Back to School

Well, we're 2 days into Kindergarten and so far it's going OK.

Monday was good. Roo woke up singing and dancing, all excited for Kindergarten!! It took a little longer than planned for him to get dressed and do his morning chores, so we started a little later than I wanted to, but new routines take time. He did really good starting out, but about 20 minutes into the video he got bored, so we had to make room for several breaks throughout the day and that helped. Aside from that, he did very well participating and answering and such.

He did a special project today, which we'll repeat at the end of the year.


Today, wasn't as good. He was testing the boundaries today for sure. He didn't stand when instructed, wouldn't sit still in his seat, wouldn't sing or recite when instructed, etc. I did notice eventually, that he was only doing this when he knew I was watching him. If I wasn't paying attention to him (as far as he could tell ;)), he began participating, so I am hoping if I keep busy during the videos, that will help. The material seems to be boring him, though. Hopefully it will pick up soon!

I'll admit, I was discouraged today. I know it's normal to test out the boundaries with any new routine or activity, but it was disheartening to have to be on him all day today. It's only the SECOND day! I wasn't expecting this until later.

(Oh, but this evening he ran over to his desk and said "I can't wait for Kindergarten tomorrow! I love Kindergarten!" and then again at bedtime during prayer he thanked God for his Kindergarten and Mrs. Bere. :) (So cute). So I don't know if he loves it or hates it or what. Crazy kid. lol.

I hope tomorrow goes great!!

Summer is Almost Over!

There's only one more week of summer, and we're trying to enjoy every minute of it! This past week has been busy, but lots of fun. Gabriel and Cohen had a sleepover at YahYah and Poppy's, and had a great time playing together (mostly lol). Friday was the annual HIB Summer BBQ.  Roo helped me make a cake to take, and we had a blast! Good fellowship with good peoples!

I'm excited for school to start!

It's getting closer!

I got the videos in the other day and I finally had some time to sit down and watch the first two days' lessons, and I am so excited! It was a lot more interactive than I thought it would be and the teacher, Mrs. Bere (who is just absolutely precious, btw) has them up and down from their seats quite a bit which will be very helpful for my busy-body-boy :) I'm also considering having him sit on an exercise ball instead of a chair so he can keep himself in motion while he watches, but I'm not sure about that yet.

I'm also quite at ease about planning now as, I realized after seeing the videos, I will not have much planning to do at all. There are activities built into the lessons and she walks through them, so I will basically just be on standby in case he needs help. I'm sure this is probably a good thing, but I'm a little bummed that I won't be very involved.. on the other hand, that does give me time to do the household chores while He's doing his lessons so that we can spend time doing fun things together afterwards!

So, since I have practically zero planning to do curriculum-wise, I've decided to put all of my energy into our dining room classroom. It's such a small space and we have almost no storage in this little apartment, so it's super hard to get organized and keep organized! Hopefully, we'll do better this year at keeping it tidy. I'm going to work on that in these next few days!

I may post some pics when it's all done!
-Jess

Ready to Start Planning!

I got all of the textbooks in last week and I was super stoked to actually start planning out of first week. However, much to my dismay, the video manual (teacher guide) doesn't elaborate much on what will be covered in the video, and I haven't received the DVDs yet, so I can't really plan anything at all :( Boo!

When I get the DVDs (hopefully tomorrow) I will probably sit and watch the first few lessons so I'll know whats gonna be going on. It's bugging me that I don't know! I may not like this whole "not being in charge" thing after all.. lol!

Once I actually do have a plan, I'll post it on here!

-Jess

Yay for Kindergarten!

Four posts? Poor blog... my intentions were good, I promise. I am determined to stick with it this year. For real.

So anyway.... this fall we're starting Kindergarten! I'm very excited! I'm also very sad that my bitty boy is almost SIX years old and starting Kindergarten :(   I mean, a couple months ago he was a toddler! My oh my, how the time does fly.. but, He's starting Kindergarten, and there's nothing I can do about it (believe me, I already looked into it, lol), so I might as well embrace it! I am actually super excited though :)

We decided to use A Beka K5 video curriculum this year. We chose it for several reasons, one of which being that like a million people recommended it, but the real reasons are:

1. The entire program is founded on biblical principles.
2. Their textbooks, curricula, and materials are all based on reliable studies and extensive research and are validated by the success of hundreds of thousands of students over decades of time.
3. Textbooks, teacher sources, and assessments are all written by master teachers according to the current scholastic requirements.
4. They provide an EXCELLENT phonics system.
5. They offer an accredited program, which means that I do not grade his work. At the end of every 6 week period, the work is sent by mail to A Beka Academy, where it is graded by experts, and report cards are sent home accordingly. (They also keep all of His records on file there, so I don't have to (yea right), but it is nice to have a backup!
6. The video program provides separation between Mom and Teacher. This way, I am able to provide as much help as He needs, and to work alongside Him whenever I feel it to be beneficial, but still just get to be Mommy.
7. Aside from lesson-related activities, there is little to no planning needed on my part, which goes back to me getting to be His mommy first, and His educator second. :)

I'm really excited to get started with this curriculum! I can't wait to get everything and start looking at it and planning our first few days! It'll be here before we know it!

-Jess

New Centers!

Avery's new supplies arrived today! I love getting packages in the mail! It's like Christmas every time. And he'll be super excited when he gets home Monday morning and sees new centers!

They're perfect for him since he's a tactile. Plus they're actually nice to look at... and that matters because, for now, our 'school room' is our dining room.. lol! 

Next week is letter H! 

Week 1: Pp

The first week actually went a lot better than expected. Having the curriculum was so helpful. Cohen had a hard time Tuesday (who can blame the guy after such a long break?) but, surprisingly, by Wednesday he was pretty much back into the swing of things, with only occasional resistance lol. He does seem to have regressed a bit, though.. He went back to writing his name in all caps at first, and is suddenly having a hard time with patterns which he never had trouble with before. I don't know what that's all about, but we're going to work on them some more next week.

Rustiness aside, the kid is brilliant. We've been working on phonics for all of 4 days and he sounded out the word pepper all on his own Friday!! And of course, as he reads it I think to myself "Oh my gah. My child is a genius! Only 5 and sounding out words! He's still a baby! A-ca-believe-it!"

I'm know, I know.. this is probably totally normal for his age, and yes, I know 5 is not technically "a baby" to most people.. I won't spoil my his moment with rational thinking. Ain't nobody got time for that. ;)

Anyway...

Week 1: Pp

Phonics, Printing, Patterns, Pretend play, Pouring with pitchers, Paper Maché and 'Pink Peppermint Play-dough'

(p.s. I'm loving this letter theme thing! So up my alley) ;)

 

Note to self: I need to take more pictures of him during the day. Especially during experiments..