Week in Review (October 8th)

Last week was a good one at the academy.  We have continued to work on Colossians 3:23 and apply it to our work. 

K has been doing a great deal of writing work.  We used flour this week to write in (I discuss this more here).  We also worked on drawing.  Once we started our workbook, I realized that he doesn't really draw much, so I created some homemade stencils using old file folders, shapes from our Melissa and Doug shape sorter, and a box cutter/pair of scissors.  K and I drew some people and a house and wrote captions for them.  He has enjoyed doing this on his own for the past week. 

While we were drawing at the table, M was drew on some paper as he sat in his high chair.  He loves drawing.

K and G also did a fun sunscreen activity with construction paper.  After watching an episode of Sid the Science Kid where they talk about the sun and why we need to wear sunscreen, we put sunscreen on our construction paper and set it out in the sun for a while to see if how the sunscreen "protected" the paper and briefly talked about how sunscreen does this for our skin (just like the characters did in the episode).  It was quick and easy, and we got a little science in (yay!).

K, G, and M enjoyed  some time outside at our book picnic (I talk more about this here).

We spent some time at the park, some time with friends, and enjoyed the library too.  All in all, a great week with the chickadees!

Flour Writing

K has been working on his letter writing, and as is the case with most children, has a few letters in particular that cause him trouble.  I wanted to find more creative, fun ways for him to work on his writing, and I remembered my friend Debbie telling me about how she let her girls write in the leftover flour from baking.  So K has been working on his e's and w's in flour using unsharpened pencils and the handle of some measuring spoons as his writing utensils.  Of course, this is something he enjoys. 

Working on my lowercase e

I did it!

I thought this would be something fun for G to do to, and M even got involved. Inevitably, it went from letter/number writing to drawing to playing in the flour.  They all had a ball, and flour clean up isn't so bad. 

 

 

 

Building Patience and K's writing

Yesterday, a friend told me about a book which references kids raising us as parents, addressing how our children give us the opportunity to grow as we spend time with them.  I have seen this lately during my time with K (and with each of the children) as he has been working. 

About a month ago,when we were working on the deck, I felt like K was dillydallying while he wrote his letters from his board.  He wanted to erase the chalk off the deck when the letters did not look exactly as he wished and hewas just moving slowly, and I admit that I was getting frustrated. After some time, I remembered that he was simply doing his best and I relaxed, giving him the space, time and encouragment he needed.  In the end, he did a great job.  He wrote the entire alphabet, upper and lower case, and stuck with it until he finished.




Starting out

Some of his final work

A similar scenario occurred this week.  K begin using a regular pencil as he began a new workbook. It was a new experience for him and frustrating for him sometimes (and for me too), and he wanted to give up (i.e., stop working in the workbook). Of course, with the transition and adjustment, his writing fell off some. I had to keep reminding myself to give him the time and encouragement he needed (even though, at times, I was not). There was more erasing and rewriting than usual, but he has gotten so much better just over the course of three or four days of practicing. He also recognizes and takes joy in the fact that his writing has improved. Additionally, I was amazed at how neat his handwriting was when he wrote some numbers on his magnetic board after working with the pencil all week.  When compared with other things, writing takes a great deal of focus and concentration for K.  I am very proud of him!

Some of K's work from the end of the week

These are only two situations of many involving learning with the children.  As a parent and my children's teacher, I feel I am working on my patience, more often than not.  But it is a blessing.  I am grateful (usually after the fact) that I have the opportunity to learn and grow along with them. 

Week in Review (July 30th)

Last week was a good week.  We continued working on our scripture from the past couple of weeks about not being afraid.  We were a bit more relaxed with our learning time this week, but learning took place nonetheless.  We also enjoyed a surprise visit from Grammy, too.  How fun is that!

Thanks to my parents, we have gotten a bit of items from a former day care building they are transforming into their new church building.  The former owners left everything behind.  One of the items we used this week are these wonderful write on, wipe off letter boards.  I got these mostly for K at this point, but got two because I knew G would want to work on them as well.  K has enjoyed working on the letter board, and his writing is progressing.  We are continuing to work using the lines as our guide; that's definitely a work in progress =). 

K's letter work =)

The back of the board

We also received this wonderful letter mat.  We have used it to work on letter sounds and beginning word sounds for G, and beginning sounds, vowel sounds in cvc words, and ending sounds with K.  The kids really like this because they get to move around going from letter to letter.  M also enjoys this mat, he is learning his letter sounds (with a great deal of reinforcement from his teacheres K and G), and he will go to the letters, try to pull them out and make the appropriate sound for the letter.

We were glad to spend some time outside and had some fun with sidewalk chalk (new chalk also provided by my parents).  G worked on some of her sight words while we were out there, and K worked on his writing. M likes to draw with the chalk as well, and now, we have a lot less eating of the chalk, something for which I am grateful.

K's photography

Sight words

We enjoyed some fun at the park and reading as well.  All in all, a wonderful week!