As part of our investigative journey into homeschooling the kids, Rebecca began teaching R how to read and write in February. We’re using the DISTAR method, which is one of the more popular phonetic methods. I really enjoy the approach they take both theoretically and practically, as it lays out the activities in a well-written manner.
They’ve only completed 11 lessons during which R has been consistently ready to jump ahead. But the photo below is a testimony to the effectiveness of their work together:
R wrote this while patiently waiting for mom and dad to finish a conversation after church on Sunday. Dad gave her a piece of paper and a pen and a minute later she handed this back! You can see her first attempt at an “R” followed by a successful attempt at writing her name. Wow!
As we prepared for bed Sunday night, R felt compelled to write down “a list” of things she wanted to do the next day. (I believe this was inspired by a Frog & Toad story – remember these classics?).
While this may not have actual words (except “see”?), the fact that she wrote a list of what seem to be practice letters really pleases me. And since Z has been paying attention as R is going through the program, I can only imagine that teaching her will go even faster since much of it will already be familiar to her.
A special kudos to Rebecca who didn’t think she’d have the “chops” to teach the kids…obviously a load of dookie!
A while back, 
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