Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Alphabet Tree

Our homeschooling is generally centred around a Letter of the Week.



We are working through the Handwriting without Tears program. This program starts with capitals first &  introduces the letters in a specific sequence. For example they begin with all the Letters that you start writing in the top left corner.

We are following their program sequence loosely. We started with the Letter F, then E, D etc.
We have sometimes done a letter out of sequence, like I introduced the Letter T (which you start writing in the top middle) early.

We have a big Alphabet Tree that we set up in our homeschooling room (the lounge). Every week as we start a new Letter, we make that Letter & stick up on the tree.



When we start a new Letter I choose a topic that begins with that letter. Then we visit the library & choose books on that topic. Often our topic will be decided on at the library as it all depends on which books we can find there. (Rarotonga has a very small library, but a truly fantastic Kids section). For the Letter D, it was only after we visited the library that we decided on a topic. We found a gorgeous simple book on guide dogs & we were sold!
All our crafts centre around the topic & we search the internet for extras that we can add, like colouring in sheets, online books and simple information.