Kindergarten Week 1
We official started homeschooling this week. It went rather well considering that this was also Adam’s first week back to work full time. It had its challenges as I was trying to find the best time of day and conditions in which to have a great learning experience with Therese. I found that for now, the best time is when Gianna is napping. Fulton enjoys doing some of the lessons with us and for what he’s not quite ready for, I have a bunch of Montessori type work for him (and even Gianna) to do. He quite enjoys playing some of the phonics games, but Therese is just whizzing past the first lessons. She read her first 3 books this week from the BOB Books. These are great little first readers. We’re also trying to get over the hurdle of Therese saying, “I can’t do it.” That has been a whole other challenge that we are working on.
I’m not using a curriculum program such as Seton or Kolbe Academy offers. Instead I chose a variety of resources that I like and some of our friends are using.
Here are some of things we’re using:
- Religion: Who Am I? , The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions, and Kindergarten Catechism for Young Catholics
- Mathematics: Singapore Math and FAMILY Math
- Phonics: Phonics Pathways
- Writing: Zaner-Bloser
- Science: The Giant Encyclopedia of Science Activities for Children 3-6
- Literature: Five in a Row (These lessons cover literature, social studies, mathematics, science, and art)
Therese is also continuing on with book 2 of the Bastian’s Invitation to Music.
Our homeschooling group, Totus Tuus, met this week for an Olympics fun day. Mrs. Haunsperger read some books with a Chinese theme. The kids paraded around the yard with their flags.
Finally, they did some “balance beaming”…
and some “long jumping”…
and some other “sports” they make their debut in our backyard. Thanks to Mrs. Higgins and Mrs. Haunsperger for the great games!
Awesome! I prayed that things would go smoothly for you your first week teaching Therese. She’s a smart little thing like mom and dad, so I’m sure she’ll be whizzing through most of her school work. And about the “i can’t do it’s”… Gabriel has that problem all the time. Some things I try with him are 1) pulling back and trying again later, 2) doing things I KNOW he knows how to do well and then gradually taking him into unchartered waters of harder work, 3) Use of little snack/treats as rewards for good effort, and 4) Being super-encouraging and praising him when he gets it right. A combination of all these things have helped us a lot. I’m sure you will strike just the right balance and that things will come easier to you both very soon. So proud of you guys! Oh — LOVED Olympic day! You guys are so creative!!