Bo and Pre-K

Remember all the trouble I had with Jack and teaching him Pre-K at home?  As you can imagine, I was absolutely DREADING starting Pre-K with Bo.  As I lamented over what was surely going to be the worst year of my life, Bo kept bugging me about learning to read. 

Bo, tossing a book in my lap:  "Teach me to read."

Except I didn't know how to do that.  My pre-k plans consisted of learning the alphabet, colors, shapes, sorting, counting... the basics.  And here is this kid that is ready to skip all of that and move right on to reading. 

But Bo, it doesn't work like THAT, you can't learn to read until you learn your alphabet and basic letter sounds.  So I started early.  Instead of waiting until this fall to begin pre-k, we started last winter.  He was ready, so I made myself ready as quickly as I could. 

I set up a classroom downstairs. 

I tried to set it up with different area's for different subjects.  There is a reading center in the left corner where the books and alphabet or phonics related things are kept.  On the right where Bo is standing is where everything that has to do with numbers is located.  

In the orange and green buckets there are blocks of different kinds (wooden, plastic, bristle blox, etc), gears, and other motor skill development toys.  He has a little desk with bins of crayons, pencils, etc.  There is an easel for art, and the computer is on the wall parallel to this one.  

I have felt board stories for several of the books we have.  He loves to sit in this corner and play with them while he looks at the books.

His desk is little, and it's perfect for him to do his papers and other work.

I have several floor rugs for teaching different things.  This is a ten-frame rug for counting and math.  

We started out doing the same letter of the week curriculum that I used for Jack, but he quickly proved to me that he needed to move faster than a letter a week.  I scrapped that idea and I also scrapped the entire Pre-K curriculum I was using and we moved on to Kindergarten curriculum when school started in August.  

I was really nervous about teaching him to read, but he has made everything so easy.  I also have a very good friend that is a retired elementary school teacher and she's given me a lot of pointers that have helped.  

Bo has already mastered his Pre-Primer sight words and we have moved on to the Primer set.  

This is just about where we are out now.  He can read emergent reader pages and books, and understand the content.  He is doing very well, considering he is only four.  He has also been a joy to teach.  He looks forward to "school" every day.  We work for maybe two/three hours per day spaced at different times throughout the day.  I can tell when he's had enough and needs a break and some days are better than others, but none are bad days.  

Here is a video I took of him yesterday while he was reading his paragraph.

He is capable of counting to 100 by one's and also by ten's.  We are working on counting by two's and five's now.  He can do these addition counting charts by himself.  The stoplight in the background is for behavior.  He is almost always green.  He's been yellow once or twice and has never been on red.  But a lot of that is because I cue off of him.  If he gets to the yellow zone I switch things up and we move on. 

This is my favorite activity.  The writing prompt.  I give him a letter, he picks a subject, and writes a sentence and colors a picture about the subject he picked.  This one was the letter "L", and he came up with limbo.  I have NO idea where that came from in his little four year old brain, which is why I enjoy this activity so much.  I just never know what he will write.

Limbo is fun

This has been a completely different experience for me than when I tried to teach Jack.  Jack has always disliked school, so I try not to take it personally that he hated pre-k at home with me.  

I'm also a little concerned about Bo having the same type of ADHD that Justice has.  It's a little too early to tell, and I don't know how that will pan out.  I'll be ready for it, it will be easy to deal with since we have already traveled this road with Justice.  It is definitely NOT impacting his ability to learn like it did with Justice.  Amen for that. 

I'm thankful that I stay at home with my kids and that I have had the opportunity to be involved in Bo's learning to read.  I wouldn't have ever thought in a million years I would be capable of teaching a child to read.  However, Bo has made it so easy for me.  He's been a star student from the first day.  I am looking forward to what the rest of this school year brings us.  I will be sad when he goes off to Kindergarten next year, but at least I know he will be prepared and I will feel good about the head start he has been given at home.