Teach Your Child to Read!

It's great when your children come back to you and tell you that something you did was a success.

Has that ever happened to you?  I think I got my first real kudos the other day!  (I was tempted to say 'kudo' just to make my husband roll his eyes, but I didn't.  Teachable moment here:

kudos |ˈk(y)o͞oˌdōs, -ˌdōz, -ˌdäs|nounpraise and honor received for an achievement.•informal compliments or congratulations: kudos to everyone who put the event together.ORIGIN late 18th cent.: Greek.

usage: Kudos comes from Greek and means ‘glory.’ Despite appearances, it is not a plural form. This means that there is no singular form kudo and that use as a plural, as in the following sentence, is incorrect: he received many kudos for his work (correct use is he receivedmuch kudos for his work).

Okay, so, back to the story...

TMax has been doing a lot of reading aloud in English class and he's shocked by the number of kids in his Honors English class who can't read without struggling through the sentences! He doesn't assume that he can read because he's so smart, he assumes it's because I used a great text to teach him:

I love. this. book.  I used it for all 6 kids and they all read fluently.  In fact, they all read fluently on a second grade level when they finished the book, no matter what age they were.  Now, I will admit for the sake of people who know me and my kids, that I think they're all very smart and I'm lucky in the homeschooling department, but they don't all love to read.  They do it for school, but a couple of them only read if they're forced to.  Yet they CAN read very well aloud.  Comprehension is another issue entirely.

My children were varying ages when we started the 100 lessons, and they took different amounts of time to go through it.  We breezed through certain sections when they were doing well, and we slowed to a crawl or took a break entirely when it got too much for them, but they all finished eventually, well before 2nd grade.  In fact, Brendan finished it just after his 4th birthday.  Remember what I said about reading on a 2nd grade level?  Yeah.  But that was him, not me.  He's like that.   :-)

So, I highly recommend this book, whether you are starting later or earlier.  But even better, is the praise from my son who recognizes that he got a good start in homeschooling.  He acknowledged some other area which I'll tell you about later....after I ask him again what it was.  lol.

November Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...

The sun is coming up earlier than usual, and it's clear and balmy this morning.  It promises to be another fabulous fall day.  I've pretty much decided that fall is my favorite season as the leaf colors are just stunning!  It's hard to match that crisp air and colorful foliage with anything else during the year.

I am thinking...

Elizabeth's post on children and their free will, and a neighbor that my boys used to play with (the brother of Meg's buddy), who has been arrested for armed robbery at the start of his college career.  I'm so sad for him, and for her, and their whole family.

I am thankful...
for the relative peace in my home!  We have our ups and downs, and God willing, we'll never go down that path.

From the learning rooms...
Yesterday was an amazingly good day for a Monday!  We usually struggle with attitude and the amount of work.  For some reason, we got it all done with a good will in time for our noon dentist visit!

In the kitchen...
I'm gearing up to make a couple of months worth of weekly menu plans with shopping lists.  The weekly lists in
 
were a HUGE help when I was desperate.  Now that I've been through the book, I want to make my own menus and leave out the few recipes I didn't care for.  Plus, I want to make room for some of our old favorites.  


Is there a program out there that will help me compile all these recipes and lists?

I am wearing...
my workout clothes.  Go, me!
I did my workout, and it was mercifully short, but I can feel it.

I am creating...
a V-neck cotton sweater.  

I am going...
I'm hoping to stay home today to wait for the Tree Guy to come give us an estimate on removing 2 trees.  If I get out before after-school pickup, I will go to the thrift stores in search of costume items!

I am reading...
Still reading Wheat Belly by William Davis, M.D..  I noticed last night that I've read only 75 pages of 260-ish, but I'm completely convinced.  That, and the testimonials on his blog are very compelling.  But I have to finish soon because our book club meeting is coming up!
 

I am hoping...
My dog gets potty trained soon!  He's just not good at letting us know what he wants.  We take him out on a pretty good schedule, and once in a while he'll sit at the front door (and in a greater while, he'll actually whine!), but there are other times when he just wanders off, with no notice that we can tell, and pees upstairs or in the library.  What's up with that?

I am listening on my ipod to...
my favorite podcasts:  Just a Catholic Dad, Catholic Weekend, the Rosary Army rosary, and a new to me one:  Among Women.

I am hearing...
The jingle of doggie tags as you-know-who wanders around.

Around the house...
Trying to maintain a certain level of decent living during this very busy and hectic time, and I'm wondering how to incorporate Advent and Christmas this year.  Simple, beautiful, and doggie-proof.

Any ideas?

One of my favorite things...
As I posted on FB the other day, one of my favorite things is a family dinner where everyone is engaged in the conversation and there is laughter and fun.   It would be perfect if the whole family were present, though!  


I also love introducing the kids to something new and laughing together over it.  Last night, it was Bill Cosby and The Cosby Show.  I watched 4 episodes with Meg and Pippo---they loved it.  

A few plans for the rest of the week...
The usual:  BSA, Choir, AHG.
 Trivia on Friday?

Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook 

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I can't believe it's Friday already!  What happened to Tuesday and Wednesday?  I know what happened to Thursday---it was just busy!

--- 2 ---

Loving Simcha's post from yesterday about stem cell research and the Church!  If I were having babies still, I'd definitely be saving their cord blood, if not for my family, for anyone else who needs it.  And I think everyone should be registered as a bone marrow donor because it really does save lives.  My favorite quote:

And yet the field has shown mixed results, if by “mixed results” you mean “dismal and unmitigated failure.”  When asked to list “diseases cured by embryonic stem cell therapy,” Google Chrome said,  “Aw, snap.  The information you are looking for does not appear to exist.”  It then asked, “Did you mean ‘adult stem cell cures?’”  and offered 13,700,000 results. 

--- 3 ---

Last night was my regular AHG board meeting, and, instead of rushing around trying to make dinner before I left, I let Meg do it for her Cooking badge.  She had to make pizza dough from scratch.  (I let her do the rest of it, too.)  She used Barbara's easy, yummy recipe.  From what I heard, everyone enjoyed it very much.  

--- 4 ---

I didn't get to post on Wednesday's yarn along because I was busy deciding what to knit next.  I tried on the Slinky Ribs (Wendy Barnard) sweater I've been working on which fit much better than I expected, but I had made some choices and mistakes that I didn't really care for, so  I'm frogging it in favor of this V-neck.  I'll go back to it eventually because I love it.

--- 5 ---

Have you heard that Advent is just around the corner?  Yikes.  I mean, it's a good thing, and I love the New Church year, but I'm so not ready.  Not ready to keep the dog away from the Christmas tree!  Maybe the theme this year will be Simplicity.  Simplicity, all the way around, sounds like a really good thing.

--- 6 ---

Are you disliking the new Google Reader, too?  I can't stand it.  I miss the sharing button, not that I did very much of that, but I always knew that I could!  Mostly I hate it because it's white and blinding.  It occurs to me that the people designing this new nightmare have young eyes.  The "updated blogger interface" is the same way, which I don't use because I can't stand the excessive white space.  Who do you complain to?  

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Normally, or Last Week, I would've just clicked the Share button on this one, but even then you might not see it or click over.  You should, though.  Go read what Elizabeth has to say about children growing up.  Sometimes I feel like such a failure, and I have to remind myself that my job is to do God's will for myself.  My children have to follow their own path and use the free will that God gave them.  I might not like how they use it, but that's not my choice, and it doesn't reflect on my parenting the way I think it does.


I'll keep telling myself that, and I'll keep praying!

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