I want a hamster
I want a hamster.
Any sort of hamster.
A big hamster,
A fat hamster,
A funny hamster,
A sunny hamster,
a nice hamster
a wise hamster,
a quick hamster
a thick hamster
but I WANT A HAMSTER!
by Jonathan James Bekker
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
English - week 2, lesson 2
Jonty wrote a poem - based on one from his book, but other than the format, its all his own. He typed it up and decorated with some pictures we downloaded from the internet.
Maths - week 3, lesson 3
It should have been a fun lesson today as I am on something of a Mini Holiday this week with all my classes being cancelled, so this morning I had ample time to prepare a wonderful lesson.
I had some pictures with numbered sections. I'd present a problem (most subtraction) and then he had to colour in the answer. He was supposed to come out with a pig in the end. It started well, but degenerated quickly as Jonty decided to switch his brain off. He has a tendency to do that - even laughs about it, telling me to put him into gear. Unfortunately his gear today was "reverse".
The worst was thinking that 8 - 4 is 8. And worse still, he thought this because apparently because I (me!) told him so. I may have told him that 8 is 4 more than 4... but still. Funny how he always has to blame someone. Wonder where he gets that from...?
Fortunately there was some written work which seemed to jump start his brain and so he was fully functional for a couple of games afterwards. We did a fun puzzle and other than muddling plus and minus signs he did well. I think I might create a few more versions of that one.
I had a cow version of the pig game and even though it was not scheduled I did that too, and he did just fine. I still think its just the mental arithmetic that freaks him out. I hope so, because if that is the case then with practise he'll get it. And all I need to do is persevere.
He ended off the lesson bellowing for his English class please.
I had some pictures with numbered sections. I'd present a problem (most subtraction) and then he had to colour in the answer. He was supposed to come out with a pig in the end. It started well, but degenerated quickly as Jonty decided to switch his brain off. He has a tendency to do that - even laughs about it, telling me to put him into gear. Unfortunately his gear today was "reverse".
The worst was thinking that 8 - 4 is 8. And worse still, he thought this because apparently because I (me!) told him so. I may have told him that 8 is 4 more than 4... but still. Funny how he always has to blame someone. Wonder where he gets that from...?
Fortunately there was some written work which seemed to jump start his brain and so he was fully functional for a couple of games afterwards. We did a fun puzzle and other than muddling plus and minus signs he did well. I think I might create a few more versions of that one.
I had a cow version of the pig game and even though it was not scheduled I did that too, and he did just fine. I still think its just the mental arithmetic that freaks him out. I hope so, because if that is the case then with practise he'll get it. And all I need to do is persevere.
He ended off the lesson bellowing for his English class please.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Week 3 - English Lesson 1
We did some spelling. He's good. Just like his mom ...
We read quite a few rhyming books and poems. Afterwards he picked out rhyming words and then made up more of his own.
These were his best:
dad sad mad
fish dish Trish (it was the first time he'd ever written my name and his reaction was quite sweet)
love dove shuv
away bay hay may
flap tap map lap
He really enjoyed this and tomorrow he gets to make up his own rhyme and he's excited about that. Even though we're a day behind schedule I am not too worried as he so enjoys his English classes and gets through the work so quickly. Actually this evening I COULD have spent less time reading and moved onto lesson 2 and finished it, but instead I just let him read and explore the poems and rhymes. I think he really appreciates and enjoys poetry and who am I to rush him when he's only just discovering the joys!
We read quite a few rhyming books and poems. Afterwards he picked out rhyming words and then made up more of his own.
These were his best:
dad sad mad
fish dish Trish (it was the first time he'd ever written my name and his reaction was quite sweet)
love dove shuv
away bay hay may
flap tap map lap
He really enjoyed this and tomorrow he gets to make up his own rhyme and he's excited about that. Even though we're a day behind schedule I am not too worried as he so enjoys his English classes and gets through the work so quickly. Actually this evening I COULD have spent less time reading and moved onto lesson 2 and finished it, but instead I just let him read and explore the poems and rhymes. I think he really appreciates and enjoys poetry and who am I to rush him when he's only just discovering the joys!
Week 3 - Maths 1 & 2
Wow - the lessons go so smoothly when I am prepared and know what I'm doing and have the jellytots on hand.
Today's 2 lessons went very well. Jonty was on form, we got the work done and he understood most of it quickly and easily.
We worked on factors adding up to 6 and 7. Went well.
We did story sums (subtraction) and he was quick to pick up what was being asked, write it out in the correct way and answer it correctly too.
We played subtraction board games which he liked .. mainly because he won - ha ha. Seriously, it is a fun way to do arithmetic - using the numbers on the 2 dice, he had to work out "the difference" so it helped cement that concept as well as his mental subtraction skills. He likes games. He likes winning. He likes jellytots.
So - on form, on target, on track. Yippee.
Today's 2 lessons went very well. Jonty was on form, we got the work done and he understood most of it quickly and easily.
We worked on factors adding up to 6 and 7. Went well.
We did story sums (subtraction) and he was quick to pick up what was being asked, write it out in the correct way and answer it correctly too.
We played subtraction board games which he liked .. mainly because he won - ha ha. Seriously, it is a fun way to do arithmetic - using the numbers on the 2 dice, he had to work out "the difference" so it helped cement that concept as well as his mental subtraction skills. He likes games. He likes winning. He likes jellytots.
So - on form, on target, on track. Yippee.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Week 2 - Humanities
This lesson went WAY better than last week. We covered quite a lot of ground as we did most of what I'd left out last week AND this weeks two lessons.
We talked about belonging, belonging to a family, to a group, to a religion. Jonty has plenty of life experience to draw on in terms of groups he belongs to: OMF, taekwondo, JMC and Benjamaat Kindergarten.
In terms of family we caught up a bit with what we'd missed last week. Had a great time looking at photos. Comparing photos of Nick as a little boy with Jonty - pointing out differences and similarities. Also for "Dad". We put the photos into family groups - the Norvals, the Volkers, the Moggees, the Baxters, etc. He was very sure of who was who and who belonged where.
I also got a whole lot of photos of him from birth till recent (last photo was taken 2 weeks ago) and he had to put them in order. He loved that. He then also talked about development and how he's changed over the six years. He says the major changes are that he can talk and do maths and doesn't have to be carried around or wear a nappy anymore.
Then he made a kind of scrapbook, sticking in photos and writing a line or two about the family members in the photos. He did about 5 or 6 pages, but plans to do more over the next weeks. He's going to do this when he has the time and inclination. Its his project.
The discussions about religion were interesting. Obviously he has a good knowledge of Buddhism, but we looked at pictures of other religious groups - a Jewish synagogue, a Muslim mosque, a Hindu temple... he was very interested in it all. I think he thought there was just Buddhism and Christianity.
He totally disagreed with the story we read as part of the lesson which said that you join the church when you get baptised. He informed me that he'll be baptised when he fully understands what that means, and he is still not sure, however, he loves Jesus and has "chosen" Jesus so he IS part of the church.
I asked him what "church" means - what do people do for church? - he says its when we get together, chat, sing some songs, and have a braai. I liked that!!!
The idea of infant baptism struck him as nothing short of ridiculous. A baby cannot possibly know what they are doing! "What's the point?" he asked.
He thinks he might get baptised when we are on Home Assignment.
We had made a flag from the previous lesson so we did not make badges, but he is keen to make a family badge so we might still do that as a craft.
We talked about belonging, belonging to a family, to a group, to a religion. Jonty has plenty of life experience to draw on in terms of groups he belongs to: OMF, taekwondo, JMC and Benjamaat Kindergarten.
In terms of family we caught up a bit with what we'd missed last week. Had a great time looking at photos. Comparing photos of Nick as a little boy with Jonty - pointing out differences and similarities. Also for "Dad". We put the photos into family groups - the Norvals, the Volkers, the Moggees, the Baxters, etc. He was very sure of who was who and who belonged where.
I also got a whole lot of photos of him from birth till recent (last photo was taken 2 weeks ago) and he had to put them in order. He loved that. He then also talked about development and how he's changed over the six years. He says the major changes are that he can talk and do maths and doesn't have to be carried around or wear a nappy anymore.
Then he made a kind of scrapbook, sticking in photos and writing a line or two about the family members in the photos. He did about 5 or 6 pages, but plans to do more over the next weeks. He's going to do this when he has the time and inclination. Its his project.
The discussions about religion were interesting. Obviously he has a good knowledge of Buddhism, but we looked at pictures of other religious groups - a Jewish synagogue, a Muslim mosque, a Hindu temple... he was very interested in it all. I think he thought there was just Buddhism and Christianity.
He totally disagreed with the story we read as part of the lesson which said that you join the church when you get baptised. He informed me that he'll be baptised when he fully understands what that means, and he is still not sure, however, he loves Jesus and has "chosen" Jesus so he IS part of the church.
I asked him what "church" means - what do people do for church? - he says its when we get together, chat, sing some songs, and have a braai. I liked that!!!
The idea of infant baptism struck him as nothing short of ridiculous. A baby cannot possibly know what they are doing! "What's the point?" he asked.
He thinks he might get baptised when we are on Home Assignment.
We had made a flag from the previous lesson so we did not make badges, but he is keen to make a family badge so we might still do that as a craft.
Maths, Week 2, Lesson 5
He is starting to get the hang of the vocab. He gets the key ideas of each lesson. Its the details I worry about.
He counts in 2's just fine. Knows the difference between odds and evens. I found the lesson plan for Day 4 and 5 a bit confusing. The WES course says the text in the OMZ lesson plan book is confusing, but their explanation was not much clearer.
Jonty enjoyed making number patterns. I was not exactly sure what they were so kind of made up what I thought they were!!! I looked through term 1 to see if I missed something, but a quick flip-through yielded nothing - I must e-mail Moira.
He needs to consolidate his "facts to 7". Jonts enjoyed the game, but I did simplify it to build his confidence. I think we'll play the game again - he loved it and it was good practise.
We also used a pack of cards I have for addition practise - up to 7. I actually think he FINALLY grasped that if, for example, 3 + 4 = 7, then 7 - 4 must be 3. I THINK it clicked.
We'll see.
Not a bad week. Yes, some frustration on my part, but he's doing just fine.
I didn't do the Copymaster 3 as it was not in the file, but now see it should be in the Lesson Plan book. I also did not do homework copymaster 12. which was not in the file, but probably also in thte same book. Sadly only read the "additional taeching points" after the lesson and discovered that little gem. But luckily that can be done later as its an extension activity.
He counts in 2's just fine. Knows the difference between odds and evens. I found the lesson plan for Day 4 and 5 a bit confusing. The WES course says the text in the OMZ lesson plan book is confusing, but their explanation was not much clearer.
Jonty enjoyed making number patterns. I was not exactly sure what they were so kind of made up what I thought they were!!! I looked through term 1 to see if I missed something, but a quick flip-through yielded nothing - I must e-mail Moira.
He needs to consolidate his "facts to 7". Jonts enjoyed the game, but I did simplify it to build his confidence. I think we'll play the game again - he loved it and it was good practise.
We also used a pack of cards I have for addition practise - up to 7. I actually think he FINALLY grasped that if, for example, 3 + 4 = 7, then 7 - 4 must be 3. I THINK it clicked.
We'll see.
Not a bad week. Yes, some frustration on my part, but he's doing just fine.
I didn't do the Copymaster 3 as it was not in the file, but now see it should be in the Lesson Plan book. I also did not do homework copymaster 12. which was not in the file, but probably also in thte same book. Sadly only read the "additional taeching points" after the lesson and discovered that little gem. But luckily that can be done later as its an extension activity.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
English 3, 4, 5, Maths 3, 4
All's well. Could not blog yesterday and most of today because of computer/internet difficulties, but everything is sorted out. Jonty is on track with all his work and enjoying it all.
He likes maths when we play games, especially games with the dice, especially games that he wins.
Ask him what is 10 more than 6 and he sighs and groans. Roll the dice and ask him what's ten more than the number he's rolled (6) and he's keen and eager to shout out "16". Yippee.
I won't report on the details of the last 5 lessons, but I had to laugh at his story about his jobs and how he feels about them:
"My job's"
I open and closs the gate. I do not like it.
I get water at supper time. I don't mind doing it.
I have to tidy my drawer. I have to tidy my unduwer. I love it!
LOVE the spelling of "unduwer"
Otherwise, no problems, all according to the schedule. And the last two days have been good in terms of me being pretty cool, calm and collected - if I do say so myself! i do also think that his maths IS improving i.e. he is thinking a bit more and using that brilliant brain of his.
He likes maths when we play games, especially games with the dice, especially games that he wins.
Ask him what is 10 more than 6 and he sighs and groans. Roll the dice and ask him what's ten more than the number he's rolled (6) and he's keen and eager to shout out "16". Yippee.
I won't report on the details of the last 5 lessons, but I had to laugh at his story about his jobs and how he feels about them:
"My job's"
I open and closs the gate. I do not like it.
I get water at supper time. I don't mind doing it.
I have to tidy my drawer. I have to tidy my unduwer. I love it!
LOVE the spelling of "unduwer"
Otherwise, no problems, all according to the schedule. And the last two days have been good in terms of me being pretty cool, calm and collected - if I do say so myself! i do also think that his maths IS improving i.e. he is thinking a bit more and using that brilliant brain of his.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Maths - lesson 4 & 5
Now that a few hours have passed I am somewhat less frustrated and thought I'd better journal today's double lesson properly.
We did some number rhymes - he enjoyed the "10 fat sausages" one and we did this in 1's and in 2's and then a mixture of 1's and 2's which was challenging for him, but fun. He used his number line.
I introduced the 100 square. He counted in tens from various different numbers - up and down. Mostly got it right.
He did the worksheet, and when he checked his work he picked up his 3 mistakes on his own (on one worm had muddled backwards and forwards, on one he had forgotten to count in 10's, and then he'd became dyslexic on one muddling 42 and 24) and corrected them himself. I then made some rattlesnakes and he did another 4 along the same lines, and got them all 100% correct.
We had an interesting discussion about being "perfect". Because he IS such a perfectionist, I actually try to encourage him to try things out, and make mistakes, and even if its not perfect its ok, because no-one is perfect. But actually, when it comes to maths you can, and should, be perfect. Or not? Jonty believes NOT. I am now trying to change that perception!!!
We played a game with jelly tots when he could ask ME questions based on the 100-square. If I got it wrong he ate a jelly tot. If I got it right, I got the jelly tot. He liked the "power" of handing them out and telling me when I was wrong... (makes a change!).
We played odd and even snap - he won. surprise surprise....
We did a bit more work, using the multi-link cubes, figuring out odds and evens. I think he has a good grasp of it, even if he does call it "odd" and "evil". We ended off with some dice games which worked well. Good for practising addition and consolidating all we'd done on odds and evens, plus he won more jelly tots.
Hooray for Jellytot maths!!!
We did some number rhymes - he enjoyed the "10 fat sausages" one and we did this in 1's and in 2's and then a mixture of 1's and 2's which was challenging for him, but fun. He used his number line.
I introduced the 100 square. He counted in tens from various different numbers - up and down. Mostly got it right.
He did the worksheet, and when he checked his work he picked up his 3 mistakes on his own (on one worm had muddled backwards and forwards, on one he had forgotten to count in 10's, and then he'd became dyslexic on one muddling 42 and 24) and corrected them himself. I then made some rattlesnakes and he did another 4 along the same lines, and got them all 100% correct.
We had an interesting discussion about being "perfect". Because he IS such a perfectionist, I actually try to encourage him to try things out, and make mistakes, and even if its not perfect its ok, because no-one is perfect. But actually, when it comes to maths you can, and should, be perfect. Or not? Jonty believes NOT. I am now trying to change that perception!!!
We played a game with jelly tots when he could ask ME questions based on the 100-square. If I got it wrong he ate a jelly tot. If I got it right, I got the jelly tot. He liked the "power" of handing them out and telling me when I was wrong... (makes a change!).
We played odd and even snap - he won. surprise surprise....
We did a bit more work, using the multi-link cubes, figuring out odds and evens. I think he has a good grasp of it, even if he does call it "odd" and "evil". We ended off with some dice games which worked well. Good for practising addition and consolidating all we'd done on odds and evens, plus he won more jelly tots.
Hooray for Jellytot maths!!!
English - week 2, lesson 2
English today was different. Oh, it started with the usual - reading the book, then a game unscrambling sentences which was easy for him and going over his sight words, which he already knows well. But then... we had to make signs. Jonty decided what signs were needed in and around the house:
For his room: (1) Please be quiet (for when Nina is sleeping) and (2) No Entry (aimed, I think at Kids Club kids and Lukas!)
For his special box of treasures: "Do not touch"
For the gate where he often hurts his fingers with the latch : "Be careful"
For the shoe rack: "Please put shoes here"
For the bathroom where Nick was tiling: " Please do not touch the tiles!" - this one he typed on the computer and printed it out very professionally - he enjoyed that a lot.
He also made signs for the cupboards so that P'Noi would know whose drawers were whose: Jonty, Emily and Nina. He did those in Thai and in English - as he pointed out P'Noi can't read English.
He made all the signs on nice big pieces of paper and used lots of bright colours. Getting him to write big was a bit of a challenge, but getting him to use capitals was nigh impossible. I am going to have to work on pointing out that signs normally have big capital letters to draw attention. He did not get that concept at all. I was pleased to see him use an exclamation mark.
He enjoyed it a lot and felt very important going around and sticking up his signs everywhere.
Its the longest lesson we've done yet - mainly because he was a perfectionist about his signs. He wrote all the wording out in his workbook, then chose colours and coloured pens. Then he wrote out the signs onto his coloured paper, but if they were not absolutely perfect, he crumpled them up and started again.
I have a feeling we have not seen the last of his signs.
For his room: (1) Please be quiet (for when Nina is sleeping) and (2) No Entry (aimed, I think at Kids Club kids and Lukas!)
For his special box of treasures: "Do not touch"
For the gate where he often hurts his fingers with the latch : "Be careful"
For the shoe rack: "Please put shoes here"
For the bathroom where Nick was tiling: " Please do not touch the tiles!" - this one he typed on the computer and printed it out very professionally - he enjoyed that a lot.
He also made signs for the cupboards so that P'Noi would know whose drawers were whose: Jonty, Emily and Nina. He did those in Thai and in English - as he pointed out P'Noi can't read English.
He made all the signs on nice big pieces of paper and used lots of bright colours. Getting him to write big was a bit of a challenge, but getting him to use capitals was nigh impossible. I am going to have to work on pointing out that signs normally have big capital letters to draw attention. He did not get that concept at all. I was pleased to see him use an exclamation mark.
He enjoyed it a lot and felt very important going around and sticking up his signs everywhere.
Its the longest lesson we've done yet - mainly because he was a perfectionist about his signs. He wrote all the wording out in his workbook, then chose colours and coloured pens. Then he wrote out the signs onto his coloured paper, but if they were not absolutely perfect, he crumpled them up and started again.
I have a feeling we have not seen the last of his signs.
Monday, February 15, 2010
End of week 1 Maths
Today I finished up Week 1's Maths lessons. Frustraaaaaaaaaation. I was not not not designed to be a maths teacher.
Jonty, count in 10's from 10 to 100.
10, 20, 30 ... all the way to ... 100
Jonty, count in tens from 6.
6, 16, 26, etc...
Jonty, count backwards in tens from 55
55, 45, 35
The boy's a genius. he's got this concept so quickly. The first time we've done it and he's brilliant - he's referring to his chart, but that's fine, he's allowed to and I am glad he's figured out how to use it.
Jonty, count backwards in tens from 26
25, 24, 23...
Jonty, what's 2 10's more than 10?
12
Jonty, what's 2 minus 1?
0 - he says, after working it out on his fingers!!!!!!
aaaaaagh.
What can I do?
I am just not a maths teacher.
Jonty, count in 10's from 10 to 100.
10, 20, 30 ... all the way to ... 100
Jonty, count in tens from 6.
6, 16, 26, etc...
Jonty, count backwards in tens from 55
55, 45, 35
The boy's a genius. he's got this concept so quickly. The first time we've done it and he's brilliant - he's referring to his chart, but that's fine, he's allowed to and I am glad he's figured out how to use it.
Jonty, count backwards in tens from 26
25, 24, 23...
Jonty, what's 2 10's more than 10?
12
Jonty, what's 2 minus 1?
0 - he says, after working it out on his fingers!!!!!!
aaaaaagh.
What can I do?
I am just not a maths teacher.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Science
Today Jonty had his first science class...with the best science teacher we can afford...moi! I was pretty nervous about it initially. I mean, really, science is an important subject and whilst I am very comfortable teaching adults English and facilitating workshops for adults...school science! Man that's daunting! Anyway, after lunch, with much fanfare and excitement, we broke out the science curriculum. Week 1 - "Ourselves". For the next hour and a half Jonty and I labelled body parts, drew pictures, discussed the differences between animals and non-animals, the commonalities of animals and generally had a fun time. We even managed a game of "snap" which tied in with the theme, as well as "Simon Says" and a song. It really was a good time together and for me, it felt very meaningful. It was a good time of bonding and it felt very good as a parent to spend focused, intentional time with my child, doing something that was fun for both of us and yet part of his education too. We had some serious discussion and we had some silly talk and we laughed. I don't think I ever had this much fun learning science at school. I hope my son's experience was a good one and I hope that the rest of the syllabus will be in the same vein - hanging together, having fun whilst gaining vital knowledge in the process. I really feel (at this stage) that it is a rare privilege to be part of my son's education.
Humanities, Maths
It is fairly important to be prepared when being a home school teacher. I had read through the lesson plans for Humanities - in fact I'd read through the whole first 4 weeks, but I had not actually PREPARED. After a very unsatisfactory start to the lesson yesterday I called it a day with Jonty and did not complete the lesson. I just stopped the class and sent him to watch TV. I realised that he lost out because I had not done my homework. Not fair. And he was disappointed too. The lesson was about families, and he was enjoying it. So today, while waiting for Em to do her ballet, I re-read the lesson plans, and made copious notes of what I needed to do and how I needed to prepare. I am confident things will go better next week.
This morning I did 2 maths lessons, even though its Sunday, because I am still trying to catch up. I think that by the end of this week he should be on par with his maths. He's doing well - when he thinks, that is. He does not really like to think. He likes to know the answers, memorise them, and the sprout them.
He counted well in 2's (starting with 0 or with 1, and in fact starting with any number). he counts backwards easily, and can count backwards - a little slower - in 2's. He is very comfortable counting up and down in 10's. He is also very quick to figure out which number is bigger than which, and also to order numbers correctly e.g. given a sequence like 38, 12, 7, 56, etc. he will have them sorted in seconds.
He enjoys written work a lot - must be because that's what he's used to from his Thai school. You can see him visibly relax when we move from mental work to written work! He works very quickly and confidently.
He's really getting the hang of the new vocab too! he was even coming up with different ways to say "2 plus 3" or whatever.
He pretty much breezed through his 2 lessons - took about an hour to do both (with numerous interruptions from the E and the N factors).
And here endeth my day. Good night. Sleep tight.
This morning I did 2 maths lessons, even though its Sunday, because I am still trying to catch up. I think that by the end of this week he should be on par with his maths. He's doing well - when he thinks, that is. He does not really like to think. He likes to know the answers, memorise them, and the sprout them.
He counted well in 2's (starting with 0 or with 1, and in fact starting with any number). he counts backwards easily, and can count backwards - a little slower - in 2's. He is very comfortable counting up and down in 10's. He is also very quick to figure out which number is bigger than which, and also to order numbers correctly e.g. given a sequence like 38, 12, 7, 56, etc. he will have them sorted in seconds.
He enjoys written work a lot - must be because that's what he's used to from his Thai school. You can see him visibly relax when we move from mental work to written work! He works very quickly and confidently.
He's really getting the hang of the new vocab too! he was even coming up with different ways to say "2 plus 3" or whatever.
He pretty much breezed through his 2 lessons - took about an hour to do both (with numerous interruptions from the E and the N factors).
And here endeth my day. Good night. Sleep tight.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
English 4 & 5, Maths 1
Jonty had a bad night last night with terrible earache and woke up this morning with a raging fever. So weak he could not even walk. So I did not send him to school, but rather to the doctor. He now has a vast array of medications, poor kid.
But it was, ironically, a really good homeschooling day!
Once the medication kicked in we had our first proper maths lesson ever. Lesson 1, week 1, Term 2. It was so much fun. Jonty had a ball. And because it was not "assessment" or "test" or "check-up" I did not feel worried or stressed when he asked what words meant. We got through everything and I don't think he even realised he'd had a lesson.
I have made "Monster Maths" scary posters for all the different ways of expressing "plus", "minus" and "equals". Jonty did not think they were very scary but he liked them and referred to them.
Then we did an English lesson which was great. He takes great pride in his work.
I was not planning to do anymore teaching today, but because he'd slept so much during the day today - feeling so grim, poor boy - at 7pm bedtime, he could not sleep. So he begged me to do another English lesson. We thus completed the week's English programme! Great news as tomorrow we can catch up with the Maths a bit.
He had read his book five times already, now he had a "creative writing" exercise to tell the story from the perspective of one of the characters in the book. Initially he thought it would be fun to tell it from Floppy's point of view, but later settled on Chip as a simpler option. Here it is:
STORy to tell (by Chip)
I went to a New house. I looked at quite a lot of room's. kipper pulled the wallpaper. I liked the house. I liked the Big Bedroom. there was a treehouse. the house was a grate house. I hope we moov into the house. the end.
Apparently spelling and handwriting are not too important, the idea is to get him to express his own ideas and gain confidence in writing. He does write confidently - he likes me to sit with him and checks spelling with me from time to time, but mostly he's correct. I love the apostrophe in "room's".
He could not spell out "there" phonetically, so I helped him with that word. He looked up "house" and "wallpaper" in the book. He spelled out "grate" and "moov" phonetically - and I was very proud of myself for just sitting by and not correcting him. Takes soooo much effort.
When he'd finished he wanted me to read it to him, then he read it. He was so pleased with himself.
Then he went to bed as it was 8pm and way past his bedtime.
I hope his infection clears up soon because he's really in pain, but man, he does his work well when he's sick.
But it was, ironically, a really good homeschooling day!
Once the medication kicked in we had our first proper maths lesson ever. Lesson 1, week 1, Term 2. It was so much fun. Jonty had a ball. And because it was not "assessment" or "test" or "check-up" I did not feel worried or stressed when he asked what words meant. We got through everything and I don't think he even realised he'd had a lesson.
I have made "Monster Maths" scary posters for all the different ways of expressing "plus", "minus" and "equals". Jonty did not think they were very scary but he liked them and referred to them.
Then we did an English lesson which was great. He takes great pride in his work.
I was not planning to do anymore teaching today, but because he'd slept so much during the day today - feeling so grim, poor boy - at 7pm bedtime, he could not sleep. So he begged me to do another English lesson. We thus completed the week's English programme! Great news as tomorrow we can catch up with the Maths a bit.
He had read his book five times already, now he had a "creative writing" exercise to tell the story from the perspective of one of the characters in the book. Initially he thought it would be fun to tell it from Floppy's point of view, but later settled on Chip as a simpler option. Here it is:
STORy to tell (by Chip)
I went to a New house. I looked at quite a lot of room's. kipper pulled the wallpaper. I liked the house. I liked the Big Bedroom. there was a treehouse. the house was a grate house. I hope we moov into the house. the end.
Apparently spelling and handwriting are not too important, the idea is to get him to express his own ideas and gain confidence in writing. He does write confidently - he likes me to sit with him and checks spelling with me from time to time, but mostly he's correct. I love the apostrophe in "room's".
He could not spell out "there" phonetically, so I helped him with that word. He looked up "house" and "wallpaper" in the book. He spelled out "grate" and "moov" phonetically - and I was very proud of myself for just sitting by and not correcting him. Takes soooo much effort.
When he'd finished he wanted me to read it to him, then he read it. He was so pleased with himself.
Then he went to bed as it was 8pm and way past his bedtime.
I hope his infection clears up soon because he's really in pain, but man, he does his work well when he's sick.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
English 3, Maths still under review
"Mom, what work have you got for me today?" Oh, what precious words to hear!!!
Today Jonty had to catch up with his English. He'd not been able to do any writing because his books had not arrived yet, but praise God now they have arrived. So he did his first bit of written work. He enjoys writing and he's good at it. He did some spelling and handwriting, and then I dictated some sentences and he filled in the gap words. he did well. He spelled "went" as "wend" but I think that's just because he has a blocked nose at the moment. He read it a few times and spelled it out phonetically yet insisted that it was right. Must be the nose.
Then we did lesson 3. We re-looked at his book, he was not happy, he wanted to move onto the next one. I explained that we do this book for the whole week. He accepted that... Today he had to re-read the story with feeling. He gave it stick!!! It was not just a big room it was a beeeeeeeeeg room. Kipper did not just look up the chimney, he looked uuuuuuuup the chimney - neck extended way up. So sweet. He did really well.
we worked on the CH sound which, thanks to about a year of speech therapy, was a breeze. Blessings come in unexpected ways.
Then onto maths -
I did some check up tests for Jonty. I had some concerns afterwards. I was feeling a little bit unsure, should I start at Term 1 rather, could I really begin on Term 2 when Jonty was asking basic questions about vocab??? And how could I teach the new concepts well?
But now this is where the beauty of having a tutor to contact is so evident. I e-mailed Moira, our angel in the UK, and she was such a help. Moira answered within the hour!
Jonty is normal. All kids, even kids in the UK, struggle with the this vocab... and based on what he did do and did answer, in the test we can confidently proceed with Term 2 as the concepts do get consolidated. Moira offered some tips and games for teaching the new concepts and new ways of thinking... she suggested 2 websites for additional resources. WOW! This is an awesome way to homeschool!
Tomorrow we start Lesson 1, Term 2.
We're doing English and Maths from Monday to Friday. Humanities on Saturdays, and Science on Sundays. I am hoping that Humanities and Science will be more like doing a project on the weekend than "school". From what I have seen of the lessons I am quite confident that it will work out that way. The lessons are really interesting, relevant and fun.
I use the word "fun" a lot, don't I!??
Good!
Today Jonty had to catch up with his English. He'd not been able to do any writing because his books had not arrived yet, but praise God now they have arrived. So he did his first bit of written work. He enjoys writing and he's good at it. He did some spelling and handwriting, and then I dictated some sentences and he filled in the gap words. he did well. He spelled "went" as "wend" but I think that's just because he has a blocked nose at the moment. He read it a few times and spelled it out phonetically yet insisted that it was right. Must be the nose.
Then we did lesson 3. We re-looked at his book, he was not happy, he wanted to move onto the next one. I explained that we do this book for the whole week. He accepted that... Today he had to re-read the story with feeling. He gave it stick!!! It was not just a big room it was a beeeeeeeeeg room. Kipper did not just look up the chimney, he looked uuuuuuuup the chimney - neck extended way up. So sweet. He did really well.
we worked on the CH sound which, thanks to about a year of speech therapy, was a breeze. Blessings come in unexpected ways.
Then onto maths -
I did some check up tests for Jonty. I had some concerns afterwards. I was feeling a little bit unsure, should I start at Term 1 rather, could I really begin on Term 2 when Jonty was asking basic questions about vocab??? And how could I teach the new concepts well?
But now this is where the beauty of having a tutor to contact is so evident. I e-mailed Moira, our angel in the UK, and she was such a help. Moira answered within the hour!
Jonty is normal. All kids, even kids in the UK, struggle with the this vocab... and based on what he did do and did answer, in the test we can confidently proceed with Term 2 as the concepts do get consolidated. Moira offered some tips and games for teaching the new concepts and new ways of thinking... she suggested 2 websites for additional resources. WOW! This is an awesome way to homeschool!
Tomorrow we start Lesson 1, Term 2.
We're doing English and Maths from Monday to Friday. Humanities on Saturdays, and Science on Sundays. I am hoping that Humanities and Science will be more like doing a project on the weekend than "school". From what I have seen of the lessons I am quite confident that it will work out that way. The lessons are really interesting, relevant and fun.
I use the word "fun" a lot, don't I!??
Good!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Not just homeschooling
Don't think for a minute that my boy is only learning from him home-schooling mom! Or no siree! Yesterday he comes home with a certificate of proficiency in Buddhism.
There is an organisation - some connection with UNESCO too - based in Bangkok running a project to increase Thai people's knowledge about Buddhism. Jonty not only passed their test, he got full marks for it.
The teachers made me laugh because they know we're Christians so they asked how I would feel if they were to award Jonty this particular certificate i.e. on the off chance, if, perhaps, he were to write the test.... you know, just suppose...
I asked a few questions and was comfortable with their answers (clearly it was intellectual knowledge only) so I said it was fine - whereupon they sheepishly presented him with the certificate and his prize, which one teacher was hiding behind her back!!!
And so his knowledge grows.
There is an organisation - some connection with UNESCO too - based in Bangkok running a project to increase Thai people's knowledge about Buddhism. Jonty not only passed their test, he got full marks for it.
The teachers made me laugh because they know we're Christians so they asked how I would feel if they were to award Jonty this particular certificate i.e. on the off chance, if, perhaps, he were to write the test.... you know, just suppose...
I asked a few questions and was comfortable with their answers (clearly it was intellectual knowledge only) so I said it was fine - whereupon they sheepishly presented him with the certificate and his prize, which one teacher was hiding behind her back!!!
And so his knowledge grows.
Maths - A starting point.
Oh boy.
It was decided that Jonty would start Term 2 of Grade 1 as he's already covered quite a bit of maths in his Thai kindergarten. Today I discovered that "covered the material" is not the same as "mastered the material" ...
Sadly this was a reminder of the shortfalls in the Thai education system. For one - problem solving does not seem to feature. The WES maths curriculum that we're using DOES.
Because we are skipping Term 1 I decided to do some of the workshets and assessments provided... just to check if he really DOES have the concepts.
Jonty is a bright boy. Ask him what's 2 plus 2 and he'll laugh at you for asking such an easy question - he'll answer immediately and ask for another sum. Ask him this - which is what I did this afternoon - "if hot dogs cost 2 baht each and I buy 2 hot dogs, how much will I need to pay?"
5
2
3, 10, 1...
Aaaagh!
Never mind, we drew hot dogs, put price tags on them and he got that one easily enough. But then I asked the follow up question - "if you pay the owner 5 baht for those hot dogs, how much change will you get?"
Hits forehead, bangs head on desk, squints eyes, mutters to himself "think think think"!
Okay, time out. Take a Marie biscuit and milk break. During the break ask him casually 'what's 5 minus 4?' ... does not even pause: "1".
He can also easily subtract 3 from 5, but don't ask him "how many more is 5 than 3". Its a different way of thinking, and actually having to figure out what the problem is before he can solve it. The problem is not being neatly presented to him.
Well, I am sure we'll get there, and even in the short time we spent today I could see progress. But not without a degree of frustration on my part which I regret to say I did not hide very well.
There is work to do before we get into term 2, that's for sure! We had a good talk though, about the difference between Thai school and this work, and although Jonty still thinks we're making a monumental mistake wanting to home-school him, he's surprisingly enthusiastic about it.
Another problem is with the terminology. We've also only used "plus" and "minus" or "take away" at home. The new syllabus uses words and phrases like "add", "what's the total", "the difference" and "subtract". He's learning a whole new language.
I think I need to make some wall charts with all the different terms to help him remember.
On a more positive note, we played "shop shop" which was fun and he paid correctly and intelligently most of the time, although I could have easily swindled him when it came to giving him change! But at least that was fun.
I also played a game to see if he really knows the value of numbers, and he does.
He enjoyed a colouring in exercise where he had to match the numbers to the plants and then colour them in the colour indicated on the "seed" packet.
All in all it took about 35 minutes, including the cookie break which was probably the most productive time.
It was decided that Jonty would start Term 2 of Grade 1 as he's already covered quite a bit of maths in his Thai kindergarten. Today I discovered that "covered the material" is not the same as "mastered the material" ...
Sadly this was a reminder of the shortfalls in the Thai education system. For one - problem solving does not seem to feature. The WES maths curriculum that we're using DOES.
Because we are skipping Term 1 I decided to do some of the workshets and assessments provided... just to check if he really DOES have the concepts.
Jonty is a bright boy. Ask him what's 2 plus 2 and he'll laugh at you for asking such an easy question - he'll answer immediately and ask for another sum. Ask him this - which is what I did this afternoon - "if hot dogs cost 2 baht each and I buy 2 hot dogs, how much will I need to pay?"
5
2
3, 10, 1...
Aaaagh!
Never mind, we drew hot dogs, put price tags on them and he got that one easily enough. But then I asked the follow up question - "if you pay the owner 5 baht for those hot dogs, how much change will you get?"
Hits forehead, bangs head on desk, squints eyes, mutters to himself "think think think"!
Okay, time out. Take a Marie biscuit and milk break. During the break ask him casually 'what's 5 minus 4?' ... does not even pause: "1".
He can also easily subtract 3 from 5, but don't ask him "how many more is 5 than 3". Its a different way of thinking, and actually having to figure out what the problem is before he can solve it. The problem is not being neatly presented to him.
Well, I am sure we'll get there, and even in the short time we spent today I could see progress. But not without a degree of frustration on my part which I regret to say I did not hide very well.
There is work to do before we get into term 2, that's for sure! We had a good talk though, about the difference between Thai school and this work, and although Jonty still thinks we're making a monumental mistake wanting to home-school him, he's surprisingly enthusiastic about it.
Another problem is with the terminology. We've also only used "plus" and "minus" or "take away" at home. The new syllabus uses words and phrases like "add", "what's the total", "the difference" and "subtract". He's learning a whole new language.
I think I need to make some wall charts with all the different terms to help him remember.
On a more positive note, we played "shop shop" which was fun and he paid correctly and intelligently most of the time, although I could have easily swindled him when it came to giving him change! But at least that was fun.
I also played a game to see if he really knows the value of numbers, and he does.
He enjoyed a colouring in exercise where he had to match the numbers to the plants and then colour them in the colour indicated on the "seed" packet.
All in all it took about 35 minutes, including the cookie break which was probably the most productive time.
Monday, February 8, 2010
English: Lessons 1 & 2
Lesson 1.
I did not have the workbook, so things MAY have been different if I'd had it. As it was the lesson took about 10 minutes...
My job was to introduce the book and the characters: "House for Sale" with Biff, Chip, Floppy, Mum, Dad, and Kipper all featuring. The book was really appropriate - we've just moved house and our "new" house was also in a state of disrepair like the one in the book ... yet we all liked it.
Jonty liked the house. Mum liked it too. Emily liked the house. Nina liked the house. Everyone liked the house. Domino and Daisy liked it too.
Then Jonty read the book. Perfectly. Fluently. Then he wanted wanted to read books 2 through to 6. And then the extra stories provided too. Then our 10 minutes were up. No, no, no, I exaggerate, he actually read all the other stories while I was off with Emily doing ballet and music (Emily does it, not me!).
Lesson 2:
He read the book again. Very confident. Lots of expression. Good pauses at the full stops. Good reader!
Then he made had to draw and write up an advertisement for a house. The boy does not know what an advertisement is!!!!!!! why is that? probably because (1) we don't really have magazines and newspapers lying around and (2) what advertising he does see in terms of fliers, billboards, etc, he probably has not realised are adverts. So, before anything else I had to explain what they are. I found one of Nick's Runners' World magazines and we looked at some adverts for running shoes, arnica, etc.. then looked at Time and Newsweek and found adverts for Rolex and laptops.
Then the lights when on.
"Oh", says my little boy, "So an advert is when people lie to you to get you to buy something!"
That figured out, he created a wonderful advert for an imaginary house which had 3 basements, a beatufiul garden and was painted green and yellow. Going for 60 baht! what a salesman. He was nervous about writing it up, said he'd rather draw and talk about it, but once he got going he enjoyed the task tremendously.
Nina then tore up his work, so he had to re-do it which he did with a great deal of enthusiasm. This time, though, the house was going for 600 baht. Inflation you know...
he needed help with some words e.g. garden and basement, but he sounded them out and got them. He spelled out 'beautiful' perfectly, but then lost his confidence when he came to writing it and asked me to help.
He is a bit confused about the different scripts. At school he writes the "Thai" way, but has noticed that the script is different. He kind of mixes them at the moment. I am trying to be relaxed about that, but I do freak out a bit when he forms his o's the wrong way round, and writes his i's upwards not downwards. I know that's how they get taught at school, but its going to make it difficult to write cursive one day.
Anyway, we played some word games for reinforcement, but it was actually just for fun as he knew the words and did not really need the reinforcement. But it was fun, and that's always good.
he's so excited about it and so keen. Lovely student. My very best one.
I did not have the workbook, so things MAY have been different if I'd had it. As it was the lesson took about 10 minutes...
My job was to introduce the book and the characters: "House for Sale" with Biff, Chip, Floppy, Mum, Dad, and Kipper all featuring. The book was really appropriate - we've just moved house and our "new" house was also in a state of disrepair like the one in the book ... yet we all liked it.
Jonty liked the house. Mum liked it too. Emily liked the house. Nina liked the house. Everyone liked the house. Domino and Daisy liked it too.
Then Jonty read the book. Perfectly. Fluently. Then he wanted wanted to read books 2 through to 6. And then the extra stories provided too. Then our 10 minutes were up. No, no, no, I exaggerate, he actually read all the other stories while I was off with Emily doing ballet and music (Emily does it, not me!).
Lesson 2:
He read the book again. Very confident. Lots of expression. Good pauses at the full stops. Good reader!
Then he made had to draw and write up an advertisement for a house. The boy does not know what an advertisement is!!!!!!! why is that? probably because (1) we don't really have magazines and newspapers lying around and (2) what advertising he does see in terms of fliers, billboards, etc, he probably has not realised are adverts. So, before anything else I had to explain what they are. I found one of Nick's Runners' World magazines and we looked at some adverts for running shoes, arnica, etc.. then looked at Time and Newsweek and found adverts for Rolex and laptops.
Then the lights when on.
"Oh", says my little boy, "So an advert is when people lie to you to get you to buy something!"
That figured out, he created a wonderful advert for an imaginary house which had 3 basements, a beatufiul garden and was painted green and yellow. Going for 60 baht! what a salesman. He was nervous about writing it up, said he'd rather draw and talk about it, but once he got going he enjoyed the task tremendously.
Nina then tore up his work, so he had to re-do it which he did with a great deal of enthusiasm. This time, though, the house was going for 600 baht. Inflation you know...
he needed help with some words e.g. garden and basement, but he sounded them out and got them. He spelled out 'beautiful' perfectly, but then lost his confidence when he came to writing it and asked me to help.
He is a bit confused about the different scripts. At school he writes the "Thai" way, but has noticed that the script is different. He kind of mixes them at the moment. I am trying to be relaxed about that, but I do freak out a bit when he forms his o's the wrong way round, and writes his i's upwards not downwards. I know that's how they get taught at school, but its going to make it difficult to write cursive one day.
Anyway, we played some word games for reinforcement, but it was actually just for fun as he knew the words and did not really need the reinforcement. But it was fun, and that's always good.
he's so excited about it and so keen. Lovely student. My very best one.
The Start
It was hard to know when to start. The academic year runs from May to March in Thailand. It runs from January to December in South Africa and something like August to July in England. And we are South Africans, living in Thailand, following a British homeschool curriclum. Confusion.
I made the decision to follow the South African year as closely as possible because, when we go home Jonty will need to fit into that system, so it makes the most sense. But a January start was out of the question as we moved our centre and our home in January and amidst the rubble and chaos of our move/renovations, I did not think it was possible to start the programme. And I was right!
Another obstacle: some materials came from a kind colleague in Central Thailand who loaned us books to help save costs (quite a considerable savings, I might add). Some materials and resources came from England. Some from Singapore. And some needed to be bought in Lampang itself. Collecting and organising all these materials, and keeping track of it all was a mission in itself!
At this stage we have a lot of the resources, but by no means all. But its almost mid-February and time to start if we want to be finished by November 2010.
Its all so new to me and I am sure I'm asking our tutor lots of silly questions. I know that I'll get into it, but for now its all just strange.
So, here goes....
I made the decision to follow the South African year as closely as possible because, when we go home Jonty will need to fit into that system, so it makes the most sense. But a January start was out of the question as we moved our centre and our home in January and amidst the rubble and chaos of our move/renovations, I did not think it was possible to start the programme. And I was right!
Another obstacle: some materials came from a kind colleague in Central Thailand who loaned us books to help save costs (quite a considerable savings, I might add). Some materials and resources came from England. Some from Singapore. And some needed to be bought in Lampang itself. Collecting and organising all these materials, and keeping track of it all was a mission in itself!
At this stage we have a lot of the resources, but by no means all. But its almost mid-February and time to start if we want to be finished by November 2010.
Its all so new to me and I am sure I'm asking our tutor lots of silly questions. I know that I'll get into it, but for now its all just strange.
So, here goes....
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