We went to the chess club thing last night. We get there to see about 14 other boys all at least 2-3 years older than Corbin. I introduced him to the teacher, I'll call him Dr. G. Dr. G is old, uses a cane and has a wicked accent. He asked if Corbin knew how to play. I told him that he indeed knows all the pieces and how they may move. Dr. G paired him up with another boy. I asked Corb if he would be ok if I wondered about the library while he played(I could see him the whole time). He nodded his consent. As I walked out I thought to myself "Oh geez, these kids are talking about different moves and older than him, I hope he can hold his own". I admit it, I was worried. I thought "Well, we will see how he does tonight. At the end I'll ask Dr. G if he thinks Corb does well enough to handle it".
I should not have been worried.
I came to see how he was doing at the end of the first game, it had taken about 30 minutes. I walk up and see Corb only has his King left. The other boy has...Oh, well, he only has about 5 players left. Ok..so at least Corb was capturing some of his players. Corb lost that game. He looked kind of sad. I asked him if he understood why he lost(he couldn't move his King to a safe place). He said he did. Than I asked him if he was ok. He nodded yes. I could tell he was dissapointed at losing but he stuck with it.
Dr. G paired him up with another boy for a second game. Again it took about 30 minutes. I went at 5 when the club was ending. Corb and this other boy were the only ones still playing. Dr. G was watching as was the other boys older brother. As I got there Corb had his King and Queen left, the other boy had had just gotten his Queen back. She joined his King and a Pawn. Corb put the other boy in check on the next move. The move after that he recaputured the boys Queen. Corb had the other boy in check a few times, then he captured the pawn. So, Corb still has his Queen and King, the other boy is down to just his King. This went on for a few minutes-the other boy had been getting frustrated. The boys older brother said to Corb "Boy, you are pretty good for being a beginner". Finally, Dr. G said it was a stalemate. He had the boys shake hands and say good game. I then asked Dr. G if he thought Corb did ok and would be ok to come back again. He said "oh yes, he does ok".
I was so darn proud that he was holding his own against these boys who've been playing for a while(the boy he stalemated had been playing for 2 years). He really enjoyed it and has asked how many sleeps it is until he can go again.
School-
Math: Subtraction Cumulative Test-did very well
LA: "Fun"-in workbook
Fire Safety:Talked about our escape route and meeting place.
Reading: "Trains!"
Chess Club
*note*-ordered Singapore 1B text and work book since we are almost through the first book, also ordered Explode the Code 1 and 1 1/2.
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4 comments:
awwww. That is so wonderful. Way to go Corb. I'm proud of him too.
That is so great! He must have felt so good to know that the older boy couldn't beat him! :)
Hi Nikki,I have this bookmarked and read it often.Im currently homeschooling too..Well done to Corbin.I am using singapore 1a/b with Nathan.We bought the textbook but its hardly seen the light of day.We used Explode the code for a while.I think you could easily skip 1.5 .We gave up on explode the code-Nathan hated all that writing.We are now using the reading Lesson and a selection of super hero early readers-not very charlotte Mason but it seems to work for him
Hi! Thanks for the review on ETC. I have been struggling trying to find a phonics program that works for him. He does not like to try to read. He is finally trying to sound out words, but prefers to only do so on his own. If we try to engage him with a reading activity he gets frustrated, giving up quickly. He does not seem to mind writing as much as reading. We tried the ETC online demo. He seemed to respond well to that. I just wanted to see if he liked it well enough before paying for a year long online commitment
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