Homeschool Kindergarten Weekly Recap

Lately we've been taking a gentler approach to homeschool Kindergarten.  We've been spending less time on worksheets and 'formal schooling', and more on reading together, doing artwork, nature studies, and LEGOs/ games.  The main reason is that I've had less time for homeschool planning as I'm wrapping up a software engineering project that I've been working on for the past 2 years (I'll announce it on my blog when it's officially done).  The secondary reason is that although the kids have been enjoying our school routine, I felt that they both needed a break, and I've been inspired by Charlotte Mason and Thomas Jefferson Education philosophies to 'inspire' more than 'require'.  Here's what we've been up to the past 2 weeks:

Homeschool Kindergarten Week in Review

This week in Homeschool Kindergarten was very relaxed and productive.  I was consistent in getting the kids together for school-time in the morning and it seemed that all the kids were a lot more focused and less argumentative than the previous week.  Here's a glimpse of how our week went..

Homeschool Kindergarten Lesson Plans - Week 20

We're starting to get back into a decent daily routine with our homeschool.  Baby brother (28 months) has been waking up early lately, so instead of trying to rush to get the girl's school done before he gets up in the morning, I've been doing circle time with all three kids every morning.  It's a lot of fun and I'm realizing that just because I see the twins (4.5 years old) as academically advanced, it doesn't mean that I should forget that they enjoy singing, dancing, and listening to me read aloud picture books too.  Then in the afternoon (while baby brother naps) we focus on a single 'subject':  Sunday is Latin, Monday is Social Studies, Tuesday is Art, Wednesday is Science, Thursday is Music, Friday is History/Geography, and Saturday is 'Virtues'.  It sounds like a lot but we totally play it by ear and 'school time' usually isn't more than 1-2 hours max these days.  This past week we learned about China, families, Benjamin Franklin, and more.  Here's a taste of how our week went...

Tu B'Shevat in Homeschool Kindergarten

Tu B'Shevat is a Jewish festival celebrating the "New Year for Trees".  I happened to find these books in our home library (I think we got them for free from the PJ Library when the twins were babies), which inspired me to do some tree-themed activities in our Homeschool Kindergarten today in celebration of this holiday.  Here's how our day went..

Homeschool Kindergarten Lesson Plans - Weeks 11-14

Are we really almost half way through the school year?  If you follow my blog, you'll see some of the unit studies we've been doing in Kindergarten, but I want to share some of the "other stuff" that I've been working on with the girls that don't fall into our weekly themes...

Homeschool Kindergarten Lesson Plans - Week 10

We're getting into a good rhythm with our homeschooling time and the girls have been enjoying a wide variety of learning activities.  I've been starting to integrate some themed units 2-3 days a week (like our mini unit on Johnny Appleseed and more learning units I'll post about next week), so this really helps to break up the monotony and makes the kids more receptive to the 'regular' school activities that we do the rest of the week.  Here's the latest from this week...

Homeschool Kindergarten Lesson Plans - Week 9 {and Halloween!}

 

This was a fun and laid back Homeschool Kindergarten / Pre-K week for us.  I tried to make most of our activities centered around the Halloween theme to give the girls something special to get excited about.  Here's what we did:

Homeschool Kindergarten Lesson Plans - Week 6

After going to two fall festivals last weekend (and another one this weekend), we've all been enjoying some autumn-themed learning activities in our homeschool (like the autumn leaf scratch-art in the picture above).  It's amazing how some simple seasonal crafts can elevate the girls' level of enthusiasm about school.  Here's what we did this week.

Learning About Desert Habitats - Pre-K/ Kindergarten Unit

The Geography workbook we're going through (Evan-Moor Beginning Geometry Grades K-2) includes overviews of the various types of animal habitats, and I wanted to extend this into a series of mini-units.  After watching The Magic School House Dries Up, the girls and I explored desert habitats further with some fun hands on activities and crafts..

Homeschool Kindergarten Lesson Plans - Week 5

L and E are doing great with homeschool Pre-K/ Kindergarten this year.  We engage in learning activities 7 days a week, so some days end up being more formal instruction (activity trays that I set up for them to complete) while other days are filled with reading together and playing.  Here's a recap of what we did this week:

Homeschool Kindergarten Math Lesson Plans - Month 1

The twins and I have been having a great time "playing math" during our first month of Homeschool Pre-K / Kindergarten.  The system that is currently working for us for learning math is to cover a variety of topics every week and then revisit them later in new and interesting ways.  This seems to work better than trying to drill a certain math concept until the kids get it - I'd rather demonstrate math in context using hands-on activities and games.  I know that they will get an understanding of each topic when they are ready.  Here are some the math skills we've been working on and the activities we do for learning them..

Homeschool Preschool Week 7

We were on vacation last week, so this week involved recovering from the vacation (laundry, cleaning, getting back on a routine).  We ended up doing a lot of learning activities, but most of them were ad-hoc things I came up with or games that we hadn't played with in a while.  Here are some of the things we did..

Rain-Themed Preschool Activities

We live in a state where it seems like we hardly get rain (it's either really sunny or snowing), so I took advantage of a rainy day to put together an impromptu rain theme for our Homeschool Preschool.  I'm surprised that I was able to come up with so many creative activities without any preparation, and the kids had a lot of fun.  Here are some of the things we did: