So what about Kindergarden?

(The picture is just for fun!)

Ok, so a couple a days ago I posted the detailed outline of 2nd grade. Lest anyone thought I forgot what about RA and Kindergarten? I didn't forget; she won't let me. She is counting down the days. T-2 and counting!





So Monday is Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Art, Literature, Math and Music.


Tuesday is Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Math, Literature, and Music.


Wednesday is Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Math, Literature, Art and Music.


Thursday is Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Math, Literature, and Music.





Poetry: She will (just like DG) listen to, repeat, memorize, and recite her poems. Then she will dictate them to me to put in a book. Then she will illustrate them. The poems she is to learn this year include: Rain, Bed in Summer, The Cow, The Moon, At the Seaside, My Shadow which are all by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Turtle by Vachel Lindsey.





Phonics: We have decided to use the same phonics program we are using with DG. She will use the Little Angel Readers for reading time but this way we can do phonics together at least to begin with. If this doesn't work, we will return to using the Little Angel readers with the teacher's guides. Handwriting is covered in the Phonics program. She loves to write and is so meticulous this is fun for her.





Religion in Kindergarten in great. One day I will read her part of a children's Bible. The next day, she retells the story (dictates it) and then illustrates it. At the end of the year, she will have written "her own" Bible. She will also join DG in continuing to learn the Bible timeline and listening to St. Patrick's Summer.





This year, like her brother RA is doing first grade math. No DG is not doing 1st grade math. They are both skipping a year. Why you ask? Quite simply because she has already met the objectives for Kindergarten math. They are Motor Control, Number recognition and writing, number value, counting, number sequencing, and simple addition. So on to first grade math.





Art for RA is really interesting. She will be using pairs of paintings by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Fra Angelico, Degas and O'Keefe. These pairs are the same painting for matching skills. The she will have pairs of different paintings with the same artists to match style. The artists she will use are Van Gogh landscapes, Michealangelo busts, Picasso children, Renoir dancing couples, Monet gardens, and Cezanne still life. The last set are 4 different artists with 4 similar subjects to again match artists. The artists here are Giotto, Bougereau (she has one of his paintings in her room), Degas (all girls love ballerinas), and Di Vinci. She will also be using the art book DG is using to make her own art with styles of famous artists and art types.





Music: RA will attempt music appreciation this year that never worked for DG. But she loves to sing and learn songs so I think she will like this. The book is called 36 Traditional Catholic Hymns. It comes with a CD and the book is sheet music. So she listens to the song, learns the words and then sings with the music. They are wonderful hymns that are often forgotten.





Literature is read aloud time every day. But for this we are going to use the Five In A Row program. This is where you read the same (usually award winning) picture book 5 days in a row and do projects that go with it. This year, we will also incorporate saint books and other books that match the liturgical year or books/stories of virtue.





It should be a fantastic Kindergarten year!

It is time... Curriculum

The uniforms and the books are here. The kids are counting down the days and well I have had several people ask me recently what Curriculum I am using. The short answer: Mother of Divine Grace with some adjustments. Well really Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum with MoDG's Syllabi. But what does that mean what does that look like. Tonight I think I will answer that question for DG.
This year, every Mon, he will have Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Music, History and Geography and 30 minutes of reading a day. Tuesday, he will have Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, History and Geography, 30 minutes of reading and Art. Wednesday is Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Science, Music, History and Geography, and 30 minutes of reading. Thursday consists of Math, Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, History and Geography, Music, and 30 minutes of reading. Friday is just Math and Reading.
What are we doing in these subjects.
Well, we have decided for Math, there is just no need to do such an extended review as 2nd grade math seems to be so he will be doing 3rd grade math. That includes addition and subtraction of multi-column numbers, multiplication tables, division short and long and many other concepts.
Poetry: He learns (memorizes) poems line by line. When he is finished he writes them in a book and illustrates them. The poems this year include: The Owl and The Pussycat, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, Psalm 100, The Duel, The Land of Storybooks, and The Song of Mr. Toad.
Phonics: Although DG is a fantastic reader, he just finished the Hobbit, he has not learned all of his phonograms. So this year we are going to learn phonograms and spend a good deal of time working on spelling. He can't spell to save his life. Wonder where he gets that.
Handwriting: Will be included in his phonics lessons and depending on how his printing improves, we may start cursive this year.
Religion: We use the Baltimore Catechism, where he will learn questions and answers about his faith. We also will continue learning the Bible Timeline. We also will continue reading St. Patrick's Summer. In the BC, it suggests each section a prayer to learn and most are parts of the Mass. So on off weeks, we will be making a mass book with the prayers he is learning and he will decorate it.
Art: This year, DG will be studying VanGogh landscapes, Angels by 6 different artists, and 4 portraits by 6 different artists. We will study the method, the type of tools used, the color contrast, the subject, etc. Then for art projects, both DG and RA will learn a specific trait of a specific artist, a little bio about the artist and then attempt to make their own art using the trait they learned about.
Music: DG will start by learning some basic music theory and then begin to learn the recorder and hopefully by 2nd semester the piano.
History and Geography: In geography, we will continue states and capitals. I am hoping to use the H is for Hoosier series to reinforce that concept. In History, he will learn about maps and then begin a family tree, where he will interview his family member and keep a journal. He will also be reading bios of famous Americans.
Science is learning about the seasons and what happen to plants, animals, and weather during each season. He will also be doing experiments about plants.
His 30 minutes of reading will include his history bios, lives of saints, stories of virtue, and good literature.
Kindergarten is next!

Flags and stuff

Thought I would post about school today since that is why I started the blog in the first place. Seeing how DG has always been into maps and has a stellar memory for facts, we began states and capitals last week. He knows all the Great Lakes, Mid-west, Mountain, and Pacific states and capitals now. He wanted to know about the flags, trees, birds... so I have added that to the lesson as well. Although he is not memorizing those. So today DG and RA painted a couple state flags. Can I just say when I decided to have them color and paint the state flags, I had no idea how detailed so many of them are. Seesh, it's a flag people!!!!

DG's (above)

RA's
PG's

Just as a fun thing, try an online states and capitals quiz. I guarantee it was easier when we were kids. Then the only cities we knew were the capitals. I mean really who knows the capital of Illinois, Florida, Nevada... unless you have DG's memory.

A School post...

that is why I started this blog. DG started a journal this week and I just love it. It is so he can work on handwriting in a more concrete way and so he can start to get ideas down on paper. Check out the ideas on http://www.letteroftheweek.com/primary_journal_ideas.html

We started with January 1st so he has only written names at this point, but we are all pretty excited.

RA is reading

DG started asking to read a little before Christmas when he was 4 so I thought the first of the year this year we would start and see how RA did. She is a natural. She is sounding out her three letter short a words. She even read two sentences today. Watch out DG she is right behind you! Love those Little Angel readers. Speaking of reading DG is reading his first chapter books -- The Magic Tree House series. Each school nights we take turns reading one page for a whole chapter. He is really doing well and is proud to be able to read such a "big" book.

Co-Op (Caritas Christus) Art Class today

So today we had our first art class of the semester. DG & RA learned about Van Gogh. I think DG was most impressed that he drew a knife on Gauguin and then cut off (part) of his own ear and mailed it to him. But they also learned that Van Gogh used thick bumpy paint and that one of his most famous paintings were of sun flowers. So they got to paint with paint mixed with flour to create a bumpy effect. One picture of a flower and one self-portrait. Notice DG's hair is orange not red.

PG did watercolors only he left off most of the color part and concentrated on the water, but boy he went to town on his coloring.

DG's Christmas Poem

St. book

Last night we watched the movie Therese for the feast day. On RA's feast day, she recieved St. Therese paper dolls and since has been fascinated by her and so we had thought she might be interested in at least part of the movie. However, both kids watched the whole thing.

In school, DG is compling stories of saints with his own drawings for a saint book, so we decided to add St. Therese today.

I wish you could see this in color. It is the sisters around St. Therese on her death bed. He was only prompted in the story by "then what happened?"