Reading and Relevance

I had a dream about unschooling last night.  Well, it wasn't so much a dream, with pictures or things happening, as it was my mind processing some thoughts.

Something that comes up frequently in unschooling discussions is the idea that with natural learning, people will learn what they need to know when they need to know it.  That things will click in their minds when those things are relevant to their lives. 

This is a really basic unschooling concept that I've believed for a long time.  I've seen many examples of it, not only with my unschooled kids, but also with schooled kids and adults.  You can tell someone something a hundred times, but it's not going to mean a thing to them until it needs to mean something to them.  Sure, we all pick up random facts (that's how we make connections later when they have relevance to our lives) and people can master rote memorization, but truly involved, enthusiastic learning happens when we have a personal, intrinsic need to know the information or how to do the skill.

So, my dream last night was about that, but more specifically about how it applies to E.  This year of unschooling was trying for me.  I wrote about Freaking Out and how my confidence returned after that.  But it wasn't the same level of confidence as I've had in the past.

Mostly because she's still not reading fluently.  She's reading better than she was a year ago.  She sounds out words when she writes notes to people or makes lists.  She writes in her diary.  She tells me words she sees on street signs.  Sometimes, she sees a word and makes a comment indicating she has read it, even though she didn't even realize she was reading!  And occasionally, she reads books.  She slowly and painfully makes her way through one word at a time, until she's read a page or two.

So she can do it, but it's slow, occasional, sporadic, frustrating, and never in front of anyone outside our family.

In my dream, I put two and two together.

She's not reading fluently or frequently yet, because it's not relevant to her yet.

And there are a TON of other things that ARE relevant to her.  Every moment I spend concerned about her reading ability, I am missing out on sharing those things with her instead.

It's the school system that says reading "should" be relevant to her at this age, and that survival skills (her latest interest) "should" be relevant to her at age.... well.... actually that never comes up in a public school curriculum.   

The other part of my dream was my mind reminding me that I always have choices.

I could put her in school, and she could be shamed and teased, or tested and found to be a failure or have some sort of problem, because of her reading ability.  And maybe she'd start reading better.... or not.   

I could go buy a curriculum and have her sit down every day and try to read through tears of frustration.   And maybe she'd start reading better.... or not.

Those are legitimate options that many parents choose to make.

They are not ones I can seriously consider.

Every moment that she spent in school or crying over a reading lesson at home, would be time she could be spending learning survival skills that would never even be touched on in school.  She'd be missing out on bonding with her grandpa over emergency bags, and learning money management while comparing pocket knife prices with me on Amazon.  She'd be missing out on learning real skills that could save her life.

She'd even be missing out on writing lists of survival gear which she did last week.

E with her BoB and camping knife/fork/spoon

Yep, tears over reading lessons could cause her to not have the time or desire to spend actually writing and reading for reasons that are truly, intrinsically her own.  How ironic.







Update:  I wrote this several days ago, but hadn't posted it yet, and right after that, we got E and L a phone.  They started using their dad's old phone, which is a better phone than my bottom-of-the-line flip phone.  That doesn't bother me one bit, because I had a feeling they'd want to text, and that is much easier with a keyboard.  Sure enough, reading and writing have much more relevance to her on a daily basis for the last few days.


 


 

Drive to Collect Donations to Help Animals

E has been working on a doing a drive to raise money for the local animal shelter and a horse rescue.  She wanted to do something to help animals, so we called the animal shelter to see if she could volunteer, but they said she was too young.  So we googled for ideas of ways kids can help animals, and came across the idea to do a drive to collect donations.

She called the animal shelter and horse rescue and asked what they need.  Then she presented her idea to 4H and asked them to make it a committee. Then she did a presentation for the Humane Society and asked them to help.  She wrote a letter to businesses to ask them if she can put collection boxes in their locations, went to their locations, talked to the owners/managers, told them her idea, and got permission to put the boxes in 3 businesses.  Another business owner heard about it and offered to let her put one there, and of course there will be one at our county 4H office.

Yesterday, we went shopping for all the box decorating supplies and the kids on the committee, including L, met to decorate the boxes.  E typed up the lists of what the animal shelter and horse rescue said they need, I formatted it, and we posted them on the boxes. 

Not sure if the other kid's mom is ok with her picture being on a public blog, thus the editing.

Today we went down to the newspaper office, and she told one of the reporters all about the project, so we're hoping it will be in the paper next week.  The boxes will be up for the whole month of April, because it is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month.  So I'll post an update after that with a tally of what gets collected! 

We also went down to the animal shelter today, so the girls could see the animals they are collecting donations for.  Those poor dogs will probably be really glad to get some new blankets and beds!  Other than that, they look like they are cared for well, and we were glad to hear that even though they are not a no-kill shelter, they do work with various rescues to try to either adopt out or transfer the animals before even considering putting them down.  The girls REALLY wanted to take home one of the adorable kittens they had.

She has learned so much from doing this:

Public speaking/presenting skills
Cold calling skills
Making a plan and implementing it
Typing and writing (spelling, reading)
How shelters/rescues work
Volunteering
Working with others
Finding a way to make something happen when the first idea doesn't work out

Reading, Freak Outs and Playing with Words

Around the time that E turned 8, I experienced this weird dip in my confidence about how we are doing things.  Having been applying unschooling principles since she was 2, I've seen such a huge amount of natural learning and proof of how well unschooling works in those 6 years.  So, normally, the occasional, mild bit of nervousness just because this is my oldest child and it's all new, is easily relieved by seeing how much they are learning, comparing where they are this year to last year, seeing how much they enjoy learning, and knowing that I provide a life rich with experiences and resources.  However, something about her turning 8 and still not reading really well, sent me on a downward spiral.

I mostly kept it to myself, but I had the occasional moment of pushing, "You can read that," when she asked me to read something to her, or "Just try to sound it out one more time," after she had tried and was clearly frustrated.

Then in January I had a freak out about her not knowing how to spell her last name.  Her first name is 8 letters and she could spell it and write it at 4 years old.  Her last name is 8 letters, but for some reason she was stuck in learning how to spell it.

I have to admit that the worst part is that it's not that I believe that it really matters in the long run for *her* if she learns to write it at 8 or at 12. It's that I was afraid that if we end up in some social situation where she is expected to spell it, I will look like the neglectful, failing idiot who hasn't taught her kid how to do something so basic.  In my experience, the worst parenting mistakes are made when we stop looking at our kids and their needs, and start worrying more about what other people think.



So I freaked out and I apologized.  She said she was feeling frustrated by it too and that she wanted to learn it, but that it was hard.  So I asked if she wanted to find a way to make it fun and she did. I didn't think it would really click with this one fun thing and I reminded myself that was ok and that I *would not* push.  But suddenly it just clicked and now she can spell her last name!  We did a cheer leading thing where she spelled out her last name by making each letter with her body.

She wrote it about a dozen times a few days later, both just for fun and because she made some cards to give to the neighbors that say "Her Name, Pet Sitting, Phone Number." 

After that, I made sure I gave her lots of space regarding reading.  I went back to what I've always done- read things for her, anything she asks me to, suggest that she try occasionally, but not push at all if she doesn't want to, fill her life with words and print, but not make them the be all-end all of learning.

And she went back to doing what she does.  Days of no attempts at reading or writing, then a day of reading a few pages or writing a whole list.  Days of not wanting me to read anything to her and then a day of having me read her a half a dozen books (though mostly she's been far less interested in books this last year or so, then in years past).  Days where she can't remember how to read words she's read a dozen times, and then suddenly reads a word she's never seen before.



Then a few days ago, we were watching L play a computer game and E pointed to a button L was about to click on and said, "That says 'See More.'"  I asked her how she knew that and if she had sounded it out.  She said no, she just knew.  Then she asked me to write down more words for her to figure out.

Since she had just read "see," I wrote down "bee, tree, free," and since she had just read "more," I wrote down "sore, tore, pore, more, fore, lore."  She read them all easily.

Then she wanted to sound out a word to write down herself, and this is where it has gotten tricky in the past.  She always seems to pick words that don't follow phonetic rules.  Then she tries to sound them out, and I gently, regretfully, tell her this is one of English's dumb words that doesn't make any sense, she gets frustrated and gives up.

So, this time she picked "Lloyd."  Yes, really.  Of all the words to try to sound out.  She gave it a valiant effort, but didn't even come remotely close (and seriously, who would know that if you don't know that?!).  But when I told her it was another weird word in our language, she didn't mind one bit this time!

Next she tried "pet."  Much easier!  Though it still took a few tries, because she was pronouncing it "pep."  But after I distinctly sounded out each letter for her, she got it.

Which leads into what I believe to be her biggest reading challenge.  She seems to have a hard time grasping the concept of phonetics and especially blending sounds.  She has an easier time memorizing whole words, which I've read is more of a right-brained way of learning to read.

I've seen other unschooling moms describe this as their child "collecting words," which is what she seems to be doing.  It takes these kids longer to learn, because they need to be exposed to enough words over enough years to memorize or "collect" enough to read a book.  But once they get to that point, they excel.  Of course, they eventually pick up some phonics in the process, but they will mostly be sight-readers their whole lives.

However she eventually masters it, the way she was playing with words the other night solidified for me once again why we are doing things the way we are doing them.  We spent a long time sounding out words, working together and playing with words, and she was having fun the whole time.

It would be so, SO easy to ruin her love of learning by pushing her to read.  There is no guarantee that any method we used would have her reading any earlier than she is, but I can just about guarantee that the stress, tears, and frustration caused by pushing, cajoling, or bribing would leave her hating reading all together.

Instead, she has the freedom to pick it up and set it down.  Play with words when it suits her, and then let them lie while her mind mulls over other things.  Connect the dots in her own way and add to her word collection at her own pace. 

Freak out over.  Confidence returned. 

 

Reading the Bible

 My 7 year old got out her Bible this morning and said, "When I'm older I'll be able to read this." I reminded her that she CAN read (it's just still slow going at this point) and she said she can read some books, but not the Bible. So I suggested just reading ONE word. We flipped it open and she she read "the," and I closed it and said "See, you can read the Bible!"

"MOM!" she exclaimed.


Then she wanted to read more so she read about 5 words and then asked me to keep reading and I read both girls almost a chapter.

Yesterday and today, they've both been rhyming a lot of words, which leads to them making up some words to get them to rhyme and also stumbling on words they didn't know before and end up asking me the definition. Yesterday it was "par" like when two things are "on par," and this morning they learned "might" and "bask."*

*wrote on message board April 24

E's First Official Not-School Year

I have posted one thing in the entire 8 months of 2013.  One!  I keep thinking that I want to get back to blogging, but then catching up seems like such a BIG JOB that I put it off.  And the months tick by.  And I think of something I'd love to write about, but it will seem so weird coming on the heels of nothing.  So, I put it off.

But here I am!  I'm going to do a summary of E's first official not-school year, then get back to regular writing.

__________________________________

In order to comply with state regulations (and just because I like to remember these things) I write down the things we do every day that are educational.  More accurately, I write down the things that I show state acceptable proof of education, and many, many things that the kids learn that I can't quantify or qualify or see exactly how their gears are turning figuring that thing out or saving that bit of information for later, don't get written down.  So this is the bare minimum facts and timeline, yet missing lots of intricate details, stories, pictures, and conversations.  I do have some of those, but I'll post them separately.  This is from the middle of October until now.  These are all things that came up in the course of real life, no curriculum, no guide of what she "should" be learning.  Just living life, following interests, doing things, going places, bringing the world to them and them to the world, having conversations, asking questions, observing, playing, thinking, being. 

I think around 80% of what is here, L was doing with us.  She was either just observing/listening or actively participating.  Some of it she understood just as well as E and some of it I did with her more on her level.  I don't have to officially register her with the state until next year, but I am going to writing down more of what she does this year anyway just for my own records. 

E's First Grade Year:

Animals:
Eyewitness Explorer's Bird Book
Discovery Channel Prehistoric Oceans
Looked up info on mustangs
Discovery Channel Tiny Creatures
Discovery Channel monitor lizards
Looked up info on beta fish and cat fish
Dogs don't see in color
Looked up spiders we found
Rabbit's babies are called kittens
LIFE documentary on flying fish
Looked up info on dolphins, sharks and horses and piranhas
Discovery Channel Deep Sea Creatures
Looked up Asian vs. African elephants- videos, pictures
Dinosaurs- apatosaur, t-rex, tricerotops
Read article on wolf with GPS- lone wolf wandering around CA
National Geographic Flying Snakes
Other snake videos
Videos of whale sharks
Videos of great white sharks
Dinosaurs book
Saw tarantula, cockroaches, stick bugs, rabbits, turtle, frogs, porcupine and more at Discovery Museum
Looked up sheep herding dogs- videos, info
Videos of trick riding and dressage
Hike- saw/discussed gopher holes which led to discussing rattle snakes
Book and videos on baboons
4-H presentation on bees, bee hives, life cycle of bees, drones, workers, benefits of honey, pollination, saw bee hive up close. 
Hike- saw/discussed beaver dam, trees cut by beavers, size of beavers, tails, how they swim
Found rollie pollie, made habitat, looked up food and how to care for it, fed it, kept it for days
Dinosaur book
Fed rollie pollie, looked up more info, extoskeletons
Turtles- indoskeleton, saw pictures of skeleton
Discovery documentary on anacondas- tortoise, vipers vs. constrictors, kaiman, baby anacondas, tree snakes,
Discovery documentary on rattle snakes
Gilah monsters- venomous,eat eggs and small animals
Komodo dragon vs King Cobra book
Looked up wolf spiders
National Geographic documentary on tarantulas and other spiders
Found false black widow, looked up black widows- nat geo short videos
Took online spider quiz
National Geographic video on bird eating spiders
Meerkat Manor
Looked up lady bugs- different colors, eat aphids
Books on fossils, dinosaurs
Saw horse behind mechanics shop- talked with owner about gender, foal, chestnuts, horse's eyesight, what they eat
Austin Stevens show King Cobras
Austin Stevens show Snake that killed Cleopatra
Austin Stevens show Komodo Dragons
Caught small bull snake, discussed vipers vs constrictors, tongue sensing heat
Caught wooly bear caterpillar, looked up what they eat, cacooning, life cycle, difference between moths and butterflies.
Watched part of monarch butterfly documentary
Crossword puzzle on endangered species- discussed why they are endangered, where they live- wolf, blue whale, komodo dragon, tiger, polar bear, gorilla, black rhinoceeros, dolphin, crocodile, giant panda
Word search on animals that are extinct, discussed extinction
Hike- saw horses, discussed pony vs. foal
Development of chicken egg- pictures of real eggs and video animation
Queensland Heelers- how they got name, why they were bred, genetics of mixed breeds, what dogs teach their puppies
Anatomy of owl's necks- can turn heads 270 degrees
Lion prides- videos of lion's hunting, females hunt
Saw chicks and turkeys at feed store
Grandma gave booklet to identify reptiles and amphibians in North America- she wondered why there were no cobras in book, Grandma showed her North America, South America, Africa, India on map.
Wooly Bear caterpillar emerged from cacoon, released tiger moth into yard
Books on great white sharks
Noticed dog shedding winter coat
Frequently play with frogs in yard
Saw shells at library, got book on shells, identified different ones, discussed pearls/oysters
Saw goats at library summer reading program on farm animals
Video on snakes
Found neighbor's pet hedgehog in the yard- looked up what they eat, pictures, domestic vs. wild, protection from predators, nocturnal
Found eggs in dirt- looked them up, determined probably earthworm eggs
Looked up rollie pollies, what they eat, hermaphrodites, keep eggs in pouch
Looked up earthworms- body in segments, band near head, hermaphrodites
Looked up slugs- hermaphrodites, create slime
Video of sea slug that eats man-o-war tentacles
Wild Krats show on butterflies
Wild Krats show on earthworms
Wild Krats show on lizards


Anatomy/Medicine:
Discussed blood clotting to make scabs
Discussed dental fillings, infections
Human Body book- blood cells, immune system, bones, breaks, being paralyzed, nervous system, spinal cord, heart chambers, microscopes to see cells
Pretending to use anti venom for snake bite
Poser in doctor's office- identified galbladder, liver, stomach, small/large intestine, rectum.  Discussed job of gallbladder, red/white blood cells, oxygen, immune system, iron in blood, foods with iron, cast iron pan transferring iron to foods,
Discussed ear infection- causes, white blood cells, how ear works, looked at pictures/videos of anatomy of ear, watched ear drum repair surgery and cochlea replacement surgery, learned about euschin tube and how blockage causes ear infection.  Connected diamond mining on minecraft to diamond tipped tools used in surgery.
Played surgery squad- dental surgery, lasik eye surgery
Asked about layer of skin peeling off- explained/showed with paper, layers of skin dermis and epidermis
Looked up pictures of bones/cartilage in nose
Looked up difference between male and female pelvises
Made mine craft statue of skeleton inside skin 
Asked what happens to roots of baby teeth when they fall out- looked it up and learned about resorption, watched video of wisdom teeth being extracted
Read human anatomy books- bones, muscles, cells, genetics, reproduction
Ed Heads game- knee replacement surgery, femur, tibia, patella, sterilization, anesthetic, cauterize, pictures of real knee surgery
Saw L get tooth filled, saw model of tooth with roots, veins, gums with gum disease
Played online game about x-rays, CT scans, MRIs
Magic Schoolhouse book- bus goes into Ralphie's body, blood, job of white blood cells, bacteria
Nobel Prize blood typing game- which blood types can give to and receive from other types


Astronomy:
Looked up solar system, nasa, rocket launch videos
Meteor Showers- watched it and identified north star, big dipper, north, south, east and west, big dipper, little dipper, Orion's belt, Cygnus, watched Swan Lake barbie movie which talks about constellation in special features.
Black holes- looked up what causes them, mass, gravity, played online Nasa game showing black holes, what would happen if caught in one.  Cygnus constellation next to blak hole, feeds off star's gas creating disk, time changes in black holes



Reading/Writing:
Made Welcome Home sign
Wrote note "Welcome Home Dad from Ezabella, to Dad.  I love you."
Wrote note "From Ezabella to Mom."
Thank you notes
Reading workbook- long e, long o
Dino game- typed name, entered b-day
Wrote in diary
Reading workbook-beginning sounds
Wrote grandparents names
Wrote "Incredibles"
Read "Incredibles movie, book, wallet"
Typed in website address, username, password
Read Foot Book
Read B Book
Read 1/2 easy reader book in doctor's waiting room
Wrote phone number
Read Foot Book
Read part of Big Sister Little Sister
Wrote recipe for salad she created
Typed email to cousin- sounded out most words alone
Looked for brussel sprouts in cookbook index- alphabetical order
Birthday card for Grandma- wrote "Happy Birthday Grandma. I love you. Love E...." 
Dictated 2 pages for me to write in her diary then read it back to herself
Dictated a page for me to write in her diary
Read 3 sentence note I wrote to her
Read cake recipe
Wrote a letter to a restaurant
Read rhyming words I wrote- tooth, booth, loose, moose, goose, sing, wing, swing, bring
Wrote 6 words in notebook
Read list of things to do to get ready for day
Read Green Eggs and Ham
Verbally spelled words rhyming with stop after seeing stop sign- mop, cop, shop, top
Verbally spelled words rhyming with slow after seeing slow sign- mow, row, bow, arrow, tow
Read a few words in Bible
Read 1/2 of Llama Llama Mad at Mama
Read 1/2 of Say What?
Read Foot Book to kids at library story time
Read Go Dog Go



Math in Real Life:
Multiplication with chocolate chips
Math workbook- adding
Weighing/measuring baby doll- 16oz in a pound, measuring with ruler, inches
Fractions with burritos
Sorted Uno cards by number
Math flash cards
Days to BoB show- 20-2=18
Counted to 213 by 2s odd numbers
Odd numbers vs. even numbers
Boiled eggs 2x4=8
If we have 4 cups and 1 breaks=3, then figured out 3-1, 2-1, 1-1
Recited various addition facts
Considered looming hat to sell for $10- figured out 2 would be $20, 3=$30, 4=$40, 10=$100, 20=$200, 30=$300
Halves/wholes
Figured out 2+2+2=6, then I asked what 2x4 and 2x5 are and she figured those out
E helped L make signs on minecraft from 1 to 39- told her which numbers were next and how to write them
Used illustrations on paper to figure out $10=40 quarters
Workbook on counting money- used real coins and abacus to count/add
Adding with popscile sticks- 10+10, 20+20, 40+40, ways to add group of 5, 2+3, 4+1, 5+0, ways to add group of 16, 10+6, 8+8, 7+9
Math on paper 20+20, 40+40, 80+80
Used abacus to solve 10*10, 2*5, 2+5, 2*3, 2*1
Used abacus to solve 86+14, 100-14, 100-86
Math on paper while driving home from trip- added two digit numbers, added numbers requiring carrying
Verbal math problems while rolling ball back and forth on floor
Math on paper 14+13, 18+23, 27+45 had to carry numbers



Cooking/Food:
Made/canned apple sauce
Used lemon juice to preserve pears apples after cutting
Made canoli- watched instructional videos, found recipe, shopped for ingredients
Wrote recipe for salad she created- Debbie salad
Steak/beef from cow
Made pine needle tea from pine needles picked on hike- good source of calcium/vitamin C, grandma discussed scurvy in sailors from lack of vitamin C
Used nutrition data website to look up nutrition information on olives, apples, bananas, tortillas. Discussed calories, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals.
Agave syrup- watched video on how it's made
Maple syrup- watched video on how it's made
Used nutrition data website to looke up nutrition information on beans, avacado and lettuce
Made cookies shaped like fossils
Sugar- watched video of how it is processed from sugar cane
Wanted to create own cookie recipe- discussed purpose of each ingredient and possible substitutions.  Ended up with Chocolate Chip Cookies with Strawberry Jam.  Used fractions/measurements while cooking.
Baked cake
Monstanto- discussion on GMO's, genetics, DNA, watched part of Monstanto documentary
Made apple pie- fractions, had 27 apples, needed 16, she wanted to know how many would be left over to eat, she solved
Discussed liquid vs. solid vs. steam
Library summer program- different kinds of seeds, how seeds grow, spouts,watched wheat ground into flour, planted own seeds
Library reading program- nutrition, skit on healthy eating, made slime
Directly helped several times with meal planning and grocery shopping, always involved in both
Cooked chicken in crockpot
Made pancakes with no hand on help- I was giving directions/measurements verbally from other room
Makes food herself- french toast, pb&j, fruit salad, quesadilla,
Saves recipes she finds on Stumble Upon


Vocabulary/Definitions:
Plains vs. deserts
Def. host, guest
Policy vs. law
Def. aristocrat, influential
Def. orchestra, composer, conductor, torch
Def. bay (3 different meanings)
Def. prize, awards, competition, judging
Def. rows, collumns
Contest vs. concert
Def. on par- she used in multiple sentences right away
Def. might, bask
Borrowing vs. buying, borrowing and paying interest
Def. revolutions (turns per minute)
Def. fertilizer
Desert vs. tundra
Low desert vs. high desert
E used the word "diagonal" correctly in a sentence when I couldn't think of it.  Learned it from D while playing minecraft.
Def. tunic, cavalry
Def. martial arts
Def. nature
Def. repelent
Def. historical fiction
fiction vs. non-fiction
Def. courtyard, caravan
mule vs. horse vs. donkey
monologue vs. conversation
Def. invincible


Time/Space:
Gregorian vs. Hebrew calendar
Monthly observance of new moon and full moon- what makes moon wax and wane, names of Biblical months
First day of fall, winter, spring, summer- noticed, discussed season changes
Many instances over year of reading clock- when to leave, when activity is happening, when to come home from playing.  Can read digital clock, is close to reading analog clock
Many instances of looking at calendar- days to birthday, what day is today, days till event, days until trip, days until holiday.
GPS- watched in car on trip- map, hours, minutes, seconds, counting down time/miles.  
Daylight Savings
Microwave- minutes, seconds, seconds as fractions
Map of town at head of hike- where we were, where we were hiking, where our house is

 
Money:
Counting change- many times during year, went from not knowing names of coins to knowing names/values.  Used abacus to add.
Saving money- saved for beta fish, saved for hair chalk, saved for baby doll, saved for rides at county fair.  Many discussions/choices made about saving vs. spending now.
Purchasing- used own money to buy many things throughout year, added costs of items, saw value of cheaper things vs. more expensive things.
Trading game with Monopoly money- counting, adding, making change



Projects/Experiments/Crafts::
Home made bird feeders
4-H Favorite Foods Day practice presentation and actual presentation- made french toast, presented to judge how to make it, ingredients used, choice of toppings
4-H practice presentation and actual presentation- Debbie Salad.  Made salad in front of audience, explained steps, ingredients and answered questions
Used loom to make hat, entered in County Fair and won 1st place
Mixed cornstarch and water- polymer
Recorded radio spot for non-profit- memorized lines, saw radio station and saw how voice editing equipment works.
Gravity experiment- cup of water covered by piece of cardboard turned upside down.  Cardboard defies gravity due to air pressure
Used Movie Maker software together to make video of her doing "magic"
Camping trip with 4-H- lit fire with flint and steel, canoeing/kayaking, saw pioneer cabin- discussed building with logs by hand,cattle ranching, churning butter.  Made survival bracelet from paracord- discussed uses such as fishing, making shelter and stitching wound.  
Wrote secret codes with lemon juice- inspired by section on real female spies in Daring Girls book
Did fundraisers for 4-H and Best of Broadway- knocked on neighbors doors, took orders, took money, delivered products
Best of Broadway auditions, rehearsals and 6 shows.  Performed 3 song/dance routines plus finale.
Pop Concert auditions, rehearsals and 2 shows.  Performed 3 song/dance routines plus finale.
Geology experiment- made sugar glass, searched for various types of minerals in household items
Beading-art, patterns
Breaking rocks to see insides- geology
Message in a bottle-reading, writing
Body Trace- traced shape of body on butcher paper, made body parts out of construction paper, yarn, etc. skull, intestines, radius, heart done so far
4-H Box Social- bidding, counting quarters
Made home made play dough- used food coloring, mixed colors to make new colors
Made pretend boat from basket, broom handle for mast, cloth for sail, toys for anchor- vocab. mast, sail,anchor
Mock trial with family playing parts- vocab. witness, jury, judge, prosecutor, defense, misdemeanor, trial
Made home made bird feeders
Oragami- made butterflies and wallets- halves, diagonal, measuring, inches, folding
Began building doll house-  made blue print on graph paper, bought wood, measured, watched me cut it, painted some pieces, still more work to do before finished. 
Helped with bake sale for non-profit- community service, customer service
Made "Welcome Home" sign
Memorized 4-H pledge
Microscope- looked at fabric, bug, blood, dog intestine, finger, pine leaf wrapper, pen, Popsicle stick, milk, avacado, pepper

 
Holidays:
Purim- story of Esther- character, doing the right thing in difficult situation
Thanksgiving- history of day
Hannukah- story, audio book, books, Bible verses
New Year's- calendar
Passover- Biblical history, spiritual significance
Counting Omer- def. omer, spiritual significance, counting/writing numbers to 50


Places Visited In Person:
Discovery Museum- animals (above), planetarium, constellations, Jupiter, Orion's belt (can still find it in sky), Orion meteors, recent meteors hit earth, spiders sent to space, earth's diameter, space suits/helmets, mixing primary colors to make others, light spectrum- fragmenting light to see colors, planets
Sacramento- on drive saw train bridges, discussed.  Discussed pressure in ears during elevation changes, five senses.
Veteran's Day Parade- sparked conversation on voting, soldiers, liberty, President/Congress vs. King/Queen
Hotsprings- where water comes from, what causes it to be hot, minerals
Lakes
Hikes-  edible plants, plantain for bug bite, rails to trails, old train caboose, pollen, 
River- increased flow during spring, discussed melting snow
Campgrounds
Bowling alley- adding scores
Movie Theater
Silver Legacy casino- saw old mining equipment- tied into mining knowledge from Minecraft 
Radio Station
City where D's firefighting company is located
National Day of Dance performance in park
Home Town- navigated map of town to get to grandma's
DMV- telling time (what time is it, when do they close), worked on writing cursive and lower case letters while waiting
Fishing Derby- fishing, sunrise, worms, bait
Local history museum- saw wagon, lanterns (compared to minecraft torches, showed how wick/kerosene work), railroad tracks, history of logging in our town (connected to D's old job where they saw logging equipment/trucks), old mill (saw pictures at museum, drove by it on the way home) telegraph, volcanic rocks, hope chest, typewriter, pictures of how people dressed in earl 1900's, map of rails to trails
Grandma's garden- worms, compost, planting, harvesting, weeding


Places/Times Visited Through Books/Videos/Maps/Globe/Stories:
Colored map of Australia, looked up on globe
Looked up Peru info/on map
Mt. St. Helens/Mt. Lassen- learned about volcanoes, lava
China- Great Wall, vidoes of people/places, how they celebrate birthdays, location on globe, red eggs, Chinese dance, Year of the Rooster, movie Mulan
California- looked at map
Grand Canyon- how it was formed, pictures, location on map
Thailand- books and videos- farming, Budism, elephants, where on map, Bankok, villages.  Friend visited there so she heard stories, saw pictures and saw friend's scrapbook.
Italy- where on globe, story of great great grandparents coming to America from Italy.  Italian foods-canoli, lasagna, spaghetti.
France, Eiffel tower- saw in movie and mom pointed out

Various states/cities in US- looked at map to see where she and sisters were born, where we have lived, where we have visited, where D has gone for work
Spun globe and asked names of random countries several different times- Russia, China, Africa, Thailand, US, Canada, Mexico, Greenland, France, Congo, Egypt, England.  Connected to other knowledge about these places.
Looked at geography book- learned facts about Russia, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, looked up all on map.  Also looked on map to find Asia, Europe and Africa
Found England on globe- discussed ancestors coming from England to America, church run government, religious freedom
Asked what is on the other side of the mountains- looked on google earth to see other side of mountains in all directions, zoomed in on local lakes, our house, D's job, nearby towns
Book of historical American art- slavery, civil war, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, sparked discussion of Barak Obama, def of President.  Also in book- days before cars, trains across county, farming, oxen, carriages, wagons, harvesting, baling hay, fire engines pulled by horses.


Games:
Zoodles- strategy, puzzles, problem solving, math, reading/phonics, Spanish, matching, spelling, counting by 10s
Brain Quest trivia
Uno
Hopscotch- turned into adding game
Spy Game- problem solving, reading
Blue's Clues Scavenger Hunt
Yatzee-math
Puzzles
Hide and Seek- counting
Action word flash cards- read word, do action
Clue-strategy, problem solving, process of elimination, adding dice, reading
Kids' Scrabble- spelling, reading
Mine craft- def. of mining, craft, gold, iron, pick axe.  Creative building, architecture, mined for iron ore/diamond to make pickaxes, planted wheat seeds, grew wheat, harvested, made bread, planted other foods, harvested, flint and steel, 
Go Fish
Typing games and typing on word document
Rummy- strategy, counting/adding score
Online geography game
Monopoly- adding money, making change,
Big Farm game- points, reading numbers over 100, planting, harvesting, sowing, selling produce/eggs, mill, silo, compost, how much things cost, smart business practices, fertilizer
Degrees game- circle on paper marked with 0, 90, 180 and 360 degrees and numbers in between, call numbers for them to turn to face.
Crossword puzzles- writing, problem solving, critical thinking
Word Search


Activities:
Weekly ballet classes and two performances
Monthly 4-H meetings and other activities
Monthly 4-H dog club meetings and year end dog show
Best of Broadway rehearsals and shows
Pop Concert rehearsals and shows
Summer baseball 1-2 times per week
Library story time nearly weekly
MOPS a few times


Movement:
Learned to do splits
Learned to do hand spring (can almost stick landing)
Learned to do backbend
Yoga often with mom/stretches for ballet
Watched Tai Chi video to learn beginner moves
Videos of tango/waltz/foxtrot/belly dance- imitated steps
Videos of gymnastics and ice skating- imitated

Languages:
Hebrew- aleph bet, avinu, abba, tanach, Torah, Adonai, 1/2 of Shema, blessings over bread/wine
Spanish- movie Barbie Mariposa in Spanish with subtitles, Dora and Deigo episodes.  From my knowledge or looked up online, counting to 10, dog, cat, cow, horse, other animals, mom, dad, sister, grandparents, other family words, various foods, rooms, clothes, basic phrases like I love you, hello, goodbye, I'm hungry, etc. Another mom at library store times speaks Spanish, did story time in Spanish, E remembered how to count to 6.  American Girl book Josephina- gracias, sala, fandango, pueblo, tia, abuelito
Thai- counting to 10, thank you
Sign Language- The Joy of Signing book and online videos- alphabet, dog, cat, cow, horse, other animals, mom, dad, sister, grandparents, other family words, various foods, rooms, clothes, basic phrases like I love you, hello, goodbye, I'm hungry, etc.


Music:
Piano- practices occasionally (Mary had a Little Lamb, Jingle Bells, Ode to Joy), knows home keys for key of C, can do simple finger exercises, composed one song that I wrote down for her and choreographed ballet to go with it. 
Nutcracker story/music/movie, recognized music on Sponge Bob episode, put on a living room play of Nutcracker
Cd of music by Bach
Listens to me play Fur Elise by Bethoveen memorized from childhood and re-learning to play other piano music
Lots of other classical and modern music of all types on cds, radio, pandora and youtube

Tv/Movies:
Too many to list and I didn't write down most because they wouldn't qualify as "educational" for the state.  However, many of the interests, activities and conversations are sparked from them as well as things learned directly from them.  Some that I made note of are:
Monk- watched a few episodes because of interest in mystery solving
Martha Speaks- lots of new vocab and lots picked up from other shows that aren't designed for that purpose
Avatar- sparked discussions/further learning on meditation, tai chi, kung fu, elements, blindness 


Books: 
Too many to list.  Most animal and anatomy books are listed in those sections.  This year I'm going to set up a Goodreads account for them so we can keep better track.  E has not found a chapter book that she really enjoys.  She regularly enjoys non-fiction books that are for older kids or adults, but not much fiction.
A few that she did like were the American Girl books about Josephina and one about frog ninjas, the name of which is escaping me.
A few others of which I made note:
Book on Annie Oakley, then looked up pictures/info about her.  Learned more about her at summer reading program.
Book on Medevil times- parts on what they wore and becoming a knight, discussed gender discrimination, later connected minecraft flaming arrows to combat portrayed in book
Almanac- US holidays, Martin Luther King Jr., money, units of measurement, shapes, odd/even numbers


Other Discussions/Interests/Things we looked up:
Importance of wearing seatbelt
Trucks shipping food to stores after seeing bread truck in store parking lot
Frequently rhyming words for fun and saying opposites
Videos of airplanes/jets- aerodynamics, lift
Drinking and driving
Visit from Smokey Bear at Library- fire safety, not to play with matches/lighters, stop, drop and roll
Intro to my book The Slight Edge- sparked interest in setting goals, set goals for ballet performance, Hollywood Vibe show, dog show
Cookies called biscuits in the UK
Intro to Robert's Rules of Order at 4-H
D showed her how to tie bowman's knot
Looked up female ship captians
Memorized address, mostly from going into internet company and city hall to pay bills for me
Discussed finger prints, detectives
Dh showed them his fire fighting gear- turn out, breathing mask, gloves, demonstrated turn out's fire resistance
Documentary on box mills- steam,gears, branding plates, connected to lumber mill, boxes with Louis Lamour stamped on them connected to D's collection of same books
Adult's conversation about Native American's sparked E's questions- led to discussing Pow Wow we went to last year, what a pow wow is, looked up video of one
Workbook with myster story and questions to help solve mystery- critical thinking, problem solving, clues, evidence
Verbs/nouns- ing on verb means doing in the present, action vs. thing
Where to find fiction/non-fiction in library
Discussed living like Josephina in American Girl book- no running water or electricity, had never seen a piano, getting water from river, not knowing how to read
Watched Happy People documentary in Russian
Video on how sand is formed from granite- wind and rain erosion take sand to beach, quartz, iron, feldspar, micah, saw minerals up close in microscope, compared to her own quartz rock
Read about several female spies, Girl Guides codes/history

My Oldest is Reading!

I've been really lazy about blogging lately, but I posted this* on a message board and facebook page in March and just never transferred it here:

When E was 4, I blogged that I thought she was close to reading. She knew most of her letters and sounds and was very interested in trying. It didn't happen though. Her brain wasn't ready yet.

When she was 6, I thought she was close.  She was skills-wise, but not time-wise.  It has been a year since then. 

We have never done a "reading lesson." We have never done a curriculum or workbooks. There has never been a single tear over trying to read and I've never pushed her.

I've read many books to her since she was a baby. We've paid attention to the words in our lives- on signs, cereal boxes, labels, video games and everywhere else. She's played Starfall and similar games. I've told her the sounds of letters as she has been interested. We've played with magnet letters and banana grams. She's played with a few workbooks, and when I say played I really mean just that. The workbooks sit with the coloring books in our house and are treated the same way- use them if and when you want. We've played a reading flash card game the same way.  I just wrote some action words on index cars (play, dance, sing, etc) and when I'd hold one up, she'd read it and do the action.  It has been a fun, totally optional game that L has enjoyed as well.
 
However, I've never once sat down with her and said or implied, "Now it's time to try to learn to read."

A few weeks ago, she read The Foot Book and half of another book that was at the doctor's office and I don't remember the name of it. Some of The Foot Book was memorized, but she also sounded out a lot of words, and started picking up on some sight words.

Then she didn't do anything reading related for weeks, which is typical. She often has a big interest in something, then drops it for weeks or months, then picks it up again with sudden, new skills.

Yesterday, she was looking for The Foot Book and we couldn't find it. Today, I found it and handed it to her. She read it and then asked for more books to read. I pulled out Green Eggs and Ham and she read the whole thing!. I helped her with a few words that couldn't be sounded out and she didn't know from sight,
but other than that, she figured it out on her own while I just sat with her.

Her reading was interspersed every few sentences with, "Mom! I'm reading! Hehe! Yay! I'm reading! Hey you know what's more fun than watching tv? Me learning to read!"

(And on that note, we don't restrict tv watching and she could have chosen to do that instead with no pressure to do otherwise. Her sister was actually watching a movie in the same room the whole time she was reading the book. She chose to read).

*I changed some grammar and spelling issues and added a few more details from the original post.

Update:

It's been about 3 months since I wrote that, and she has not done a lot of book reading since then.  However, she is still doing a lot of reading related things.  She has read parts of recipes to me while we cook, read signs and labels, and played reading games.  She woke up one morning last week and immediately said she wanted to "play a game that will help me read better," so we did some sound flash cards.  Yesterday and today, we saw signs that said "stop" and "slow" while driving, and E,L and I started playing a game figuring out how to spell words that rhymed with stop and slow, based on how those two words are spelled.  So, since stop is S-T-O-P, they were able to figure out that cop is C-O-P and mop is M-O-P and so on with half a dozen other words.  Since slow is S-L-O-W, they were able to figure out row, bow, arrow, mow, and tow.      

Reading- Oh SO close...

I'm not sure when to make the official announcement that E is reading.  Right now she can recognize some sight words, and she's getting better and better at sounding things out.  We frequently have conversations like:

E: Mom, how do you spell bat?

Me: Buh- A- Tuh.  What letter says Buh?

E: B

Me: What letter says A?

E: A

Me: What letter says Tuh?

E: T

Me:  So, how do you spell bat?

E: Oh!  B-A-T!


She's sounding out letters- like Cuh- A- Tuh, but then to combine them into CAT is a little harder for her.  Sometimes she can do it, and sometimes she needs help.   

So I wonder, when schools say kids should be reading by first grade or whatever, are they really reading?  Can they pick up a book, even an easy one, and just go?  Or are they reading like this?

I wonder, not because I'm comparing her to what schooled kids are doing, but because sometimes I hear homeschooling/unschooling parents with kids at her same reading level express concern because their state's school standard website says kids their age should be "reading."  That sounds like really, truly, reading, but somehow I doubt that is what is really happening.  Sure, some kids are.  But I think many, many others are where she is or reading even less.  Homeschoolers tend to get concerned lest their child be "behind," but I'd rather focus on my child, who she is, and where she is than focus on her in relation to anyone else. 

I've also seen some parents get their kid to this point without doing much formal teaching and then say, "She so close!  Now she needs some direct instruction to just push her over that hump."  I find that sad, because I think if they would just be a little more patient, they'd see natural learning in progress.  I've read of many unschooled kids who have a great amount of confidence about their "learning to read," as opposed to their schooled/ schooled-at-home peers who were "taught to read." 

Personally, I'm excited to watch her develop at her own pace.  I'm always here to help her, encourage her, and support her, but I'm not running out to buy a curriculum NOW, that's for sure!    

I've also found it interesting how much linear time and how little cumulative learning time it has taken for her to progress this far.  What I mean is that I'm pretty sure if you searched the archives of this blog, you'd find a post from when she was around 4 years old where I thought she was pretty close to reading.  Having never witnessed a child learn to read other than myself, I thought that knowing the names and sounds of most of the letters was "close."  In linear time, it wasn't, because her brain wasn't mature enough to grasp the concepts that it now is.  That has taken 2 or 3 years, and who knows how long from now until she is really able to just pick up any book and go.  On the other hand, the amount of time that we have spent actually doing reading related activities, has been very little compared to what she would have done in school.  Other than me reading to her, which we do almost every day, she doesn't spend a lot of time writing letters and words, learning letter sounds, and sounding out words.  She goes on kicks where she'll spend half an hour a day for a few days or weeks, then not do any of it for months while she's busy learning other things.

It's all really fascinating to watch.  I think I'll wait until she reads her first whole book or something before posting the official "She's reading" post.  But she's SO close!

Inevitable Mondays- Strewing Games

Yesterday when I organized their games, I pulled out some things they had not seen for a long time including a big bucket full of plastic and foam letters.  They spent a lot of time playing with them today- stacking them in piles, spreading them all over the table, pretending they were pancakes and trying to spell words.  At one point, E asked me how to spell "whispers," and after she was done putting all the letters together she tried to sound it out.  She insisted that the R and the S on the end needed to be reversed.  We went back and forth for a few minutes- in a relaxed, playful way, not arguing- and then I let it go.  She was wrong of course, but that's not important right now.  She was really working through sounding out the letters and trying to place them the way she was hearing them.  That's an important part of learning to read!  L was having fun naming the letter and number "pancakes." ("I want a S pancake!  Now a blue one!")   

Pulling out the games was one more step in the most recent ebb (or flow?) of this ebbing and flowing life.  For the last few weeks, we've been settling in to new routines for the winter.  The girls had been taking dance and gymnastics classes, but since we are without a car, it is now to cold to walk.  All summer they played outside in our yard for hours every day, but now they stay inside more.  So I've been working on finding more indoor things to do.  Now that the games are organized I can see clearly what we need to get for Hanukkah gifts.  I'm also going to get them some art supplies and E might be getting a trampoline for her birthday.  I went searching for online games for them to play and found this list of the Top 10.  Ignore the intro- it's a totally mainstream "get your kid to learn by making it fun!" kind of thing.  Maybe I'll post reviews of the games once the girls start playing them more

.    

Reading

A few weeks ago, E told her grandma, "When I'm big like mommy, I still won't know how to read."  Grandma and I encouraged her that she would definitely learn to read and that she was already getting close.  She disagreed, but then wanted to show grandma the words she knows how to write- her name, L's name, pig (I think it's so funny that this one stuck), and we helped her sound out mom and dad and a few other words. 

"You're reading!" we told her.  "You have to be able to read those words to write them!"  She thought that was pretty cool.

A few days ago, she saw and "open" sign and said, "I know what that says!  Open!"


Yesterday, we played a game like hangman, except we don't use the hangman.  I just think up words and write down the number of spaces, and they guess letters until they get the letters in that word.  I did four spaces for "open," she guessed O and E and I wrote them down.  I told her to look at it closely because it was a word she knew how to read.  She studied it for a minute and then exclaimed, "Open!  It says open!  I read it, mom!"