AMDG+

Dear Parent;

It appears that you have done a magnificent job of motivating your children, that they have completed their workbooks so early in the school year!

In the case of your kindergarten students, copying the new words list in their Little Stories for Little Folks program is an excellent way to keep up both handwriting and reading skills.

The best way to continue skills, to fortify retention, is to put to use the skills that are being, or have been, taught.

In the case of your second grader, I wonder if he /she has also been doing the accompanying grammar assignments that are included in the lesson plans?  You probably noted that the suggested schedule in the lesson plans includes one or two pages from the workbook per week, along with dictation and grammar practice assignments also in the lesson plans.  To ensure that the child retains the workbook lessons, it is important to remember that the workbook introduces the skills, while the assignments put them to use.

It is a blessing to have bright, motivated children who are eager to move to the next level!  While moving to the next level this early in the year is a possibility, there is a drawback to moving up ahead of schedule. That is, the workbooks are written at successively higher levels of vocabulary, reading, and abstract thinking, which could cause the child to become discouraged and begin to struggle.

On the other hand, if language instruction is stopped now because he/she has finished the book, the student will very likely have difficulty retaining what has been learned until next year.

The best solution to 'cementing in' and retaining the grammar skills would be to use the accompanying exercises in the lesson plans.  If you don't have the lesson plans, an alternative would be to return to the review pages and dictate the sentences or questions from the book.

In addition, the child might practice grammar skills by journaling two or three days a week.  His writings will not only reveal which skills need more practice, but will provide an opportunity to point out nouns, verbs, synonyms, and other parts of speech and constructions that were presented in the workbook.

Congratulations on developing such willing little students!

May God bless and guide your homeschooling years,

Nancy Nicholson