Thursday, May 26, 2011

Independent Work - Second-Half of 1st Grade

I'm so overjoyed how much independent work K has been able to take on since finishing up the OPGTR.  Not only has she read almost the entire easy book list for 1st-3rd grade in 3 months and this year's "assigned" list, she is reading so well that she doesn't need me reading what I used to from different subjects.  Here is what she is now able to do independently:
  1. Reading - this is an obvious one, but wanted to include it as well.  She does her "assigned" 4th grade reading level for 30 minutes and then does her evening "fun" below-reading level book for 30-40 minutes.  She also is able to do her once-a-week fluency reading on her own.
  2. Saxon 2 Math - she can do all the work on her own, she no longer needs me to read the directions or the problems!  All I do is teach the lesson and then give her the work.
  3. Rod & Staff English 2 - she reads the lesson (I don't have to even teach this anymore!) and does the activity orally on her own!  Another subject I don't have to teach anymore, woohoo!
  4. Spelling Workout B - she studies the tip and does the lesson on her own now and I don't need to read anything for her!  I also don't have to administer the spelling test, because we have been using Spelling City for that!
With writing, I read the excerpt from the story and then ask questions and then she does the worksheet herself.  With history and science, it is still very involved for me.  I have had her listen to the history lesson on cd but she doesn't seem to remember as much - she does better when I read the lesson.  Science is reading books and doing projects basically, so that is very parent-involved as well.

Overall, I'm very excited that my teacher-load is lessening!  I thought it wouldn't be until 3rd grade for her to be able to do this much without me but getting her on that 4th-grade reading level was the key that unlocked time for me!  The English 2 didn't happen till this week, she wanted to start reading the lesson, so I would let her and she read almost as fast as me, so I figured why not?  Then today, I was very busy, so I had her just do what she could - in just a minute or so she had already read the lesson and did the work!  I was floored and so came to write up this post! :-)

It is so exciting to see your child learn to teach themselves - that is what we are trying to do as homeschool moms - training them to LEARN independently!

4 comments:

  1. How wonderful. I am glad that she is thriving and doing so wonderful. It is always rewarding and encouraging to see your child take off in learning.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is very much so! Thanks Chrissy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is wonderful! Good job, Katie!

    Marie-Anne

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks so much Marie-Anne! :)

    ReplyDelete