Thursday, April 27, 2006

So far, sort of so good

My plan for yesterday worked fairly well. It got the 9yo putting more effort into things and the 11yo actually got a fair amount of work done (although not as much time spent working as I would have liked, but there were issues with me having to monitor a testing situation). "With freedom comes responsibility." Both children are trying to shirk responsibility now and with too much freedom, they are quite irresponsible. My lessening their freedom seemed calming to them a bit yesterday, so I think I'm doing the right thing.

I'm considering using the Writing Road to Reading phonics section to work with the 11yo and possibly the 9yo, with the others joining in if they wish. The 11yo is really stuck remembering sounds and rules and all that. Phonics Pathways (which we've been using) is good, especially for his eye tracking, but it takes time to get through all of the sections and doesn't quite get as explicit in possibilities for different sounds. I think I will also adapt it to work with French phonetics with the 15yo. She has read so little French the past couple of years she struggles with the simplest of words. She is so capable so I need to provide her with something to get it all back on track and to have her regain her confidence.

I was just thinking that this may not all seem very Montessori, and perhaps it isn't, but it is taking each child and finding what will best help them instead of using a blanket approach for all.

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