The Plan, Stan

Last week was a TOTAL success! I think it had a lot to do with planning -but not over scheduling. I really made sure I had things lined up in case we completed XYZ but I avoided writing down exactly how many lessons to go through. Turner only has one "proper" curriculum, anyway (Horizons Math). 

This week we'll be working on much of the same, but I'll be trying a little harder to learn to fit in house work and hang-out time with John without doing "school stuff" on the side.

In no particular order since we're working on just actually doing things daily I didn't want to force an order to it all:

Turner


Co-op on Tuesday

Horizons Math: Lessons 7-9 but Turner will probably make it through lesson 12 (this is all basic number identification, understanding directions, ect)

Other Math: greater than, less than from Pintrest; other manipulative games

Phonics: (Rocket Phonics) on-going (very short) oral lessons for phonemic awareness. I'll say something like: "What sound do you hear at the beginning of this word (cat, bat, rat, etc)." He'll respond with the sound. Later I'll ask "What sound do you here at the end of this word (rug)." At first, he'd say "-ug" but now he's listening better for the separate sounds. 

Other Phonics: On-going review of letter sounds and practicing to say them correctly (i.e. "ks" for x using his tongue in the front of his mouth instead of on the side; practicing "th" by gently biting his tongue because other wise he says "th" as "f."

Reading Skills: This week we'll begin two sight words a week. I started over the summer but we were just too busy and I hadn't read all I wanted to about beginning reading skills. Turner will do a color by number sight words (mom, dad) from 1+1+1=1 and, after he's colored them accordingly, he gets to decorate them with little candies (sprinkles, ect). He loves doing this because, inevitably, some candy "falls" and he gets to eat it! 

Science: talking about tools scientists use (last week we talked briefly about what a scientist does and what they might look like) and introducing them to their magnifying glasses to use for our projects and nature study. 

Turner also participates in some of the Letter of the Week activities, though not many since they're too easy (and he's not a crafter). He especially likes the sensory boxes that are used -this week it's bug themed and I'm sure it will be a hit! 

Eli

Letter of the Week: Bb 

I'll post everything he's doing on Tuesday! 

This Week's Plan

This week we're covering our bases with letters. Turner knows all of the letters by sight but not by sound so I made sand paper letters and we're working on what the letter "says." The idea is Montessori based and the boys love them. I backed all the vowels on blue felt and the consonants on pink.

I'm not sure if it's the sand paper letters or the new technique I learned for introducing things that Turner takes to so well to. The information seems to "stick" more. 

This week we're also working on "close to home." Turner has learned our address and could recited it back to me after just hearing it once. We've studied a map of our area and, later we'll "zoom out" a bit to learn, eventually, about Chesapeake, Virginia, the US, etc. 

The 5 senses are also on our list. We didn't get to it before nap time but we'll focus on touch first. 

For math readiness we'll be focusing on putting items in order from smallest to largest and learning some new vocabulary words. Like most kids, he understands counting and can do simple math but I want him to really understand the value of the numbers. I will be working on the 'po man's version of the Montessori Pink Tower when my cardboard nesting blocks arrive.

In other areas, we're using just plain old fashioned crafts to talk abut winter. We're refining our week, too. So far we've been doing:

Monday: baking day
Tuesday: art/craft
Wednesday: library story time
Thursday:
Friday: