Spelling Review

When I began homeschooling our daughter this fall, I chose to commit three days per week to spelling. We have been using seven words per spelling lesson from the "Explode the Code" book series. The progression in the books has been very appropriate for our daughter, and she really enjoys the work.

An important point that should be mentioned is this: anytime you feel that a younger child--typically before the age of seven indicates (whether physically or verbally), that they are no longer interested in studying, you should respond to their feelings and end the lesson. Trying to push through it will only have negative affects, in that, disdain begins to grow in the child with regard to studying. Once this happens, it is as if a trust has been violated and then studying becomes a chore rather then an activity which they enjoy.

At the age of five, after five months our daughter is producing work like this (i.e. the above scanned page) consistently. A main point for us has been to listen to what our daughter is telling us. And most of the time we know when she has reached her limit--by observing her actions--not by her telling us.

Built upon the success that we have found pertaining to this spelling process, I have been inclined to try some short sentence dictation with her. In the next post I will--In sha Allah--scan a page of that work.

wa salam.