We are following a Classical Curriculum with a Charlotte Mason bent. ...At the moment we are more Classical than CM because I just finished reading A Well Trained Mind. Next I will go back to CM's series so I can add back in her philosophy. For more details on my version of both methods, peruse my blog.
History:
We try to tackle history 3 days. Each boy has a history journal and all the following goes in it. Day 1 we journal last Friday's group activity and hopefully draw a picture. I let them decide if they want to write or dictate.
Day 2 we read the first section of the next chapter then Narrate and draw a picture.
Day 3 we do the same for the last section.
Sometime during the week we read as many supplemental books as possible. We attempt to read the books suggested in the SOTW activity book but can't usually find many so I just pick books from the library.
On Fridays we get together with our coop group for a review and to do one of the activities from the activity book.
Science:
As soon as our book arrives, we will begin science as defined in A Well Trained Mind (search for the post coming soon). In the meantime we have been doing random experiments and readings.
Sign Language:
I have a set of flashcards and each kid gets 10 a day. Tackler has to pass off reading the card AND knowing the sign. Prince just has to know the sign. Any they know on the first try are retired. Cards they don't know are reviewed 3 times in that session then shown again the next day along with new cards to add to 10.
Reading:
Tackler is working his way through toddler reading books. Prince was not doing well with studying phonics. He can sound out each sound but cannot put the three together. So C-A-T but not CAT. I was always of the philosophy that kids will figure out the phonics rules on their own if you present them with enough words and if that DOESN'T work, THEN do phonics. The Lord sends us kids to challenge every philosophy we make up on our own so we're doing it backward with this kid. He couldn't get phonics so we'll go back to letting him figure out the rules on his own. So far it is going better - he is much less frustrated. Once he gets the hang of it, then we can go back and make sure he knows all the right rules.
Journal:
I think keeping a journal is a habit we should all have so I am including it in their boxes on alternating days. Tackler LOVES it. Prince is learning to enjoy it. They either write or dictate to me and can discuss what they did or think or love or whatever as long as it is true. Prince wanted to use his journal as a creative writing outlet but I insisted it be a true journal.
Math:
I have been doing a lot of my own thing for math (see many of my ideas on various posts). I have Schiller Math for Kindergarten and a couple times I tried to work through it with the kids but they balked. I have started going through it and systematically making games and such for each activity suggested in the book. I figure we'll get through the book by the end of the summer.
I think that covers all our subjects. At other times during the day I read chapter books and where there is room in the schedule I throw in other games and activities. I want to get back to our lapbooks (currently we are doing Antarctica) but our schedule is so full. I am always surprised when I am setting up the boxes how quickly I fill all 6. I can see why the lady who started workboxes advises 12 boxes but I think at the moment 6 is a perfect level for us.
Showing posts with label Typical Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Typical Day. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Work Box Examples
I stopped telling you what was in the boxes each day so I'll give you a bit of an overview of what we're doing and how I'm organized.
I have several bookshelves of school books but in our daily school area I have a shelf of all the books we are currently using. I also have a box filled with workbox fillers - scissors, glue, markers, pens, pencils, and erasers.
Also a plastic bag for each kid of sign language and reading words they have mastered. I fill Tackler's boxes from the main box of cards, and fill Prince's boxes from Tackler's mastered cards. Eventually all the cards will be in Prince's mastered bag.
In this box I also keep other small materials I might want to fill their boxes - little projects or games I create. Next to this box are larger papers we want to work on (mostly lapbooks).
As an example, here are today and tomorrow's boxes. For more detail, visit this post.
Prince today:
Science (I borrowed My Big Backyard from the library. Last week we read the magazine and this week (after waiting 6 days for appropriate weather - ie the SUN - we did the experiment suggested in it)
Journal
Reading
Math
Story of the World journal
Sign Language
Tackler today:
Science (see above)
Reading
SOTW journal
Math
Sign language
Hand sewing project
Prince Tomorrow:
Story of the World
Science
Sign Language
Reading
Rush Hour Railroad
Math
Tackler Tomorrow:
Clock (telling time)
Science
SOTW
Reading
Journal
Sign Language
I have several bookshelves of school books but in our daily school area I have a shelf of all the books we are currently using. I also have a box filled with workbox fillers - scissors, glue, markers, pens, pencils, and erasers.
Also a plastic bag for each kid of sign language and reading words they have mastered. I fill Tackler's boxes from the main box of cards, and fill Prince's boxes from Tackler's mastered cards. Eventually all the cards will be in Prince's mastered bag.
In this box I also keep other small materials I might want to fill their boxes - little projects or games I create. Next to this box are larger papers we want to work on (mostly lapbooks).
As an example, here are today and tomorrow's boxes. For more detail, visit this post.
Prince today:
Science (I borrowed My Big Backyard from the library. Last week we read the magazine and this week (after waiting 6 days for appropriate weather - ie the SUN - we did the experiment suggested in it)
Journal
Reading
Math
Story of the World journal
Sign Language
Tackler today:
Science (see above)
Reading
SOTW journal
Math
Sign language
Hand sewing project
Prince Tomorrow:
Story of the World
Science
Sign Language
Reading
Rush Hour Railroad
Math
Tackler Tomorrow:
Clock (telling time)
Science
SOTW
Reading
Journal
Sign Language
Ever Have One of those Weeks?
Last week was a bit of a disaster educationally. In retrospect it probably wasn't all that bad but the week before (our first week on work boxes) had gone SO perfectly, I was discouraged about not doing it right. The kids were getting distracted from schoolwork and not finishing their boxes. It all felt a little out of control and that was what I was trying to avoid by doing boxes.
So what do you do when life tastes like lemons? You figure out why you forgot the sugar. So, what went wrong and how can I avoid future occurrences?
Problem 1:
First of all, after only 4 days of workboxes, we took a 6 day break. Thursday was a museum. Friday was our Story of the World coop. Saturday and Sunday. Then Monday was a holiday and normally I would have still done school but we had my friend's teenager staying with us. So by the time we got back to schoolwork on Tuesday the kids had realized how easy it was to do NOTHING.
Lesson 1:
Unintended breaks will happen but the kids didn't necessarily understand why there was such a long break. I should have explained to them on Thursday that taking a day off was not a vacation but another learning opportunity and talked to them about when we would hit the books again and my expectations when that happened.
Problem 2:
Work boxes allow me so much autonomy that I can occasionally slip in a little of my own work while they are working. I took advantage of this and turned "occasionally" into "frequently" and turned "own work" into "free time".
Lesson 2:
Washing 3 dishes, clearing a counter, even filling a Mary Kay order are acceptable 3 minute jobs I can do while the kids are working. These tasks leave me close enough to direct, intervene, and assist. Laundry, cleaning the basement and (dare I admit it?) getting snagged on the computer are NOT acceptable uses of my free moments. Today we were done with school before lunch and while they played the rest of the afternoon I was able to finish a LOT more of those big tasks than I was able to last week when I tried to sandwich it in between school.
Problem 3:
Last week the kids skipped around to different boxes and left some unfinished.
Lesson 3:
Mostly due to problem #2, I let them get away with too much. Today I insisted the boxes be done in order. The ONLY exception is if mom is busy and you have to skip to a box that doesn't require mom's help. I also monitored more closely which box they were doing, where they put their boxes when finished (NO leaving boxes lying around), and making sure they finished them all. Workboxes should make school streamlined and leave the responsibility on the kids' shoulders. Which means a strict mom at the beginning to help good habits form.
So what do you do when life tastes like lemons? You figure out why you forgot the sugar. So, what went wrong and how can I avoid future occurrences?
Problem 1:
First of all, after only 4 days of workboxes, we took a 6 day break. Thursday was a museum. Friday was our Story of the World coop. Saturday and Sunday. Then Monday was a holiday and normally I would have still done school but we had my friend's teenager staying with us. So by the time we got back to schoolwork on Tuesday the kids had realized how easy it was to do NOTHING.
Lesson 1:
Unintended breaks will happen but the kids didn't necessarily understand why there was such a long break. I should have explained to them on Thursday that taking a day off was not a vacation but another learning opportunity and talked to them about when we would hit the books again and my expectations when that happened.
Problem 2:
Work boxes allow me so much autonomy that I can occasionally slip in a little of my own work while they are working. I took advantage of this and turned "occasionally" into "frequently" and turned "own work" into "free time".
Lesson 2:
Washing 3 dishes, clearing a counter, even filling a Mary Kay order are acceptable 3 minute jobs I can do while the kids are working. These tasks leave me close enough to direct, intervene, and assist. Laundry, cleaning the basement and (dare I admit it?) getting snagged on the computer are NOT acceptable uses of my free moments. Today we were done with school before lunch and while they played the rest of the afternoon I was able to finish a LOT more of those big tasks than I was able to last week when I tried to sandwich it in between school.
Problem 3:
Last week the kids skipped around to different boxes and left some unfinished.
Lesson 3:
Mostly due to problem #2, I let them get away with too much. Today I insisted the boxes be done in order. The ONLY exception is if mom is busy and you have to skip to a box that doesn't require mom's help. I also monitored more closely which box they were doing, where they put their boxes when finished (NO leaving boxes lying around), and making sure they finished them all. Workboxes should make school streamlined and leave the responsibility on the kids' shoulders. Which means a strict mom at the beginning to help good habits form.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Work Box Hiatus and Soap box on what learning really is
Ok, not really a hiatus but if anyone is reading this blog hoping for a view of what school actually ends up looking like, I should tell you the change of plan we had last week. Wednesday night long after he was in bed, Prince asked if we could go to a specific museum tomorrow. I told him if the weather was nice, we could. Shockingly, it was, so we did.
The place was MOBBED with school groups so we weren't the only ones leaving school for other educational pursuits. Thursday was also the last day of the classes for homeschoolers this museum teaches. We ran across the homeschoolers a couple times but I could tell the difference between their activities and the public school's version of "quick look, learn, let's move on, we have a schedule to keep". I believe classes like this, taught by others are very beneficial. My kids were in one earlier this year. However, my kids learned a LOT more by exploring on their own, at their own pace, than the kids who were shuffled through by hurried adults.
In the afternoon we had both soccer practice and a tball game so that was it for our day.
On Friday we spent the morning at tennis. I read a book today by a homeschooler who admitted her physical education program is severely lacking and it made me chuckle. My kids are currently doing 3 sports (all w/in 12 hrs this week!) and I cannot possibly imagine a life where PE was neglected!
In the afternoon we had our Story of the World history coop which I promise to blog about next. And THEN we went to a science class provided by a local nature center through a grant at the library. Busy couple of days huh? Friday we covered PE, history, science, and even math if you include trying to figure out how to squeeze more hours into a day.
The place was MOBBED with school groups so we weren't the only ones leaving school for other educational pursuits. Thursday was also the last day of the classes for homeschoolers this museum teaches. We ran across the homeschoolers a couple times but I could tell the difference between their activities and the public school's version of "quick look, learn, let's move on, we have a schedule to keep". I believe classes like this, taught by others are very beneficial. My kids were in one earlier this year. However, my kids learned a LOT more by exploring on their own, at their own pace, than the kids who were shuffled through by hurried adults.
In the afternoon we had both soccer practice and a tball game so that was it for our day.
On Friday we spent the morning at tennis. I read a book today by a homeschooler who admitted her physical education program is severely lacking and it made me chuckle. My kids are currently doing 3 sports (all w/in 12 hrs this week!) and I cannot possibly imagine a life where PE was neglected!
In the afternoon we had our Story of the World history coop which I promise to blog about next. And THEN we went to a science class provided by a local nature center through a grant at the library. Busy couple of days huh? Friday we covered PE, history, science, and even math if you include trying to figure out how to squeeze more hours into a day.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Work Boxes Lessons Learned
For tomorrow, with a few exceptions, I swapped today's activities.
3 Lessons learned:
#1 - An evolved, time consuming box, especially one that needs to be done together, needs to be last. We have a lot to cover in history before Friday so I gave them too much for one day. We got distracted midway through the material and it took all day to get back to our boxes. If we had finished all the other boxes first, it would have been easy to regroup later to read one or two more history books.
#2 -Both boys had a science research activity today but in different boxes. I explained it thoroughly to boy #1 and assumed since boy #2 was right there beside us, that he heard and grasped the full explanation. Turns out he didn't which caused a lot of problems when he did the activity wrong. Never assume a child is listening when you aren't even talking to him.
#3 - Accept a child's assessment of what is too much. Of course kids will balk at everything - I insist on going over missed reading or sign language words a 2nd time despite their protestations that they have had enough because I know that immediate review will help them immensely. However, today I put the entire box of Math Match It pieces in Tackler's box, and halfway through he was tired so I let him quit. Next time I'll just do the counting or just the addition and subtraction.
#3A - Today I gave Prince a dry erase booklet with a dozen activities in it. I thought he would go through the whole book. He loved doing 3 pages, then quit. I was surprised but let him decide he was done. If I push it on stuff like that, next time I bring out that book he will balk. Instead I bet he'll happily do 3 more.
#4 - I know I said only 3 lessons but this doesn't count because I didn't learn it today. I already knew but it's SO worth pointing out. Several projects we did today could have easily been done with a boring worksheet (the dry erase booklet, the math match it game and the color/shape activity). Instead they were hands-on and in two cases, involved a lot of movement. Same lesson but engaging format. I realize some kids like worksheets but I bet even they would prefer hands-on.
3 Lessons learned:
#1 - An evolved, time consuming box, especially one that needs to be done together, needs to be last. We have a lot to cover in history before Friday so I gave them too much for one day. We got distracted midway through the material and it took all day to get back to our boxes. If we had finished all the other boxes first, it would have been easy to regroup later to read one or two more history books.
#2 -Both boys had a science research activity today but in different boxes. I explained it thoroughly to boy #1 and assumed since boy #2 was right there beside us, that he heard and grasped the full explanation. Turns out he didn't which caused a lot of problems when he did the activity wrong. Never assume a child is listening when you aren't even talking to him.
#3 - Accept a child's assessment of what is too much. Of course kids will balk at everything - I insist on going over missed reading or sign language words a 2nd time despite their protestations that they have had enough because I know that immediate review will help them immensely. However, today I put the entire box of Math Match It pieces in Tackler's box, and halfway through he was tired so I let him quit. Next time I'll just do the counting or just the addition and subtraction.
#3A - Today I gave Prince a dry erase booklet with a dozen activities in it. I thought he would go through the whole book. He loved doing 3 pages, then quit. I was surprised but let him decide he was done. If I push it on stuff like that, next time I bring out that book he will balk. Instead I bet he'll happily do 3 more.
#4 - I know I said only 3 lessons but this doesn't count because I didn't learn it today. I already knew but it's SO worth pointing out. Several projects we did today could have easily been done with a boring worksheet (the dry erase booklet, the math match it game and the color/shape activity). Instead they were hands-on and in two cases, involved a lot of movement. Same lesson but engaging format. I realize some kids like worksheets but I bet even they would prefer hands-on.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Work Boxes Day 2
Today was fabulous. I LOVE work boxes. No complaints about school. Everyone was excited and happily plowed through the boxes. When I was setting up for tomorrow they even tried to start on those boxes. I loved telling them they couldn't do it yet. A little anticipation for tomorrow is a beautiful thing.
The together boxes didn't work great - they made logistics a little tougher. I decided they work better when they are apart so I will only have combined activities when it will really save me time and energy. Tomorrow we have one such box so I put the book in one boys's box and left the other's empty and put it first in the order. So now I have 6 boxes per kid which I like better.
Even though piano wasn't a box, we snuck it in but since piano takes longer than any of the boxes and requires 100% of my attention, it left the other kid stranded. My new plan is to do piano first thing while we are doing chores. While one boy is cleaning, the other will practice, then we'll switch. I still have to figure out where to add in our story time. Maybe after lunch?
Tomorrow's boxes include:
Prince:
1* - Science Horizons by Silver Burdett Ginn Introductory Chapter
2 - A day in the Life worksheet (cut and paste to order morning, midday, night and asks for drawing of activity for each time period)
3 - Match upper and lower case letter cards
4 - Finish shamrock
5* - Sign language and reading cards (I am combining these. Read the card and show the sign)
6 - Railroad Rush Hr.
Tackler:
1* - science book above
2* - Sign language and reading cards
3 - Day in the life sheet
4* - Beginning Writing book - practice rounded letters a,c,e,o,s and find an object in the house beginning with each letter
5 - Boggle Jr.
6 - Finish shamrock
An * indicates they need my assistance. The rest can be done with minimal input from me.
The together boxes didn't work great - they made logistics a little tougher. I decided they work better when they are apart so I will only have combined activities when it will really save me time and energy. Tomorrow we have one such box so I put the book in one boys's box and left the other's empty and put it first in the order. So now I have 6 boxes per kid which I like better.
Even though piano wasn't a box, we snuck it in but since piano takes longer than any of the boxes and requires 100% of my attention, it left the other kid stranded. My new plan is to do piano first thing while we are doing chores. While one boy is cleaning, the other will practice, then we'll switch. I still have to figure out where to add in our story time. Maybe after lunch?
Tomorrow's boxes include:
Prince:
1* - Science Horizons by Silver Burdett Ginn Introductory Chapter
2 - A day in the Life worksheet (cut and paste to order morning, midday, night and asks for drawing of activity for each time period)
3 - Match upper and lower case letter cards
4 - Finish shamrock
5* - Sign language and reading cards (I am combining these. Read the card and show the sign)
6 - Railroad Rush Hr.
Tackler:
1* - science book above
2* - Sign language and reading cards
3 - Day in the life sheet
4* - Beginning Writing book - practice rounded letters a,c,e,o,s and find an object in the house beginning with each letter
5 - Boggle Jr.
6 - Finish shamrock
An * indicates they need my assistance. The rest can be done with minimal input from me.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Monday's Workboxes
Tomorrow is day one with our new workboxes.
Prince Boxes:
1 - Addition flash cards and round wooden discs in two colors. They will use the discs to help them count. I was debating how to check their work. Either I need to be right there and approve their answers or I need to make up a sheet and have them fill in the answers.
2 - Reading card
3 - Lap book. I thought we were done with our Manatee lapbooks but Prince reminded me we aren't. There is still a little pasting work to do so I put a glue stick and the papers to glue in the box. The lapbook is on the shelf and he will have to put it on brother's shelf when he is done so Tackler can do his portion.
4 - Friday we started our Story of the World (SOTW) coop. Prince was proud of his chart so we're going to start a history journal and he can dictate to me what we did or what he learned and paste in his chart.
Tackler's Boxes:
1 - Manatee lapbook (as described above)
2- reading flashcards
3 - Railroad Rush Hour
4 - Addition cards (as described above)
Together Boxes:
1 -10 Sign language flashcards - I LOVE these flashcards. We only have set A - I wish I had set B and a few other things from this company. Between them and Signing Time we are learning a TON.
2 - SOTW - I am in charge of our coop this week so we need to read the chapter early so we can start planning for Friday.
3 - Sorting "game" - In order to prepare for tomorrow I "had" to organize our game cupboard. There were a ton of flashcards and playing cards mixed up. I think they will enjoy sorting them.
4 - M&Ms - I gave them each a small package of their favorite M&Ms (one regular, one peanut) and a chart. Hopefully I'll come back later with a picture for you. They have to sort by color and tally, then mark who has more of each color and the total.
What's missing?
I think I have a good mix of fun and play in the boxes and I don't see what I could take out to include two more things I want to do daily - piano and our chapter book. Now I see why she has 12 boxes each!
Prince Boxes:
1 - Addition flash cards and round wooden discs in two colors. They will use the discs to help them count. I was debating how to check their work. Either I need to be right there and approve their answers or I need to make up a sheet and have them fill in the answers.
2 - Reading card
3 - Lap book. I thought we were done with our Manatee lapbooks but Prince reminded me we aren't. There is still a little pasting work to do so I put a glue stick and the papers to glue in the box. The lapbook is on the shelf and he will have to put it on brother's shelf when he is done so Tackler can do his portion.
4 - Friday we started our Story of the World (SOTW) coop. Prince was proud of his chart so we're going to start a history journal and he can dictate to me what we did or what he learned and paste in his chart.
Tackler's Boxes:
1 - Manatee lapbook (as described above)
2- reading flashcards
3 - Railroad Rush Hour
4 - Addition cards (as described above)
Together Boxes:
1 -10 Sign language flashcards - I LOVE these flashcards. We only have set A - I wish I had set B and a few other things from this company. Between them and Signing Time we are learning a TON.
2 - SOTW - I am in charge of our coop this week so we need to read the chapter early so we can start planning for Friday.
3 - Sorting "game" - In order to prepare for tomorrow I "had" to organize our game cupboard. There were a ton of flashcards and playing cards mixed up. I think they will enjoy sorting them.
4 - M&Ms - I gave them each a small package of their favorite M&Ms (one regular, one peanut) and a chart. Hopefully I'll come back later with a picture for you. They have to sort by color and tally, then mark who has more of each color and the total.
What's missing?
I think I have a good mix of fun and play in the boxes and I don't see what I could take out to include two more things I want to do daily - piano and our chapter book. Now I see why she has 12 boxes each!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Day in the Life - Wednesday
For school today we got a late start. The baby has been sick and up all night so mom has had to sleep in a bit.
I forget to mention it, but every day we read at least one chapter in The Book of Mormon. Most hsers start their school day with some sort of devotional. We start our day with scriptures and morning prayers. We have a neat program we were following at night as a family - every month was a theme and there was a scripture, hymn, and children's hymn for each month, plus a new scripture each day. For a couple months we followed it and I had the kids repeat the scripture after me. It felt a little much with morning scriptures as well and we only did it when dad was around which wasn't quite consistent enough to form a habit. Maybe we'll reintroduce that as part of school.
Today we played our math 10's game right after breakfast, then I let the boys run around the yard (first day with NO rain!), while I got ready for the day.
After I put the baby down for a nap I joined them in the playset again with my pile of school books. We were planning to read just one or two chapters of Bridge to Terabithia but it was right at the crucial point and for the first time in the whole book they begged me to not stop reading. I read all but the last chapter until Prince's attention was waning too much.
I went inside to check on the baby and found dad home and baby awake. A bit later I went back out with the baby and read the last chapter but the baby got really cranky (still feels awful) so I took her back to dad. When I came back out the two neighbor girls were home from school. The girls are a couple years older and rarely include the boys in their play. Since they were playing together I hated to break them up for school.
After that they helped their dad set up his workshop so that's all we got done today. I'm happy we did literature and math. Two subjects isn't bad - it's why we school year round and started Kindergarten at 4 1/2.
I forget to mention it, but every day we read at least one chapter in The Book of Mormon. Most hsers start their school day with some sort of devotional. We start our day with scriptures and morning prayers. We have a neat program we were following at night as a family - every month was a theme and there was a scripture, hymn, and children's hymn for each month, plus a new scripture each day. For a couple months we followed it and I had the kids repeat the scripture after me. It felt a little much with morning scriptures as well and we only did it when dad was around which wasn't quite consistent enough to form a habit. Maybe we'll reintroduce that as part of school.
Today we played our math 10's game right after breakfast, then I let the boys run around the yard (first day with NO rain!), while I got ready for the day.
After I put the baby down for a nap I joined them in the playset again with my pile of school books. We were planning to read just one or two chapters of Bridge to Terabithia but it was right at the crucial point and for the first time in the whole book they begged me to not stop reading. I read all but the last chapter until Prince's attention was waning too much.
I went inside to check on the baby and found dad home and baby awake. A bit later I went back out with the baby and read the last chapter but the baby got really cranky (still feels awful) so I took her back to dad. When I came back out the two neighbor girls were home from school. The girls are a couple years older and rarely include the boys in their play. Since they were playing together I hated to break them up for school.
After that they helped their dad set up his workshop so that's all we got done today. I'm happy we did literature and math. Two subjects isn't bad - it's why we school year round and started Kindergarten at 4 1/2.
Day in the Life - Monday and Tuesday
Monday was a wash. Dad stayed home from work and mom was still trying to restart her engine after being lazy and spoiled on mother's day. They learned a lot about yard work and finances - were paid to help dad gather sticks. We squeezed in a reading lesson in the afternoon.
Yesterday for school the boys asked if we could go outside. It was the first warm dry day we've had all week (of course it poured in the afternoon so still not nice weather around here) so I said sure.
We sat on a rock and did our sign language work. We have a deck of flash cards with the printed word on one side (good reading practice!!) and the sign on the other. I had them sound out the word, then show me the sign. If they knew it, it went in the know pile. Otherwise we practiced the sign a few times. We went through about a dozen cards.
Then we moved to the swingset platform for our math game and a reading lesson.
Later in the day Prince got a piano lesson and started to work on his Manatee lapbook but didn't have my attention to help him so didn't get very far. We were planning to do history but didn't get to it.
At bedtime we read a chapter in Bridge to Terabithia, a biography of Jackie Robinson and a book from the Caldecott list.
Yesterday for school the boys asked if we could go outside. It was the first warm dry day we've had all week (of course it poured in the afternoon so still not nice weather around here) so I said sure.
We sat on a rock and did our sign language work. We have a deck of flash cards with the printed word on one side (good reading practice!!) and the sign on the other. I had them sound out the word, then show me the sign. If they knew it, it went in the know pile. Otherwise we practiced the sign a few times. We went through about a dozen cards.
Then we moved to the swingset platform for our math game and a reading lesson.
Later in the day Prince got a piano lesson and started to work on his Manatee lapbook but didn't have my attention to help him so didn't get very far. We were planning to do history but didn't get to it.
At bedtime we read a chapter in Bridge to Terabithia, a biography of Jackie Robinson and a book from the Caldecott list.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Kindergarten Day
I would love to know what a real "day in the life" of various homeschoolers actually looks like. For my plethora of readers, I am going to try to offer a glimpse into our daily life. Remember, I consider Kindergarten a fairly easy year. And my K'ers are very young - only two weeks old to enough to qualify as K'ers and 4 months too young in MOST states. So, with all that in mind:
This week:
We are studying Antarctica. We started on Monday? with a review of the world including continents, oceans, hemispheres, and the equator the affect of distance to the equator on climate.
We checked out a slew of books from the library on Antarctica and are working our way through the stack with me taking notes (and commenting on my notes) so we can make an Antarctica Lapbook. We are also using the many resources listed on the wonderful website of a fellow hser with kids surrounding my kids' ages HERE. The following activities are in addition to this reading.
Monday: We started an alphabet book. We practiced our Aa's and then cut out pictures with A items. Tackler was excellent at picking out the actual As in the ads. "Here's one!" "Honey, that says 'assorted'. We need a picture of a THING that starts with an A".
Tuesday: We watched videos on the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights on YouTube
and viewed pix by Anthony Powell.
Yesterday: We played a hilarious shape/memory game. I wanted to video it but didn't have enough hands and was laughing too hard anyway. We cut out shapes (circle, square, oval, triangle, octogon, and rectangle) from various colors of cardstock and assigned motions to each (dance,stop, run, pat your head, somersault, and jump). Starting with 2 cards and building up to all 6, I would hold up the cards to signal which activity they had to do. We got faster and faster and crazier and crazier. When it was Tackler's turn to show the cards his favorite was somersault which was not overly fun for me, especially with my one year old running around mimicing us. I was sure I would squash her. He also figured out the fun of holding up two cards at once.
Today: Their favorite activity is any sort of science experiment. Today we tested about 20 items to see if they would float in plain water and then salt water. I made up a chart and they helped fill it with predictions and results. Pix to come.
As you can see in addition to a lot of reading, I consider one activity a day a successful school day. I think we squeeze in various topics into most activities. Like today we worked on writing and spelling, predicting, and analyzing in our one little project.
This week:
We are studying Antarctica. We started on Monday? with a review of the world including continents, oceans, hemispheres, and the equator the affect of distance to the equator on climate.
We checked out a slew of books from the library on Antarctica and are working our way through the stack with me taking notes (and commenting on my notes) so we can make an Antarctica Lapbook. We are also using the many resources listed on the wonderful website of a fellow hser with kids surrounding my kids' ages HERE. The following activities are in addition to this reading.
Monday: We started an alphabet book. We practiced our Aa's and then cut out pictures with A items. Tackler was excellent at picking out the actual As in the ads. "Here's one!" "Honey, that says 'assorted'. We need a picture of a THING that starts with an A".
Tuesday: We watched videos on the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights on YouTube
and viewed pix by Anthony Powell.
Yesterday: We played a hilarious shape/memory game. I wanted to video it but didn't have enough hands and was laughing too hard anyway. We cut out shapes (circle, square, oval, triangle, octogon, and rectangle) from various colors of cardstock and assigned motions to each (dance,stop, run, pat your head, somersault, and jump). Starting with 2 cards and building up to all 6, I would hold up the cards to signal which activity they had to do. We got faster and faster and crazier and crazier. When it was Tackler's turn to show the cards his favorite was somersault which was not overly fun for me, especially with my one year old running around mimicing us. I was sure I would squash her. He also figured out the fun of holding up two cards at once.
Today: Their favorite activity is any sort of science experiment. Today we tested about 20 items to see if they would float in plain water and then salt water. I made up a chart and they helped fill it with predictions and results. Pix to come.
As you can see in addition to a lot of reading, I consider one activity a day a successful school day. I think we squeeze in various topics into most activities. Like today we worked on writing and spelling, predicting, and analyzing in our one little project.
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