Thursday, August 20, 2009

A Night of School Work...

Last night I saw a glimpse of what our nights might look like in the upcoming year. We had a quick dinner, and played outside for about 20 minutes. Then it started raining, so we headed inside. Kylie has a reading calendar and “brain games” that have to be completed over the summer in order to win prizes when she goes back to school. So we pulled them out and started working on them (she has been working on them the whole summer, we just haven’t been pushing her to finish them).

And when Josh saw Kylie working on homework, he had to go and get his workbook too. That kid amazes me! So many people assume that since he’s a boy, and has a late June birthday that we’ll be holding him back next year. No way! He can write all his letters and knows all of their sounds. I even pulled out Kylie’s Kindergarten workbook and did a page with him. He was doing great! And Kylie was flying through her pages (which included drawing clock faces based on what time it said, addition problems, patterns (or as the kindergarteners call them “patterens”), and coloring.

After that the kids got ready for bed and we sat down to watch Letter Factory. This video is by Leap Frog, and I attribute Josh’s knowledge of letters to it (with a little help from me). During my maternity leave we watched this video together so many times! And surprisingly, Kylie likes it too. So if you need a great way for kids to learn the sounds of the letters, I really suggest this video (and really anything by Leap Frog, because they really know how to teach kids).

After that it was bed time. Even though I LOVE summer and playing outside, it was nice to have a break last night…it seemed calmer and more relaxed.

1 comment:

Sherry said...

It does sound like a nice quiet evening, plus you got the satisfaction at knowing your children are learning at a fast rate, and what they learn, they retain. I can just about picture you all sitting there working on the pages, I love it!!
For Josh or Kylie I was thinking of the workbook I got my 8 yrs old granddaughter. Got it in Michales. It is a big sticker book, you do a page, get the answers right and there are stickers to fill in and make a pic. It's telling time, addition, subtracion, mmm word problems and several other learning subjects. She loved it and worked in it alot. $24.99 but so worth it. I got her's in The Littlest Pet Shop, cause that's what she is into now!!