Learning to Read

My 5yo developed a fascination with Harry Potter and told me that he wanted to read the book. Since his reading skills are at a minimum right now, I figured this would be a great motivation for him to do his reading lessons (taken from the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons).

We made a chart with the numbers 1-100 on it (which is also helping him learn those numbers) and he gets a sticker every time he finishes a lesson. When he finishes all 100 lessons, I will buy him a copy of the first Harry Potter book, which he has to read before he can watch the movie (I figure if he can read the book, he can handle the movie...he still gets easily scared about stuff, so if he knows what will happen beforehand, then he shouldn't get nightmares). So, he is learning how to read! He's already on lesson 28 (well, we started in October then went very sporadically through the first dozen lessons). He's been really good about learning how to read, and I catch him reading other things, too.

So exciting!

To reinforce what he learns in his reading lessons, I also encourage him to read Bob Books (which is a collection of phonics-based books that teaches kids to read a few letters and concepts at a time). My 3yo also likes to read those books (one letter at a time, while bobbing up and down off the couch...a little kinetic learner).

To The Mooooooonnnnnn!!!

We love to go to outer space. Literally. We have to have an outer space class about once a month. Why? Because we get to dress up like astronauts and jump around on the moon! This is my 3yo's top requested "class." Yesterday, they saw Wallace and Grommit's trip to the moon, so today, they had to do it, too. I didn't get pictures of it today, but this is what it's like...

Pillows and bean bags and sheets turn into craters and low gravity. Today, we listened to Fanfare for the Common Man, by Aaron Copland (just go listen to the first 30 sec on iTunes...and you'll see why). That is such an inspiring song. To me, it speaks of the amazing accomplishments that common men have done and still do. It speaks of the great potential we have within us, that as we reach down and search and work for it, we begin to realize it and become our greatest selves.

(For some reason, I associate the advancements in space with that song...so I looked it up in Wikipedia to see if it was a theme song for a shuttle mission or something. Not so. It was written during WWII to uplift and encourage people during the war.)

Speaking of a common man, I had taught the kids before that Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon. Today, my oldest remembered that! It was amazing! So, we repeated that oft repeated phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." As the music was playing, I excitedly told the kids how normal people do amazing things...like Neil Armstrong and Aaron Copland. They just loved it! And I just loved how they loved it!

Other things we have done with this space "class":

• use star and sun paper punches and glue stars and suns on black construction paper
• go to the St Louis Planetarium to see a show about stars and learn where the current locations of stars and planets are (for a few weeks, we knew right where Jupiter...or was it Venus...sat in the sky)
• go to National Geographic's interactive Solar System web site to learn more about our Solar System

One fact I have re-learned: Pluto is no longer considered a planet. We only have 8 planets orbiting our sun. But there are at least 3 dwarf planets, Pluto included, that orbit the sun (I thought I remember learning about a 4th at the Planetarium...but the NG website says 3). A dwarf planet has not "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit, which means it shares it's orbit with other objects.

Interesting, huh.