Clare, age 9
Theresa, almost 7
Theresa, almost 7
Noelle, almost 4
Natalie, almost 4
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
September Girls
Our church has a beautiful prayer garden out back that is currently in full blooming splendor. I always say I'm going to take the girls' pictures there, but I usually let the season slip by without taking advantage. Not this year!
Monday, September 20, 2010
I Heart Headsprout
I don't want to sound like a product endorsement, but I really do heart Headsprout.
The twins are almost 4, and they have been avidly interested in letters and sounds for the past year. They know their upper- and lower-case alphabets, can write most of the letters, and know almost all of the sounds the letters make. They are also rabidly attentive whenever Theresa does her online reading lessons. I am of the school of thought that a child will best learn to read when he or she is ready. For these reasons, even though they're not yet four, I decided to try them on the Headsprout free trial.
They first started with the "Using the Mouse" primer, which teaches them to manipulate the cursor and follow simple instructions. Then it was on to the free first three lessons. The early lessons are very slow-paced, and I thought that the first three lessons would take them at least a week.
I was wrong. They tore through them in about a day-and-a-half, and then they excitedly asked for more. So I caved and purchased them a subscription (on the payment plan). It's not exactly cheap, but to my way of thinking, the Headsprout lessons can teach them more consistently than I can. I started using it with Clare in March the year the twins were born, and she was reading independently by September.
They are very excited to have their own "school" to do. I observe and guide while they do the online lessons, then we review the new sounds later. Headsprout also offers printable flash cards for review, and leveled readers so they can show off practice their new skills offline.
Theresa also has a subscription, but she dawdles and complains about it and is only on Episode 15. The twins just finished Episode 6. At this pace, the they will be reading before Theresa is, and possibly before their fourth birthday.
The twins are almost 4, and they have been avidly interested in letters and sounds for the past year. They know their upper- and lower-case alphabets, can write most of the letters, and know almost all of the sounds the letters make. They are also rabidly attentive whenever Theresa does her online reading lessons. I am of the school of thought that a child will best learn to read when he or she is ready. For these reasons, even though they're not yet four, I decided to try them on the Headsprout free trial.
They first started with the "Using the Mouse" primer, which teaches them to manipulate the cursor and follow simple instructions. Then it was on to the free first three lessons. The early lessons are very slow-paced, and I thought that the first three lessons would take them at least a week.
I was wrong. They tore through them in about a day-and-a-half, and then they excitedly asked for more. So I caved and purchased them a subscription (on the payment plan). It's not exactly cheap, but to my way of thinking, the Headsprout lessons can teach them more consistently than I can. I started using it with Clare in March the year the twins were born, and she was reading independently by September.
They are very excited to have their own "school" to do. I observe and guide while they do the online lessons, then we review the new sounds later. Headsprout also offers printable flash cards for review, and leveled readers so they can Theresa also has a subscription, but she dawdles and complains about it and is only on Episode 15. The twins just finished Episode 6. At this pace, the they will be reading before Theresa is, and possibly before their fourth birthday.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Give Us This Day Our Daily...
EGGS!
How cool is that? We've been averaging about a dozen a day for the past few weeks. The neighbor's mature hens give us nine, and our first wave of hens just reached maturity. Today is the first day we got an egg from each of all four of our oldest hens! Yay girls!
Other than than, there hasn't been much to blog about going on around here lately. I've been feeling overwhelmed by the daily grind, and nobody wants to hear me moaning. But I've been greedily stalking my old favorite blogs and discovering some new ones, so keep'em coming, people!
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