Yesterday was another reason why I should homeschool my daughter. While their discussion was still on the third polygon, we were able to finish five. Aia was able to name the polygons and copy their names. Today we are scheduled to do a review on it. We'll be using match sticks to show the different polygons.
To exercise her writing, I asked her to rewrite yesterday's entry in her reminder notebook to a more appropriate notebook (writing notebook instead of composition notebook which they use in school). We discussed about margins and spaces when writing. By comparison, her rewrite was as if it were written by a grade1 student. It was neat and organized. All I had to do was remind her about her spacing. I was very pleased.
Before going to bed we read three books. One book she read by herself with some assistance, the other two I read to her. I learned from Mason that a material needs only to be read once with a focused attention to be able to comprehend, and so that is what I did. The first two books were focused on recognition of the words, so she reads it out loud when she knows the word then lets me read the unfamiliar ones. The third was more detailed and longer than the others. It was also the first time we read it so we were focusing on comprehension for the third one. It was perfect for the application of Mason's principle. After reading I asked her some questions about the story. It wasn't the usual who, what, when and where that the teacher in school ask. I asked how she liked the story? How she liked the character and why? When she answered, I kept on asking why and she kept on elaborating her answer. It went like this:
Me: Did you like Mog(the cat in the story)?
Aia: Yes
Me: Why?
Aia: because he's good.
Me: why is he good?
Aia: because he saved the valley
Me: why did he save the valley?
Aia: because there was a heavy rain and it flooded and…(she continued to tell the story in her own words and understanding)
PERFECT! We were able to accomplish our goal in just one reading. I was very happy. I felt a certain sense of accomplishment. Most importantly Aia was happy. She loves reading and discovering new things. This reading session was an ease to her because it was about understanding and making the story come to life in her head rather than memorizing certain details of the story.
