The Very Last First Time
What a happy winter week of pre-school. I am still finding myself in our new location and haven't settled into a routine of shopping, nor have I found a home library, but we are managing to move forward in our modified Five in a Row curriculum.
Our weekend snowstorm two weekends ago set the stage nicely for the upcoming week of school. We made a snow fort and pretended to be eskimos and polar bears.
The Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews is a coming of age story about an (Inuit) Eskimo girl named Eva. She ventures under the frozen surface of the sea while the tide is out to hunt for Mussel shells. The story captured our imaginations and held our interest fueling discussion all week.
Building on the story of Eva we read about polar bears, arctic wolves and tide pools. Making crafts to go along, puffy paint polar bears and a tide pool in a shoe box. We read a book I is for Inksuk: an Arctic Celebration by Mary Wallace. I thought it was the whole alphabet, but the book highlighted only a few letters in it's explanation of life in the arctic. We learned about simple machines, focusing on levers. The kids really enjoyed launching cheerios with their popsicle stick levers. We also did some experimenting with the impact of friction and an inclined plane. That one was something they wanted to do after looking at the books The Way Things Work, David Macaulay and Explore Simple Machines by Anita Yasuda. These books complemented each other nicely. I highly recommend Explore Simple Machines, because all of the ideas are very hands on and appropriate for younger children. We located Canada on the map and Ungava Bay. Unfortunately, the children didn't really grasp the idea that Ungava Bay, Canada meant that Eva lived in Canada. We colored the Canadian flag and they really liked hearing about Maple leaves changing color in the fall and Sugar Maple trees that give us syrup. Small steps, I guess.
I began to incorporate ideas from this On-line preschool curriculum that my sister recommended. During circle time we discuss the letter of the week, the color and shape. The recommended songs and Bible study are perfect to start our day together. Adding this has filled in a few gaps we had and brings Anastasia into the school-day. It's taking us through the alphabet again to start this year. I am hoping Anastasia will know all of her letters by mid-summer. The curriculum also has great ideas for gross and fine motor skill development, which is something I never specifically worked on with Tristan, but I am noticing the need to work with Ana. Tristan loves the idea that part of the school day is on his level and part on Ana's. He is very cool about letting her answer the "easy" questions and he enjoys doing the activities that are on her level masterfully. He is also beginning to read pretty well using Alpha Phonics by Samuel Blumenfield, though he is not quite making steps toward reading other books. If I ask him to sound a word out in a book like Cat in the Hat, for example, he balks a little bit.
The new year excites and challenges me in so many ways. Teaching the children at home is one of my more consuming interests for this new year.
Our weekend snowstorm two weekends ago set the stage nicely for the upcoming week of school. We made a snow fort and pretended to be eskimos and polar bears.
The Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews is a coming of age story about an (Inuit) Eskimo girl named Eva. She ventures under the frozen surface of the sea while the tide is out to hunt for Mussel shells. The story captured our imaginations and held our interest fueling discussion all week.
Building on the story of Eva we read about polar bears, arctic wolves and tide pools. Making crafts to go along, puffy paint polar bears and a tide pool in a shoe box. We read a book I is for Inksuk: an Arctic Celebration by Mary Wallace. I thought it was the whole alphabet, but the book highlighted only a few letters in it's explanation of life in the arctic. We learned about simple machines, focusing on levers. The kids really enjoyed launching cheerios with their popsicle stick levers. We also did some experimenting with the impact of friction and an inclined plane. That one was something they wanted to do after looking at the books The Way Things Work, David Macaulay and Explore Simple Machines by Anita Yasuda. These books complemented each other nicely. I highly recommend Explore Simple Machines, because all of the ideas are very hands on and appropriate for younger children. We located Canada on the map and Ungava Bay. Unfortunately, the children didn't really grasp the idea that Ungava Bay, Canada meant that Eva lived in Canada. We colored the Canadian flag and they really liked hearing about Maple leaves changing color in the fall and Sugar Maple trees that give us syrup. Small steps, I guess.
I began to incorporate ideas from this On-line preschool curriculum that my sister recommended. During circle time we discuss the letter of the week, the color and shape. The recommended songs and Bible study are perfect to start our day together. Adding this has filled in a few gaps we had and brings Anastasia into the school-day. It's taking us through the alphabet again to start this year. I am hoping Anastasia will know all of her letters by mid-summer. The curriculum also has great ideas for gross and fine motor skill development, which is something I never specifically worked on with Tristan, but I am noticing the need to work with Ana. Tristan loves the idea that part of the school day is on his level and part on Ana's. He is very cool about letting her answer the "easy" questions and he enjoys doing the activities that are on her level masterfully. He is also beginning to read pretty well using Alpha Phonics by Samuel Blumenfield, though he is not quite making steps toward reading other books. If I ask him to sound a word out in a book like Cat in the Hat, for example, he balks a little bit.
The new year excites and challenges me in so many ways. Teaching the children at home is one of my more consuming interests for this new year.
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