Our LAST kindergarten year

Here is the NON-plan for my 5-year-old.  He is just barely starting “school” as I wait until a child shows interest in reading and writing before beginning.  He participates in all our family studies, at whatever level he feels comfortable with for that day.  Sometimes he sits on my lap the whole time (with or without a back scratch), other days he plays (not so) quietly on the floor while I’m reading out loud and still other days he goes upstairs to play by himself, watch a “school” movie or use the iPod apps.

He gets about 20 to 30 minutes of individual teaching time a day where we work on handwriting and reading.  We also have “circle time” with the 7-year-old where we sing songs and read picture books.

This is also his first year trying workboxes – at his request.  His older brothers are moving out of their 6-drawer workboxes into milk crates so littlest brother wants both of theirs!  I’m not sure we’ll use all 12 for him each day….we’ll tinker around with it the first few weeks.  Every night I put in his handwriting book, a reading game and a worksheet or two.  He helps me choose the remaining activities from his activity bag file folder box.

Handwriting

I use Handwriting Without Tears and have for years.  All my boys have used it because it’s the easiest and best system out there!  We work on one letter a day, although sometimes we spread a letter out over a few days.  Since he knows the letter names and sounds already, we don’t need to spend extra time drilling those.  It’s just the physical exercise of writing them.

I have also printed some “worksheets” from Confessions of a Homeschooler for him to use in his workboxes.  He particularly enjoys the dot-a-dot and toothpick poke pages.  We also use the “circle the correct letter” pages.  He does activities from the Letter of the Week and kindergarten sections of her printables so make sure you check out both.

We just subscribed to the more.Starfall site and I was thrilled to see they have multiple (read many, many, many) printable sheets for reading and writing.  I’ll be printing out some fun pages to keep him occupied. 

Reading

I don’t follow a single reading program with my kids.  I sort of mix-and-match the resources I already have.

I love Happy Phonics and use the games to practice and reinforce various sounds and concepts.

For beginning readers I prefer the Now I’m Reading series by Nora Gaydos.  I pull out the book that corresponds with the lesson we’re learning in Happy Phonics….or vice versa.

We have used Starfall for years and he is now progressing past the letter sounds and moving into the early reading games.  As I mentioned above, we just joined the more.Starfall section and it is AMAZING.  There are so many wonderful activities for a beginning reader.  I need to spend some time looking through it.  I may create an “order” for him to do them (corresponding with the Happy Phonics and Now I’m Reading) or I may just let him play around with it.  Okay - I did create one.  And here it is!  They even have lesson plans for each week, but I’m not sure if I’ll be using those or not.

In addition to the above, I also let him watch the LeapFrog videos, WordWorld and the Preschool Prep Company dvds.  I love, love, love the Preschool Prep Company dvds.  We have Meet the Sight Words 1, 2 and 3 as well as the new Meet the Phonics series (Meet the Blends and Meet the Digraphs).  They have been great for the 5-year-old as well as the already reading 7-year-old.  They’ve even been useful for my struggling 11-year-old reader.

Other activities

Over the past year or so I have created various “activity bags” to keep his little hands busy and his great brain engaged.  He has been asking for more “school” stuff, meaning worksheets, so I’ll be perusing Confessions of a Homeschooler, more.Starfall, and Homeschool Creations Preschool Packs for printables.  I pick and choose which ones I want – I never print the whole shebang.

The Reading Plan

I'm teaching my last child to read.  It's a bittersweet thing.  I've used this same general plan for all my kids....he just has a few resources that the older boys didn't have.

It's hard to show in a list like this, but once he starts reading the Now I'm Reading series, he will read one book a day AND play a game or watch a Starfall video.  We spend between 10 and 20 minutes on 'reading instruction'.  Some time in a book reading and some in a hands-on type activity.  I usually have him watch the movies on his own, during a time I'm working with his older brothers. So, on any given day he reads a short book with me, we play a game, and he then watches a movie, plays around on Starfall, or does a worksheet.

I use a lot of games from Happy Phonics (HP).  I'm only going to link to it once!

Leap Frog Videos

Starfall (basic ABCs)

Keep Away*

Letter Go-Fish

Alphabet Bingo

Muffin Match (upper/lower case letters) - from HP

Castle Game (short vowel sounds) from HP

I Can Read Cards (HP) – CVC words - from HP

Starfall Learn to Read games 1-5, Skills movies #1-3

more.Starfall – Word Machines

more.Starfall – Short Vowel Pals

Meet the Sight Words (dvd – watch one video every few days, do coloring pages)

Build a Sentence – some sight words, mostly CVC -from HP

Scrambled Sentences - sight words, mostly CVC -from HP

Meet the Blends (dvd)

Starfall Learn to Read, Skills movies #4-8

Meet the Digraphs (dvd)

Start Now I’m Reading series by Nora Gaydos

Animal Antics books 1-5, then Playful Pals 1-5….

then go back to Animal Antics books 6-10 and Playful Pals 6-10

Read one book a day, repeat the same book for 2 to 3 days….continue to move through the series (Clever Critters, Snack Attack, Amazing Animals, On the Go**)

Sight Word Bingo; Roll, Keep, Say or Keep Away*

Silent E game (HP)

Starfall Learn to Read games 6-10

Climb the E Tree (HP) – various sounds of “e”

Sight Word Bingo; Roll, Keep, Say or Keep Away

CH, SH, TH, WH Game (HP)

The E-A Game (HP) – watch Between the Lions EA video

Starfall Learn to Read game 11

Starfall Learn to Read, Skills movies 9-11

Climb the E Tree, gradually move up to level 4 (HP)

Sight Word Bingo; Roll, Keep, Say or Keep Away

First Nurse Game (HP) – er, ir, ur, wor, ear

Starfall Learn to Read games 12-14

Y Not? (HP) – y_____, _y, ___y, and __y__

Three in a Row (HP) – oi, oy

Sight Word Bingo; Roll, Keep, Say or Keep Away

Boat Launch (HP) – au, aw

Mountain Climber (HP) – oa, ow, oa

Silly Sentences word strip game

Space Race (HP) – gn, kn, wr, ____b

Climb the E Tree last level

Begin Dr. Seuss, Frog and Toad and other books

Begin All About Spelling Level 1 (unless his writing is good enough to start earlier) - I feel like this program fills in any holes I might have missed.

* Keep away is a game where I hold a stack of cards.  I show him one card at a time and if he knows the letter sound, name or word he can keep the card.  If he doesn't, then I keep it.  Whoever has the most cards at the end, wins.  I always lose.

**more.Starfall has many beginning reader books in the “More Phonics” and “Backpack Bear’s Books” sections if he needs more practice than the Now I’m Reading books.

Preschool/Kindergarten Activity Bags

Oh, how I wish I'd known about these when my oldest boys were little!  These bags are a great way to keep little ones busy, but still learning.

To make activity bags I print, cut out, laminate, sort, etc and place everything into a gallon-size zipper plastic bag.  Please use your best judgment with a child – my son does not place things in his mouth (never did) but if your child does, don’t include activities with small items.  Also, gallon size baggies can fit over a child’s head so please teach them to keep it off their noggins.

I’ve found it helpful for many of these to have a small tray or cookie sheet available so that when something gets “dumped” it’s contained in a specific area instead of all over the table or floor.

How we use them:  Last year we’d just grab out a handful of activity bags and use them while I read out loud to the older boys or at the school table upstairs.  This year he’s using his own workboxes.  He wants to do 12 a day – we’ll see how that goes.  Every night he helps me choose 2 or 3 things he wants to include (one in each drawer – I choose the other activities).  The next day he pulls out one activity from one drawer, plays with it/completes the worksheet, then returns the activity to the bag and to the drawer.  I store most of them in a hanging file folder box, each activity in a separate, labeled folder.  The bigger, bulkier items are in a dish pan in the school closet.

Here is a list of activities we’ve created with his reactions to them:

Paperclip color matching game – loves it

Color and shape matching wheels – loves it as do all our little visitors

Color matching with objects – loves it

I used foam sheets (you could use cardstock or felt) and collected a ton of small objects in various colors (between 5 to 10 per color).  To play he lays out the color sheets and dumps the bag of objects on the floor.  He then places each object on the corresponding color sheet.  For example, the green frog would go on the green foam.  The pink pig would go on the pink foam.

Clothespin Counting game – loves it

Hide and Seek – chooses this one a lot

Take pasta, dry beans or rice and put in a tupperware like container.  Hide some small toys and have them search for it.

Mix and Match – uses it but gets frustrated sometimes

Have a bag full of different items, 2 of each.  Have them find the matches.  You can time it if you want - how many can you get in 1 minute?  Or just let them make the matches.  It can be whatever - milk jug caps, coins, small toys, stickers on small pieces of paper, paperclips, etc.

Alphabet train – doesn’t use this one very often

Print and color (there's a color version but would probably use a lot of ink) or print on colored paper.  

Shades of color – he hated this and told me to get rid of it

Get some paint chip "ladders" (strips that are the different shades of same color).  Make a master list with the color at the top and squares to put the other colors.  Have them sort into the grid.  Can use velcro, magnets or just have them lay it on the paper.  If you use magnets they can be put on a cookie sheet or magnet board.  I picked up some cards at Walmart but their selection was pretty stinky.  I think Lowe's would have a much better, and larger, selection.

Measure it – only used a few times and said it was “boring”

Print this onto cardstock or laminate.    Cut pieces from ribbon, yarn, pipe cleaners, etc.  Have the child measure each thing to determine where it goes.   

Spooning beads – does this one over and over again

Get 2 small bowls, and a spoon (check $ store).  Put all beads in one bowl and have them spoon to the other bowl.  

Counting frogs – loves it

Make a mat for each number, like 1, 2, 3, etc.  Have them put right number of frogs on each mat.  Or flowers or whatever small item you can find several of.

Patterning pom-poms – will do it if I set it out, but won’t choose it on his own

Make some pattern strips for using the colors of a bag of pom-poms.  Cut some strips of paper about 8 1/2" by 3 or 4 inches and color circles to match the pom-poms.  The child should place the pom-pom either on top of the matching color or underneath it.  You can have a set pattern like ABAB, or ABCABC or just a random mixture of colors.

Double Trouble Shapes – new to try this year

Make some grids and laminate.  Across the top row of each make some shape combinations (a circle on top of a heart, etc).  Glue all together.  Child needs to find both shapes needed to complete a square.  Separate each grid's shapes in different bags.  

Mini clothes line – thinks it’s hilarious

Cut small pieces of clothes from felt or other fabrics.  String twine between 2 sticks and use mini clothes pins to secure them.  For the base you could drill holes into a wooden plaque or glue it to the inside edges of a small box.  We use this tied between two chairs.  We have an alphabet set too – each clothespin has an upper or lowercase letter written on it and he pins the corresponding letter (written on paper) to the line.  It could just be an index card with the letter on it or you could cut out “clothes” shapes.  You can mix and match this as well – uppercase pins to lowercase, upper to upper, etc.

Stickers and paper – I have to regulate this and only do it once in a while because he goes through stickers so quickly.  Include a variety of stickers and some paper (or cardstock) and let them go to town.

Pringles Can color sorting – loves it

I covered the can so he wouldn’t get all excited that he was getting a snack.  I also used a few more colors than pictured, and made two with different colors on each one.  All the kids that come to visit have loved this as well.

Pumpkin transfer – loves it

I picked up two small plastic pumpkins on clearance and filled one with small foam thingies (airplanes, frogs, bugs, shapes, etc).  He loves to transfer it from one pumpkin to the other – he uses his fingers, kid-sized chopsticks or tweezers.

Cutting – loves it

In a bag include child safety scissors and cardstock, which is easier for them to cut.  You can also include some patterns for them to cut if you want to teach more control.

Gluing – loves it

Include items for them to glue to cardstock/construction paper.  Die cut pieces, shapes, letters, whatever.  I patrol the craft stores for clearance items (think collage) and use what I can find.

Marble counting – loves it, but loses his marbles

We used foam sheets but you could also use plastic lids.  Punch a hole in the foam sheet and write the corresponding number on it.  For example, punch one hole and write “One  1”, punch two holes and write “Two  2”.  The child then places the marble into each hole.  I matched up a hole punch with the marbles at the store before buying to make sure the marble wouldn’t fall through the hole.  I also made sure to get a hole punch with a longer reach so it could go in an inch or so from the edge.

Black Scratch paper – loves it

I only buy this when I see it on clearance.  It’s one of his favorites but he’ll go through a whole package in one sitting so I only give in two sheets at a time.

Parmesan cheese can – loves it

When you empty a plastic Parmesan cheese container, clean it out and pull off the label.  Fill it about ¾ full with small pom-poms, bells, coffee stir straws, anything that will fit through the hole.  To play, unscrew the lid and dump it all out.  Put the lid back on and open the side with the small holes.  Have the child place each item in the hole….it takes a long time but they usually stick with it.  45 minutes of blessed silence.

Pipe cleaner beading – loves it

String beads onto pipe cleaners.  As they get more agile you can use shoe laces or strings created especially for beading.

Maze book – loves it

I ripped a maze book apart and put each page in a protective sleeve.  He uses a dry erase marker and then wipes it clean at the end.

Chalkboard – loves it

You can use a sponge to “draw” or include a small bag of chalk and a damp sponge for an eraser

Places to look for more ideas

http://lapbooksbycarisa.homestead.com/ToolsforTots.html

http://www.monthome.com/

http://www.filefolderfun.com/

http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm

A peek into the chaos of our upcoming school year

It’s that frantic time when most homeschooling parents are realizing that they actually need to PLAN the upcoming year.  And just so that I feel like a part of the craziness….here are our plans for the 2011-2012 year (subject to change!)

And just for reference, I have four boys, ages 11, 10, 7 and 5.  We also school year-round so we’re actually right in the middle of some studies, halfway through levels and other such confusing things.

Devotional – family, daily, 30 minutes

We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and will be reading the Book of Mormon and Old Testament as a family.  My two older boys will be doing a study from Discover the Scriptures. 

We will continue to work on our Scripture Memory Work using this system.

  

We are working our way through the hymn book and children’s songbook from our church (we sing the same hymn every day until we know it).  We also read the children’s magazine put out by our church called The Friend.  And we choose one “religious” book to read – right now it’s a history of our church.  Next will be a scripture hero book.

And this isn’t a part of “religion” but we also do the following during devotional time:

One idiom -  (I have the old version)

Vocabulary Cartoons (2 pages) 

Manners Made Easy  

History – family, 4 x a week, 20 to 30 minutes

We are finishing up American History (we’ll stop right before WWI).  We’ve used a booklist I compiled.  We should be done in another month or two and will then move to the Ancient World again.

  

Because I like pain, we’re going to try to cram Egypt, Rome and Greece into one year.  I’ll use the Simply Charlotte Mason guide books and their suggested readings with a few books of my own choosing thrown in.

Science – family, daily, 20 to 30 minutes

We have a few weeks left of chemistry and will then move into an eclectic mix of biology, physics and earth science.  We’ll finish Flying Creatures (younger Apologia series - we did half the book last year), and work on Ocean Animals as well as Land Animals (from the same series).  For physics we’ll be using Real Science 4 Kids.  And for earth science I’m undecided.   We might do a week or two on botany as well (the boys vetoed anything longer).

We’ll also throw in some nature study books here and there (actually, on Fridays).  I have a ton downloaded on my Kindle or bookmarked around the web.

Piano – individually, daily, 20 minutes

Taught by dad.  Mom is not talented that way.

Foreign Language – family, daily, 10 minutes

Starting Hebrew and Portuguese.  My husband is a Hebrew speaker and I’m a Portuguese one so we’ll be teaching them ourselves, using our own small brains.  I’ll be trying to use the Sarah and David Hebrew books with them as well.

Math – daily, 30 minutes each (all taught separately)

Right Start for all of them.  Still love it almost 3 years later.

Spelling – individually, daily, 10 to 20 minutes

We use All About Spelling.  They are each in a different level.  Love, love, love it.

Literature/Read-Alouds – daily, 20 to 30 minutes

I use this list for the family.  I read one book to them during the day and their dad reads one at bedtime.  We’ll try to get through as many as we can.

  

The younger boys and I have “Circle Time” where we sing songs and read a few books from this list.  The older boys work on their workboxes or chores during that time. 

  

On Fridays we read Fairy Tales (currently an Andrew Lang Fairy book).

Geography - family, once a week, 30 minutes

Instead of history on Friday, we work on geography.  I use Galloping the Globe as a guide and grab whatever books I can from the library about a specific country.  It takes us several months per country.  China is next.  And we haven't voted on the one after that.

We also do a Map Drill on Friday with our geography.  Currently we're working on the United States.  All four boys participate (I write for the 5-year-old).

Artist Study – family, once a week, 10 minutes

I’m following this list I made.  We are on Botticelli.

Composer Study – family, once a week, 10 minutes then listen to pieces throughout the week

Following this list I made.  We just finished Mozart.

Poetry – family, once a week, 10 minutes

I just grab a poetry book and we read from it. 

Art – family, once a week, 10 minutes

A woman from our church unit comes and teaches them about art and does projects with them every Thursday afternoon.  I get to play with her baby girl. 

Older boys:

Each of them has a workbox (milk-type crate with file folders).  They will do the following subjects (daily) on their own:

1.  Scriptures – read 10 minutes a day
2. Discover the Scriptures Book of Mormon (as listed above)
3.  Copywork
4. Grammar – we use Growing With Grammar
5. Explode the Code
6.  Cursive – Handwriting Without Tears
7. Math worksheet – a one page practice sheet
8. Geography – Daily Geography Practice
9. One boy is doing Star-Spangled States
10. Switcheroo – every day I change what is in the folder – homophones, story prompts, crossword puzzle, etc.
11. Exercise – 20 minutes, they choose the activity

Then 3 times a week they will do some independent reading in history or science.  They will work on transitioning from oral narrations to written narrations this year.  Yippee!

Once a week they will have a Logic class and we’ll be reading and discussing The Thinking Toolbox together.

One of my sons needs extra reading practice so he works with me an additional 30 minutes or so a day, using Happy Phonics for games.  The rest of the time is just spent reading outloud.

7-year-old
He joins his older brothers for devotional, history, science, read-alouds, foreign language, and the other family studies.  He works individually with me for math and reading/spelling.  We use Happy Phonics for reading games.


His workboxes contain:

1. Scripture reading – 10 minutes with mom
2. Math worksheet
3. Explode the Code
4. Handwriting – printing, Handwriting Without Tears

He will probably start copywork with year.

5-year-old

His job is to stay out of my hair and not jump all over our stuff.  He has a variety of games, activities, iPod apps, etc to keep him occupied.

He is working on his handwriting using Handwriting Without Tears.  He is also learning to read using a crazy and disorganized mix of Happy Phonics, Now I’m Reading series, Starfall and the Preschool Prep dvds.  He also sits in on all family subjects and on the 7-year-olds math and spelling lessons (his choice).

Homemade Lara Bars aka Lara Balls

I made four versions of Lara Bars yesterday.  Here are the recipes and results.  Use nuts that have been soaked then dehydrated and dates/raisins/prunes that have no preservatives.  Because I made most of these into "ball" shapes, my 7-year-old dubbed them "Lara Balls".  The Protein Bars listed at the bottom need to stay refrigerated, the Lara Balls do not.

Coconut Cream Pie
1 1/2 c. dates
1/3 c. almonds
1/3 c. cashews
1/3 c. coconut

I used 1 cup of dates and 1/2 cup raisins.  In a food processor, mix the dates (and raisins) until it forms a sticky ball.  Remove to a mixing bowl.  Process the nuts (with coconut if it's not already shredded super small) until mostly fine, but with a few smaller chunks.  Add them to the mixing bowl.  With your hands knead the mixture around until it's combined.  Shape into bars or balls.  I opted for balls.  Some people use waxed paper or cling wrap to help in shaping the bars. 

This earned 5 out of 6 thumbs up. 

Cashew Cookie
1 1/2 c. dates
1 c. cashews

Again, I used 1 cup dates and 1/2 cup raisins.  Process the dates (and raisins) until it forms a sticky bowl.  Remove to a separate mixing bowl.  Process the nuts until mostly ground, with a few smaller chunks.  Add them to the bowl and mix with your hands (sort of like kneading bread) until combined.  Shape into bars or balls.  I opted for balls.  Some people use waxed paper or cling wrap to help in shaping the bars.

This earned 2 1/2 out of 6 thumbs up, with it being "the favorite" of the 7-year-old.

Apple Pie
6 dates
about 1/4 c. dehydrated apple slices
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. honey
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. almonds

In a food processor, process the dates, apples, cinnamon and honey until it forms a sticky ball.  Remove to a mixing bowl.  Process the nuts until mostly fine, with a few small chunks.  Add to the date/apple mixture and mix with your hands until combined.  Shape into bars or balls.  I opted for balls.  Some people use waxed paper or cling wrap to help in shaping the bars.

This earned 6 out of 6 thumbs up.  I may try it with more dehydrated apples next time to make it a bit more appley.  Many of the recipes I saw online used raw apples for this, but said they were runny.  Some also added 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, but I don't like the taste so I left it out.

Protein Bars
2 c. almonds
1/4 c. flax seeds
1/2 c. prunes (or dates or raisins or mixture)
1/2 c. coconut (I left it out)
1/2 c. almond butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. coconut oil
1 tbsp. honey
2-3 tsp. vanilla (I left it out)

Add all the dry ingredients in the food processor (or blender like Blendtec) and process until almost fine. In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil.  Then add the honey and vanilla if you're using it.  Add to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.  Press into an 8x8 pan and let chill in the fridge for about an hour.

This earned 4 1/2 out of 6 thumbs up.

I got off the couch

So, I have this crazy neighbor.  Let's call her Maria.  She's 5 months pregnant.  And she wants to keep running.  Her running friends have all moved away so she went recruiting.  I was one of her first targets.  What better way for a big pregnant lady to run, than with her totally out of shape, hasn't done any exercise for years friend!  I don't know why I agreed.  But she's crazy so I did.

I have now officially finished Week 4 of the Couch to 5K training program.  The first two weeks I thought I would die.  But each run got a little easier.  Not a lot easier, but a little.  Enough that I notice it.  Good enough for me.

Our first race is in 6 weeks.  I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I'm actually going out 3 nights a week in order to train for a race.  Because I hate running.  It's good for me though so I keep doing it.  We are TRYING to wake up and run in the mornings before our husbands leave for work, but she's tired because she's pregnant and I'm just tired so usually we go at 9:00pm when it's cooled down to 97 degrees or so.  No joke.

If you are at all interested in getting started I would suggest two things:

First, get one of the Couch to 5K apps.  There are several to choose from.  When I run I take my iPod Touch and some lovely British lady tells me when to walk and when to run.  Actually, she's not lovely.  I don't like her very much.  She causes me pain.

Second, get yourself a crazy friend.  The kind that will show up at your door and drag you out if necessary.  If you can find a pregnant one that works even better because then you think, "If she can do it, so can I."

I've lost weight and my clothes are fitting much better.  Between the running and our GAPS diet, I just might get healthy!

And if I, a 38 1/2 year old, 190 pound (now 178 pound) couch potato can do it, so can you.

Sing what you hear

The other morning my two youngest sons were sitting at the table singing about 'nasty nachos'.  For a brief moment I thought they'd listened to some horrid rap music and were trying to mimic what they'd heard.  I questioned my husband on this and he started laughing.  He'd been playing the Marriage of Figaro and they were singing what they heard.

At first I thought it was a terrible way to introduce them to opera.  They would never appreciate the true beauty and power of the music.  They would think it silly.  I changed my mind, however, as I heard them ask to listen to it over and over.  As I saw them crowd around the computer with big smiles on their faces.  And as I watched them laugh and laugh over what they heard.  Here are some examples:

Nasty nachos

Oh pajama!

Hot dog protector

Spaghetti

Potato

Mozart may or may not be mortified at this introduction to his opera.  On the one hand he took his music very seriously.  And on the other he had a rather quirky sense of humor.

For now, my kids are interested in listening.  They find it enjoyable.  And I hear them humming the music around the house and singing what they hear.

Marriage of Figaro (also known as Mozart’s Wedding by my 7-year-old)

Act 3 Ecco La Marcia