Well....school has been "in session" for two weeks. I consider ourselves in a trial period... where we are leaning what works and at what pace we should go. Things are going well. Aidan is enjoying herself... and so am I. I love teaching... especially at this stage... where everything is starting to click. I love watching the obvious progression of learning. I get excited over making lesson plans and poring over curriculum. If ever I need to work for a living...I just might become a teacher.
Anyway!
The biggest adjustment is that I figured out quickly that Aidan's worksheets...
A: needs to have a little less writing (she writes like a kindergartner but tires of it easily)
and
B: should not be completely mandatory.
I will continue to put them on her to-do list but will leave it up to her whether or not she finishes them. If they are not completed then they will be put in her "worksheet" folder to be done at will.
(This is, by the way, with the exception of her Explode the Code phonics program... those will be mandatory. )
A second... minor adjustment is that I've learned to be hyper-aware of how and what I'm saying to Aidan. She's at the point where she'll pay more attention to me to see if she has the right answer than to what she's supposed to be concentrating on. So... I've learned... that my attitude is very important and will be playing a key-role in whether this schooling will be a success or not.
It's a dance... knowing when to push and not to push...knowing when to switch your tactic of teaching and try something new.. knowing when to be patient and let her figure it out by herself and when to help her.
I haven't got it all down... a few times I've caught myself on the verge of losing patience... and then I have to remind myself her true age.
Overall, I am feeling very positive and am looking forward to seeing where we both stand at the end of this year.
oh yeah...
We didn't finish everything on the list this week. We had a lot of errands to run and all sorts of things... so we'll be working on catching up next week.
Anyway!
The biggest adjustment is that I figured out quickly that Aidan's worksheets...
A: needs to have a little less writing (she writes like a kindergartner but tires of it easily)
and
B: should not be completely mandatory.
I will continue to put them on her to-do list but will leave it up to her whether or not she finishes them. If they are not completed then they will be put in her "worksheet" folder to be done at will.
(This is, by the way, with the exception of her Explode the Code phonics program... those will be mandatory. )
A second... minor adjustment is that I've learned to be hyper-aware of how and what I'm saying to Aidan. She's at the point where she'll pay more attention to me to see if she has the right answer than to what she's supposed to be concentrating on. So... I've learned... that my attitude is very important and will be playing a key-role in whether this schooling will be a success or not.
It's a dance... knowing when to push and not to push...knowing when to switch your tactic of teaching and try something new.. knowing when to be patient and let her figure it out by herself and when to help her.
I haven't got it all down... a few times I've caught myself on the verge of losing patience... and then I have to remind myself her true age.
Overall, I am feeling very positive and am looking forward to seeing where we both stand at the end of this year.
oh yeah...
We didn't finish everything on the list this week. We had a lot of errands to run and all sorts of things... so we'll be working on catching up next week.
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