Transition Week - Day 2

Today in Math, Babe "learned" how to read a calendar. Seeing as how she's been reading a calendar since she was three years old, Math lasted ten minutes today.

For Reading Comprehension/Writing, we looked through the book "What Will the Weather Be Like Today?" again and I had her write down all of the weather adjectives. She did this wonderfully. And with that, Reading Comp. was complete.

I ended the morning by introducing Babe to Groundhog Day. I read the book "Gretchen Groundhog, It's Your Day!" by Abby Levine. This was an awesome book to introduce the idea of Groundhog Day to them! It was about Gretchen being scared of her first Groundhog Day, how she didn't want to disappoint anyone in front of all the reporters and cameras. Really a very cute book. After I read it, I had Babe tell me what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the book. She did. Then I had them all go sit at the table for our Groundhog craft! But before I prepared them all, I had Babe write down today's date and her prediction of what the groundhog will see or not see this year.

"I do not think the groundhog will see his shato."

Shato. So cute. I told her we will check on Thursday whether he sees his shadow or not!

Back to the craft. I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it was perfect for the little ones. I prepared for each of them a sheet of black paper with a groundhog outline taped to it. Then they painted the black paper around their groundhog white. Then we peeled the groundhog off and voila! The groundhog's shadow is left! They all loved this. I knew they would!

When all the paint was cleaned up, we went outside and I showed them a new game called "Shadow Tag", where instead of tagging each other, they had to step on each other's shadows. THAT WAS FUN. I of course joined in and got my butt whooped by a three-year-old. Then we all got on our Razor scooters and played Shadow Tag that way.

Way more fun than dangerous. I promise.

With everyone exhausted from organized play, it was time to relax and eat lunch, then everyone got a one hour power nap before dance. Our Groundhog Day discussion continues Thursday!

Transition Week - Day 1

I'm not really sure what to call this week, since regarding Babe's Calvert, it's not January or February yet, so I'm going to call it a transition week. We finished reviewing Community Helpers today, and the rest of the week will cover Groundhog Day and an intro to Valentine's Day.

Today in Math, Babe reviewed sequence of events. She did the worksheet where she had to put three pictures in order. Though the photos Calvert chose were kind of...non-Kindergarten-like (the sequence of how a strawberry grows), she did pretty well with it. When she finished her worksheet, I explained how important sequence of events were by asking her to tell me the three steps to feeding her fish.

"Knock on the glass. Open the fish tank. Then sprinkle the food."

I asked her what would happen if we did the last step first.

"Well, then the food would go on the floor and the fish wouldn't eat."

haha. Math complete.

After Math, I set up a clothespin spelling activity that my sister let me borrow from her classroom (that she made herself). It features a few community helpers that we covered this month. I started by taking all the lettered clothespins and putting them in a basket in the middle of the floor. Then I lined up all the community helper pictures on the couch for Babe to be able to see every one (Z watched).

Then Babe started! I told her to pick one clothespin at a time and start tagging each letter (like so).

Soon after Bubs wanted to help and she was so good at it that I let her!

That was a great activity. A big hit. So I might make some of my own for the end of every month.

After that activity, we had just enough time to write one thank-you letter to the dentist. I forgot to take a picture of it, but I asked Babe to start off by thanking them for something they did.

"Thank you for the stuff in the bag."

Then I asked her to write what her favorite part of the dentist was.

"I really liked when the blue light turned the white glue hard."

I then told her to end the letter by thanking them for one more thing. And I can't think of it off the top of my head.

I had Babe address the envelope and I sealed it. Then we headed outside for play. Then it was lunch time.

After lunch, I had Babe write her last thank-you letter. This one to the baker. Again, I followed the same template as the dentist's letter. This letter turned out super cute because Babe remembered a lot and included it in her letter. Then made it personal! Very cool.

So again, Babe addressed the envelope and sealed it.

We ended the day with adding a super simple book to her reading log. I kind of think it necessary for her to read super simple every now and then to keep her reading confidence high.

And with that, Monday was complete!

Five. Four. Four.

I declared today the last day of "January", as next week we will start with an all new month/theme. So out go the talk of Community Helpers, and in come the discussions on Presidents and Valentine's Day.

But let's get back to today.

Math took for.ev.er, but I threw a lot at Babe and she was very frustrated at first, but with a little patience and understanding, she ended up winning at Math today. It was very hard for her to understand the concept of counting backwards from any other number but 10. When I asked her to count backwards from 30, she said: "30, 21, 22, 23, 24, etc." I thought that was an interesting way of looking at it, but I gave her all the time she needed to figure it out, and after ten minutes of practice, she was able to count backwards from any number! Amazing. It was almost like she had to see it in her mind.

With that perfected, we moved on to sets of tens in big numbers (higher than 30). She didn't quite get this at first, either, but I got out my trusty number chart I made last year and showed her the trick to knowing how many sets of ten are in each number. I told her that the number tells you how many sets of ten are in it! So I showed her on the number chart (0-99) that the first number is how many sets of 10 is in that number. So I tried it.

With that little trick, she was getting the "number of tens" in seconds with each number I threw at her. It was really neat seeing how confident she all of a sudden became with each correct answer.

So with two major things perfect, I gave her a trick question and asked her how many tens were in 100.

"1. Because 1 is the first number."

Hmm. Awesome. My plan may have backfired. So I gave her a bowl of Kix cereal and had her count out 100, but I asked her to sort it in rows of 10.

Before I was even able to ask her, she yelled out.

"Ten sets of ten!"

Ha! She figured it out for herself. Another amazing moment. And with that, she completed her worksheets and we completed Chapter 9!

Next was Reading Comprehension, where Babe reviewed the book on weather. We focused on windy and sunny because of her Science lesson later in the day.

Outside play.

Lunch.

Then for Science, I read her "The Sun and the Wind", an Aesop Fable. Without knowing the terms "cause and effect", Babe pretty much understands cause and effect. She knew that the sun makes things hot and that the wind blows things around. Just for fun, we did a wind painting activity where I dabbed watercolor onto a sheet of paper and I had her blow through a straw with a "light breeze" and then a "fast wind."

She thought that was pretty fun.

We ended the day with our final discussion/activity on Martin Luther King, Jr. I asked her again what Martin Luther King, Jr. was famous for saying.

"I have a dream!"

haha. Cute. I told her I wanted her to think of three "dreams" that she has, just like MLK, but first I explained to her that the dreams he had were different than the dreams people have while they sleep. I told her that when people dream of something, it means they really really hope it comes true, kind of like a wish.

Well that sparked her right away.

"Kind of like I wish I could fly?"

I didn't know what to do with that. ha! But without belittling her dream, I told her that was a good one. Then she listed two more.

Next, I gave her a blank sheet of paper and watercolors and had her illustrate one of her dreams.

Apparently one of her "everythings" to be is a farmer. Can we just talk about the cute little farm hat? How adorable is that?!

We officially ended the day with adding a book to her reading log, "Like a Windy Day" by Frank Asch. Cute book. It amazes me how good of a reader Babe has become. I don't even know how else to put it. But by me encouraging her to read about a book a day, her fluency in reading is just incredible. I love it.

And with that, we ended "January"! No school tomorrow so I'll be back to blogging either Sunday with new February material for Bubs and Z, or Monday night with our regularly scheduled program!

Have a great weekend!

Five. Four. Three.

Before we start, look at Bubs being all pro in spelling her name out with her letter cards! Without her name card, too!

Today was a very weird day time-wise, so Math was a little rushed, but we still got everything in. Babe already knows how to count by 10s all the way up to 100, so a lot of it was review. Tomorrow we will work on the spelling of each ten.

In Reading Comp., we reviewed yesterday's book and Babe did her worksheet.

After lunch, I got out Babe's season posters and had her put them in order. She did.

I then had her write two adjectives for each season. She did.

Next, we continued our discussion on Martin Luther King, Jr. I had her remind me who he was, what he did in 1963, and what his famous saying was. She answered everything correctly. I asked her what some of his dreams were.

"He had a dream that we would all be friends, no matter what color our skin was."

Perfect.

Then we had craft time where I had Babe and Bubs trace their hands on two different colored paper. I cut out Bubs' hands, then had her glue them together as if they were holding hands. Babe did the same. Now they had a model of one of MLK's dreams!

Babe then did her Checkpoints, and we were done with Calvert for the day. There were still two more activities I had planned though, so I will go into those.

Today, Babe received her letter from the blind boy she is now a pen pal with. Last week, through the wonders of YouTube, Babe was able to watch the boy figure out what she sent him (a fork, remember?). It was a really cool experience. So my sister had her blind student write a letter back to Babe. It was obviously written in Braille. At the end of the letter, the boy typed the Braille alphabet, along with a sentence that my sister left un-translated. It was up to Babe to translated the sentence. And she did! Tomorrow we will write him back if time allows!

When she was all done translating, I got out a homemade game I wanted to play during our dentist discussion last week but lost the time. Both girls loved this game. It is a counting game, and Bubs did very well at it! The point of the game was to fill their "mouth" with "teeth" first.

Then of course after a few rounds, we enjoyed the treat of the "teeth."

And with that, the day was really done! First half of the week behind us!

Five. Four. Two.

***There are no photos in this post. Weird! I know! I didn't even take the camera out today.***

In Math today, Babe worked on estimation and did a pretty good job. She did her worksheets great and I did a little exercise with her using the connecting cubes and she did alright! I then had her spell numbers 21-25 and she did those perfectly too! This week we finally finish going over numbers and hopefully she will be able to correctly spell every number from 0-100.

In Reading Comprehension, Babe added "What Will the Weather Be Like Today?" by Paul Rogers to her reading log. It was fun pointing out the different community helpers throughout the pages (totally coincidental) and having Babe look for all the different animals in the different environments. Very cute.

Morning work went quickly, though we spent about an hour on Math! But Math and Reading Comp. were all she had, so we spent the rest of the morning outside where the kids made dirt pies, climbed trees, and rode scooters. It was a beautiful day today!

After lunch, I sat Babe on the couch and asked her if she remembered who Martin Luther King, Jr. was. It was the beginning of today's discussion on him. She remembered exactly what I told her. I then grabbed the iPad, brought YouTube up, and showed her his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. It was kind of an eerie moment. I mean, clearly we are in the age of technology, but really, sitting on the couch with my five-year-old niece as we watch a speech from 1963 on a hand-held screen. It weirded me out. Anyway, Babe recognized him at once.

The speech is 17 minutes long, so I skipped to the last five minutes, where King repeats "I have a dream." I asked Babe to listen carefully and tell me what he keeps repeating.

She did a very good impression. When she said "I have a dream" I told her it was very important for her to remember that. That Martin Luther King is very well-known because of those words.

I asked her again to listen carefully and to tell me what one of his dreams is.

"He dreams that all the peach boys and all the peach girls will hold hands and play and be friends with the brown boys and the brown girls."

Perfect! So cute!

It was imperative for her to know this for the remaining discussions (and crafts!) of the week.

And with that, it was time to do a little more prep-work for Babe's birthday party, then head to dance. And Tuesday is complete!

Five. Four. One.

January is winding down. No more community helpers, though we are reviewing what we can. This week will focus on more in-depth discussions on Martin Luther King, Jr. The rest of the week is pretty light to get Babe's mind ready for new material in February.

But today in Math, Babe spelled "twenty" correctly on her first try.

In Reading Comprehension, Babe and I took turns reading "Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months". I started with January, then Babe read February, I read March, and so on. She answered the questions with ease. Today's lesson focused on the difference between real and fantasy. Babe knows that fish can't really cook and bird's don't use their nests as soup bowls...haha. So yes, today's Reading Comp. lesson was a breeze.

Next, I showed Babe a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. and asked her if she remembered who he was. She said George Washington, but when I asked her what this man did, she replied as if she answered MLK.

"In 1963 he told people that we should all love each other and it doesn't matter what color we are."

I told her she was exactly right! But that his name was not George Washington, but Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Oh I knew that!"

haha

So with that, Babe was re-introduced to Martin Luther King, Jr. and she was primed for more discussion starting tomorrow.

All three kids participated in the MLK color-by-number sheet I printed.

After all of our MLK's were colored in, we went outside for playtime, but I had Babe do her quick writing lesson while out. I had her write three sentences. The first one was going to be about the sky, using one adjective. The second sentence was about the grass using two adjectives, and the last sentence was about the weather using three adjectives.

"The sky is blue. The grass is brown and green. The weather is windy, bright, and hot."

Typical Florida.

But with that, school was done for the day. After lunch, she did her Checkpoint and played a Math game, then we prepared some things for her 6th birthday party. And then it was off to dance!

Monday - CHECK!

Five. Three. Five.

Today was kind of a review day in Math, so after Babe finished her worksheets, we all participated in M&M Math! I gave each kid a bowl of mini-M&Ms and had them sort out the colors.

When all the M&Ms were sorted, I had Bubs count them while Babe wrote down the notes.

With those notes, Babe started on her graph and I had a color activity for Bubs and Z. They both completed it perfectly!!!

After Math, we discussed our very last community helper of the month - dentists! While all the kids do visit the dentist regularly, it was still a big deal to them to look at picture books and learn about what dentists do, so I went along with it. We read the book and then did our craft. Doing what dentists do best - cleaning teeth!

I first had each of them grab the toothbrush out of their sensory tubs.

Then I gave them each a tooth cut out and had them "brush" the tooth with white paint to clean it up! They all really liked this one.

After craft, it was time for clean-up, outside play, then lunch.

After lunch, Babe completed her online lesson in typing letters U-Z. She completed the alphabet! Woohoo!

She was begging me all day to tell her where our field trip after nap was going to be but I wouldn't tell her. I did tell that that I would prepare a snack for the car ride and the snack would be a hint. So while she watched PBS Kids after lessons, I prepared the snack. Think she figured out where our field trip was to?

That's right! We were headed to a dentist office. Z's mom actually works at one, so we went at the end of the day because we had the run of the place...again! They got to look at molds, mouth X-Rays, ride on the chair, feel a dried filling, look at where all the tools are cleaned, and use the water sprayer! They had a great time.

This week concludes our discussions on community helpers! We finish January with Martin Luther King Jr!

Enjoy the photos!