Word Fishing game

I haven't come up with a more clever title for this game (which is found in the book I'm using to teach Asher how to read), but I can definitely say it was a hit.

We're currently learning about the "ng" digraph, which can be a little tricky, so the book suggested making this simple fishing game to help. It was definitely worth the 15 minutes it took me to make it the night before.

All you need are notecards, paperclips, a magnet, string for fishing line, and some kind of fishing pole (a pencil, a drum stick, a ruler, whatever you have on hand!). I wrote the endings "ang", "ing", "ong", and "ung" on separate notecards. Then I cut 9 other notecards in half and wrote various letters and letter combinations on these. I clipped a paper clip onto each half-sized card.

For the first round I set the "ang" card down in front of Asher. All the appropriate letter cards (such as "s", "cl", "b", etc.) were spread out, face down across the carpet. These were the fish in the sea. Asher had to catch one of these fish (his makeshift fishing pole had a small magnet tied onto the bottom of the string), then place the letter card next to the digraph card and read the word to me. If he got it right, he kept the card. If not, the card got thrown back into the sea.

He LOVED this game. And I could see him getting more comfortable reading that strange "ng", which he struggled with when I first introduced it.

Fishing for a letter

Caught one!

Sounding it out

Pleased with himself for getting it right!

This was such a great idea, and it's totally adaptable to a number of lessons in different subjects - not just reading. I'm sure I'll use it again.

The rhythm, the rhythm, the rhythm of my day*

We have a daily routine and stick to it. Asher thrives on routine and planning, and he absolutely must know exactly what's to come. In fact, he often asks me, "What's the plan?"

I have a schedule made up, printed, and posted on our kindergarten wall. It goes like this:

Morning Exercises: On our first day of school, I told Asher it was time to begin with our morning exercises. He, of course, automatically thought this meant physical exercises. So, we begin with a few jumping jacks and stretches, then make our way into the hallway where I keep all the kindergarten display boards. Asher says the Pledge of Allegiance. Then we investigate the weather outside and move the dial on our weather board so that it's pointing to the weather we're having that day.

He then marks the weather graph. (So far the partly cloudy days are "winning".)

We look at our monthly calendar and Asher tells me the date, the day of the week, and then places the correct days on the daily board (This includes: "Today is... Tomorrow will be... Yesterday was...")

We go over the week and days around us to talk about various occasions that are coming up.

He also recites his memory verse for the week.

Bible: We read and discuss a Bible story.

Phonics & Reading: We go through a phonics book of word blends that Asher must sound out. Then we either learn a new concept or review what we've already gone over. Asher also completes 2 or 3 worksheet pages in the Letters and Sounds book from Abeka. Once he's reading well, he'll be required to read age-appropriate books on his own. Included as a language arts skill, we learn skills such as memorizing our address and phone number, using the telephone, knowing the names of his parents, etc. We're using a book called Language and Thinking for Young Children as a guide. We also use a vocabulary book in the Vocabulary Power series each day. It stands up on its own, and we keep it on our kitchen table. I picked this up on a whim, knowing nothing about it, and now it's one of Asher's favorite parts of our school day. He loves it! We often go through several pages a day simply because he asks to.

Writing: We're using Handwriting Without Tears for penmanship practice. I also have incorporated journal writing to help Asher hone his writing skills as well as get his creative juices flowing. He writes on the lines I provide and then illustrates it in an allotted space.

-----SNACK BREAK-----

Math: We're using Horizons this year.

Science: We either do a lesson from a science book or Usborne Children's Encyclopedia, and on Fridays complete a science experiment.

History:  We read a historical story or from Usborne Children's Encyclopedia. I include whatever activity I come up with. We also fill in our timeline when covering important dates and people.

-----BREAK------

Read-Alouds: Asher listens as I read aloud a chapter from a chapter book (right now we're reading through the first book in The Boxcar Children series), a poem from a poetry book, and a Mother Goose nursery rhyme.

I also assign homework every day, which for now is simply that Asher must read aloud from material I have pre-selected to an adult other than me. Usually he reads to his daddy. 

*The title of this post was quoted from The Rhythm of My Day by Angela R. Yates

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!

Fall school books are here!

Today FedEx delivered two big, heavy boxes full of our kindergarten school books! It was so much fun opening the boxes and going through all the books. The binder (see bottom left corner of the photo) is really huge, and I'm going to have to go through it in order to organize a do-able schedule for us. We'll do proper subjects this year, including math, science, and language arts. There's also handwriting and phonics/reading. The focus is on world cultures, so we also have a giant map you can write on. There's so much, and I'm really excited with how thorough it appears to be.

We should wrap-up preschool in June, and I'm hoping to start kindergarten when we return from our Virginia trip in August.

Looking forward to Kindergarten

Tonight I ordered our school books and supplies for kindergarten, and it was very exciting. We've decided to go with the Sonlight curriculum once again. We are more than half way through their preschool curriculum, and I love it. I realize that the farther we go, the more I may wish to customize what we do, but for now I am quite happy with everything on their list. I suppose in a way we are already customizing on our own; I've added in a few extra things not on the Sonlight list just yet, like reading, for instance. With Sonlight, phonics does not really begin until kindergarten. But - and this is what I love about homeschool - Asher was ready and willing so we just went ahead and started it now. We did not have to wait for his classmates to be ready. We did not have to go at the majority of the class's pace. We are able to go at exactly Asher's pace, and it's wonderful. I am so thankful.

We have also really been enjoying all the extra activities that are uniquely offered to Bermuda homeschoolers. There is a monthly (and free!) class held at the Bermuda Aquarium Museum & Zoo, a monthly art and art-appreciation class held at the Bermuda National Gallery (also free, though a donation of $3 is requested), and then of course there is kindermusik (which isn't specifically for homeschoolers, but we probably wouldn't be able to do if Asher were in regular school as the classes are during the early afternoon). Asher is also doing his second term of tennis, which is really enjoys.

Also very exciting is that we are going to start learning German in kindergarten! I have just ordered the homeschool version of Rosetta Stone. I took 5 years of German in high school and university, so I'm really looking forward to refreshing my memory and being able to speak it with Asher once he gets his feet wet. And maybe if we make Matt paranoid enough that we're talking about him behind his back, he'll learn as well!

All in all, we are really enjoying this. I can't say whether or not we'll do it forever, but I think we'll continue as long as we're both happy. (And we are!)


Here's Asher checking out a shark at the Bermuda Aquarium.