Home-Based Summer School

Top 2. Jul 19, 2001 1:57 PM

» JaneHollis - Re: Home-Based Summer School

In response to message posted by dorothy7:

Thanks for these ideas. I did a mini Easter-school for my nearly 5yr old daughter, with great results. I am now looking for ideas to prepare her (in a fun way) for the Autumn term, particularly as, because of her ability, she will be placed in a slightly older age-group (the other children will be between 3 months and 1yr 3mths older than her).

The main problem I feel she will have is in the handwriting department - she finds writing physically difficult, although she is able to dictate very good work to me on the computer. I think the best approach is to do very small amounts daily, to avoid fatigue. And to make writing projects fun - like writing a card or letter to friends. I particularly like the idea of awarding stickers and certificates - I think this will really help with the writing.

-- posted by JaneHollis

Top 3. Jul 26, 2001 6:32 PM

» dorothy7 - Re: Re: Home-Based Summer School

In response to message posted by JaneHollis:

Hi Jane,

My 7 year old son also had a bit of difficulty in writing, in fact he didn't enjoy it as much - partly because he's one of the youngest in the class and his dexterity and coordination isn't quite as developed, a few months of age gap is a big difference to our kids. So we just do a few writing exercises everyday. Whether it's copying a short story or writing down some spelling words. In time, he won't be a novelist just yet but he will see "writing" as a fun way to express himself. In fact, his handwriting has improved tremendously. Good Luck!

-- posted by dorothy7

Top 4. Jul 28, 2001 1:03 AM

» JaneHollis - Re: Re: Re: Home-Based Summer School

In response to message posted by dorothy7:
Just wanted to let you know how successful the sticker chart idea is. Anna was given an English workbook for her birthday - sounds really boring but it was a fun one with lots of colour cartoons and the exercises broken down into small sections. It also came with loads of gold star stickers so I decided to make a chart for her to put them on. She is a big Barbie fan, so I found www.barbie.com and downloaded some of their free graphics to incorporate into the chart.

The funny thing was that she didn't need much motivating anyway, as before she even knew about the chart she asked if she could do the book! When she realised there was a sticker chart involved she became even more keen and raced through the first ten sections in one hour! For each ten stickers on the chart she gets a treat - so I took her to the local adventure playground. But she was still talking about how she wanted to get on with her 'work' when she got home!

-- posted by JaneHollis