Isaac's First Day of PreKindergarten

So I really wasn't going to "officially" start recording our schoolwork until Nick and Leah started public school, but then I knew I'd be having surgery in August, so for the last month, I just wrote down things we did that were educational and I journaled Isaac's thinking processes. Then, I thought, even if I take a laid back approach to homeschooling (the kid is only 4 people!), I can document all this so that I can look back on his growth and have some great memories. So when I saw everyone's facebook postings about "My kid started preK today boo hoo!" ---I kinda felt left out, so....we had an official first day today! ;) And here's how it went.

Around 8:30am, we had breakfast and then the boys played for just a little bit while I straightened up the kitchen.

Isaac starts his chore chart. We made a new one this year because #1 Eli destroyed the last one and #2 we needed to change some of his responsibilities. He started in on his morning duties and then got distracted by...

His planet books. The kid is obsessed. He was interested before we went to NASA, and now he wants to know everything. The kid stayed awake during a NASA imax show that everyone else was asleep in. He was fascinated. He loves Jupiter and can tell you how many moons the planet has! LOL...He can tell you a little bit about Mars, too.

Ask him about the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.

Eli checks out Venus.

We move on to the flag and the pledge. I told them to be like soldiers, but they just liked to wave the flag. I told Isaac that we should be thankful to God for our freedoms.

Then Isaac decides what number comes next on the calendar and adds the date.

Eli gets bored quickly so I give him a couple of puzzles.

We have our "Calendar Time." This was our first time to use this nifty little set up. Some of the concepts on here are over his head right now, but it will make sense some day.

You can find links to this set up starting at http://www.mamajenn.com/ and http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/ . These wonderful homeschooling moms give you the instructions and free pdf files! So cool. We discuss the date, yesterday/today/tomorrow, the seasons, the weather, shape and color of the day, and how many days in school.

We then did our Morning Message. Isaac tells me what to write as we discuss our day ahead. I model writing to him, punctuation, capital letters, etc. We cut up the sentences, count the words, identify words he knows, and he sticks them back up in the correct order.

At 10:00am, it was playtime! He had enough. It was really too long, but that was simply because it was our first time to use the new Calendar Time activity. He had alot of questions.

 Then, I thought, "We need a first day of school picture!" This is what I got.

 I said, "Lets try again." This is what I got. Defeated. Isaac won.

Then I said, "What about a brothers first day of school pic?" Here ya go.

 

11:30am Lunch and some more playtime!

12:30pm - We go on a cylinder hunt. I let him choose a shape of the day (this was on our Calendar Time). So we went around the house and took pictures of items he thought looked like cylinders. I want to eventually print these pics for each shape and we'll make a shape book. We also went on a blue color hunt. He knows his colors, but it is all fun, and he'll learn new things when we make the book.

 Cylinder #1 - door hinges, okay yeah, I'll give him that!

 Cylinder #2 - staircase posts, yeah...

 Cylinder #3 - Door knob, I can see that...

Cylinder #4 - Canned goods, definitely

12:45-1:15pm - Computer time. I let him play some games. He usually picks these challenging mind games or goes to http://www.starfall.com/. That sight single handedly taught him his letters and sounds when he was 2.

1:20-2:00pm - We make a trip to the grocery store. I make him give the lady my check card. I try to get him to speak up. We talk about things as we go through the store: different foods, prices, etc. We then headed to the post office. Same thing, I make him give the post lady the package pick up slip. Just trying to teach him to be polite and socialize! (Yikes, did I say that word?!)

Around 2pm we get home and open our package. It was his Math U See Primer! He was excited and immediately want to get to work. He was tickled that the man we'd be watching on DVD is named Steve. He looked at me funny and said, "Pa?" We worked the first few pages in the text. Super easy, but I tried to challenge him here and there. I help him see patterns with his numbers. I refer him to dice patterns alot. 

Next he works a maze that I laminated so that he can wipe off and try again.

We decorated his schoolbox with supplies. He found the letter stickers for his name and spelled it out on his box. Finally, he wanted to color with his markers, so we got out a good old paint/marker book. Lastly, he went upstairs and played with his hotwheels.

3 pm -The End! The day was really not structured. I flew by the seat of my pants and let him take the lead with a bit of guidance. I think we had a good day!

Tomorrow is pretty much just a play day. He has a friend coming over. I guess you could call it "socialization." ;)