A-D-R-I-A-N-N-A

I have been trying to teach Adrianna how to spell her own name. We have a song that my uncle made up for his daughter (Larrina) many years ago that I adapted for Adrianna, because I know that songs can really help with memorization.

I like to run and I like to play
I also like to spell my name
A-D-R-I-A-N-N-A
That spells Adrianna, yay! yay! yay!

The song has helped. At first, she would sing the entire thing. Then, we began working on just singing the line that actually spells her name. Just yesterday, I asked her to spell her name out as I was typing it into a computer game she has. She softly sang it under her breath as she told me the letters.

Today, she wanted to play the game again, so once again I asked her how to spell her name. She told it to me almost perfectly and with no singing. (Actually, she said “A-D-R-I-A-and-a-A” but close enough. That’s a pretty big name for a little girl, so I was pretty proud of her. 🙂

On other learning fronts, we are working on words that rhyme and continuing with number recognition. One great game that we play that is helping her learn her numbers is one that she doesn’t even realize we are doing. She often brings me her telephone and asks me how to call various family members. I will slowly list out the numbers she is supposed to dial on the phone and she has to find them.

Her computer games have been great for learning too. (She is playing one right now as I type.) We have one online that I would recommend for other preschoolers – starfall.com. The alphabet one is perfect for her right now and it also has some reading ones for down the road. When we first started visiting this site, when she was probably 2 to early 3, she would sit on my lap and I would control the mouse navigation. But for the past few months, she has taken over the mouse and does quite well on her own. I love that I can set her up on the computer next to mine and just let her go at it while I have a chance to blog and check email.

Now we just need to work on writing her letters. She can do a “A”, “H”, and “X” pretty regularly, though she has been pretty hesitant to try any others so far. We are also working on holding her pencil the correct way, another skill that has a ways to go.

She will start attending preschool in June, and she is so excited! The summer program is pretty relaxed and she will be going 2 full days a week. Then, in August, she will start regular preschool 3 full days a week. They did have the option for a full 5 days a week, but I wasn’t ready for her to go that much yet. We’ll save that for Kindergarten. Her preschool program is actually referred to as “Junior Kindergarten”.

The school we found is a private school. When Greg and I toured it, we were very impressed with what we saw and also the classes that will be taught. She will have to wear a uniform and everything. (By uniform, it is basically khakis and polos of certain colors.) I also liked that they integrate technology into the learning and have individualized learning plans for math, reading and writing, so if she excels in any of these, she can continue learning at her own pace (one reason I loved homeschooling).

The school does go up to 6th grade. However, there is a good charter school in our area that we are interested in once she comes to Kindergarten. I have already put her on the wait-list for 2010, since it is a popular school. The public schools in our particular district aren’t good at all, so I am really hoping that she gets in.

So anyways, that is the Adrianna update for this week. 🙂