In last week’s blog we talked about the Kindergarten Objective that I am following. I really dive deep into part one of making learning fun, why I wanted to instill a life long learner in a positive way from the beginning.
On Monday we dove into part 2 of the objective, all about a good bath foundation (in a fun way).
Today we will take the leap into the grey deep waters of the third part of the objective. A good foundation in reading. Here is the objective statement to refresh your memory:
As I teach kindergarten the goal is to make learning fun; to inspire a life long learner and give a good foundation for math and reading.
A Good Foundation In Reading!
With literacy rates being really low in the public schools currently around us (below 50%), if my daughter is one day subjected to go to them I want her to have a solid foundation in reading before she gets there. I am a pretty strong reader. I avidly enjoy reading with the kindle unlimited program and have personally read over 100 novels this year myself.
Teaching Reading and Phonics:
Teaching phonics and reading was not my strong suit. All the letter and letter combinations and how to accurately teach them and all the little rules is overwhelming. So I grabbed some aids!
First we use the Abeka Video Program for phonics. And we watch every long, tedious, and boring video. This is where school begins to get un-fun. When moral is extra extra low, I have a secret tool to get us through phonics…an afternoon snack of a cookie and a glass of milk. That brings an instant smile and participation. While this isn’t your go to every day, we do it sometimes.
Next, I have give her a notebook to write stuff down. She loves having a note book so this is a big deal for her.
Like I said in the first blog, movie the classroom around to watch the abeka videos helps. The content is good, just that the same thing day in and out (of a boring video) is not. They do a lot of repetition. So we shake things up a bit with each class. In total the video classes for the abeka K5 phonics program are about 45 minutes a day.
The Homer Learning Program
There was a promotional to get the homer program for only $45 a month and I took it last week. Before you ask, yes it was another recommendation from the modernfarmhousefamily insta. Gotta love that lady. She had a special code for it.
It was a really great deal! I’d tried abc mouse before for a year in preschool and honestly, we didn’t like it. The program did load…it was awful. I’ll link it our full experience here. The Homer Reading I had started considering after I realized that things with abeka were not fully clicking all the time…it was not taught in her “learning language”. When I saw the code for 62% off, I knew where part of my tax refund was going. Score.
No, but really this program is great! Even without the code I was going to get it at $7.99 a month. I just got really lucky!
So far the program has been really fun, lots of learning games, Interactive stories, and a really great pathway that is working with helping her to identify letters within words in a fun game like way that she loves. It basically is a program that teaches kids to read in game form! Yay…sneaky learning!
Well worth our time!
So, with these two combine I’m hopefully for a really fun reading, and game filled kindergarten experience!
I honestly have to say of the two programs, the homer is working better right now!
Brie
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