Reading, Writing, and....

So last year we worked on learning the alphabet, and clearly I'm not the quickest teacher on the block, but we are finally getting to the next step. This summer Av and I have been working on sounds and early reading. My generous SIL passed her phonics program onto us and it has been a huge success!

We are using the Frontline Phonics program, but there are many other excellent programs out there. The program includes

1. Picture flashcards (ie frog with F)and upper and lower case flashcards of each letter.

2. A lesson manual. There are about 40 lessons total [each letter, 2 for vowels (short and long), and review lessons about every 5 letters]. We do one lesson a day and it takes about 10-15 minutes. We also make that lesson the "letter of the day" and try to do things like point out objects that start with that letter throughout the day. There are also suggested activities such as Licking a Lollipop on L day.

3. 6 early reading books that Av has really enjoyed and is already sounding out words in them.

4. (Her favorite part) A CD with a full alphabet song that reviews each letter and then each letter has a song that goes with it to go over the sound of the letter and a few words that start with it. I think she has the entire CD memorized and it helps her to think through the song if she is trying to think of what that letter says.

5. A workbook to practice writing the letters and it has coloring and matching activities.

I have been really impressed and surprised by how easy it has been. Av has also really loved it and is SO PROUD OF HERSELF! We have really tried to emphasize the importance of learning something new, that it is OK not to have it perfect on the first time, and we have to keep trying. It has been a joy as a parent to see her putting effort into this and growing her confidence as she learns. I highly recommend a phonics program for your young ones! You could do this on your own by making flashcards to save on the cost, but I really think we would have missed out had we not had the CD. Something about setting it to music has really her helped her pick this up quickly and made her excited about it.

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Totally unrelated, but for your viewing enjoyment

Tumble Dry Low

Laundry didn't bother me so much when I was single, but now that I have a husband and child it's a different story. I used to wait and only do laundry once a week or (gasp) every other week. I would wait until a had a full load of each category-whites, colors, delicates, towels, darks, etc. I dreaded when laundry day arrived because it would take ALL day! This picture epitomizes the feeling-buried in laundry. Notice the hand reaching for freedom-too funny (or is it too real to be fuuny?).

This summer I had an epiphany after spending time with my MIL. I realized that I don't have to be so uptight about washing clothes. I can just have a delicates and towels load, and then wash everything else together on cold! I also don't have to have a full load since I have a front loading washer. What a relief! Now only I do a few loads once or twice a week and it hardly takes any time. It is so much better taking it a little bit at a time instead of letting it get to the point that every basket I have is overflowing with dirty clothes and I spend my entire Saturday washing, ironing, folding, and putting away clothes.

I do have one other new trick that has saved time and effort. Instead of unloading the clean clothes into a basket to sit and wrinkle, I now take the clothes out the dryer and immediately fold/hang them and put them away-which only takes about 20 minutes. This way I don't feel surrounded by piles of laundry and it significantly cuts down on ironing. To tell the truth I have always done minimal ironing, but J likes this method much more! Another way to "lighten the load " of ironing (are you groaning at that pun) is to use fabric softener. J actually taught me that one. This is more like what my laundry room looks like now. Definitely not as stylish, but it is clean, organized, and free of piles of clothes! Happy washing and share any tricks of the trade you might have!

Pictures courtesy of Flickr