Kindergarten: Week 1

It's our first week of kindergarten!

Raise your hand if you are excited!

Kindergarten Week 1:  Creation Unit

(Where do I start??)

Let me start with today:  Happy Teddy Bear Day everyone!

All bears and stuffed animals were invited to class today.  (see photo above)

We read about the creation/invention of the teddy bear from Vermont Teddy Bear Company's website...it was way over our heads.  Oh well!

After class we had a lovely teddy bear picnic outside on the picnic table, with sandwiches cut into CIRCLES for day 4 of creation:  sun, moon, and stars.  We talked about spheres.  After the wasps showed up...we ran inside!!  EEEEK!

Gabe enjoyed drawing bears all day today, in fact--he called Grandma Rollmann to ask her what she wanted her bear to look like (templates compliments of Clubhouse Jr Magazine, a subscription that we adore that was a gift from Grandpa and Grandma Rollmann)

(the bear Gabe created for mommy)

OUR TYPICAL KINDERGARTEN DAY:

(we use My Father's World curriculum for the basics, I add in additional phonics, books, songs, etc)

1.  CIRCLE TIME

(Gabe will tell you:  it's really SQUARE time, because we gather together on a SQUARE blanket!)

During circle time we open the day with prayer, then we sing a song.  This week we are learning how to sing the alphabet a little bit differently than we are used to!  TRY IT!

A-B-C-D-E-F-G, H-I-J-K-L-M-N, O-P-Q, R-S-T, U-V-W, X-Y-Z

Now I know my ABC'S, and I know that God loves me!

(notice the elimination of that mysterious elimenopee letter!)

2.  100 CHART

Each day we put one popsicle stick into a clear jar, and we write the number of sticks we have on our "100 chart."  We are working our way toward the 100th day of kindergarten.  As we advance, the popsicle sticks will be used to teach counting by ones and tens.

3. WEATHER

We go outside to check the weather, and record it on our calendar.  We also have a felt-board weather display in the dining room, which Gabe enjoys changing each morning!

(dining room=weather central)

4.  BOOK BIN TIME!

Gabe sits quietly (ya, right!) with a bin of fresh library books...new each week....while mommy works one on one with Quinn.  This week Quinn is learning about colors.  We play color matching games during our 15 minutes together, and read books about colors.  Gabe mostly looks on and sometimes needs to sit on his hands to keep himself from joining in!

Our favorite book this week:  Mr. Pine's Purple House by Leonard Kessler

5.  PHONICS AND SCIENCE

We are reading through the history of creation in the book of Genesis.  Each day we read one day of creation, and add a number to our timeline.  Then we color a corresponding page for the "creation book" we are working on.  This week, for day 3 of creation:  earth and plants, we planted seeds.

(our creation timeline)

Phonics will be starting more heavily in week 3 of kindergarten.

6.  SONG TIME

We end the day watching a utube video of the hymn "My Father's World" by Fernando Ortega.  We are attempting to memorize the first two verses!  Sometimes the boys sing along, mostly we watch the video of amazing places that God has created!

7.  VIOLIN and MUSIC HISTORY

Currently Gabe is practicing the first 8 notes of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

After our introductory creation unit, we will be learning about the life of the composer:  Mozart.

Each day the boys get out their school bins, with contents that change weekly.  We store the bins in our dining room, where most of our schooling takes place.

In the evenings I read aloud to Gabe from a chapter book titled Autumn with the Moodys, by Sarah Maxwell.  The book is number 2 in a series of 5 books that chronicle the adventures of the Moodys, a fictional homeschool family.

(I met Sarah Maxwell at a homeschool conference in May, and she graciously signed the first book in the series for me!  We read that book--book 1:  Summer with the Moody's, in the early part of the summer...and Gabe begged for more!  So I bought the entire series online!  The books were not available at the library....booohoooo....) 

THAT WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION!  PHEW!

Thanks for taking a peek into our journey.

Check back soon!