Week in Review 2016: #31 (The First Week of School!)

It was an exciting week for us, as it was the first  week of school. Bridget is now in second grade (our second grade curriculum) and George is in pre-k (our pre-k curriculum). He has asked me every day this summer if it was time for him to start school yet. The day finally came and so far, he's loving it. Now that I have two students, I wanted to make sure I had everything planned out. Most of their subjects are separate, except for history and geography. Originally, I had planned on having them together for science, but knew that George would get lost when we did chemistry and physics, so instead George will be starting from the beginning with a special pre-k science curriculum. 

The kids got to pick their special color paper for their weekly plan and each task has a check box next to it, so we can mark it when they are done. I did this in the second half of last school year and it worked beautifully in making sure we got everything done and helps us to stay on task. 

The Friday before our first week of school, we went to the library to pick up school books and a few fun books. The children couldn't wait to dive in to their new books once we got home!

At last, the first day of school arrived. The kids were up early (on their own), dressed, fed, and were ready to begin at 8 a.m. No cutesy signs this year, but we did take this "first day of school" picture with my two students.

My youngest, who very recently turned two years old, was surprisingly well-behaved (most of the time) while I worked on school with the older two. He kept Bridget company when she did her math work, and kept busy with her math manipulatives. He got nervous when I called his name to take this picture, as he knows he's not usually allowed to play with the manipulatives, but since he was being good and quiet, I let him continue. He has done this every day this week.

For our first day of school, I cut up a pineapple to include with our lunch. Between the kids and I, we ate the entire thing. This was Liam's first taste of fresh pineapple, and he was hooked. Even when his mouth began hurting, he wanted to continue eating.

After lunch and after I put Liam down for his nap is when I like to sit on the couch with the older two and do some reading. This is when we get a lot of our history work done, and now geography. Bridget had to write her own narration, which I forgot to take a picture of, but I do have one of George coloring his narration page.

George really enjoyed his first science lesson. We worked on it while Bridget did math. We learned about observation, then went on a "science safari" in our backyard, where George told me what he could see, hear, smell, and feel.  

The week, overall, was a pleasant one. A fresh start to a new school year will do that. 

In other news, I developed strep again for the fourth time since May. I saw a new doctor, and he has determined that the strep never really went away and is somehow hiding in my throat and flaring up every few weeks (I was recently diagnosed for the third time on July 16th, and diagnosed again on August 3rd). The three different antibiotics I had been prescribed previously got rid of the symptoms, but didn't get rid of it entirely. Now I am on a new antibiotic in a different "class". I am not a candidate yet for a tonsilectomy, as the doctor feels I haven't been catching it over and over again, but that is has been resistant to the antibiotics. That was good news for me, because I do not have a history of a constant sore throat and really didn't want to have surgery. Fortunately, I got to the doctor before it got really bad, so I have not been in much pain after the first day, and have been able to eat and swallow (unlike the last 3 times), though food doesn't taste good. And on top of that and my immune system being weakened, I am also battling a cold. Thankfully, it is now the weekend and I only pray that I am better by Monday, though Sunday would be ideal. 

Linking Up With:

Pre-K Curriculum | 2016-2017 School Year

My 4-year-old will officially be joining us in school this year with a very relaxed Pre-K curriculum. He has waited for this moment for a long time. We are so excited to have him with us!!!

Language Arts

Reading

It is time for the boy to start reading. I have a confession to make. My 4-year-old son cannot read his letters. There, I said it. He knows the alphabet, but we have not worked on reading the letters. He has had no interest in learning and I chose not to force it. However, it is now time to change that. I will be using the same book with him that I used for my now 6-year-old. It worked wonderfully for her and I see no reason not to use it again. The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading is one of the most important books in my homeschool. It lays a perfect foundation for reading.

We will also be using BOB Books, as they are good practice for a beginner. We'll start with the pre-reading books and move up to the beginning readers.

Handwriting

With learning to read letters, my son will also be learning to write them. We do not have a special book for this, and we will be starting with writing lines (horizontal, vertical, circle, etc.). If I feel that he is ready, I may start early with the kindergarten level Zaner-Bloser Handwriting book.

Literature

While my son will be joining his big sister on the couch as I read various stories related to history, science, or anything else, I wanted to include a special read-aloud time with just him and I. We will be reading classic children's stories and doing an activity related to the story. We hope to get through Rumpelstiltskin, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and so on. I will also include Aesop's Fables and any other stories involving a lesson.

Mathematics

Mathematics in the early years, if done right, can be very fun and rewarding. My son is already an excellent counter and knows simple addition and subtraction, but I will still be formally going over the basics with him. This way it all gets covered and if we move at a faster pace to meet his needs, then that is what we will do. 

Just this year, The Well-Trained Mind Press published a book by Kate Snow called Preschool Math at Home: Simple Activities to Build the Best Possible Foundation for Your Child. At first, I had no intention on getting the book, as I did just fine with my oldest with preschool math. However, after watching this video, I got to see the concepts and activities of the book in action. I am always on the look-out for fun and effective ways to teach my children, and my son is a very active hands-on little boy, so I am eager to give it a try. 

Because the book is geared toward the early preschool years (age 3), I anticipate that my Pre-K student and I will work on two lessons per week, alternating with puzzles, counting bears, and other activities.

History

At this age, I do not do any formal history lessons but he usually likes to join in when I do history with his older sister. This year, we are studying the Middle Ages and I know that the stories of knights and kings will be of great interest to him.

Science

I did not do Pre-K science for my oldest, and I regret it. This time around, I will be using Elemental Science's Exploring Science. We've used this for both kindergarten and first grade with my oldest and it has been a big hit. Looking at the lessons, I know that my son will look forward to science each week. The concepts are simple and the experiments are easy. For the experiments, we will be using the suggested book Science Play.

My hope is that my son will feel included in our school day and that by keeping his lessons simple and fun, he will not only learn but also enjoy having school with us. 

2016-2017 Curriculum Link-Up:

Chasing Slow {Curriculum Decisions} Link Up
8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop

Homeschool: Pre-K: Day 1

This Monday was an exciting day for us. We started "Pre-K"! Not long after Bridget was born, I decided that I was going to be a homeschool mom. I have no experience with homeschool whatsoever. I attended a public elementary school, a private (Catholic) junior high + two years of senior high, and two years of public high school. But I knew that this was wanted to do with Bridget. I gave it a lot of thought, crammed my lesson plans in at the last minute, and the first day of school came too soon.

 

Side note: According to North Carolina law, Bridget would not be starting kindergarten until she's almost 6 years old (so Pre-K when she's almost 5). She was born at the very end of September and just missed the cutoff. However, I'm choosing to start her structured learning now because I feel that she is ready. As far as the testing the state requires in elementary school, we'll deal with that when it happens. If she has to take the tests a year later than I would like, then so be it. But I'm not going to waste precious time because the state thinks she's not ready.

 

I wanted Bridget to feel extra special on her big day, so I bought her a new backpack (with matching lunchbox) filled with new school supplies (crayons, markers, puzzles, pencils, and books). Bridget is a huge fan of Princess Sofia so I thought she would love to have the princess on her backpack. (She does!)

 

Next, Bridget did her morning chores (ate breakfast, made her bed, got dressed, brushed her hair and teeth, and went potty) and we were "off to school"! So that she doesn't feel left out of having the first day of school pictures taken, I gave her a little sign to hold and snapped away.

 

Showing off her new backpack:

Then we were off to school! Our homeschool area is the breakfast nook in our kitchen. We eat our meals at the dining table in the dining room, and I've chosen not to have two eating tables in my house because that's just... silly. So, we were able to free up a lot of square footage in our kitchen to accommodate our new learning environment.

For our first week of school, I decided to really see where Bridget's at with her learning. Obviously I have been teaching her random things throughout her life, but I wanted to know how much she really remembered.

After our morning prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance (I insist that she learn this... I hear they're not doing it in schools very much these days), and Article of Faith, we started off with science class. I felt the weather would be excellent to start off with. We discussed what the weather was, what it looked like outside that day (cloudy), we talked about the things we do and the things we wear according to what the weather is. She caught on very quickly and was able to circle all the correct items on the worksheets about the things you see on a snowy day, a sunny day, and a rainy day.

Then we colored a picture about the weather. I wanted George to be included so he got a picture to color too.

After science, we learned a scripture story. I figured since this is the beginning of homeschool, we'd start off with the beginning of the Old Testament. We learned about the pre-existence and the war in heaven. After I told them (yes, them... George was there too) the story, we discussed it more and then watched a short video found on the church website. They both love to watch anything on my kindle, so this was a big hit!

Next, we had a snack and I put George down for his nap. Then it was time for some one-on-one learning. First we did some work on letters. I made flashcards of both upper case and lower case letters. She knows all of her upper case letters but I felt it'd be good to still practice those. She knew most of her lower case letters but would still get mixed up on "h" and "n", "a" and "u", and "b" and "d". After going through the flashcards a couple of times, she was getting much better.

Then was writing. I don't know if you noticed in one of the pictures above, but Bridget holds her pen with a fist. I've tried to correct her on this in the past but kept letting it go. Not this time. Here she is properly holding her pen as she practices some pre-writing skills:

It takes her a little bit to get the pen in her hand correctly before she starts writing, but just on the first day there was so much improvement. She did very well drawing her lines. I had worksheets for vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and curvy lines and circles. I was very impressed with her doing all of them especially with the new way she was holding her pen!

 

That was the end of our first day of school. She didn't want it to stop! But I didn't have anything else ready to teach her and didn't want her to be too overwhelmed and not want to do it again on Tuesday. So we left our classroom and had lunch. I am so glad that things went well for us!