Kindergarten, Reading, Week 2

Monday through Thursday we read from our textbook. Here are some sample questions:

• Why is this called a parade?
• What does "pest" mean?
• What does "huff and puff" mean?
• Why do you think Paul fell?
• Read silently and find out why Paul fell.
• Why is the ground cold and bare?

For a couple of stories we talked about "Could this really happen?" I introduced the term 'realistic fiction'.

Friday we started reading the book Blaze and the Forest Fire by C. W. Anderson. K. read through page 6.

Kindergarten, Math, Week 2

Monday we played our Identifying Numbers Game.

• I have a chart, numbering 1 through 100 (in order)
• We count out 30 markers (you can use pennies, buttons, whatever)
• I say a number and K. puts a marker on that number
• We go until the 30 markers are used up

Tuesday we played our Hot/Cold Game.

• I got this game from Free Folder Games
• There are a stack of pictures and K. puts the "hot" things in a pocket that reads "HOT" and the "cold" things in a pocket that reads "COLD"
• You could also do this on your computer. Just put 20 or so pictures from clip art on a page, put the word "HOT" to one side and the word "COLD" to the other and let your child drag the pictures to the correct word.

Wednesday we played Shape Lotto.

Thursday we worked some more with Symmetry. I was at a loss of what to do, so I Googled "Symmetry Lessons for Kindergarten" and found KindergartenLessons.com.

• I took a large piece of black construction paper and taped a dowel rod down the middle.
• Using Tinker Toys and blocks I made a design on one side of the dowel rod.
• K. copied the design on the other side. Then we switched and she made a design for me to copy. We went back and forth this way a few times.
• Next, I took a small white piece of construction paper, folded it in half and we put some small globs of different colored paint at the fold. We folded the paper back up and smoothed it out to spread the paint around. Then we opened the paper back up and let it dry. We talked about both sides being the same.
• Last, we stood in front of the mirror and I held a long stick down the center of her body vertically and asked if it showed symmetry. Then I put the stick horizontally at her waist and asked if that middle line showed symmetry.

Friday we played the Identifying Numbers Game again, only I had her count out the markers and put them in groups of 10. I introduced the idea that 3 groups of 10 is 30 and we counted by 10s (10, 20, 30).

Kindergarten, History, Week 2

This week we:

• Read Genesis 6, 7, 8, 9, 11
• Looked at and discussed pages 6 and 7 in Ancient World

Kindergarten, Science, Week 2

This week we are learning about rocks. I am basing these lessons on the chapter in Science Experiences for the Early Childhood Years.

• Monday we looked through a book I had that had pictures of rocks -- well, that was the plan, actually we had to run an errand, so K. looked through it and put post-it tabs by the rocks she thought were pretty and then when we got home we looked at those and she told me why she liked them.
• Tuesday we went out to the front garden (where there is a pile of rocks -- thankfully my mother liked to collect interesting rocks) and I picked out about 10 that each looked different. Then K. used soapy water and a brush to wash the rocks while we talked about how they looked different when they were wet.
• Wednesday. If you get a bucketful of #67 gravel, like the books suggests, you can classify the rocks by shape, size, color, etc.
• Thursday we talked about some rocks being harder than others. We used a Phillips screwdriver to try to scratch the rocks. There we 2 rocks that we could scratch.
• Friday we talked about how rocks change. I put 2 rocks in a coffee can with the lid on and we shook the can and examined the pieces that broke off.

Kindergarten, Reading, Week 1

Monday through Thursday we read from our textbook. I read ahead in the text and wrote questions on post-it notes (one for each day) and stuck it on the first page of each story. Here are examples of some of the questions:

Before Reading:

• Look at the picture on page #, what is the family doing?
• Look at the picture on page #, what meal are they eating?

During Reading:

• What does, "Turn off the lights and colors die" mean?
• Where is Joy?
• What color is Joy's sleeping bag?
• On page # what is Toby doing?
• What kind of pal do you think Toby will find?
• Why should Toby get away from the bear and buck?
• What do you think Sal will do with the mitten?

Silent Reading:

• Read this page silently and tell me what Dad had.

We talked about words I didn't think she knew and got their meaning from the context.

Monday was a poem about colors having a story, so we each told a story about a color and we colored pictures.

Kindergarten, Writing, Week 1

We are continuing the practice of writing capital letters.

• This week was R and K.

For Small Muscle Developement:

• Tuesday we pasted shapes into their outlines
• Friday she played with playdoh

For Writing Development:

• Wednesday we had a Story Map (see Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye)

Kindergarten, Math, Week 1

Monday we worked on Ordinals (1st - 6th) and Shapes.

• I wrote the words (first, second, etc.) on pieces of paper and cut out 6 shapes (square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval, and pentagon).
• First we put the words in order.
• Then I had her put a shape in a specific place. "Put the square second" K. would put the square under the word "Second". We did that a couple times.
• Next, I took the words away and told her which shape to put first, second, etc.

Tuesday I introduced the concept of Symmetry.

• I cut out shapes and showed her that some are the same when you fold them in half. If both sides are the same, we say it has symmetry or is symmetical. If both sides are not the same, then it is not.
• We looked at a few shapes and had her decide if it was symmetrical or not.

Wednesday we worked on Shapes again.

• We played Shape Lotto (see Games for Math by Peggy Kaye).

Thursday we worked on Ordinals again.

• I took 6 cans out of the cupboard. Each had different contents (corn, beans, tomatoes, etc.).
• Because on Monday I discovered that K. really had a good grasp on this I didn't use the words, but just told her which can to put first, second, etc. We did this a couple times.
• Next I mixed up the cans and lined them up and asked her which was third, sixth, second, etc. Then I mixed the cans up and we did it again.
• Last, I stacked the cans and asked her which was second, fourth, first, etc.

Friday we worked on the concept of Same Shape.

• I made a matching game to play (it had 20 matches = 40 cards).
• Some of the shapes were similiar, for instance:
• Stars that had 4 points, 5 points, 6 points, and 8 points.
• Smiley faces - one had empty circles for eyes and one had darkened eyes
• Right triangle and an equalaterial triangle

Kindergarten, Science, Week 1

This week we were learning about the planets. K. already has a basic understanding of the planets from watching the Magic School Bus video about the planets.

• Monday we looked at a pamphlet I had about the planets. It gave a few details of each planet and I picked out one fact for each planet for us to remember.
• Pluto - the darkest planet (yes, I know Pluto is no longer classified as a planet, but in the video it is, so at this point I didn't want to confuse her)
• Neptune - high winds (up to 1,300 mph)
• Uranus - coldest temperatures
• Saturn - ring and many moons
• Jupiter - largest planet
• Mars - radiation
• Earth - where we live
• Venus - lots of clouds
• Mercury - smallest planet
• Tuesday and Wednesday we made a project to help us remember these facts. I glued 2 pieces of white construction paper together to make 1 long piece.
• We glued on a black button to represent Pluto
• We glued a circle of gold glitter to represent Neptune
• I cut a jacket shape out of felt a glued a button on it to represent Uranus
• We used a button with a paper clip around it to represent Saturn
• I cut a large circle out of felt to represent Jupiter
• We found a red button for Mars
• We colored a wood heart green and blue for Earth
• We glued a piece of cotton ball over a button for Venus
• We found a small button for Mercury
• We glued 10 yellow pompoms on for the sun
• Thursday we talked about the planets spinning and orbiting. We pretended to be planets and spun and orbited the coffee table in the living room. Then with the project we had made, I used string to show the "orbits" of Pluto, Earth, and Mercury so K. could see that some orbits are longer than others.
• Friday we cut out some pictures of planets and glued them to the #1 (see this post).

Kindergarten, History, Week 1

This week we:

• Read Genesis chapters 1 through 4.
• Looked at and discussed pages 4 and 5 of Ancient World.

Kindergarten, Bible, Week 1

This week in Bible we:

• Memorized Psalm 139:1 - each day we read it through 5 times (with K. keeping track with tally marks), then on Friday we each quoted it without looking and then I wrote each word on a piece of paper and K. put them in order.
• On Wednesday I introduced Catechism #1 "Who made you? God made me." and we looked up the verses Genesis 1:27 and Job 33:4.
• From My Picture Story Bible we read stories #1, 2, and 3.
• We read a missionary story from Missionary Adventures by Carol Allison.
• We read The Princess and The Kiss by Jenny Bishop.
• We read Who Holds the Brush in Short and Sweet Volume 2 by Katherine Loop and talked about how God has a plan for our lives and even if we don't understand what He is doing, or we think we have messed up our lives, God is still painting a beautiful picture.