Now that we've been officially doing Kinder for a month now, I thought I'd check back in with an update on how everything is going!
Math:
We are doing RightStart Level A, and have done about a week's worth of lessons (before that we were doing skip counting and working on telling time). Cate is really enjoying the short lessons, and the hands on nature of them is really working for her. No problems grasping the material, though Mommy does need to read through it all and gather the supplies the night before, otherwise I'm reading as go, which makes for a stilted lesson:)
Reading:
Her reading abilities seem to be picking up rapidly. Yesterday she read all of Babar's Fair to me, with only a little help on the names. Since the Babar books were originally published in French, I hope we can someday read them in the original!
As for read-alouds, we are loving Charlotte's Web, and I have to slow us down on speeding through the chapters or the kids would read it all in one day. They LOVE it. I have planned more E.B. White after this, so we'll do Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan.
Virtues:
Working through The Children's Book of Virtues, really enjoying the stories. They are engagingly told, and present lovely ideas in a non-preachy way.
Religion:
We are reading several things here, spread throughout the week. I'd say our favorites have been Bible stories, actually. I came across this old Bible from 1965 at our local library sale, and we are loving it. It's very comprehensive, and though it's not specifically Catholic, I have not seen anything to make it inappropriate for the children. It's not dumbed down language at all.
We have been reading Leading the Littles Ones to Mary, and while I like parts of it, I do have work through some of the dialogue which the author intended for a school setting.
I'd have to say MY least favorite has been the Catholic Treasure Box books. I know. I might be the only one not to love them. My kids enjoy them! And I do like the story of little Therese. But the Wupsy stories...I am not a fan. I am finding them a bit...irreverent, and also a bit racist. Like I said, there are nice aspects to them, but I don't think they are adding anything I can't provide in another form. I may drop them.
Cate has fallen in love with The Picture book of Saints, and carries it all over. She's beginning to learn about St. Catherine and we added prayers to her to our evening routine. As a side note, anyone know much about St. Owen? Not much is known as far as I can tell, but I'd love to put together a 3-year old appropriate version of his life for my little guy.
Nature Study:
Our lovely weekly meetings with our friends, and plant and wildlife spotting in our yard!
Handwriting:
A bit of daily practice, going well.
Phonics:
A bit of a daily lesson, easy and going well.
French:
Words for common objects and body parts.
Extra:
Ballet once a week, art instruction once a week at a local art school
And that's it! Kinder is great fun so far, and I'm so happy my little girl has the chance to relax, read, and learn here at home:)
Math:
We are doing RightStart Level A, and have done about a week's worth of lessons (before that we were doing skip counting and working on telling time). Cate is really enjoying the short lessons, and the hands on nature of them is really working for her. No problems grasping the material, though Mommy does need to read through it all and gather the supplies the night before, otherwise I'm reading as go, which makes for a stilted lesson:)
Reading:
Her reading abilities seem to be picking up rapidly. Yesterday she read all of Babar's Fair to me, with only a little help on the names. Since the Babar books were originally published in French, I hope we can someday read them in the original!
As for read-alouds, we are loving Charlotte's Web, and I have to slow us down on speeding through the chapters or the kids would read it all in one day. They LOVE it. I have planned more E.B. White after this, so we'll do Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan.
Virtues:
Working through The Children's Book of Virtues, really enjoying the stories. They are engagingly told, and present lovely ideas in a non-preachy way.
Religion:
We are reading several things here, spread throughout the week. I'd say our favorites have been Bible stories, actually. I came across this old Bible from 1965 at our local library sale, and we are loving it. It's very comprehensive, and though it's not specifically Catholic, I have not seen anything to make it inappropriate for the children. It's not dumbed down language at all.
We have been reading Leading the Littles Ones to Mary, and while I like parts of it, I do have work through some of the dialogue which the author intended for a school setting.
I'd have to say MY least favorite has been the Catholic Treasure Box books. I know. I might be the only one not to love them. My kids enjoy them! And I do like the story of little Therese. But the Wupsy stories...I am not a fan. I am finding them a bit...irreverent, and also a bit racist. Like I said, there are nice aspects to them, but I don't think they are adding anything I can't provide in another form. I may drop them.
Cate has fallen in love with The Picture book of Saints, and carries it all over. She's beginning to learn about St. Catherine and we added prayers to her to our evening routine. As a side note, anyone know much about St. Owen? Not much is known as far as I can tell, but I'd love to put together a 3-year old appropriate version of his life for my little guy.
Nature Study:
Our lovely weekly meetings with our friends, and plant and wildlife spotting in our yard!
Handwriting:
A bit of daily practice, going well.
Phonics:
A bit of a daily lesson, easy and going well.
French:
Words for common objects and body parts.
Extra:
Ballet once a week, art instruction once a week at a local art school
And that's it! Kinder is great fun so far, and I'm so happy my little girl has the chance to relax, read, and learn here at home:)
Kindergarten sounds delightful in your home so far! We did the Book of Virtues and The Book of Heroes last year, and now Gianna and Vincent are reading The Book of America on their own. Now I'm going to add The Trumpet of the Swan to their shelf too--thanks for the reminder! And I wish I knew more about Saint Owen for you! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are off to a great start. Thanks for participating in the CM Carnival...I hope you will join in again!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this lovely snapshot of your kindergarten program with us! I just love that one of your goals is to eventually "someday read them in the original".
ReplyDeleteFrom joy to joy,
Nancy