Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Learning
with the
Littles.


Letter of the week: Ff



Katie-girl reads during Story Time.

Andrew helps count the Frogs, Firemen, & Fish.


Bryson loves helping his mama color!




Abstract
vs
Concrete...

Our Andrew thinks differently. He is clever; his brain just processess things differently. I, as his mom & teacher, am still learning how that works, and what school will look like for him.

Andrew has had reading lessons for a few months now. "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" I love this book....very effective & efficient. We are not getting very far. He does not want to do it. Is this rebelliousness...or lack of attention... or... too concrete?

So, I pull out an old book called "The Heart of Learning" from Oak Meadows. I researched this curriculum at the beginning of our homeschool journey. (9 years ago) Back then I was researching how to best help Nick absorb information while reading. The concept from this is interesting. It is not a Christian based curriculum; it has more of a 'Mother Earth' tone to it. None-the-less it has some fascinating concepts to guide the child while grasping how they learn... being aware of the mind, heart, & body.

I decide to approach "school" for Andrew at a different angle. Today we had Story Time & Table Time.

Table Time: A stack of paper...and crayons.
Too simple? ...not so much....

The crayons create softer lines than markers, so this was intentional. Andrew is an abstract thinker...he has a lot going on in his brain at once, but to create a concrete idea, it takes process.

His Lesson: Each of us have one blank piece of paper.

I draw grass...not a concrete line, but blades of grass...randomly across the bottom of the paper.

I talk about how grass grows from the ground.

He draws a sun...with a smiley face.

I draw a flower stem...from the grass upwards.

I talk about how flowers grow up out of the ground.

He draws the moon... with a smiley face.

I draw the flower...discussing the flower petals as I go.

He draws two people...he decides that it is him and Katie.

I let Bryson "color" my sketched picture I drew.

While I am "busy" with Bryson...

Andrew draws grass (blades of grass)

While I am talking with Katie (still at the table)...

Andrew draws the flowers (focusing on creating petals).

He begins to take pride in his project, and starts to talk about his creation.

The sun & the moon are Far away.

The two people are Friends.

Our lesson was on the letter Ff.

What I thought was lack of attention was actually very intentional...

and sometimes it takes a mama a moment to slow down, view things from a different angle, and to simply...listen.

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