L is for Leaf

So the M for Moon unit was a success. We did some at our old house, some at my parents’ house while we were homeless and ended when we got to our new house. Needless to say it was pretty spread out! But, my big girl did great.

 

We’ve kinda sorta gotten back into the swing of things with the leaf unit. Here’s our fun from this week.

Leaf man from leaves collected during our leaf walk (I felt all Charlotte Mason-y when we did that). Underneath you can see the ‘badges’ we’ve been making for each unit along with the biblical concept we learned that relates.

From today (a mish mash of days 4 and 5, as we did not have a few of the supplies needed for day 4…good job planning, Mom):

 

We dried leaves last week and then did a few fun things with some of them. We taped some down and measured them with a ruler (which one is longest, shortest, which are the same, etc). Here she is lining them up and counting them (durh, but still important).

 

“What are we doing next, Mommy?!?!”

 

“Show me the third leaf” We did first, last, second, fourth, seventh, etc. She did great! I try to remember when MFW covers stuff she already knows that that’s a GOOD thing and to just let her review and be successful.

One of the beautiful things about homeschooling is that when this happens, we review briefly and then move on. In a kindergarten classroom, I’m certain she’d be sitting through this stuff waiting for some of the other kids to figure it out for the first time. Which is fine for them, but honestly a huge waste of time for her brain! At the same time, if there is something she struggles with (perhaps even something I thought she had down pat, but I was wrong), we can stop and take our time with it without worrying about a schedule or anyone else’s abilities/boredom. Crazy, right? :)

 

Looking forward to Day 5 tomorrow and starting the A is for Apple unit on Monday!!

Fun finds

Went to the Dollar Tree to pick up a few things for freezer cooking and got distracted by the ‘back to school’ section.

I have been there in the past and found several things, so I was trying to resist getting too much. However, I could not resist these two posters!

We are learning to read (completely through Hannah’s initiative, not mine) much more quickly than MFW curriculum suggests. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but I figure I can’t mess up too terribly, as I do, in fact, know how to read :) I’ve just started teaching her that when certain letters are beside one another, they make a new sound. So far we’ve done “sh”, “oo” , and “ee”, mostly because those are in certain words we’ve encountered that she wants to read.

The other poster will be super fun when we get to our B is for Butterfly unit. I have been trying to collect little things here and there for upcoming units, to supplement, just for fun. Somehow the butterfly unit has gotten a lot of attention. I guess because they are so fun :)

 

So, anyway, I was excited to find those for $1 apiece.

I was even more excited when I got in the car and flipped them over and realized that they were also nifty on the back.

Ending sounds and the perfect addition to our F is for Frog unit (about life cycles) that immediately follows the butterfly one. AWESOME.

Unit 1 – S is for Sun

We did this back in June, before we moved, before we went on vacation, before my feet swelled to the size of balloons. Can you tell we took a break (or 7) for a while?

Here is the day where a math worksheet is included. We incorporate math into everyday life and have for a while, but one day per unit it is specifically covered in the curriculum.

Covering 1 cent and circles, as well as the number 1 (which is kind of ‘duh’, but still a good review, I suppose).

We made the circles by tracing around the glass, which she thought was super nifty.

 

Looking out the window to see if we can see the sun. Nope – too many clouds today!

 

Back to scissor practice and ‘first sound’ worksheet. Since this was the first unit, only “S” was covered.

 

Art to end the unit. Draw a sun making a circle and then make a pattern with orange and yellow sunrays. She declared that the best way to do it would be to hold both markers and switch hands back and forth instead of setting one down in between rays. Love the way she is thinking through things, even if they are little things.