Nana Notes — Speed Rounds & Pirate Ships
KayneCreek Kids

This week was all about speed. We opened every morning with 
flashcard rounds — sight words (I, see, can, or, he, but) mixed in 
with numbers 1–25. Rosie took the full deck. Owen worked the 0–10 lane.

By Friday:

- Rosie can read about 75% of the  sight word and has 90% of the number cards 
  locked in — and I am sure her little brother sitting right next 
  to her getting his own stack is the reason she's moving this fast. 
  Nothing motivates like a three-year-old catching up.

- Owen — can read every single one of those words. All six. He's also reliably calling out 
  0–10 on the number cards.  

We built two little reinforcement apps to give them another way in 
besides flashcards, and the kids earned a sticker after every round. 
Stickers, it turns out, are the universal currency.

We also folded in a little Sesame Street — one episode and two 
coloring pages from the workbook. Soft landing after the speed work, 
and Owen has decided he has Strong Opinions about which monster is 
the best one.

And then — pirates happened. 

I don't know when exactly it started, but at some point this week 
both kids went absolutely overboard (pun retained) for pirates. Owen 
renamed his rabbit Blackbeard. He pulled Gemini's storybook tool over 
and dictated more than ten pirate stories — pirate ships, telescopes, 
X marks the spot, treasure hunts, the whole catalog. Rosie has been 
right there with him, co-captaining.

Which brings us to today: the living room is a shipyard. They're 
building pirate ships out of cardboard boxes, rolling paper into 
telescopes, and drafting stuffed animals as their parrot and monkey 
crew. Last I checked, Blackbeard (the rabbit) had been promoted to 
First Mate.

What I love about the pirate week: every single sight word and 
number we drilled this week showed up in those stories. "I see the 
ship." "He can find it." Counting steps to the treasure. 

A moment from the week:
Rosie reading "but" out loud, then turning to Owen and saying "your 
turn" — and Owen actually doing it. They were running drills on each 
other. 

Looking ahead, I want to bump Rosie's number cards to 1–30 and start 
adding short sight-word phrases. Owen's 
getting his own slightly bigger pile. And I'm sketching out a treasure 
map reading game while the obsession is hot. Strike while the parrot 
is on the shoulder.

Love,
Nana 💗