Homeschool Update #1 (First Quarter)

It's the end of our first quarter.  I figured every 45 days of school will be a quarter if we do 180 days.  So here we are!!  I am going to share what we do in a typical day and also some of the curriculum we are using that I am loving.  This has been a much better year because I feel so much more responsible teaching Kindergarten as we will be moving on to 1st grade next year.  I was so ready for this year!!  (Lots of pictures in this post!)

So we really don't have a schedule, but more of a routine.  I usually do the learning time with Shrade since I have a lot to cover with him and I want to keep up with our curriculum, but most days I do a Circle Time which includes both children.  We have been SO busy, that I hardly have time to blog, but I do post every so often on my Facebook page, so keep updated with us there!

Night Before School Starts Banana Split!

First Day of School:

My 3 year old girl

My 5 year old boy

I gave them "school" packs with rulers, $1 calculators and a pencil case with pencils, crayons, glue stick and scissors in a cute little 31 bag.  Some of this was for fun, but it's easy to move from one place to another and keep them busy.

 

First Day of Homeschool Co-op:

Breakfast- During breakfast I usually read from a Preschool Bible, a chapter book like Boxcar Children and sometimes our History book- History for Little Pilgrims.  We also review our Bible verses for Awana.

Circle Time- I do this almost every morning.  I bought some carpet squares at the dollar store and they sit on these during circle time.  I set up the table with all my stuff that I will be using like books to read, notebooks, CD's, flashcards, song books and anything else.  We usually start with prayer and then the kids want to snuggle.  So we all lay on the floor giggling, tickling, hugging and wiggling.  Then I usually do a combination of quiet activities like reading a book, working with letters and sounds or shared writing and reading lessons and active things like exercises, singing and running!  This is something I do with BOTH kids at the same time.  I try to do things that interest both ages, but playful enough so it doesn't feel like learning.  This lasts from a half hour to an hour on some days.

Shrade writes "heart" words (words he knows by heart) from Nellie Edge

Jessna's learning her letters and sounds

We are part of a postcard exchange where we are sending and receiving postcards from each state.

Learning Time/Box Time
This is the main portion of our day as far as moving forward academically.  While I work with one child at the table, the other child gets to have box time. 

Place Value Village with our Math curriculum

Playing memory with educational cubes (BOB book activity)

Jessna's learning her numbers by counting with cheerios

BOX Time:
Box Time is a bunch of baskets that I put together that the kids play with while I work with the other one.
See my post on BOX TIME.

Lunch- During lunch we often listen to Karen & Kids or I will read some more from our chapter book.  And after lunch we try to work in our Daily Learning Notebooks (calendar, weather, skill page). 

Other- Beyond what we do on a normal day, we try to add other things like Bible crafts, cooking, and other fun activities.

Tower of Babel Bible Craft

We read Mouse Paint and made colors and painted paper plates.

Jessna is helping to mash bananas

Shrade is stirring the mixture for baked oatmeal

 

 

Field Trips:

 

Recently we took a trip out to Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake

Picking apples on our homeschool field trip

Riding tractors at the Fair

Taking advantage of the free day at the Zoo

Bowling with the family

Recent trip to Yosemite this summer- Half Dome

A fun train ride with friends- Tacoma Rail 100 years old

 

 

Check out my list of our curriculum choices for this year.  I am very pleased with what I chose to use to teach my children this year.  Highly recommend! 

 

 

If you are looking for a fun math curriculum check out Math Lessons for a Living Education from Queen Homeschool Supplies.  This is a story about twins who visit their grandparents and learn all sorts of interesting things on the farm that can be related to math concepts. At the end of each week they write a letter to their parents which is a review of what your child learned in the lesson for the week.  The first day begins with a story and there are 5 days of short, but effective math skill lessons.  My son absolutely LOVES math time.  He begs to do it first everyday!  So far there are 5 books in the series.  Be sure to check out the samples and scope and sequence of each book.  I am glad were able to start at the beginning.

 

Math Lessons for a Living Education  

 

 

 

Next month I'll share a little bit about my report card and school memory book system.
Thanks for visiting Milk N' Honey Learn and Grow!