Punctuation Traffic Signals
Well, after the girls took 3 1/2 hours yesterday morning to do their chores (which should take 20 minutes), I decided we needed a solution. Last night I made carrot-oat bran muffins with raisins, so they would have something quick and easy to eat for breakfast.
This morning I informed the girls that I would be starting a video at a certain time, whether they were ready or not. Whoever was done with their chores at that point could watch it, and if they took too long to do their chores the video would be over before they finished.
They finished their chores in 20 minutes.
##############
Now they're watching an animated portrayal of the story of Creation (which is what we're studying in Bible class this week) while I pop in some laundry, do a few other things, and write a quick post.
Baby E is sick with a cold. She's miserable, poor thing. Last night she kept waking up in a panic every time she tried to breathe through her nose. I ended up sitting up with her dozing on me the first shift of the night, then DH finally got her asleep in her crib for the rest of the night.
Getting such a late start yesterday threw off our school day, but other than that our second Monday morning went very well. Just a couple of brief highlights: M&M is really taking off with her reading, and is reading an early-reader book every day. She's especially enjoying handwriting practice and math, also.
AJ learned yesterday about punctuation. I liked the way the BJU 1st grade English program had me explain punctuation using a traffic light. AJ is very interested in traffic lights and how they work, so color-coding the various sentence parts with green, yellow and red worked well for her. She narrated a composition, and I made sure there were some sentences with commas and semicolons in it. Then she colored all the capital letters at the beginnings of sentences green for go, the punctuation at the ends of the sentences red for stop, and the commas and semicolons in the middle of the sentences yellow for pause. We also did an exercise with reading the same sentences with different inflections according to the various punctuation marks.
Baby E is doing a fine job entertaining herself with various toys (anything that opens and closes and allows her to take objects in and out is a hit), snacks and naps while we work on school. She's napping better with a slightly more regular schedule, so that helps a lot.
Baby E is so fascinated with her newfound walking skills that she can entertain herself for quite some time just walking across the living room and back, then picking up a toy and carrying it across, then putting the toy in the cupboard and getting another one. She squeals and holds her arms up in the air when she gets walking fast, like she's riding on a roller coaster. It's very cute.
This morning I informed the girls that I would be starting a video at a certain time, whether they were ready or not. Whoever was done with their chores at that point could watch it, and if they took too long to do their chores the video would be over before they finished.
They finished their chores in 20 minutes.
##############
Now they're watching an animated portrayal of the story of Creation (which is what we're studying in Bible class this week) while I pop in some laundry, do a few other things, and write a quick post.
Baby E is sick with a cold. She's miserable, poor thing. Last night she kept waking up in a panic every time she tried to breathe through her nose. I ended up sitting up with her dozing on me the first shift of the night, then DH finally got her asleep in her crib for the rest of the night.
Getting such a late start yesterday threw off our school day, but other than that our second Monday morning went very well. Just a couple of brief highlights: M&M is really taking off with her reading, and is reading an early-reader book every day. She's especially enjoying handwriting practice and math, also.
AJ learned yesterday about punctuation. I liked the way the BJU 1st grade English program had me explain punctuation using a traffic light. AJ is very interested in traffic lights and how they work, so color-coding the various sentence parts with green, yellow and red worked well for her. She narrated a composition, and I made sure there were some sentences with commas and semicolons in it. Then she colored all the capital letters at the beginnings of sentences green for go, the punctuation at the ends of the sentences red for stop, and the commas and semicolons in the middle of the sentences yellow for pause. We also did an exercise with reading the same sentences with different inflections according to the various punctuation marks.
Baby E is doing a fine job entertaining herself with various toys (anything that opens and closes and allows her to take objects in and out is a hit), snacks and naps while we work on school. She's napping better with a slightly more regular schedule, so that helps a lot.
Baby E is so fascinated with her newfound walking skills that she can entertain herself for quite some time just walking across the living room and back, then picking up a toy and carrying it across, then putting the toy in the cupboard and getting another one. She squeals and holds her arms up in the air when she gets walking fast, like she's riding on a roller coaster. It's very cute.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 10:24 AM[Permanent link]
3 Comments:
I love what you're doing with your kids. It sounds like you really take the time to think about who they are and what they need to get motivated.
Goodness, some of my college students could use that punctuation and traffic light exercise. Color me wildly impressed with both you and your kids.
Thanks, Liz. I try to do that, but sometimes it's hard to figure out. :)
Thanks, Jane Dark. The traffic light concept wasn't my idea.
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