So this is our resources room where Erin does her learning, arts & crafts and general play/mess making it seems to have taken an age to get this how i envisioned it in my head but at last we are here. We also have space downstairs where there are treasure baskets, wooden blocks, silk scarves and all manner of interesting bit's and bob's. We also have another laptop and printer for learning downstairs. Map of the UK on the wall so Erin can see where all her family and penpals are and not make the mistake of thinking Wales was in Scotland. We also have a Globe so we can see how the world is shaped and where the various countries and continents are. I really think we live HE now as all of these things have crept into our everyday lives and rather than pack everything away each time (I'm far too lay for that) it is left out for easy access at any time of the day or night. In our rather small kitchen we have put up an huge magnetic white board to encourage our reluctant reader to write, spell, read and draw and scribble. So far this has been working well. We use coloured pens of different thickness as well as magnetic printed words and colourful magnetic wooden letters. Along with this we have magnetic numbers should we get a fit of mathematics. next to this i have a chart for doing times tables that Erin is able to fill in herself whenever she finds an answer. This is something that inspired me from John Holt's How Children Learn. I also use a book called Let's Read another suggestion by this inspiring author. I have even started to think is it this simple? can learning truly be this simple and it seems it can. I just need to shake off my negative experiences with school that made it all seem such a chore and embrace the fact that learning can be positive, fun and all encompassing, which is one of the main reasons i set out on this sometimes rocky and scary road. The rewards far outweigh those moments when i question if what i am doing is right, fulfilling; for Erin not me and giving her a well rounded unbiased education. Of course this can be a struggle to achieve as i have to enlighten and re learn myself.
So i struggle with my reluctant reader. Me who was an avid reader 5 years ahead of my peers at primary school. They did not know what to do with me except leave me alone. That in itself was a struggle as i remember my dad re teaching me to read after a stupid experiment set by the school to learn only phonetically. I recall feeling prickles of heat and sweat and embarrassment at not being able to do it, dreading those moments when i would be told ' you can do it you're just not trying hard enough' and then the tears. How i ended up with a love of books i will never know.
So......here lies the problem. I believe in leaving her until she is at least 7. Something i know, have read about in practice in Scandinavia. and something practiced by Steiner's philosophy. But.....deep down i feel i should be pushing her a bit more. If only she would read then the whole world would open up to her and then i truly feel she would be voracious in both her reading and her thirst for knowledge and that this would truly allow her access to all the information that she requires. I look at reading programs but for some reason no one picks up the phone. She works on sites such as Starfall, Educationcity and Time4Learning all of which she enjoys and works to a high level. Particularly Educationcity and Time4Learning. While she works on that i have taken her right back to the beginning with her reading. I use Let's Read for ideas and write them in colourful ink on the whiteboard for her to read, we make up Limericks about beans and farting and peeing and it often has us in fits of laughter. And now i see progress....it has been long and sometimes painful. I have to stop myself when i want to say ' you know it you're just not trying hard enough' and we take one step at a time. It is about encouragement and the realisation on Erin's part that the whole world is around her reading, has information waiting to be soaked up. Huge leaps have been made in just the past couple of days. I feel this has something to do with studying for LAMDA her drama exam. She had to tell her tutor that she doesn't read well and had to have her monologue read out to her. So maybe in her own way she is starting to realise that she needs to read if she wants to get ahead and if i know my girl she WANTS to get ahead.
So i struggle with my reluctant reader. Me who was an avid reader 5 years ahead of my peers at primary school. They did not know what to do with me except leave me alone. That in itself was a struggle as i remember my dad re teaching me to read after a stupid experiment set by the school to learn only phonetically. I recall feeling prickles of heat and sweat and embarrassment at not being able to do it, dreading those moments when i would be told ' you can do it you're just not trying hard enough' and then the tears. How i ended up with a love of books i will never know.
So......here lies the problem. I believe in leaving her until she is at least 7. Something i know, have read about in practice in Scandinavia. and something practiced by Steiner's philosophy. But.....deep down i feel i should be pushing her a bit more. If only she would read then the whole world would open up to her and then i truly feel she would be voracious in both her reading and her thirst for knowledge and that this would truly allow her access to all the information that she requires. I look at reading programs but for some reason no one picks up the phone. She works on sites such as Starfall, Educationcity and Time4Learning all of which she enjoys and works to a high level. Particularly Educationcity and Time4Learning. While she works on that i have taken her right back to the beginning with her reading. I use Let's Read for ideas and write them in colourful ink on the whiteboard for her to read, we make up Limericks about beans and farting and peeing and it often has us in fits of laughter. And now i see progress....it has been long and sometimes painful. I have to stop myself when i want to say ' you know it you're just not trying hard enough' and we take one step at a time. It is about encouragement and the realisation on Erin's part that the whole world is around her reading, has information waiting to be soaked up. Huge leaps have been made in just the past couple of days. I feel this has something to do with studying for LAMDA her drama exam. She had to tell her tutor that she doesn't read well and had to have her monologue read out to her. So maybe in her own way she is starting to realise that she needs to read if she wants to get ahead and if i know my girl she WANTS to get ahead.
I felt just the same about Davids reading, he has just started to get interested in it after starting on reading eggs, he loves it and it is really beginning to work. I don't think he even realises that it is actually teaching him something, he just enjoys doing it. Might have to try the sites you mentioned too.
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