First Day of Kindergarten for Isaac

Isaac's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Isaac's 1st Day of PreK one year ago!



I've decided that I'm going to have to take a first day picture every year. I don't want it to necessarily be the perfect, posed picture. I just want to tell him that I'm taking his first school picture and snap whatever I get. As you can see, he was quite a poser last year!




Looking back, I can see what little babies they were last year!

Isaac and Eli
8/13/12

I am grateful, so grateful to have the freedom to stay at home with my boys. I couldn't even imagine sending them away at this tender age. I pray that we make so many memories together this year. Learning and growing together. 

My goal for myself this year is to keep my cool with discipline. Isaac is a very, very strong-willed child. (Just ask his Papaw). Discipline with him has been a challenge to say the least, but I've been seeking advice from respectful, Christian friends. He's improving by leaps and bounds. Of course, part of it could be his age. He's starting to be more in tune with his emotions. I'm trying to learn to let go of anger and frustration. I've become a "yeller" in the past, and now I'm praying for help with that. It has been said that he needs the structure of public school, but I know that no one, NO ONE, is going to care more about my child's behavior, discipline, level of respect, more than me. Sending him away will not fix the problem, but only ignore it. He needs guidance from the one that cares the most. And if the problem is the mother-son relationship and teaching him where the respect needs to be, he's certainly not going to learn if he is not with me!  Discipline is an on going process that will take years, but there are times he surprises me so much and makes me so proud. I can see the payoff. Anyway---enough of my soap box. :)

So now, what did we do today? What is a typical day? We keep a routine. Never schedules. Schedules with 5 and 3 year olds (almost 3) do not work! Routine! Routine! Routine! Everything takes longer. The simple things like learning how to dress, brush teeth, help with housework take the most time and are the most important. Sometimes your flow is interrupted by an unexpected critter found outside or a pretty day that begs for the boys to be playing outside where other adventures and learning experiences occur! But today...

We started with a "K" pancake for Kindergarten.



Which he quickly turned into a "Y"

and begged me to start taking pictures.

Then a "V"

"i"

"T"



Chore Chart

We are using the same chore chart as last year. Isaac said he wanted a new one. We aren't following it to a "T" like we should, but it still serves as a reminder for him of his responsibilities. The idea comes from Gwendolyn Webb's Train Up a Child.

Calendar/Storytime area in their bedroom

After breakfast, clean up, getting dressed, brushing teeth, maybe some laundry, etc. we come to our calendar/storytime area in their bedroom. I plan on reading to them every morning here. It will either be an old fave, something tied to a lesson for the day/week, a Bible story, etc. The point is read-alouds. Making sure I'm reading to both of them at least once during our day.

Calendar Time

I've changed our Calendar Time a little bit. These ideas/printables come from www.mamajenn.com and www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com  I added Sunday and Saturday to the Weather chart and the Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow Chart. It was too confusing to not include the weekends. Besides, sometimes school does happen on the weekends! Besides the fact that it really annoyed OCD Isaac. ;) We graph the weather for the month now, and I added a Verse/Thought of the week. This where the MFW curriculum comes in. They have one that goes with each unit of the Kindergarten curriculum.

Our Main Focus of the Year

I found this on MamaJenn, I think. A good theme for our Kindergarten year! It is above the calendar as a reminder every morning! This is our biggest goal. Obedience, respect, good attitude.

You probably can't see it cause I have him write in pencil on the 100 Chart, but as Isaac changes the Number of Days in School to the Calendar, he will write the corresponding number on our 100 Chart. I start with zero and then the 1st row goes to 9. Second row 10-19, 20-29, and so forth. This follows the MathUSee way of teaching 10s.



Obedience Incentives

So after all that and reading a few stories, we went up to the schoolroom and had a lesson on Obedience from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com. This comes from her 10 Days of Character studies. (Eli kinda comes and goes while I'm teaching, but I know he has to be listening more than I think!) I laminated the Obedience apple that comes with her pdf file. The boys will get to put stickers on their apple when I recognize them obeying throughout the week. (FYI-some Biblical proofreading required in the 10 Days of Character studies. Stuff like "praying to Jesus." We pray to God the Father, through Jesus the Son.)

Treasure Chests!

They don't know it yet, but I have a treasure chest ready for them to choose a prize when they get so many stickers on their Obedience apple and future incentive charts. My treasure chest is full of dollar store toys, knick knacks, etc. The chest is actually the cardboard box that the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books came in. I knew there was a reason I kept it!

All About Me Book

I didn't think Isaac would remember doing this, but he did. We did another one this year to compare to last year's. He's grown 2 1/4 inches. He's gained 1 pound. And this time he wrote out the words and numbers rather than dictating it to me (on the left).

Working on MFW activities

Again, we are using the My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum supplemented with a bunch of stuff (see my last post). For the first 10 days of the curriculum, the lesson plans have you go over Creation, the alphabet names, and numbers. Since Isaac is already reading, these first 10 days we are doing creation and just reviewing letter sounds while introducing the letters to Eli. (Eli kinda comes and goes while I'm teaching, but I know he has to be listening more than I think!) In addition, Isaac is learning to write his numbers 0-9. I want to complete a few of the Character Studies as well in the next 10 days to give us a good start for the year on behavior. 



Creation Day One

Since Isaac is already reading some, I have him read the strips that go on each Creation picture he makes. Some of the words are difficult, but still great practice. We are also working on finding the passages in the Bible and reading together.

MFW flashcards and Lauri textured letters

Eli wanted to play with the textured letter puzzle, so as he put each new letter back in the puzzle, Isaac and I grabbed the corresponding card, gave its sound, and came up with our own word that began with that sound. Good practice and hopefully Eli is listening. I believe in osmosis. :) 

Free printable ABC strip from Confessions of a Homeschooler
on Isaac's desk to help with handwriting.

Working on writing his numbers



We also did a fun Light Bending experiment. Since we talked about God creating light. I went the kids' bathroom in our house (no windows) and turned out the light. I used a flashlight and two mirrors to show them how light bounces off the mirrors onto the wall. Just something fun to introduce them to how light travels.

At this point we took a break for lunch and playtime. Later that afternoon, Isaac reviewed Counting by 2s in his MathUSee Primer from last year. I plan on reviewing the last half of the book before buying the Alpha. Plus, I want him to focus on learning to write his numbers better so that he can be more independent in his math work. Previously, he has always dictated to me his answers. He has shown interest in really wanting to learn to write his numbers and letters (finally) so we'll go with it!

After supper, we played a USA card game. It is a geography game about the states. He LOVES it. He was such a natural at learning about the planets. He's the same way with maps and geography I think. Next year, we might just do Confessions Road Trip USA where you learn about each state in detail.

Again, school for us is not so rigid. We may formally sit down here and there throughout the day, then we play, then something comes up we want to do/learn, then the boys play.




Sometimes this is the best time for learning.
Playtime with each other.

The boys are playing together more and more.
I love it.

This was a different day.
Trying to get Eli interested in some fun learning activities.

I think he likes these letters the best.