Labor Day Kindergarten History Activities

So this week will be our second learning record meeting with the E.S. (educational specialist).  I can't believe it is that soon already.  To read about why we are meeting with an E.S. go here.  This time the focus is on math and history.  I have to provide an example of each for the E.S. to put in her portfolio.  Math is simple but to be honest I haven't really thought that much about kindergarten history. So I decided to check out my trusty What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know book.  Here the author says that, "For young children we need to emphasize the "story" in history." and that "The goal in kindergarten...is to orient the child to the past and plant the seeds of knowledge that will grow in later years." 

One thing that is usually done in kindergarten classrooms is to talk a lot about holidays that take place throughout the year.  Labor Day is the first holiday in September.  According to Fun Social Studies "Labor Day is a day of celebration to pay tribute to the working people."


I think we'll talk about when it was first celebrated, 1882, 129 years ago.  I'll write the number so Katie can see it and then I'll write how old she is and maybe how old Daddy and Grandpa are.  Then we'll see if she can say who or what is oldest.  (This should be easy for her.)  As suggested by other kindergarten teachers and bloggers I think I will take this opportunity to talk about some of the different jobs people in our community have.

We read most of a biography about George Washington and later watched/ sang this song about coins on youtube. 

Next I think we'll do a listen and read activity on scholastic.  She can learn about 8 different occupations but I'll maybe just choose a few or have her choose.  There are also 10 American history listen and read books on the same site.  I think I may have her listen and read about what a president does and then tie in Teddy Bear Day, September 9. (Who knew there was an actual Teddy Bear day?)  Where is the tie in?  Well you probably already know that Teddy Bears were named after our president Theodore Roosevelt. The story goes that in 1902 President Roosevelt went on bear hunt and refused to shoot a small bear.  A toymaker saw a cartoonist's depiction of the event and created “Teddy’s Bear.”




Finally I think I'll have my kids go on their own "bear hunt" by having them find 10-20 teddy grahams, counting them and putting them on a numbered chart before they can eat them.  I could have Katie read clues like I did another time to find them if I have the time to set it up.

How bout you?  Have you done any fun History lessons with your kindergartener.  Feel free to leave a comment below.

***

For the portfolio I ended up having Katie color a picture of George Washington and doing a crayon rubbing of a quarter.

Preschool through 2nd grade (and beyond) Bible resources

Deuteronomy 11:18-20

¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,

Why do we need to fix God's word into their hearts and minds?  Couldn't we just leave that to their  church group or AWANA?  Children learn by example and so we can't get away with leaving it to someone else.  I have begun putting verses on 3x5 cards and posting them in places where I know I will read them like on the refrigerator :) and by my computer. 

Here is one verse that I have up:

Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. " 

Does anyone else need to be reminded to be patient?    I noticed recently on a long walk home with my 3 kids that when I responded with frustration because they were starting to whine or complain that it only made matters worse but as soon as I started responding positively they did much better.  (Go figure.)  In fact once I started being positive and continued they did not whine or complain the rest of the way home.  

I definitely need this reminder (daily) and not just with my kids. For whatever reason I am, by nature, a defensive person.  I tend to automatically think that a comment someone makes to me that is less than positive is a cut to me personally.  I often am most defensive with my husband which doesn't make sense because he is so on my side it is just silly to think otherwise.  But I have noticed that lately since I have been "meditating"  more on this verse that I have been less defensive.  Hurray!  That is not me.  That is not my nature.  That is the effect of God's word in my mind.  I have not perfected this and never will but I can see the effect.  

So what do you do for your preschool through 2nd graders (or beyond)?

I am very interested in what a friend of mine is doing.  She uses the Jesus Story Book Bible deluxe version that comes with an audio CD.  I listened to a sample and it sounds perfect for this age. As of this post date there are 61 5-star reviews on Amazon and 3 4-star reviews.  To see what my friend is doing, go here.

Raising Olives compiled a great list of verses for our kids to memorize.  She says that they always begin with Proverbs 1:7-9. " ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools despise wisdom and instruction. ⁸ Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
   and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. ⁹ They are a garland to grace your head
   and a chain to adorn your neck." 

Seems like a pretty great place to start to me. ; )

Other verses she recommends are:

• Psalm 119:105
• Psalm 19
• Phil. 2:1-18
• II Timothy 3:16-17
• Deuteronomy 6:4-9
• Ephesians 6:1-13
• Isaiah 55:6-7
• Proverbs 16:24
• Romans 6:23
• Proverbs 18:9
• Romans 6:23
• Psalm 23
• Psalm 1

Check out her full post here.

Make sure to leave a comment to let us know what you do or use.

Skip Counting

Homeschool Creations has some great skip counting charts that I plan on incorporating into our routine very soon.  They cover the numbers from 2-12 and begin with a cute little rhyme.

Free Passes to Bay Area Museums

If you have an Alameda County Library card you should soon be able to access free passes online to many museums and cultural institutions in the area.  The program is called "Discover and Go."

To learn more about this program go to www.aclibrary.org/discover.










Here is a list of participating destinations:

Aquarium of the Bay

Asian Art Museum

Bay Area Discovery Museum

Bedford Gallery

California Historical Society

Cartoon Art Museum

Charles M. Schultz Museum

Contemporary Jewish Museum

Exploratorium

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

Marine Mammal Center (discount only)

Museum of Children’s Art

Museum of Craft and Folk Art

Oakland Museum

Oakland Zoo

Pacific Pinball Museum

San Jose Museum of Art

Tech Museum of Innovation (discount only)

USS Hornet

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Totally Honest Monday

It is a little after 9:30am.  Katie did her dot to dot, colored it and enjoyed doing it. I gave her and JD (3 year old son) oatmeal.  Then I had Katie do a little work out of her math book.  She had to write 6 numbers in the 40's and that was definitely enough for her. (She'd already been through learning to write her numbers with KUMON math.) She then wrote the names of some characters in her math book to match them with the correct bag but this was like pulling teeth.  She gets angry, frustrated when I correct her in how to properly hold her pencil. So after this I asked her if she wanted some fruit.  She said yes, with yogurt.  So I was cutting up her fruit, JD was asking for help putting crayons away and the baby was crying.  I gave Katie her bowl of fruit and said I wasn't giving her yogurt right now. (I was going to go get the baby.)  She said, then I'm not eating.  I lost a little of my cool and raised my voice to her telling her I didn't like her talking to me like that.  Then she cried.  This is not quite how I hoped today would go and it is not quite 10am. 

Our day turned around after this (thankfully).  We went outside, planted some flowers, watered, played, had lunch, played starfall and then did the scavenger hunt.  The scavenger hunt was definitely a hit and I plan to do this again soon.  It is such a great way to get your young reader to read.  I'm thinking I'll incorporate some of her newer hooked on phonics words the next time.

Yep.  I lose my patience sometimes.  That's why I'm thankful I can rely on God. I need to think on these verses:  

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”   

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." 

James 1:20:22 "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." 

Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. " 

Learning about coins game

Penny, Nickel, Dime
Kindergarten-Grade 1

This game came from the US department of Education website. 

What You Need

• Die
• Pennies, nickels, dimes

What to Do
This is a good game to play with the family.

• Have each player roll the die and say the number. Then give the player that number of pennies. Explain that each penny is worth one cent.
• When a player gets five pennies, replace the pennies with a nickel. Explain that five pennies have the same value as one nickel—that is, five cents. When she gets five more pennies, replace the pennies and the nickel with a dime. Help her to see that the value of five pennies plus the value of a nickel (five cents) equals 10 cents, which is the value of a dime.
• The first player to reach a set amount—25 or 50 cents, for example—wins.

1st day of "official" Homeschooling

It is crazy but tomorrow is my "official" first day of homeschooling my almost 5 year old daughter.  I've been homeschooling her since she was born. She knows how to read and is in the 2nd grade level of hooked on phonics.  I've teamed up with a charter school to home school for kindergarten in order to get a little help with money for materials and curriculum.  I learned about doing this from a friend.  It is pretty cool.  Basically once you are accepted to the school an educational specialist comes to visit you about once every 20 school days.  They check on your progress and are there to offer support and answer questions.  Plus you get $800 to spend on curriculum and resources including activities such as gymnastics, art, dance, swimming and even horseback riding if you choose to spend your stipend this way.  Anyway tomorrow is my daughter's first "official" day of kindergarten and I am her teacher.  It is funny because I feel some of the same butterflies I felt before the first day of school each year that I taught high school Spanish. So far I have the following planned:

1) ABC Dot to Dot flower
2) Learning About Coins Game
3) Scavenger hunt for snacks.  My daughter will read each clue and at the end find her snack.  Here are the clues if you are interested:

- Go to the place where you take a bath.


- The next clue is in your room under the place you lay your head.


- Good job!  Now go the the room where you eat and find the wall with words.


- Open the door under the t.v. to find your next clue.


- Way to go!  Now go find your snack under the place that you eat.

A couple of the resources I'm considering taking advantage of through the charter school are the five in a row curriculum, (Here's a good resource to go along with FIAR) right start math and swim lessons.

Starfall is great! Now what?

If you don't know about Starfall and you have a pre-reader/ early reader then you really need to check it out.  In fact Homeschool.com recognized Starfall as one of their top five educational websites.We've been using starfall for over a year now and I find it to be an awesome FREE resource for teaching kids to read and reinforcing phonics skills.  I finally bit the bullet and even bought the extension.  I'm glad I did.  It is loaded with all kinds of goodies including math, stories, poems, nursery rhymes and more.  Since I have a new baby this is a great way for me to have my kids (ages 3 and almost 5) do something educational as I care for the baby.

My daughter is in the second grade book of hooked on phonics and I have been wondering about other programs that have reading in them since my daughter is pretty much past the starfall reading.  (It is still great reinforcement for her though and she does it while my 3 year old happily observes.)  Today I found Click N Read Phonics.  The program states that it is "designed for children as young as 4 years old and teaches the complete K-3rd grade phonics curriculum taught at USA public schools."  It is not free like starfall but it looks pretty reasonable and you can test out 4 of the lessons.  (2 of these lessons are for Click N Spell.)  My daughter tested a couple today and she was totally engaged.  For example, in the spelling lesson it said a word, said it in a sentence, showed how it was spelled and then my daughter had to type out the word.  Then it said the word for a second time (without showing the word this time) and my daughter had to type it out again.  Fantastic!

I love that there are no CD ROMS to use and nothing to install.  You can try out the four lessons with the click of a button.

I'm also pleased to see that it has a bunch of awards.  These include the Parenting Media Award and the Practical Homeschooling i-learn awards.



Please share in the comment section what you have used as the next step after starfall or to coincide with it.

Here's what the company has to say...

"ClickN KIDS, Inc, an Agoura Hills, CA based firm that develops online educational software, has introduced ClickN READ Phonics. ClickN READ Phonics contains 100 precisely sequenced, research based lessons designed by nationally recognized research professor Dr. J. Ron Nelson. The result is a beginning reading program that is beyond compare and has redefined computer based instruction. It is the first of it's kind to simulate live instruction. Each lesson is taught by ClickN KID, a goofy and lovable “Dog of the future.” ClickN KID helps children gently through a learning journey of systematic lessons set in colorful, futuristic classrooms. Each lesson contains four engaging learning environments that progressively teach alphabetic understanding, phonemic awareness, decoding, and word recognition."

Core Curriculum Guide

Did you know that you can download a free copy of The Core Knowledge Curriculum by E.D. Hirsch?  These are guides for what children need to know in language arts, history, geography, visual arts, music, math and science from preschool through 8th grade.  This is an excellent resource if you don't have the What your ---- grader needs to know books.  Actually it is a nice reference tool even if you do have the book.



Besides the curriculum guide you can also find several teacher guides to go along with the core classics series of books.  I looked at the Don Quixote guide and it seems to do a fabulous job.  It says it is aimed at fifth-grade students but I'm sure you can adapt it for higher grades as well.  It contains vocabulary lists for each chapter, study questions, suggested activities, vocabulary activities and a summary of each chapter. 



Here are the teacher guides:

Frederick Douglass

Don Quixote

Gulliver's Travels

King Arthur and the Round Table

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Robinson Crusoe

Robin Hood

Sherlock Holmes

Treasure Island 
Purchase Rats, Bull & Flying Machines Guide

Initial Blend Dominoes & Matching Game

I found this Initial Blend Dominoes Matching Game on the A to Z phonics blog.  This is another game that will go along perfectly with my daughter's hooked on phonics.

This game will help in practicing the following initial blends:

bl- br- cl-cr- dr- fl- fr- gl-gr- pl- pr-sc-
sk-sl-sm-sn-sp-squ-st- str-sw-tr-

I can't wait to make this game.  My daughter's biggest motivators are games and competition.

Check out our other hooked on phonics game.