You see, I know this stuff works.

I've posted before how & why I started making these seemingly boring videos.  I've also talked about the successes I've had.  Today, I received more evidence that these silly little videos I make actually do work.

At 7am, we had our first parent/teacher conference with my 1st grader's teacher.  She had nothing but nice things to say (of course,) but we prodded her for more info.  He's doing well, but HOW well?

Mind you, they school year just started less than two months ago. He's still early in his 1st grade year.  But, she showed us on a chart where he is with reading (almost 3rd grade level.) She showed us where he is with writing (late 2nd grade level.)  She showed us where he is with math, science, critical thinking and a few other "key performance areas."  Without exception, he's way ahead of his class.  They haven't started the formal "gifted" classes, yet, but says he's a shoe-in for them.

Hearing her bragging on him was one thing, but it wasn't until I saw examples of his classmate's school work on the wall that I started to understand just how far ahead he has gotten.  On the wall outside the classroom were the results of a "research project" they had to do (yeah, first graders are doing research, now!)  It was a very simple project with a picture of some type of weather (rain, sleet, sunshine, hurricanes etc,) with a few sentences describing it below.

Most of the kids' work were the type of thing where you try to decipher what the kid was trying to write. "Hrrcans are yuje stroms."  Some of the letters are backwards, some are perfect, and some are impossible to figure out what they're supposed to be.  Our son, the little genius, had perfectly written sentences that clearly described what sleet is.  The punctuation was perfect, zero spelling errors, and the sentences actually flowed quite nicely.

Seeing this, I actually felt a tinge of guilt in that I realize just what a disparity there was between the bottom of the class and the top.  Inadvertently, we'd made that challenge a bit worse for the teacher.  I'm not saying my son is a super-student, but just that he's clearly at the top of the class.  There was at least one other kid who seemed to be around the same level our kid is.  But, if I were to choose between having my kid at the top or the bottom, I'd have to say I'm quite pleased he is where he is.

Plus, it must be said that the videos aren't ALL he ever had for preparation. We did plenty of other school work with him over the last few years, too.  Now, he loves school, enjoys his homework, and seems to be off to a roaring start for his education.

Here they are, again... check 'em out!  My Educational Videos

Back To School!

Well, for us, it's not actually "back to school."

Since we'd done a lot of "home school" type of stuff with our oldest son beginning when he wasn't even able to talk, he's a little ahead of the crowd.  Putting him in kindergarten to learn the numbers while we'd already started teaching him multiplication seemed silly.  So, we kept him out until 1st grade...  this year!

He's doing fine, and while he knows most of the material, they are covering some things we didn't.  Hopefully he won't get too bored too soon!  With this being a pretty big event for him, a lot of attention has been focused on hiim.  While we have attempted to not let it get out of hand, our other son has made it quite clear that he feels a little left out.

Our schedules have changed since our oldest was that age, so we don't have as much time to focus on education as we did,  However, it's still a high priority!  Seeing his big brother going to school to LEARN and READ has not gone unnoticed by this little tot.  He has actually asked myself and his mother to teach him to read so he can go to school like his brother (imagine what a wonderful world it would be if all kids could read by the time they went to school!)  He already knows all of the letters and the sounds they make, but until now, he hasn't exhibited his brother's zeal for learning.  Perhaps we can put his jealousy to his advantage!

Last night, after he repeated his request to learn to read, I put him in front of one of the sight words videos I'd made for his brother.  Actually, we watched four of them!  He sat in my lap, bolt upright, and soaked it up like a sponge.  Later, his mom read to him from the Bible and then a bedtime story.

I hope you can find some quiet little way to encourage your little ones to WANT to read!  Don't leave it up to the schools to do all of the teaching.  The difference between a mediocre student and an excellent one is often the involvement of the parents!

Here's one of my kindergarten sight words video I have on Youtube.
Try setting your little ones down in front of it in full screen mode and reading the words as they come across the screen.  Before long, they'll be reading the words to you!  If you combine these with early reader books with stories composed exclusively of these words, the results can be amazing!



Good luck and feel free to share any thoughts you have!