ivey league kindergarten: week in review

Reading:  We reviewed with yet another new Snakes & Ladders board, then Caleb successfully read the next story in his Hooked on Phonics book.

He also read another Hooked on Phonics book!

 He also learned words ending in -sk and -ft.

Math:  We continued in his Horizons kindergarten workbook; they threw more word problems at him but Caleb was able to deduce if he was supposed to add or subtract!  He also worked on putting groups of numbers in the correct order.  On Friday, we did a fun sorting and graphing activity with candy hearts.  There are lots of printable activities like this available online for free, but I went with the Sweet Tart hearts instead of the traditional conversation hearts because, well, they taste better!  Because of the swap, I had to make my own worksheet, but it was pretty easy.

Handwriting:  Caleb reviewed all capital letters and numbers this week in Handwriting Without Tears, and then continued on with lowercase c, o, s, v, and w.

You might notice his cute little mug of hot chocolate...and a rice bag around his neck!  This was on Tuesday, when there were flurries outside, so I let him take an emergency recess to play outside in the snow with his little brother.  They had fun but got pretty cold!

Bible:  We did more hands-on activities with our devotionals this week.  We talked about being a peacemaker (and how to be a good friend), not being jealous, thinking about Jesus, being satisfied with what we have (and what we're grateful for), and how to be a doer of the word (making good choices).

Read-Aloud:  We finished Winnie-the-Pooh and started The House at Pooh Corner the next day.  For his book report, Caleb chose to draw Piglet hiding in Kanga's pouch, which ended up being a rather uncomfortable ride!

Science:  We haven't done anything science-related in awhile, so I printed out a simple experiment where you hypothesize if a candy heart sinks or floats in water.  We both thought it would float, but I guess the Sweet Tart ones are heavier that they seem!

Links:
"Good Friend" Writing Prompt (The Weekly Hive)
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt (Let's Get Together)
I Can Listen to Stories printable (Kinder Craze)
Candy Heart Observations (Teachers Pay Teachers)

ivey league kindergarten: week in review

Reading:  We started out the week with a new "snakes & ladders" game board to review the words we learned last week.  Then we learned words that end in -nt, -nk, -st, and -sp.  I made up sentences to help Caleb see the words in context.  One day in particular, he requested sentences about Winnie-the-Pooh, so I did my best to oblige (while helping him with words like "hefflalump" and "rabbit").

Math:  We continued through his workbook and worked on subtracting and adding with a number line, place value, counting money, and identifying three-dimensional shapes.  We've also been doing more word problems.

Handwriting:  Caleb finished the kindergarten level of Handwriting Without Tears on Monday!

We continued on with the first grade workbook the next day.  I saw that it was mostly reviewing what he had already learned, only the boxes and lines they use as visual prompts are smaller and sometimes not even there.  I felt comfortable with Caleb moving on, and plan to supplement journal writing and other fun activities once he is officially in first grade.

Bible:   We weren't consistent with our devotional this week; I need to start planning better!  One day we learned how it's okay to feel angry, but we should be slow to get angry.  Caleb and I talked it through, and we agreed that he usually doesn't act out his anger.  I told him that was great, since yelling and slamming doors and hitting people isn't what God wants us to do.  But He also doesn't want us to stuff our anger down inside and let it make us feel even worse, which I think is what Caleb really does (he takes after his mom!).  Caleb then drew a picture of what he thinks he looks like when he's angry...he included an angry Micah too.  Notice he made their faces look pretty sad, so I think he relates more to the quiet kind of anger that may come across as being sad.  And I'm not sure why he gave Micah blue hair.  Maybe that's why Micah's angry?  :)

Read-Aloud:  We continued reading Winnie-the-Pooh.  We're almost done and we might read The House at Pooh Corner next!

Groundhog Day:  On Tuesday, we did some extra activities for Groundhog Day.  I found a couple of free printables online; first Caleb did a simple "color by addition" activity.  This was good math practice since he's still learning how to do simple sums in his head.

Then we filled in a prediction sheet.  I had Caleb write out some of it (while dictating the spelling for the words he wanted to write), then he told me what he wanted me to write down for the good and bad things for each season.

I also let Caleb watch the Wild Kratts episode featuring groundhogs on Netflix once we were done.  :)

Links:
Groundhog Math Activity (Teachers Pay Teachers)
Groundhog Prediction Activity (Teachers Pay Teachers)