the sun's gone, but very warm indeed when it sneaks out of the clouds! Tama 2 loves being outside so although I hoped to have him read on Starfall, the alternative of outside fun was far more appealing for him and I really don't mind that!

I'll get him to do some work on Starfall first thing in the morning instead!


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Heading for a repeat of Montessori

Tama 2 completed Montessori Saturday morning, 7 November. That was fun because we saved the last two lessons to read with whaiāipo. Daddy was mighty impressed at tama 2's confidence (and speed) to read so well.




The plan is to repeat the entire course and so far we're doing just that. I've enjoyed repeating it because he's definitely reading the sentences more quickly and you can just tell he undertands and knows words.

Exciting.

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Today we tried a new website and below is a screenshot of tama 2's effort. I wasn't expecting tama 2 to reach 100 by any means, but I wanted to see how he coped.

Tama 2 did well adding to around 30 or 40 then it became a struggle.

I didn't browse around the site in any great depth, however, I think I'll take a glance over the next few days and let the kids try what we can for free. It doesn't look like it will be cheap to subscribe (if I'm able to from NZ), but I won't know that until I go in and have a look around.

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Tama 2 enjoyed sitting in with Tama 1 as he worked on the following:


I asked Tamāhine 1 to have a go with the following science lesson at the same time as tama 1 worked on the above while I took the babies for a walk this afternoon (in the hopes of getting one of them asleep). When I came back, tama 2 enthusiastically told me how he had worked with his sister to do the plants and animals. He'd followed the website on his own computer and sure enough, there it was on his screen as well as his sister's!!! He makes me laugh at his confidence to use the computer. I still get scared he'll click on an unsavoury website and today was a reminder to do some preventive work to that end.

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I've spoken in previous posts that I'd like to subscribe to Reading Eggs again once tama 2 shows progress with his reading. I've mentioned that the only reason I haven't signed him up again is purely financial. For the price of a six month subscription, I'm looking at $49. If that were a 12 month subscription I'd go ahead and sign him up, but for six months?! Eek.

Anywho, it looks like one of the ladies on a kiwi homeschooling yahoo group is arranging a co-op price. If she can get interest from at least 30 students, then we can get a one year subscription for $20!!!! That would be absolutely FANTASTIC!!!! I quickly emailed Lorna to indicate my interest for tama 2, so hopefully she's able to get back to us shortly with instrucitons on how to go about it. Once we have the go-ahead (fingers crossed), I'll have him signed up which will please me big time. I've raved often about Reading Eggs, and I'd really like to provide tama 2 with the opportunity to utlise this fantastic program.

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Excitement +

I feel very excited for tama 2.

He completed Lesson 40 today ... all 38 questions !!!

AND he got them all correct, as you can see below

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Tama 2 can now read words such as fish, dish, ship, fast and even a new character name, called "Miss Pat."

Oh that's right, he also had to learn the word "fit" in Lesson 39 yesterday ...

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~~ooOoo~~

It's exciting to think he will be finished in three more lessons!! [Well, I'm at least 90% sure that's all he has left.] As soon as we complete it, I will start him all over again to gauge how well he's doing and then we'll move on entirely. We will have to redo the entire course as I don't think it's possible to skip any lesson(s).

No doubt he'll get hoha - but with a bit of luck he won't. What I'm hoping for, is that he'll get excited he can read each sentence quicker than the last time he read them. If I could afford Reading Eggs, I'd probably move him across to that, but to repeat myself from previous posts ... it will have to wait until (1) he shows his reading level has moved on, and (2) I can afford the six month subscription. They may even run another 5 week free trial which would be better still.

~~ooOoo~~

Today was hard yakka for the little guy. I mean, he had 38 sentences to read as well as recognise what letters were missing from certain words. So I'm very excited and proud of his accomplishments. He cooperated wonderfully today which is one of the primary rules in learning. If the kids don't concentrate I know I won't get the best results. So I'm a happy mummy indeed that he persevered and the smile on his dial spoke volumes on completion.


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For example

This morning tama 2 worked on lesson 37 for his Montessori lesson. He made a fantastic effort and the above screenshot is to show an example of a word tama 2 struggles to pronounce.

For starters, the word "mints" is brand-spanking new for him. To help him, I hid the letters m, t and s and asked him what he could read. He correctly said the word "in" so I asked him what sound the "m" makes and we put those two sounds together, then we added the "t" sound as well. When we separated the word into three clear sounds like this, he could pronounce the word without a hitch. However, in typical tama 2 fashion, he didn't accept my suggestion of sounding it out like this each time we came across it, until he could say it clearly. That's when we have the problem of not understanding what he says. The word then came out in a muddle, but that's what happens when he becomes headstrong and decides he knows best.

Needless to say, this becomes frustrating at times, and I'm afraid today was one of those times I was frustrated. I couldn't wait to finish the lesson and take a break. I didn't want to spoil the rest of his reading, so I simply got through to the end of it and said he could go and play outside.

Sometimes it's hard to remind myself he's only four years old - especially when he shows the same stubborn streak he gets from me, lol.

~~ooOoo~~

Today's post was simply to record an example of a word he finds hard to say. Blending "nt" to a word is very hard for tama 2, but the hard thing for mum is getting him to follow her advice!


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Tamāhine 2 is really starting to take a shine to computer-learning

On previous posts I've mentioned how tamāhine 2 has started to take a shine to the computers. I certainly can't and won't discourage her enthusiasm because she's already starting to say the sounds of letters and even get a little bit of counting in order - simply by listening and watching what her older brother is learning.

Each time she sees tama 2 get on the computer now, she's pretty much waiting in the wings to see what he's going to use. Once she hears music of any kind, she's up like a shot and practically pushing him out of the way to get "up close".

Too close!!

I can see it's not going to be the easiest thing in the world to teach her to refrain from leaning in so close to the screen; as well as my pet hate - "touching" the screen!!! However, it is something I will need to enforce sooner rather than later. I just hope she graciously accepts mum's authority!!!

Yeah! Right!



Tamāhine 2 had us all laughing today because she practically yelled with glee as she worked alongside her brother. She recognised many of the characters that tama 2 was working with, and she wasn't afraid to dictate what he should be doing.

~~ooOoo~~

I mentioned tama 2 and I have returned to Starfall and today we read no. 2 "en", "et" and Peg the Hen. He did very well.

After Starfall we did a lesson on Montessori. Following that we went onto PBS Kids Island because we knew tamāhine 2 would enjoy it ... and of course ... she did!!!

They both did actually!

~~ooOoo~~

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Learning phonics and phonemes while learning to read

We started our morning off by practicing phonics and phonemes. Here's three YouTube clips we discovered via a blog I follow - The Snails Trail.

Tama 2 found a few of the sounds a little awkward to sound out, but overall he understands the concepts being introduced. He's a little way off from understanding there's short and long vowel sounds, but we will get there in time.

One of my biggest goals with tama 2 right now is to improve his annunciation.

I know all kids are like sponges, but I'm glad that of all the kids, he's soaking it all up. I just hope that with the work we're doing, he will surprise me and have his words spoken clearly... and yes! I'd like this to happen sooner rather than later, lol.

His language and comprehension are already there, and I'm not forgetting what things are important. However, I can't help but keep repeating that it is also important to have the words coming out clear and strong. Yes, he can hold a conversation, but it takes A LOT OF EFFORT to grasp many of the words he says, so I will keep refining until we improve this aspect as we move ahead with his education. I'm not a qualified teacher, but I know I'm doing him justice by spending the time and energy to help him reach his full potential.

~~ooOoo~~

Tamāhine 2 is now climbing up to the computer to watch. She's saying a few letters, but I've not introduced her to too much just yet. I know she'll be picking up a lot of information (so is tama 3 for that matter) simply by being around us and hearing the voices and tunes coming from the computer(s).

I must make a mental note to sign her up with the Correspondence School as well. I haven't done so yet because I don't know if we can secure our home. However, I have told myself that I need to send out positive thoughts to the universe that we WILL keep our house, and to help make that happen I will make a note to ask tama 2's teacher if we can sign Tamāhine 2 up at some stage. Having completed my Mauri Ora programme, I feel like I can concentrate on the children a lot better than what I have done to date. What better time to tackle a new challenge but straight after the completion of another eh?

~~ooOoo~~

I asked tama 2 if he would like to use Tonka Town one last time. He said yes, but within 15 minutes he'd had enough. I pointed out that if he'd had enough, I'd be removing it from the computer. He was fine about it.

Good, so I packed up the Correspondence satchel and around 12.30pm we all piled into the van and dropped it off at Te Ngae Post Shop. I had planned to pop it in the mail box for the rural post to collect but seeing as I needed more milk for our muffins, I figured it best to drop it off at the same time.

~~ooOoo~~

After lunch I had tama 2 sit down with Starfall and this is the first time we've been on the Learn to Read section in a while. It's always been a fill-in for him to play with the alphabet section, but today we achieved the -an, -at words as well as read the entire Zac the Rat (by himself!!!!) Both tama 2 and myself were very, very happy with this accomplishment.

Following a well-deserved break, Tama 2 sat down and completed Lesson 35 on the Montessori website while his older siblings read alongside him to each other. I thought they may cause too much of a distraction for tama 2, but he remained focussed and he read all 25 sentences. The last sentence (shown below) has the word "fit" in it. He only came across this word yesterday and he was sooooooo determined to read it on his own today, you could just about see his veins popping out of his head as he willed himself to say it.

Now, going from memory when Tamāhine 1 used Montessori, I'm quite sure there are 43 lessons in Book 1. If I'm right then we've only got 8 lessons to go!!! This is fantastic! Considering tama 2 wasn't able to do more than recognise his alphabet back in term 3, we've made incredible progress. He couldn't spell his name without help, but now he's able to write all 8 letters of his name. Okay, he sometimes gets that wrong, but 95-98% of the time he gets it right. He's not even five years old !!! Isn't that exciting?

~~ooOoo~~

Oh, actually, he did use one other website today. I keep forgetting to mention it because quite often it's one of the sites we get to late at night when tama 2 wants to work alongside his mum and dad when we're using the other computers. (Dad on TradeMe; Mum finding new sites for the kids, updating blogs, or Skyping!)


For the most part he plays on this site, like a few others he uses. But the reason I've mentioned it today is because I want to have it recorded for the future. I am quite sure it won't be too much longer before I announce he's reading from this site - without my help.

~~ooOoo~~

So, overall today was "impressive". Tama 2 put in a lot of effort and I'm very proud of his wonderful work today.


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