Weekly Report #3

It is officially school holidays here in WA and even though we don't specifically follow the school terms, because, after all, we're only doing Kindergarten, I haven't been as structured with the kids' academic activities this week. Instead, I've sent the kids outside to enjoy the fine weather and used the time to read up on Australian curriculum and also to put together a second Kindergarten Reader for Joshua.

We have spent the last few weeks introducing the basic code graphemes [i] [u] [g] [d] [b] [r] and [j]. He has decoded and traced five or six words each lesson comprised of these letters in combination with those he already knows. Then he has read short sentences which include each new word. The task for the next few weeks is to reinforce what he knows with repeated reading practice and sentence copywork (actually tracework) from this Reader. I am using photos I have taken of pictures from books in our home library, as well as images from flickr and some photos I have taken specifically for the purpose to illustrate each sentence. Mostly, this is a project to help give Joshua confidence that he can read "real" books. Admittedly, it's not exactly high literature, but it is helping him to be assured of his own ability to "really read". It also gives him material to read aloud to his Dad to demonstrate how he is progressing.

As I write, Joshua has been sitting in the study with me, sounding out the story "Tom's Dog" from the Ladybird Phonics reader Hot Fox: "Tom's dog has lots of spots. Tom and Bob do not have spots. Splot! Now Tom and Bob have lots of spots, and Tom's dog has not got spots." Absolutely amazing! He did it with the bare minimum of help, for the words "do" and "now" which represent phonemes he hasn't been taught (/oo/ and /ou/) for the familiar grapheme [o] read as /o/. I am so proud of him - and also of myself, because I have actually begun to teach him how to read. Hooray! Three cheers for Teacher Mum!

Something else Joshua has produced:On the left is a banana tree with lots of banana bunches on multiple branches, next to a house with Mum inside. In the middle is a pirate ship (the pirate on the left is holding a treasure chest, the sticks with squares on them are masts with sails). On the right are three people, Joshua (replete with many arrows and a bow, with an arrow notched) fighting off two soldiers with guns.
He drew these pictures in a series over about 15 minutes, bringing each picture to me for comment before he did the next. Sometimes, I am amazed at what is going on in that brain of his. He sure is inventive.

Also, on Tuesday Jeff took Joshua to see a Thomas the Tank Engine play, complete with giant puppet Thomas and Percy trains onstage. He had a fantastic time and came home telling me "The Fat Controller talked to me! The Sodor trains are real, Mum, because I saw them. I told you!" Apparently when he visited a friend that afternoon (also a Thomas fan) he told him that Thomas and Percy were real and they got into a disagreement over it. Then when later in the week, Joshua's friend also went to see the show, he came home and told his mother "Joshua was right after all!" Now both sets of parents have to go back and re-visit the whole thing of real and pretend and pretending to be real ...