homeschool

this season is really moving right along! our days are full and focused. i thought i would try to keep somewhat updated here on what we are working on for school. the books above (wynstones autumn book, christopherus kindergarten with your 3-6 year old, and oak meadow's advanced recorder) are what we are using right now for music. dillon and i have been working our way through our recorder books reviewing and reinforcing what we've learned since first grade when we started with oak meadow's beginning recorder. last year we really didn't work on recorder much, so we needed some refreshing! the advanced book was from last year and we never got to it. so, right now, in preparation for martinmas, we are working on "saint martin", "i go with my little lantern", and "the sunlight fast is dwindling...". once we get more comfortable with the high e note, i'd like to include "glimmer, lantern, glimmer"--i love that one :-) dillon has really been into recorder and often picks it up and practices throughout the day. on michaelmas, he gave a little recital for the family out on the deck under the stars and played "a knight and a lady", and "bells of michaelmas", both of which we learned in second grade. he enjoyed the feeling of real mastery and understanding now that he can read music.

i posted our daily rhythm next to the table where we work (below our multiplication wheel from last year, which is being looked at less and less these days--yay!). it goes something like this:

• breakfast & chores
• micah's school time with mom
• snack break (usually around 10:30)
• dillon's school time with mom
• play outside
• lunch (noon)
  
• quiet time
• free play
• snack (usually around 3:00)
• afternoon activities
• dinner & chores
• bath/shower
• snack, brush teeth, story
• bedtime (7:30-8:00)

of course, now that activities with our homeschool program have started, it rarely looks like this because we have things happening away from home almost everyday. but it usually works out to jump in wherever we are once we return home. this week is particularly busy. micah has his class day on monday and then dillon has track in the late afternoon. tuesday is dillon's class day with a potluck in the evening. wednesday is track again. thursday they both have their spectra art class at school and david is leaving for a gig with soul majestic in santa barbara. finally, on friday we have a field trip to wilder ranch. phew! thankfully, not every week is this busy.

both boys are on lesson 7 this week. dillon will be learning about ohlone indians, planting some seeds he sprouted last week, learning about the size law of perspective drawing, and practicing his new songs on the recorder. we just started reading a book called "operation redwood" in preparation for a book club meeting we're going to check out this month at the hotel tree in henry cowell state park. dillon works on much of his language arts and math independently every day. in the morning, while i am working with micah, dillon writes in a journal, reads, practices his spelling words and does a page or two of math. this week he will be starting oak meadow's "indian legends", and continuing to review math concepts like roman numerals, greater and less than, multiplication and division with and without remainders. finally, for grammar we'll be working on common and proper nouns and learning to write a 3-sentence paragraph. wow! that sounds like a crazy amount of stuff! no wonder i'm so tired by the end of the day.

micah will be learning about the letter f this week with the help of mr. jeremy fisher (beatrix potter). we'll also do some more activities to reinforce the concept of the number 3 and hear a nature story about a duck named quark. we'll draw, paint, cut, paste, sing, stretch, play with playdough and beeswax, spend lots of time outside, and PLAY! i love kindergarten! micah's school time always begins with the lighting of a candle and singing songs, learning fingerplays and some yoga, jumping jacks, and movement games for circle time. elijah loves this part of the day, too. my favorite is when i hear him singing a song from circle time to himself later in the day. so cute! every week i use the same opening and closing verse and then choose 2-3 other songs or fingerplays that correspond to what we'll be learning that week, the season, or any holidays or festivals that are coming up. here's what our circle looks like for this week:

• opening verse: morning has come
• movement activities:
• simon says- learning left and right
• jumping jacks & stretches
• song: clap with me 1, 2, 3- rhythm & reinforcing #3
  
• fingerplay: five speckled frogs- letter f & jeremy fisher
• soothing song: scarlet and yellow- mary thienes-shunemann
• closing verse: i can be

before circle time, we all come together and talk about character qualities. i found a character lapbook resource on homeschool share that i am using as a springboard for our morning talks. at the end of last year we learned about the quality of cheerfulness. we began this school year learning about attentiveness and now we are working on obedience. at the end of the year, we will compile all of our mini books into our own character lapbook.

looking forward to another full, fun week of fall!