A day of reading, math & music

– lots of new flashcards. 7yo Vee and 4yo Jae wanted to play, so I said, “All right, El, only you are watching flashcards. Let’s go.”

Then suddenly all the kids rushed into their favourite seats to watch the cards.

These are times when I’m glad to have 3 kids to create “competition”.

– before nap, 4+yo Jae kept reading aloud an alphabet book with me saying the sounds. At least 4 rounds.

Seeing his great interest, I whipped out Progressive Phonics Beginner Book 1 (“a”) to teach him CVC blends.

He LOVES it so much that he brought it to bed for nap, and wanted to continue straight upon waking up.

First time teaching him blends and he read rather easily. Caught the right moment again. Bingo!

– while the little ones napped, I continued teaching 7yo Vee Singapore math bar modelling skills. Combined with manipulatives when needed.

Our second lesson on bar models and he still loves it.

I started from really simple word problems that he could already solve mentally.

1. motivate him to read the problems (given that he’s easily put off by reading)
2. start from simple bar models before moving to advanced ones. It takes motor skills to use the ruler and draw proportionate models.
3. compare his mental solution to the structured solution

Interestingly, for word problems, he prefers worksheets and whiteboard rather than IXL on iPad.

My guess is he doesn’t like reading lengthy stuff and doing workings on the screen.

For straightforward questions, he likes the screen.

– music practice went well. Vee’s sight reading is improving as I heed the teacher’s advice:

reduce playing new songs on my iPod to prevent him from memorising and playing by ear. This forces him to read the notes to balance up his skills.

The kids still play a lot because I usually attend to only 1-2 kids at a time, so the other(s) would rest / play.

Last day of LNY school holiday tomorrow… Looking forward to more fun.

P.S. Check out my workshops here