A new post…..

We have been covering many subjects lately, but for the most part it has weighted heavily on reading and writing (handwriting) and math.  I have not had the time to post as much as it takes time to upload the days individual work so I have been creating mini posts to track what we’ve been working on so I can go back on it later to analyze the next steps.  But I will be posting some random photography in this post of some of the projects we have been working on.  The other site I have been posting to, which is rather boring but more for my recording needs is adaptingeducationlessonslearned.wordpress.com    For those looking for ideas for lesson planning it may be useful.

 

 

Above pictures are drills used in the Dubard Method where I teach the girls phonemes and reading skills.  You can see that some of the pages learn toward teaching same sounds and how they are spelled differently yet sound the same.  We write these sounds out individually on the board, then review over them in drop drill format to associate the sounds to one another.  After the girls have completed these steps and have read the board independently they sit at their desks and either trace over the phonemes or write them out by themselves on lined paper with pencil.  We have been working a lot with handwriting skills lately to form Maggie’s lines better so she has less landslide writing and sees the line she is writing on better.  I recently came across a special lined and boxed paper that is very similar to handwriting without tears paper but helps forms the lines with more accuracy.  Not only does it help with writing in a straight line but it also keeps the letters to scale.  So Maggie has been working with this paper where Lily prefers the traditional lines that are dotted.  Lily is improving tremendously with her skills as she is now independently writing on her own.    Part of her problems were with motor planning and fine motor skills.  She has improved with this and her wrist strength and finger power.  Additionally, she is writing with more pressure so that the lines are readable as before she was hardly bearing down on the point with a pencil but was doing fine with instruments like a marker for example (which require no pressure to write).  We purchased a weighted pencil to help with this and I think it has had an effect on her ability to write so far.  I have seen improvement as though she has a better awareness of the object in her hand (pencil) with the added weight.

 

 

Above are examples of same sound association on the board.

 

 

Lily and Maggie work on Lexia Learning for Language on their ipads above.  This has had a huge effect on their ability to learn to read.  When used together with other programs like Hooked on Phonics and Handwriting without Tears it is very compatible.  It has partner worksheets that go along with the program (Lexia) and they incorporate all the skills they have learned on the ipad while furthering their fine motor skills with handwriting and scissor skills, glue, etc.

 

 

We have started using the Bob Books we have read for spelling words.  Lily has a very hard time doing the handwriting fast enough when a word is called out so we created an activity where she could get the word out faster and at the same time practice on handwriting skills without feeling the need to rush it as she cannot write as fast as Maggie can.  Maggie in turn gets to learn a new skill that I didn’t start learning until the age of 10 I think……typing.   I call out Bob Book words and the girls first type them on their computers…….Lily uses her Dynavox with a full size keyboard via bluetooth and Maggie uses her ipad (word documents) with a compatible blue tooth keyboard.  They both write type their documents in a word based program.  Their work is then printed out after they save it and it is included with their handwriting sheets…..After the girls type the words on their documents they hand write the same word on a spelling sheet that they can practice writing independently at any point during the day or night and turn in the next day.  It’s usually due by the end of the next day.  This is a way to start the homework process for them and gives them an idea of how to judge time and make the most of it schedule wise when something is expected of them or due by a certain time.  They like that independence of doing it on their own time.

 

 

Above set up is the sound cylinders.  There are 6 sounds to match and 12 tubes to choose from.  Each blue tube matches a red one.  Lily above is listening to match sounds while Maggie prepares to do the tasting bottles.

Above shown is our landform setup display.  On this day we also worked with Montessori Geography apps on the ipad which centered on the placement of the continents.  So we matched it up with the shape of landforms also and added animals and wildlife where they lived and talked about environments, habitats and adaptation too.  As part of the landform set up the girls matched up the types of landforms to their label cards and we explored how (with the montessori landform sand tiles) how the land pieces seemed to fit into one another.  This brought up continental drift and how the continents separated from one another (theory) to form what we see as puzzle pieces today.

 

Above pictured is Lily working with the sound cylinders again and Maggie working with the tasting bottles.  The tasting bottles use the same idea as the sound cylinders but with the sense of taste versus sound.  This is why she has an awkward look on her face…..I’m guessing she was tasting the sour bottle.  Lol.  Last photo you see the girls have switched activities……

 

Above the girls match out the landform cards to their proper labels.