Week One: Done!

It feels amazing to have completed our first week of kindergarten. Already I'm getting the hang of planning lessons, ordering our subjects in a way that maximizes Asher's energy and attention span, and timing certain weekly activities, like science experiments, for appropriate days. I do realize that our weekly flow will change throughout the year, especially once our extracurriculars begin in mid-September, but for the most part I can see how things are going to work. And it feels good. Really good.

First day of kindergarten

I decided to spend our first two weeks reviewing all the phonics lessons we learned in preschool. We took a lengthy summer break, and I admit I wasn't all that dedicated to maintaining the reading skills we had learned when we were "doing school". Still, I was pleased at how quickly Asher remembered what he had previously learned, and how much his reading improved just within the week. I plan on reviewing for our second week, just to be absolutely sure he has a solid grip on it. In Week 3 I will go back to The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and take up where we left off when we finished preschool. I have supplemented this book (which is really just a guide for me) with Abeka phonics workbooks. Asher seems to enjoy the bright and colorful worksheets, and I do believe they're helping to cement the teaching I give him.

I have decided to scrap the Bible text that came with this Sonlight curriculum. The Egermeier's Bible Story Book just isn't cutting it. The Creation and Adam & Eve stories were okay, but beyond that the stories are just too long and not written in a way that's especially captivating for a 4/5 year old. I don't even enjoy them. I'm not totally discounting the book, though; I plan to break into it a few years down the road when Asher's older. So, I'm instead using The Big Picture Story Bible, which is right on target for Asher's listening level and includes bright illustrations. By reading a section daily, however, we'll blow through it quickly. I haven't decided what I'll use after we finish it. I may just use the take-home papers from Asher's Sunday School class, which include stories and activities to expand on what he learned in his class. We'll continue learning the memory verses Sonlight provided in addition to the weekly memory verse he receives in Sunday school.

Otherwise, I'm keeping to the curriculum. I have switched things around to different days than are given in Sonlight's weekly schedule, but we still do everything within the week. For example, I have decided to change the day marked in the Sonlight schedule for science experiments and instead do them on Fridays, sort of as a fun end-of-the-week activity Asher can look forward to.

This week has only solidified my commitment to homeschooling Asher for the time being. We had a fantastic time together. Asher seems to have transitioned well into his regarding me as the teacher, and I haven't run into any issues with him as far as doing his work, sitting still, or following directions. He's a child of routine and structure, and he has enjoyed our structured mornings. We are able to finish all our school work - including 7 subjects and snack breaks - in about 3 hours. That gives us all afternoon to play.

A perk of homeschool: Asher completes his phonics worksheet... in his ninja costume.

One thing I've enjoyed so far is making our weekly lesson plans. I had originally anticipated feeling overwhelmed with this task, but so far in planning our first two weeks this has not been the case. I've actually enjoyed putting it all together. I only plan for one week in advance, only because I never know for sure what is going to come up, like if one of us gets sick or if we have an unexpected day that requires us to be out for much of the day. This also allows us to be more flexible in our planning.

I've also enjoyed coming up with supplementary activities for what we're learning. I'm always looking for ways to make our reading come to life by doing a simple art project or simply finding an appropriate picture online that I can print out for Asher to color. Asher seems to appreciate these activities, and it really breaks up the time he spends sitting at the table.

So far, so good!