Kindergarten – Week One

On Monday, we started kindergarten for Travis and Heather. 

Our memory verse this week is Proverbs 4:20 .. about paying attention.  Hmmm…seems like we started with this idea last year too.  Still needs work! 

Last year, I posted the verses on the freezer, which is in the kitchen where I thought we would see it all the time and remember to practice the verses.  But after the first couple of months that idea really fizzled.  This year, I’m trying something new to help us learn our verses.  I wrote out all the verses a spiral bound index card set (see picture below).  The verse is on both sides and we keep it on the table.  It is staring at us every time we sit down for a meal, so we practice often (also at naptime and bedtime, and any other time I think of it).  We have been using this idea for a couple of months with the pictures from our church directory to remind us to pray for our church family every day, and that has been working.

 

By the second day, two-year old Jeffrey had the verse memorized already!  I explained to them all what “incline your ear” means.  So every time we say the verse, Jeffrey says, “That means listen!”  And once, Heather was talking, but I was distracted by someone or something else and wasn’t really listening.  She stopped and said, “Mommy, are you inclining your ear to me?”

For reading/phonics, we started with the letter “F”.  We had lots of fun finding things around the house that start with the /f/ sound and talking about things you can do that start with /f/ – flip, flop, flap, and don’t forget to flush!  As we read stories and talked throughout the week, we tried to be attentive and listen for the /f/ sound and look for the letter “F”.

     

The highlight of the first day (and maybe the week) was “F” sandwiches for lunch.  We had fish for supper, but that didn’t go over quite so well.

 

We are also doing math, science, handwriting, and various story books with associated activities.  We’re trying to strike a balance between schedule/routine and flexibility.  So far, every day has been different.  Still trying to figure out what works best to grab and keep their attention before they get caught up playing and/or squabbling.   And also leaving me time to do things in the kitchen, etc. while they play independently (i.e. without constantly asking for my help or expecting me to play with them all the time …  or playing referee!).

God blessed me with some amazing creativity (for me) for fun activities that the kids enjoyed this week.  I took the ideas presented in the instructor’s guides for my curriculum and took off from there…

For example, we read poem called “Simple Simon” about a boy who went fishing for a whale in his mother’s pail.  So we went fishing (for magnetic fish) in mommy’s empty grain bucket…

 

We practiced counting by letting Jeffrey pick out number flash cards from 0 to 10 and having Travis and heather count out that number of items.  Then we did the same thing with dominoes.  Count the dots on the dominoes, then count out the same number of “coins” and put them in a slit in a lidded container (aka “piggy bank”).  Great for fine motor skills too! 

Travis took off with that idea and invented “Candyland Dominoes”.  Instead of using the color cards to tell you how many spaces to move on the Candyland board, we counted dots on dominoes.  LOTS of counting practice that day!!

Our math book at a picture of hopscotch, so one morning after Ronnie went to work, we drew hopscotch on the driveway.

And for P.E. (physical education)… we went swimming at Mrs. Judy’s pool….even Brian (thanks to Mrs. Sandy!)

Brian stayed busy during the week being cute, turning over (and over and over and over), being mothered by big sister (or is that “smothered"?), and putting anything and everything in his mouth.

And to top it all off, we had cousins for the weekend!