Thursday, December 06, 2012

there is a lot to learn!


When I started our Pre-K year last year, I was a bit intimidated by the idea of homeschooling.  Having to be the one to teach these girls everything!  It seemed a bit overwhelming.  And, we got through it.  The girls showed much improvement throughout the year.  And, we all made it out on the other side alive! :)

And, so begins our Kindergarten year.  Talk about overwhelming.  I'm not sure if this is going to be the same feeling I get year after year.  But, I am a bit nervous about this year.  Now, looking back, having the girls memorize the alphabet and number, shapes, colors, and whatever else we covered seems easy.

I have our set curriculum that I bought through Timberdoodle, again, this year.  I cut out some of their suggestions to keep it basic (and cut the cost...you can spend LOTS of money).  In other areas, I am looking online and in books we already have for ideas.  Art, for example, is something that I have a few books with all sorts of ideas.  And, just take a look at Pinterest.  Tons of ideas there.

I can handle the art projects.  The part I am nervous about is teaching them how to read!  WHAT!?  I have to do that?!  I hope it goes better than I am expecting.


Click on picture to go to link.
And, there are just so many things you just don't think about.  Or, at least, I don't think about them.  What about odd and even numbers, all the sight words, vowels, days of the week, etc.  The list just goes on and on.  Oh, and telling time!  Doing this whole homeschooling thing, I have definitely learned to appreciate teachers more.  Not that I didn't appreciate them in the first place.  And I only have two students!  A whole classroom full of them!  No thanks!

So, we have added some fun posters on the wall to emphasize what we are learning.  The book I showed above, The Reading Lesson, we just finished one lesson (each "lesson" is between 19 and 21 pages).  So far, it seem OK.  And, I am just going to work on repetition and review a lot.  Also, we have lots of phonics books that came with the curriculum.




I bought all these flash cards of sight words.  I'm just introducing a new one each day and reviewing the previous ones everyday.  We enjoy making up sentences with the sight words.  We started a sight word caterpillar on the wall.  We can only add words that we know.  That is a huge incentive for the girls.  They love adding to it.  Hopefully it will help them retain the words they learn.  (fingers crossed)  Something else I have been doing is when I read a book to them, I have the girls read the words we have learned.  Just another way for them to remember the words.  Some extra reading is going to be done this year.


I have been working on the numbers/math a lot.  As I mentioned before, I kind of slacked on the numbers.  There are a few that they get confused about.  But, now, I am introducing the spelling of the numbers.  Here, we are doing an easy math lesson.  We broke out the dominos and added up the two sides.  Emily picked up on it so quickly.  Bella, it took her a few times to get into the groove.


I do really like all the books that came with the package I bought.  It seems just the right amount of work.  And, the books are just well thought out.  I guess that is the point, right? :)

I did hesitate when buying all the books/workbooks.  There was a Beginning Geography workbook that I wasn't really sure about.  But, I went ahead and bought one for each of the girls.  I am really glad I did.  We have only done about 5 pages so far, but it introduces such basic information that, once again, I wouldn't have thought about teaching.  Remember, I didn't go to college to teach! :)  Here, the girls are doing a page in their Beginning Geography book.


The girls have always been OK with doing school, for the most part.  They have their days.  But, that is to be expected.  This year, I am going to be better about doing fun things, like art projects, with them.  A few times a week we finish our school day with something fun.  Last week we did the stamps and paper lanterns.  The girls loved the lanterns.


This week, the only project we have done so far is making paper plate snowmen.  That went over really well.  Right now they are hanging on the wall here in our classroom.  I think what we will do tomorrow is this snowman project.  We will keep it festive for the holidays for the next few weeks.



Now to get all my worksheets printed out for tonight's school session.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I have been homeschooling for 3 years now. I am nervous every year. I even feel like they are not learning everything they need to at moments throughout the year. I will then see that they know something that someone in 3 grades higher than them know. That is the awesome feeling of "yes, I can do this and yes! My kids are learning!!"

Penny said...

Looks so fun! And as usual... I will say how inspiring I find these posts! :)