Homeschooling Noelle

I briefly mentioned that I started a new homeschool curriculum with Noelle but before I shared it with you I wanted to make sure it was a good fit. Noelle completed the Letter of the Week program by Confessions of a Homeschooler at the end of last year. She loved every printable and activity that we did so I wanted to find a similar curriculum that would be challenging and entertaining for her.

I decided on You Can Read from 1+1+1=1. Noelle has completed 4 weeks from this program and so far she loves it. It is amazing how much she has picked up during the past month. The Letter of the Week program taught her the alphabet and the sounds of each letter and now she is memorizing sight words and sounding out words. She currently knows 16 sight words and can read many sentences with those words.

A few minutes after learning the 4 sight words this week (love, mom, dad, as) she read this sentence (I may have teared up a little).

Noelle loves the printables from You Can Read. After printing them I place each page in a clear page protector and she uses dry erase markers so she can do them over and over during the week.

Instead of buying tons of homeschool props, I make my own. Here I taped 6 words to a rubber block and we play "roll the block." This game really helped her with the words she was having trouble with.

Another game we play is called the "box game." I write one word on each box lid and put a "prize" in each box (pretzel, m&m, cracker, sticker, etc). If she gets the word right she wins the prize. This is a fun game to play during homeschool time and also after dinner as "homework." 

We are also doing several printables each week from Raising Rock Stars Kindergarten. Noelle is only three and a half but she loves doing math, memorizing Bible verses and tracing. It doesn't seem to be over her head so we're going with it.

Other things we do daily:

Noelle enjoys the Starfall website. She completed ABCs and is now on Learn to Read. It's also a great site for preschool aged kids who are just learning the alphabet.

She is working her way through the Teach Me Kindergarten app. It follows the Dolch Pre Primer and Primer Sight Word lists just like the You Can Read program so Noelle doesn't get frustrated with words she doesn't recognize. The math portions have been great for her. Since she started playing the app a few weeks ago, she has wanted to add and subtract objects all over the house.

That about sums up what Noelle is doing right now at "school." We only do 30 minutes to an hour each day but that is plenty for a three year old. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. My email address is growingupgardner@yahoodotcom.

-Amanda