Mom2bee had requested that I post an update on where my 7 year old is currently with his progress. We started EL with him at a few months old and have been using a variety of learning methods since. I also have a 3 year old who we started EL with almost from birth. Because they are so different we’ve had to use different methods for each to accomplish our goals.
Blaise age 7year 2 months:
Reading: Currently he is working his way through the reading list I’ve developed for him. This includes Science, History, and Literature. For fun reading he is about halfway through J. R. R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion. Early this Summer he read all the Harry Potter books over a few week period.
Math: He is currently working through Saxon 6/5 on his own. Each day he starts off doing 250 problems using Sterling Math Facts (an flashcard program). Next he does the timed worksheet that goes with his Saxon lesson, then he does the mental math and problem solving, reads the lesson, does the lesson practice and the 30 review problems. Afterward we correct it and he does the corrections.
Writing: We are using Institute for Excellence in Writing. This is a DVD program where they watch a lesson and then complete writing exercises. We also does Daily Language Review and a cursive writing book.
French: We do 1-2 lessons of Little Reader French Daily. We also have several You Tube playlists of French cartoons and try to watch French movies on Netflix, but unfortunately in the US there aren’t many child appropriate ones. For French reading we are reading the reading a-z French books as recommended by Viv.
Piano: He is working using Soft Mozart. Currently he is learning Mozart’s Away with Melancholy from the Magic Flute.
Outside interests: He is on swim team and yesterday swam 1.27 miles non-stop for a swim-a-thon. He practices that 4x/week. He also has snap circuits which he loves to build, chemistry and physics kits and loves to program using the MIT scratch software.
Mason age 3 years 9 months:
Reading: Currently working through Peter and Jane 7b. He is also reading books such as Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel.
Math: Finishing up Singapore Earlybird B (The kindergarten Math program). He has also done the Kumon writing numbers and telling time books.
Writing: Kumon “Writing Sentences” book. He is also working on explode the code, but we doing it more for the writing practice as the reading level is pretty low. We probably won’t buy the next one in the series when we are done. He likes to write little letters and books and give them to people or leave them around the house.
French: For French he does his levels with his older brtoher and both read the books independently with me looking on to check pronunciation.
Piano: Also using Soft Mozart. Currently he is learning Jingle Bells (his choice, I know it’s an odd one for mid-August). He also works on sight reading also each lesson and his fingering exercises.
Outside interests: He also is working on swimming, but really more focusing on learning how tow swim free style and back stroke and water safety. He loves climbing and my husband built him a climbing wall. He is also is very interested in identifying plants and berries and wants to know everything about what order things become ripe and how you know when to pick them and how you tell them apart.
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