She is Reading

We have been doing schoolwork off and on since Lilly was about 3.  This year we were pretty consistent with doing our preschool work until I received her kindergarten curriculum in the mail.  I began to look at it and realized that she knew a lot of the beginning stuff.  I knew I had two choices: a) I could go ahead and plunge forward with the kindergarten curriculum early and she'd be ahead or b) We could take a break from school work for a while and start as planned in August/September.  With all the uncertainties of the adoption process, I opted for choice b.  So, as it is, we are still learning every day, but just not sitting down to do actual school work. 

Here are some videos of her reading books we checked out at the library:

 

Mystery Powder

We were doing an experiment where Lilly had to predict what would happen when we added the "mystery powder" to the water.  The "mystery powder" was actually gelatin and was labeled gelatin on the package.  So, I asked her what her prediction was and then proceeded to open the package of gelatin to pour it in the water. 
Lilly stops me and says, "That isn't the mystery powder!"

I responded, "Yes, it is."

To which she grabs the package from me and studies it then says, "It doesn't say mystery powder.  It says g-g-g-el-a-tin (and she sounds out the word)."

I look at her for a minute and then she continues, "Oh it is gelatin, like jello!"

"You're too smart for your own good, you know that?" I say.

Now, my husband and I know we need to be extra careful about what we are writing or reading because this girl will try and figure it out - no hiding things from her anymore. :)

Reading Eggs

I teach Lilly at home.  We do letter sounds, math lessons, reading about animals, etc.  I have "taught" her a lot of things.  Often times, I wonder if she is retaining any of the information that we have talked about.  Over the last couple of weeks I have seen her spark of interest in reading and it has brought me confirmation that she is retaining some things.  For example, she has taken an interest in "sounding words out."  She will take my cell phone and compose a text message full of random letters (sometimes they make real words and sometimes not) and then proceed to sound out the word.  You should see the light in her eyes when she realizes she has made a real word.  It is exciting for me to see the light bulb turn on for her, realizing that letters make words.

The other day on FB, a friend of mine had a posting on this reading site called www.readingeggs.com so I decided to check it out.  It teaches letter sounds, letter recognition, sight word recognition, sounding out words, rhyming words and so much more.  There are two parts to the site, one is for younger children, like my daughter (who is almost 4) and one for older children.  Both parts, allow the child to earn "eggs" by playing the games and spend them on things like items for their "house" or clothing for their "character", etc. I love that it doesn't allow the child to go on to the next game if they have not mastered the skill they are currently working on.  Lilly loves playing it and I enjoy watching her play, amazed at how much she is actually reading. 

A little bragging: At the beginning they quiz the child to see what level to start them on and I was happy to see that she is "reading" on a 4.75 year old level.  Maybe all the homeschooling lessons I have done with her have really been helping.