This summer, I'm teaching 2 brothers to read. I'm hoping I can get them both to a 1st grade reading level. I dont expect them to be fluent or speedy readers by the Fall, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were either. In the fall, we will have a much more structured program and an actual curriculum. I've wanted to keep them together as a class, as much as possible for a while now. I dont expect my 4yo to do all the same things or as much as the 6yo, but I do expect them to cover the same material, just in their own ways. My 6yo student can be labled a slothy-grasshopper, while his 4yo brother, is a worker bee. Unsurprisingly, the 6yo is a more effective learner than his brother. He "gets" the concepts very easily, he can do about 6 pages of his phonics book in 15 minutes. He's a bright, happy boy with no paitience for long-winded education. The 4yo is far more driven but a much less effective learner. He feels deprived if I dont work with him every time I work with his brother, but he is still saying "cu-ah-tu" and "ah-tu" instead of "cat" and "at." A few days ago, I noticed a glassy look in his eyes (sure sign of tears to come) after doing phonics. I knew then that he was at risk. So, I've resorted to sneaking behind his back with the 6yo to do work because I wanted him to get a break and avoid him "burning out" on the basics. After about a week off, I've changed his reading book from TRL to 100EZ and I think that this book will work better for him, at least in the beginning. Already, he's had a minor breakthrough for sounding out words. We need a few more days (he did 5 lessons in 1 sitting!) to really work on it, but I think that our "cu-ah-tu!" days are numbered! *happy dance* Oh, yeah! A question! The whole point of this post. Does anyone have any practical tips on how I can make these two a successful 'class' in the Fall? I'm reading as much as I can to stay ahead of them in my planning, but sometimes I feel like they've transformed during the night into a new kids. Everytime I think I've got their learning habits pegged, they switch up on me. I expect their reading and math skills will flex a lot, but there is no real reason that they shouldn't be able to work at the same pace for things like history and social studies, at least in the beginning. Plus, I plan to keep the majority of their Sciences and Social Studies/Humanities type learning based on manipulatives and crafts for the first 2 years. Its just easier to keep them together on this type of thing.
