Manuel Said:

Home schooling 5 year olds questions regarding Hooked on Phonics...?

We Answered:

I will tell you as a mom and as a former teacher that kids just learn at different rates. I have my kids in private schools now and using the phonics system and I believe you are going about it the right way vs. the public school methods of "phonics by osmosis". This is what I would suggest: If you think they both know it then it is entirely possible one son is bored with the methods or just doesn't want to compete in the same format with his brother. Go to starfall.com and evaluate him on that. They use the same little phonemes that the Hooked on Phonics series use but also provide more advanced lessons immediately.

Kurt Said:

Is this enough education for a 4 year old kindergartener?

We Answered:

Six months in and unless she's a genius, she'll be frustrated. She's four. She needs to play, get out in the fresh air, explore her whole world around her, play, help you and your mum in the kitchen, play, paint with her hands, chalk on the pavement, climb trees, spend all day watching ants, play.

There's a very good homeschooling saying which goes "Better late than early." And it's very true.

If she likes the idea of sitting down and doing book work, then great; do as much as she wants to do with her and then teach her everything else through play and fun and she'll want to carry on.

The best thing about homeschooling is that you go at the pace of your child and not the pace the "system" says she should. You should be trying to light the love of learning in her. If she loves to learn she'll spend her entire life learning and you'll have done your job.

When I first read this list my immediate thought was "Oh, someone else taking the mickey out of us homeschoolers" and then I re-read it and thought, "Maybe this is for real."

It's such a huge list for just a little bit of a thing. But then I don't know you or your sister, maybe she will benefit from such a huge list, but I doubt it. Most four years old are only interested in the properties of sand and water and baking (all good ways to teach maths and science easily).

Read to her, have fun with her and she'll learn.

Gerald Said:

Should I teach Kindergarten or 1st Grade? (Real Situation)?

We Answered:

I have only taught 4th and 6th grade. I have no idea where I will be when school starts in August because of teachers being moved around. If I had a choice over the 2 grades I would chose 1st grade. K has to learn phonics also, at least in my state. I would chose 1st grade because they are little more maturer than K. K is the foundation and I don't feel comfortable teaching "babies". I guess teaching older kids make me feel like I would be too hard on them......

Erin Said:

What are the first steps of home schooling an active child?

We Answered:

Are you planning to homeschool her for her school years or only the summer? Because if you teach her for only the summer, and then send her to traditional school, she will be far, far ahead of her classmates and it will be a problem.

I think that 3-4 hours a day is too much time to spend teaching a 4 year old. As far as structured learning, 1 hour would be plenty. I have heard good reports about Time4Learning. She might also like -

http://www.starfall.com
http://www.funfonix.com/

And here is another link you might want to check out -

http://www.homeschoolingadventures.com/p…

The basics you want to teach her are:

1) Recognizing the letters in the alphabet and numbers 1 - 10
2) Knowing how to write the letters of the alphabet and the numbers 1-10
3) If she seems ready, you can begin to teach her the sounds of each letter

Rosa Said:

Help Teaching double letter sounds (ai – sail, ay – tray, ir – girl, oa – boat) to children.?

We Answered:

Try making silly pictures or stories using the sounds. For example a stoat on a boat with toast on his coat. The children have to hear the target sound each time.

Children often get confused between ai and ay when spelling. To help them, print some words on cards (illustrate them or get the children to). Mix up the ai and ay words. Ask the children to sort them into separate piles. Then ask the children to look at the spelling patterns and see what they notice. Then say some more words. Which pile do they think they will go on? (The pattern is that ay is only used at the ends of words = tray, day, play).

Try playing the dice game. Get 3 large cubes in different colours. On the first put some common starting sounds (e.g. s, t). On the second put the double letter sounds ai, ir, oa. On the third put some word endings. Show the children how to roll the dice, put them in the right order (according to the colours) and read the 'word'. Can the children decide if it is a real word? If it is, they write it down. Play in two teams, the one with the most real words at the end wins.