5K Corner: Weeks 1 & 2
Malachi started Kindergarten 2 weeks ago. I am pretty traditional in following the “school year” (since it is so practical), so I won’t record Malachi as a Kindergartner until this fall. But, we are getting a head start!
To recap, for Mali’s 4K or Preschool Corner, we did a variety of activities including:
- The Explode the Code Primers (Get Ready, Get Set, Go for the Code)
- Our Alphabet Fun series where we did activities for each letter of the alphabet. Some of the activities included: a bible memory verse, books, poems, songs, science, hands on math, literature based/themed units, lapbooks and lots of hands on and real life learning. (These are all located on my sidebar under Alphabet Fun).
Since then we have just been reading books, playing, doing some impromptu science and nature studies and real life learning. I still plan to include lots of informal learning as we continue on with “school” but I am hoping to add some more formal lessons.
A few resources I am using:
- I Can Read It, by John Holzmann (corresponds 100% with ETC)
- Explode the Code (ETC) Book 1
- Getty-Dubay Italic Book A
- Language and Thinking for Young Children, by Ruth Beechick
- The Three R’s, by Ruth Beechick
- Writing Strands 1
- All About Spelling
- Madsen Method
- Ray’s New Primary Arithmetic for Young Learners
I have not decided on what I will do for anything else!
Here is some of what we did our first 2 weeks:
We have been reviewing the phonogram cards from All About Spelling Level 1.
We took the Consonant Pretest in ETC 1. (Mali colored every single picture so this took awhile!)
I gave Mali his very first spelling test from I Can Read It Word List lesson 1. He sounded out each word and spelled them on his own. At this point, I have made no attempt to teach him to read! I have only taught him the letter (phonogram) sounds.
I really like the Madsen’s method of teaching to read through spelling, and I was pleased with the results! (I need to clarify however, that the Madsen Method does not approach spelling by word families. I am simply using the materials that I know and love and pulling in ideas from their method in the application of these materials).
I used a sheet of manuscript paper and taught him the margin lines and spacing. But, Mali has not been given instruciton in correct formation of all the letters. (And I may be getting a little ahead of myself here).
So, we worked on correct letter formation by letter family groups in our Italic Handwriting. We focused on shape and stroke and covered Family 1 (i, j, l), Family 5 (a, d, g, q), and Family 6 (b,p). We also reviewed how to hold your pencil, proper paper position and posture (applying principles learned from the Madsen Method).
Malachi worked on Lesson 1 in ETC (short a sound) and completed pages 1-3. I purposely had him take the spelling pre test before completing page 3 because I wanted him to sound out the words before seeing them written.
Mali also read the first story in the I Can Read It: “Pat, the Rat.” He already knew the word “the” (because Luke taught it to him), but I taught him the word “is.” I did not teach it as a sight word though. He knows that there are two sounds for the letter “s”: /s/ and /z/, so I simply told him that we use the later sound for this word. I am not sure if there is a rule for this, because I have not seen it in MM or AAS yet. The other word I taught him is “a.” When he came to the letter “a” he would say, “ă, ā, ah.” (smile) After this he was able to read the story. He segmented each phonogram and then put them all together. *Ü*
We also did a story and narration. I read “The Crow and the Pitcher” from Language and Thinking for Young Children. I had Malachi narrate the story and the moral of the story as I typed. Then I printed a notebooking page for him to illustrate.
We then acted out the story by adding “pebbles” (dominos) to the pitcher. We filled the pitcher with water and marked the water level with a board marker. Then Mali added the “pebbles” and watched the water level raise.
He pretended that his fingers were the crow’s beak and added “pebbles” until the water level was high enough to reach.
Another day, I read him The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatirx Potter. I had him narrate the story for me, I typed it and then printed it for him to illustrate.
For math, we played Dominos with the goal of getting Mali to recognize the number dots without counting. To do this, I did not have him count the dots. I simply told him what the number was. We also did this with this Bug Race game that I have seen floating around.
It was quite funny to watch him because he really wanted “6″ to win.
He loved this game. So, I was really excited to see that Jenn made one with Race Cars! As you can see in the video, however, Malachi can recognize numbers 1-6 without counting, so I really need a version of this game that uses 2 dice.
For science/nature study, we participated in the “Winter Series Salt Study.” We attempted to grow our own salt crystals to observe. He titled his experiment ”The Salt Evaporating School.”
For his next delight-directed experiment of his own choosing, Malachi asked for water, cups and food coloring. I gave him a dropper to mix, stir and transfer color.
I do plan to do some more formal science with him as soon as I figure out what I want to do. Until then, I may just use the lessons I had originally planned for The Little Scientist. (I originally was going to plan all of my own lessons to share, but I think I really need something planned out for me.)
Malachi loves to draw. He spends a great portion of his free time drawing little scenes like the ones below. He brought these to me to and narrated the story line to me.
Can you tell that he likes “war” and “army guys?” I put these two drawings in his K notebook, but I have since started a new notebook just for his drawings. I put them in plastic protective sheets and I will have them comb bound at the end of his 5K year.
Malachi finished up his second swimming lesson session. He is making so much improvement that I decided that he may take one more session before soccer starts. (We will be too busy once soccer starts.) I am hoping that he will be able to swim across the pool by then.
He LOVES to swim!
That is all I can remember. I need to start a new post and write down what we do daily. I am hoping that if I keep track daily, that it will be easier to remember. *Ü*
Delightful Links:
The Preschool Corner {lots of great ideas that can extend to K as well!}
Homeschool Highlights: Weeks 29 & 30
What have we been up to the last couple of weeks?
Highlights:
Mali started Kindergarten. I will share what we have been up to soon.
We are almost done with the book of Genesis. Hard to believe that we have covered so much history in one book! I just posted our lessons on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and we have moved on to the life of Joseph.
Since we will soon be on the Exodus, I am reading Tirzah to the boys.
I pulled out our Sonlight 3+4 Language Arts for Nathan and Dylan. They are mostly doing the dictation/grammar exercises and not the readers (since we are not covering American History right now).
I have been reading Grammar Land to the boys and creating notebooking pages to go with each chapter. This has been a fun review and lesson time on the parts of speech. I will share more about this when we finish it. We are on chapter 8.
We finished up lesson 19 in All About Spelling Level 2 today and should finish the book by the end of this week.
I finished section 5 of the Madsen Method with my older boys. I will be revisiting portions of section one with Malachi while working on my review.
Jordan has been working on Unit One in Artistic Pursuits Jr. High Level Book One. As much as he loves to draw, I thought he would be excited to be doing this review. However, he is being challenged and only does this when I sit him down and do the lesson with him (even though they are written to the student).
We are reviewing an online adventure game called The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks. It is a pretty cool interactive virtual world. Right now, we are using the free trial version and I have a hard time pulling my boys away from this game! Check it out and then register for the free trial! If you happen to see Nathan on there (he is “dlhomeschool”) throw a water ballon at him and tell him I sent you! He will be reviewing the membership once it is activated.
Luke is reading book 4 of the Terrestria Chronicles, The Crown of Kuros, to the boys. I received books 4 and 5 for review and have already pre-read the first one. Luke has the greatest voices when he reads. I can’t help listening in (even though I have already read the book). I will start the 2nd book, while he is reading the first one to the boys.
Nathan and Dylan have two lessons left in their Apologia Zoology 3 book, and have almost finished Unit One in R.E.A.L Science Odyssey: Chemistry, by Pandia Press (review coming soon!).
Jordan is on Module 4 in his Apologia General Science book and after this module I will share a little of what he has been doing. I know now that we will have to stretch this book out to the next school year, so I will probably pick Nutrition 101 back up as a supplement when he gets to the human body. Which will be perfect because then it will count as a Health credit for high school.
We just received a few books in the Seasons of Faith series by CBH Ministries (formerly Children’s Bible Hour ) for review. We are listening to these as a family after our bible reading at night.
Nathan and Dylan have been using another software program called Math Galaxy (a program that I am reviewing). So far, they are enjoying the Whole Numbers Riddles. (They play it like a “Wheel of Fortune” game).
Chess:
The boys are full swing into their chess tournament at chess club. Dylan and one other homeschool boy are in the winner’s bracket in this double elimination tournament. Jordan and Nathan are in the losers bracket, but they are looking good. They both still have a chance at the final game as the winner of the loser’s bracket will play the winner of the winner’s bracket. Dylan is actually tied for first in the rankings so far and chess has been a source of excitement around our home lately.
Sports:
I mentioned what we have been up to in my Sports Edition post. I had to laugh later that I forgot to even mention a few things. Here is an update:
- Jordan is coaching his first ever team of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. He was a little nervous about calling all the parents for practice, so Luke and I helped him. But he is doing a great job about communicating with the parents now and is even emailing them practice times.
- We are mid-season in floor hockey and we finished our last week of swimming lessons for this session. Jordan has 2 weeks left of swim camp, and Nathan and Dylan passed level 4. (Nathan was so hoping he would, but Dylan was surprised.) They can move on to swim camp . . . another time. Mali and Elli are doing so well, that they will do one more 3 week session (hate to interrupt their momentum).
- Nathan and Jordan both passed their referee training and are certified refs! Nathan can only ref U10 girls which means girls 9 and under (which makes sense since he is only 11). Jordan can be an AR (assistant ref) for any game and as a CR (center ref) for U12 boys and girls (under the age of 12). As soon as they mail their certificate in, they will start refereeing games on Sundays.
Luke is hosting a volleyball camp during his break between floor hockey and soccer. As hard as it seems, things are actually slowing down for a couple weeks.
I have been updating my attendance records and we just finished our 153rd day of school. Which means we technically could be done with this school year the middle of April (6 more weeks). As much as I would love to be done, we have so much more I want to cover! I will have to carry our Ancient History study over to next year. I also plan to take two weeks off in April for the Spring Feasts. The boys are already finishing their independent work for this year and Nathan and Dylan have already started their math book for next school year. I have to laugh because Dylan got so mad at me today because I would only let him do one chapter! We are also moving from 6 days down to 5 days this month. (We have been doing school 6 days a week for 5 months). If we school 5 days a week, we will be done the end of April, so I may move to 4 days a week once soccer season starts. The weather will be nice and the kids will want to be outside more (and so will I).
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob {Israel}
In our last Biblical History lesson, we left off where Abraham journeys to Egypt. We ventured off into a unit study on Ancient Egypt and we now pick up where we left off with the life of Abraham and his descendants.
Readings:
- Genesis 17:1-36:43
- The Victor Journey Through the Bible: “Abraham and Lot,” “God’s Covenant with Abraham,” “Abraham Entertains Angels,” “The Destruction of Sodom,”
- The Holmann Bible Atlas: “The Patriarchal Journeys”
- Ancient Civilizations and the Bible: “The Children of Israel” (Unit 4 Intro)
- Grapevine’s Old Testament Overview
Highlights:
We have learned that Yahveh promised Abraham that he would give him:
- a great name
- a great nation
- a specific land
- and a promised seed.
Yahveh changed Abram’s name to Abraham, Abraham marries Sarah and YHVH promises them a son through whom the promise will continue. This son was Isaac.
(Notebooking pages from Grapevine’s OT Overview)
The covenant YHVH made with Abraham passed on to his son Issac. Issac marries Rebekah, and they have twin sons: Esau and Jacob. Jacob receives the firstborn blessing instead of Esau. The promise continues with Jacob, who was later renamed Israel.
I could share more in depth, but the most important thing to understand about this lesson is that this promise is forever!
YHVH told Abraham,
“And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered.” ~ Genesis 13:16
Many Christians reject their Hebrew roots and YHVH’s Torah, because they don’t recognize that they are Israelites. Are you a part of this nation set apart for God? If you believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you could be! Read my post on our spiritual heritage to learn more.
This week we also began a study on the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” from Homeschool in the Woods’ Olde World Style Maps collection. I used the notebooking page (below) as an introduction and we are listening to Diana Waring’s reading from True Tales (an audio reading from the Ancient Civilizations and the Bible curriculum). We will listen to each “wonder” when we get to the time period we are studying.
We are now moving on to the life of Joseph, which will take us through the time of Israel in Egypt and also right up to the Exodus, just in time for the Passover (which is anticipated to be March 31st). We will journey with the Israelites through their first week wanderings as we remember the Feast of Unleavened Bread during YHVH’s Spring Feasts Days and the fulfillment of this Feast by Messiah Yeshua. Earlier this year, I was thinking that we were moving far too slow in our history studies, but I see now that this is His perfect timing!
Also in this series:
- Introduction to Biblical History
- The First Week of History
- Watercoloring Through the Days of Creation
- Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and The Fall
- Cain and Abel, Seth to Noah, Corruption of Man
- Noah, the Ark and the Great Flood
- After the Flood, The Tower of Babel
- Abram’s Journey
Delightful Links:
Torah Explorers: (Torah Study for children)
Sketch Tuesday: Something Red
My boys participated in Sketch Tuesday, hosted by Barb at Harmony Art Mom. This weeks assignment was to sketch something red.
My kids love it when I display their work on my blog. If you are wondering How or Why to Display Your Child’s School Work, check out Jimmie’s post for inspiration!
Also this series:
