Kindergarten Homeschool

copywork/handwriting practice

Avy copies from this laminated handwriting chart which we place on our easel so she can see it easily. We use the blends flashcards and she underlines the blend for each word. For this particular week, we learned the 'ee' sound ('ee' in tree) on Monday. For Tuesday, we did the 'wh' in whale blend.

Here are our AWANA Bible verses. I got this little pocket chart at Target for a buck!

Here are our months of the year. We say them in Spanish as well. We actually don't say them. We have a song for both the English and Spanish languages.

Here are our blends flashcards. I punched a hole through them and we focus on one per day. If I feel that she needs more practice, we take a few days on one. At first, we practiced just saying each card. Now we actually write some words that contain that blend.

Here are her readers. We started with The Little Owl books (A Bekka) and went from there. It's nice because the scope and sequence (the order) flow of A Bekka books are fantastic. They're not confusing in any way and I think that in itself makes it easy for homeschooling parents to help teach their kids. Especially if you don't have a teaching degree.

I've been watching the little voting counter on the right-hand side and am glad that some are showing in interest to vote on what they want me to post. I've been preoccupied with some new books I got in the mail recently. They're mostly about gardening, homesteading, growing grains and canning.

I know I've been posting a lot about foods and where they come from. If you're not one to have passion for these sorts of things, you've probably been bored with reading this blog. So, I've decided to change things up a bit and post about homeschooling my daughter.

I'm excited because although we're not involved in our homeschool group (we had to take a little break for now), we're still planning themes each week and I'm getting ready to schedule some fun field trips. We were at the library yesterday when I asked Avonlea for some ideas on what SHE was interested in learning about this spring. (Yes, seasons aren't supposed to be capitalized.) She told me that learning about China was one of her picks and I was so glad to hear that. Her grandma is currently in China and we've been learning some of the culture and language from her. The kids even received some books written in Chinese (and English) for Christmas. So, from this interest will stem our very first unit study! If you're a homeschooler or know someone who does, you're probably familiar with unit studies. It's a great way to learn about a certain topic while studying all areas on this topic. For China, we'll be putting together a poster, we'll cook some Chinese food at home, go out to a Chinese restaraunt for dinner one night, watch some videos on China (we've already learned some tai chi off You Tube...it's a beautiful dance many Chinese learn), make a panda bear for art, and oh the possibilities! We've been reading through our library books and with every page turn, Avonlea says, "Mommy, can we do this?!" She's very excited. =) We have our list of things we're going to do this next week on China, so I'm going to be a busy mommy preparing this weekend. It'll be fun!

Here is what our homeschooling consists of for right now for Kindergarten...

Daily (formal learning):
1. Bible time/devotions/prayer (during breakfast) very casual...remember, I have little ones. Avy also is involved in AWANA at church where we work on Bible verses at home, do crafts to earn badges and we read stories from her handbook. It's a great program and she loves going to see her friends each week.

2. Calendar - I use my calendar from teaching preschool years ago. We sing a calendar song, say the month, the day of the week and the kids take turns putting up the date. We also go over any other important dates (birthdays, holidays) we have that month. We also have a picture of the seasons which we talk about as the seasons change.

3. Math (we do this at the table)- We use the A Bekka Kindergarten Math book in which we do a page or two a day. We do use an abicus to count with, as well as other tangiable items for grouping and such. We also use a number chart to count to 100, by 5s and 10s. Sometimes, we count in Spanish.

4. Reading/Phonics - We use the A Bekka readers (see picture) as well as some blends flashcards I bought at a store (can't remember which one). I also bought A Bekka's Handbook for Reading student workbook and teacher's edition. It's for K-3rd grades. You could actually only buy the teacher edition and be fine. We also read a TON of books throughout the day. We read before naptime, I'll read out loud during lunch sometimes, before we got to bed and here and there while the kids are up and about.

5. Art - I usually coorelate our art projects to something we're learning about or a holiday, unless it's just too neat of an idea and I can't wait to do it. =) It's not always something fomal though. Sometimes, we just get out paints or random art supplies and make whatever we want. It give the kids the freedome to create without limitations and that's always fun!

6. Science - We don't do too many science experiments. I'll be honest. It's ususally a time thing or a lack of planning. I'm trying to get back into doing more, but this usually takes the most planning and preparation. We have a lot of science activites just in our own backyard, by watching a spider in a web, planting or working in our garden, playing with chickens and learning how they grow and act, etc. Lots of hands-on stuff. We also do enjoy field trips. I can't wait to go to the dairy farm this spring!!

Unformal:

There are days that we do miss formal homeschooling and we just have fun going to the park, playing at the beach or visiting the market for produce. However, any GOOD teacher will tell you that there's a teachable moment almost anywhere and while you're out and about with your children, find those teachable moments. Talk about the seaweed and shells that wash up on the shoreline. Collect fun, naturistic things on your next family walk and take them home to glue them on paper and make a callage. Even if you don't have a lot of land to start a garden, start some seeds in a little pot on your front porch or windosill (plant seeds on a south-facing sill so it can obtain the most sunlight). You'll be amazed at what you can LEARN! =)