I confess that home school felt a little mundane today; should I have planned something more elaborate? On the other hand, it meant the day felt easier and smoother than most!

9-9.30: Morning circle. We’ve gotten away from the routine of morning circle and songs that Travis was used to from his classroom. Luckily today’s workbook page on letter S was a good reminder to review! For example, after writing September we sang his months of the year song. Sunday and Saturday likewise prompted singing Days of the Week, and Spring was a reminder to go through the seasons. Plus it was sunny, and we began a belated weather chart for the month of June.

9.30-10: ELA. The second workbook page was on letter T. We took the time to tap out syllables and sounds for all the words on the page, something else we’ve neglected to do recently. Then he did Lexia for 15 minutes.

10-10.30: Recess/snack. Travis wanted to play inside but little sister was out hunting for frogs in the grass!

10.30-11: Math. After Star Wars droid math problems, Travis wrote a full math story about it and drew a picture to boot! He struggled but was ultimately so proud of his work. A high point on the day.

11-11.30: STEM. Travis designed a pom pom maze, an activity we tried with marbles about a year ago. Then he used his hands as measurement tools to find items that were shorter/longer, heavier/lighter etc.

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.

1.30-2: Social studies. Taking inspiration from a page in Highlights magazine about Gallant kids, Travis learned about life skills and disaster preparedness, including a funny video on how to use a fire extinguisher.

Highlights was also great for some quiet time puzzling over the Find It page.

2-3: Specials. For Music, Travis recorded himself saying chants fast (hare) or slow (turtle), For Spanish we listened to a beautiful song on la luna (which arguably interested little sister more!) and then enjoyed a Zoom with the teacher.

3-4: Outside. We took a nature walk with a family friend, who taught Travis about new plants, flowers, birds, and bugs. I didn’t have a camera to capture the beautiful moment, but sometimes that’s for the best.

Following up on yesterday’s success, we started with a “fun” activity before diving into the more academic. As a result, we mostly had good spirits all day!

9-9.30: After a workbook page filling out some of our family’s favorite things, I pulled out old family photo albums. Travis – and little sister, too! – loved looking at baby pictures of themselves, spotting pictures of “young” mommy and daddy, and pointing out other relatives.

9.30-10: Travis did a quick workbook page on subtraction problems, and then we played Go Fish with a twist…Go Make Ten! Instead of asking for a pair (i.e. a 2 for a 2) you had to ask for a card that would make yours equal 10. So if he had a 2, he asked for an 8. This was tricky for Travis, the first time he was doing sums in his head instead of counting objects on a page.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. And dropping rocks on the patio!

10.30-11: ELA. Travis did a workbook page on letter R, and we searched for digraphs on the page (sh, ch, and th words). He did Lexia to round out the half hour. I asked him if he wanted to do some of the digraph worksheets his teacher had sent home. You can see the resounding no in his posture here.

11-11.30: Art. We made friendship bracelets! This was great not just for fine motor skills and creativity, but also thinking about others.

As he worked he decided which friend or relative each bracelet was for. Little sister was happy with the beads, too, and I was happy working alongside them both!

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.

1.30-2: Class Zoom. This was the toughest part of the day and we’ll leave it at that.

2-3: Cooking. We reset with a favorite activity, and today we cooked Moroccan food!

3: Outside. We played hopscotch with teen numbers, then drove around town to leave the friendship bracelets in friends’ mailboxes. A heart-warming good deed to end the day.

Travis’s Writers’ Workshop wrapped up today, the first of the “lasts” for his kindergarten year which is so hard to believe! Before we got to that, though, I wanted to start his day on a super fun note to avoid yesterday’s mishaps. So…

9-9.30: Math: After a workbook page on addition with marshmallows, I surprised Travis with a bag of the real thing (Dandies vegan minis). We put together each math “sentence” with the marshmallows, after which Travis got to eat them of course!

Then (because why not on a random Tuesday?) we made proper s’mores with graham crackers and chocolate squares, plus put together an old favorite STEM activity: a marshmallow launcher. Honestly, Travis was more into playing with the marshmallows than eating them, but I let him have his gooey fun.

9.30-10: Writing. Now it was time to wrap up Writers Workshop, something Travis has fought me on during home school. I challenged him to turn the latest page in his Star Wars writing book into a little story. He phonetically wrote one sentence, drew a picture, and then added his name and title on a cover.

I played up the moment with great excitement, saying now he was an author with a book! This did produce a moment of pride.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. We made a straw fountain on the patio to cool off!

10.30-11: ELA. I thought just for a second I might convince Travis to roll dice in a sight word game, but he bailed on it quickly. On the other hand, he did a great stint on Lexia. (Little sister kept busy with stickers!).

11-1: Lunch/free play.

1-1.30: Social/emotional. After watching a read-through of the story We’re All Wonders, Travis filled out a chart with a kind word or compliment for each classmate. I was proud of the thought Travis put into this assignment from his teacher.

1.30-2: Science. After filling out a workbook page about the seasons, Travis and I celebrated spring with some seed planting!

His teacher had dropped off supplies on the front porch, enabling us to plant the following 4 seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, bean, and pea. The kids loved mixing up the soil with water on the patio!

Travis helped scoop it into cups, dig small holes for the seeds, and add them to the cups.

2-2.30: Outdoors. We headed to the park for exercise and fresh air. And fit in a scavenger hunt, too!

Don’t let the big grin in the photo above fool you; it was one of those home school days that felt two steps forward, two steps back. But we got through it!

8.30-9: Letter Q/Quarters: After a workbook page focusing on letter Q, I seized the opportunity to play up q for quarters, since Travis still struggles with coin values. We reviewed the various denominations and then of course he wanted to play with all the coins in mommy’s wallet!

9-9.30 History. His second workbook page focused on past and future. First Travis drew an imaginary future car. Then he had to write about how people used fire in the past.  I thought it might be fun to turn it into a mini lesson on the Oregon Trail, checking out his encyclopedia page on the American West and a video about cowboys, He wasn’t at all interested, leading to tantrums, meaning we switched gears and headed on to…

9.30-10: Math. After two Star Wars workbook pages about estimating, we estimated the number of dominoes in a pile. Travis provided remarkably adept at this for his first try. Since we had the dominoes out, we then played with them in two ways. First: could he make a math sentence about each one (i.e. 5+5=10, 6+2=8).

Then we played War but with dominoes instead of cards. This part he enjoyed, and he grew very fast at tallying up the pips.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. Much needed!

We rolled balls downhill outside on a relatively chilly day, then detoured back inside to design a ball course. Could he lead a ball from the couch down to a box, without touching it?

Success!

10.30-11: ELA. Travis wrote an ‘Over the Weekend’ sentence, the first time he’s done this class assignment in weeks. He also did 20 minutes on Lexia.

11-11.30: Specials. For Art, he drew his self-portrait, a monthly classroom activity. We can’t believe this is the last one for kindergarten! He also watched a video about Buenos Noches/Buenos Dias in Spanish.

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.

1.30-2: Class Zoom. He was reluctant to sit for this group session again today, and grew very angry by the end. I diverted his mood with…

2-2.30: Games. We played a board game (Zingo), and then played “what’s my rule?” If I sorted something from the craft bin, he had to guess the defining characteristic of each group. This was hard for him to grasp at first so I was proud he stuck with it.

2.30-3: Exercise. We needed to get moving to shake out his bad mood. A little Star Wars yoga was in order.

3-3.30: Cooking. We made mole sauce for dinner to round out a unit on Mexico.

At story time tonight (A Second is a Hiccup), we made sure to locate the title and author on the front cover before reading, and then searched for sight words as we went through the story.

I’ve forgotten to mention a few recent reads, including: The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Where the Wild Things Are; Beautiful Oops; Castle: How it Works; and Separate is Never Equal.

The day was overly busy, since I was trying to balance requests from his teacher with lessons I thought he’d enjoy. Perhaps tomorrow we will aim for less-is-more.

TGIF! We can’t believe there are only three weeks of kindergarten home school left to go. Have a great weekend everyone.

9-9.30: Science. We started off the day talking about animal habitats. After a few workbook pages featuring animals of the night, in a meadow, etc. we went upstairs to raid the stuffed animal pile.

I had Travis help sort these based on where they might live. Then he went on a flashlight safari for a few that I’d hidden around the room, a classic favorite game around here.

9.30-10: Math. Next up was an overview of the foot as a unit of measurement. We talked about how this differs from a person’s foot, creating a standardized unit. Then we used a nonstandard measurement to compare items around the house.

Travis wanted to use Lego heads, and we checked out how these “measured up” against a ruler. It turns out computer paper is 29 Lego heads long!

10-10.30: Snack/recess. We played around with opposites outside.

10.30-11: ELA. Travis did a writing page that focused on the long e sound, and did a unit on Lexia.

11-11.30: Maps. We talked about common map symbols like those for a post office or hospital. His teacher had provided a few worksheets we could look at.

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.

1.30-2: Weather. We headed outside to make rainbows! Okay this doubled as recess, too.

It was an early start to the weekend thereafter; little sister had a music class, and Travis got in social time with his high school buddy over Zoom.

Our home school day honestly felt a touch too simple. We were scattered with our schedule, and did almost everything out of workbook pages instead of getting as hands-on as I like, but there’s always tomorrow… Here’s a rough outline of how it went.

9-9.30: ELA. Travis’s writing page was devoted to a favorite Star Wars character, which kept him happy. We took the time to emphasize the beginning sound of each word before writing it, then he finished with 15 minutes on Lexia.

9.30-10: Math. After filling out a workbook page on bar graphs, Travis graphed some of his Legos. Please note that normally I am not an advocate for weapons as toys, but Travis sure did love graphing his light sabers and ninja swords.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. It was hot enough for little sister to fit in icy play.

10.30-11: Specials. Travis filled out a loud and soft singing exercise for his Music teacher online. Then he watched a few videos from his Spanish teacher about colors and how to say “my name is”.

11-1 – Lunch/free play.

1-1.30: Social time. A Zoom call with a friend really did him good.

1.30-2.30: Science. After coloring a workbook page about a coniferous forest, we set off into the real woods!

The goal was to spot any of the animals from the page (we were thinking more along the lines of squirrels, less so black bears). Plus we found signs of conifers!

He also made an “obstacle course” for ants to crawl over.

Our walk wore us out, so that was it!

Between ants to watch and the arrival of new toys from his grandmother, I’m glad we got Travis’s school work out of the way early! The afternoon was really devoted to play, but sometimes with home school that’s for the best.

9-9.30: Social studies. Travis’s workbook page was about the American flag. We said the Pledge of Allegiance (a good refresher!) and he colored it in, then designed a “family” flag for us. I loved that he decided our flag needed a smile.

We continued the theme with a little art, repeating an old patriotic rock project

9.30-10: Math. Travis is growing skilled at counting the tens place and then ones place, to make double digit numbers. He was so proud doing this in a workbook. Then we practiced adding in the teens . He chose 16, and we used dot stickers to count 5+11=16 or 6+10=16 etc. (These stickers were fun for my toddler, too, when she wasn’t busy with jingle bells or pom poms).

10-10.30: Snack/free play

10.30-11: ELA/Letter P. Travis started with some time on Lexia, then did a workbook page on letter P. We took the fun outside for a picnic of course! While outside, we touched briefly on the digraph CK. I gave him cards so that we could sightread P words ending in CK, but switching the vowel in the middle. Pack, peck, pick, pock, puck! 

11-11.30: Quiet time. I had Travis work on puzzles and also watch his teacher read an online story.

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play. Did I mention ants? New toys from his grandmother? It was a bit hard to rein him in for…

1.30-2: Class Zoom. I was proud of him raising his hand during show-and-tell.

Then I gave him the afternoon off to play! We had hoped to fit in some science with SpaceX’s rocket launch, but it was a no-go.

We took yesterday off for Memorial Day after just doing a workbook page on letter M (for memorial of course!) but jumped back into home schooling today.

9-9.30: Letter N/O. To start the morning on a fun note, Travis made a nest for an owl from which he could tackle these two letter pages. We capped off ELA with about 15 minutes on Lexia.

9.30-10: Social studies. Travis completed a maze to help a child get ready for school in the morning. He then wanted to act out all the steps with dolls! This was a great way to include baby sister, too.

10-10.30: Snack/recess.

10.30-11: Math. We acted out a workbook page about greater than and less than… with Star Wars battles, of course. Travis had to solve each equation (i.e. 4 is less than 5) then he acted out a fight between good versus evil before we moved on to the next. This was a great way to keep him engaged.

11-11.30: Cooking. We gave a whole new meaning to the term “submarine sandwich“!

11.30-12: Science. Our ants arrived, and Travis quite literally couldn’t stop watching. As an extension, he wrote a sentence about why ants make great pets and drew a picture to go with it.

12-1 – Lunch/free play.

1-2: Outside. A trip to a local arboretum was the perfect dose of “recess” and vitamin D.

2-2.30: Social/emotional learning. After watching a read-aloud of the book One, by Kathryn Otoshi, Travis made a recording for his teacher about his take-away from the book.

2.30-3: Cooperative play. We ended the day with a game. His teacher had recommended sight word bingo. We used our Zingo game, and every time a player got a match, he or she had to select a sight word fish to place on the board. This was an easy way to sneak in sight words without making him feel bored about rote learning.

See you tomorrow!

We ended the week on a strong note, and are heading into the weekend in a state that has slightly reopened. Wishing everyone a safe and healthy Memorial Day!

9-9.30: Letter L. After completing a workbook page that focused on letter L (writing out L words, coloring in L pictures), we played “Last to the Lake”: our fish playing pieces moved from sight word to sight word in a race to the lake at the end. He loved it so much that he wanted to play longer after winning!

9.30-10: Math. His workbook page involved combining numbers from the tens and ones column. This was new stuff and he tackled it well. We then got silly, thinking of other groups of 10. How many fingers live in our house, if 4 people each have 10? 40! How many fingers and toes were there? 80! We counted out tens with a pretzel snack, too.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. (Little sister was getting good and messy on the patio, in the meantime!).

10.30-11: ELA. Travis 20 minutes on Lexia, proudly reaching a new level in the program.

11-11.30: Social studies. After learning a bit about the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, Travis made a simple craft: we cut the centers from paper plates, then glued on red and blue stars cut from construction paper.

It was a simple but patriotic decoration for our door!

We also talked about gallant actions we can take for the holiday, like laying flowers on veteran’s graves.

Honestly, we began the long weekend early, thereafter. It was a gorgeous day to get outside to a local pond for some sand and water play, and he had a social hour with his high school buddy over Zoom.

 

I’m so happy to report we had a successful day. Travis was focused and motivated on his lessons in the morning, so much so that the afternoon was very light on schoolwork, everything already accomplished.

9-9.30: Math. He started with a workbook page counting up summer vegetables. I then gave him a few challenges. What would the number be if he added 10 to each (hint: a number in the teens). Then we made a number line and used it to answer simple equations. What was 1 more than 16? Three less than 16? Two more than 18? I could tell the visual number line really helped him think.

9.30-10: ELA. He did a page in his Star Wars writing workbook, and laughed so hard when we made up silly answers to fill-in-the-blanks. A proud 20 minutes on Lexia followed (while little sister drew with cars).

10-10.30: Snack/art/free play.

10.30-11: Music. Travis recorded himself singing high and low for the music teacher.

11-1: Lunch/free play.

1-2: Science. After reading an encyclopedia page about cameras, we headed outside (in gorgeous weather!), to take pictures.

I let Travis play around with settings, especially the zoom function. His photos were actually quite artsy! This counted as great fresh-air time for the day, too.

2-2.30: Spanish. There was a live Zoom today, a fun chance to go over familiar songs and watch a Spanish puppet show of the Three Little Pigs. I had hoped to engage him with an activity on fast and slow animals (rapido/lento) but it was late in the day and we called it quits.