Going for a walk

Today we walked 2.4 km. As homeschoolers do not walk to school (even from the carpark to the classroom) they miss out on much physical activity, so we have started to "walk to school" - often within the family's big yard. Today we walked on the sidewalk to the main entrance of the complex. We took 45 minutes, but at least Amy walked all the way without a sour face and without lagging behind! While walking, we discussed street signs e.g. how fast one may drive, the reasons for speed bumps etc. Amy aptly interpreted the cul de sac sign that looks like a T as "Turn around". We also revised math's: she added double figures and almost double figures e.g. 3+4 as we walked.

Amy tried to tell me the news of last night. Apparently the family went out for supper while the son had choir practice and somehow the uncle and Grandmother also played a role in last nights happenings.

When she was in my class in school last year, she also liked to tell news, but for the greater part I could not make out head nor tail of what she did - all I could make out, was that she and her mom often went to buy groceries. In class there was no time to really listen and to help the children express themselves: there was barely time for each child to share his news, and one had to prevent boredom. It was difficult to help a child to communicate and still keep within time constraints.

Today however, we could speak without interruption (except for traffic noise - next time we'll choose a quieter road). I am strict with her to answer only what I ask e.g. if I ask "Where?" she must name a place and not a person and if I ask "When?" she must give a time. We have focused on simple answers to written questions in class, these past weeks and I already detect better comprehension. Grammar is still poor - especially tenses. She also leaves out the "little words" like prepositions. She is inclined to repeat herself often and often makes use of onomatopoeia to express what happened. I verbally interpret what she has said (or rather what I think she has said). I hope that by repeating the correct word order, tense etc. her speech will gradually improve.
In the meantime, going for a walk is a good physical exercise and a time to really communicate without feeling that we are "wasting" time.