Kindergarten - Day 23

 Prayer time, pledges, and verse of the week (Proverbs 20:11)

Vikings: We talked about sailing today. Then, this afternoon, I just happened to pop in the Veggietales CD "Lyle, the Kindly Viking". It was total coincidence and it actually reinforced some stuff we talked about!

Poetry: Mother Goose rhyme: "The House that Jack Built".

Math: Today was the first time that a really new concept was introduced to Brianna, and I didn't even realize it was something she didn't know. It is a calendar concept, finding dates on a calendar and matching them with the day of the week. She could do that easily because she can read the days of the week. But when the book asked for the "second Friday" and "first Monday" she got totally confused. I realized she had never heard those phrases before. Duh! Sometimes as an adult it's hard to remember what a 5-year old knows and uses in her reality! I thought she would catch on really quickly, but I was wrong. Apparently I was explaining it in a way that totally was not working for her. She was getting frustrated and I was drawing a blank on how else to explain the concept to her. So I told her we were going to take a short break. I grabbed a drink and started praying about how to teach this concept that comes so easily to me as an adult. Well, it came to me - Chutes and Ladders! She has just picked up this game again recently and loves it. For some reason, when she started following the calendar dates like Chutes and Ladders, it just clicked for her. Once she got it on this sheet which only shows two weeks, I pulled out the real calendar and "quizzed" her. Sure enough, she was getting it! Whew! What a great teaching moment :-)

I know some people may think this is "busy work", but I like worksheets like this because it's kind of a brain break for her. I have tons of workbooks I've purchased over the years, so I just pull pages every so often for her to do.

History: We talked about the 10 Commandments today. Brianna named three right away which impressed me since we've never sat down and talked about them before.

 Language Arts: We did an activity called "How Do You Do That?" The point of the activity was for her to pick a simple activity she does all the time and explain it to someone who has never done it. She was to be as detailed and accurate as possible.

She chose to write about getting ready for lunch. First I had her list the things she thought she would need to do before eating. She listed: Fork, Spoon, Napkin, Chair, Water, Pray before lunch, and Wash hands. Then I had her describe in her own words how to do this. I then went back and made a couple of additions that I told her I thought would be helpful. I really didn't need to add much! I think she did great. I added words in red.

"Get your napkin from the napkin drawer. Bring it to the table. Set it down. Go get a fork and spoon from the silverware drawer. Go back to the table and set it down. Put the fork and spoon on the napkin. Go get your water from the counter. Fill it up with water from the sink. Bring it to the table. Set it down above your napkin. Get your chair. Bring it to the table. Set it down. Go wash your hands in Mommy and Daddy's bathroom. Go back to the table. Sit down. Pray. Eat.

 Community Helpers: Today we discussed police officers because tomorrow we have a field trip to the police station and fire department.

 Some of our favorite library books from the week:

 Other library books we've read but didn't enjoy as much:

 Magic School Bus Kindergarten Series: Today we learned about the 5 senses! Sarah and Holly put things into bags and the kids had to use their senses (except sight) to figure out the things in the bags. It was very fun!