Hey, we’re still here and getting it done!
Homeschool has NOT slowed down, learning has NOT stopped - for the student or the teacher - and progress is happening!
I had recorded update videos for the last few weeks but I’m kind of a dummy and messed things up - SO I will be recapping those missing weeks altogether here in this blog post.
Our first week was “New Beginnings,” and our second week was “We’ve Got the Blues,” and you can learn more about those in previous videos, but let’s get into weeks 3 and 4 of the first month and let’s get this thing started…
Month 1, Week 3 - “Where I Live”
About the Theme:
This week is all about the student’s own familiar surroundings: their home, property, room, family, town/city/county, state, country, etc.
Helping them to identify the things they see on a regular basis, how many of those things they see, what it looks like to spell out the words that identify and count the things they see, etc., teaches word association and helps them recognize/compare/contrast the differences they see in other places.
This is to show appreciation for what is already a part of their familiar surroundings.
Theme-specific lessons:
Math
One of the beautiful things about Homeschool is that neither the teacher nor the student is tied to a desk, a room or even a building when it’s time for a lesson!
Our first day of “Where I Live” week took place outside, at the swingset my husband built for the kids.
While she was swinging, I asked my daughter to look at our home, and tell me how many doors she saw, how many windows she saw, how many cars were in the driveway, etc.
We discussed how many people would be in the house total if a friend came to visit, how many cups are on the table when we sit down for meals, etc.
She picked up on this quickly - and I think it’s because the counting and math work didn’t seem so abstract. It was practical and real.
We did have difficulty when I asked her how many forks there would be if everyone at the table had 2 forks.
So, we may wait on multiplication problems ‘til next year. LoL
Language
I took this as an opportunity to help my 4 year old memorize her address.
I personally feel like it’s beneficial at that age for her to learn something like that in case we get separated somewhere or something like that.
But, it was also a great lesson topic for “Where I Live” because I took the time to write out our address on a white board so that she could see what it looks like written out.
I didn’t expect for her to memorize the words by sight because she can’t read at this stage but hearing it, and memorizing it, and seeing it later when she CAN read will be beneficial, I think.
By the end of the week, she had absolutely memorized her address, and we still practice it every few days just for good measure.
I am not at all ashamed to admit that I accomplished this with bribery. LoL
My child loves jelly beans and they are an inexpensive form of reward for getting certain lessons completed or grasping new concepts.
Hey, it’s how we potty-trained her, and so early, so, why not?
Bible was split into 2 parts this week: Genesis 2 and "Growing Up Where Jesus Lived."
Reading through Genesis 2, the story of Adam and Eve and their first home in the Garden of Eden.
It was cool you read this while we were outside, too, so that the idea of the first home being a Garden or at least being made up of mostly plants and nature was interesting to share with her.
Genesis 2 is kind of the recap of the creation account but almost like it’s more from the human perspective rather than God’s - that’s a subject all it’s own.
I came across this great book from the A Beka program called “Growing Up Where Jesus Lived.”
I’ve had it for a long time and I felt it would fit here for these purposes.
I read some during snack time, during time out on the playground - very informally, and it was great because it wasn’t difficult to understand and it talked about what life was like for the kids in Nazareth, and the ancient near east as a whole, and there were lots of concepts she could relate with even as a 4 year old.
Science didn’t go as well as I had hoped, and rather than beating myself up about it, I’ll use it as a learning experience for myself. Here’s what happened:
I thought it would be so great to tell my 4 year old little girl about the kinds of animals that are native to where we live, especially ones that she may not be familiar with, or that don’t live in a lot of other places.
My dumb self started with what’s referred to as “Big Brown Bat,” and scared my child immediately with pictures of the Big Brown Bat.
There are times she is very brave for a 4 year old and then there are times that she behaves as any normal 4 year old should.
And being scared to learn that not far from your house are Big Brown Bats is a normal response for a 4 year old child, girl or boy, and I would highly suggest that unless your student is already deeply in love with things like that, maybe don’t lead with the Big Brown Bat. LoL
Home Ec wasn’t anything crazy, but we did talk about why it’s a good idea to turn off lights and electronics in a room or the house as a whole when we are about to leave it.
Further, I rewarded her the first few times she turned off lights and TVs and such all on her own without being prompted to do so.
Jelly beans to the rescue yet again!
History was broken up a few ways:
It was going to be a brief lesson about our town and how old it is
When I tried, however, she really wasn’t interested, and that’s ok.
She did, however, like seeing the Google Maps view of our home - that caught her attention.
I printed out a map of the United States and colored in our own state.
At first, that didn’t really mean anything to her.
However, I also colored in the states of where some of her favorite YouTube personalities live, such as:
The Fun Squad and the Tannerites live in Utah.
The Ninja Kids and Salish Matter live in California.
This she found very interesting.
I colored in other states, too:
Idaho, ‘cause that’s where a lot of potatoes come from.
Wyoming, ‘cause I have friends that live there.
New York, because that’s where her Daddy and I had to go to find a clinic that helped us make her. (She’s an IVF baby, not a Frankenstein’s monster or something)
I used this as an opportunity to kindly explain why we can’t just up and drive to see some of the YouTube personalities she loves - because it’s too far away - but that while we are far apart in one way, we are also all part of the same country.
Music was pretty successful:
I made a playlist that you can find on Forever Homestead’s YouTube channel filled with songs about where someone is from, or the love for their country, that kind of thing - and she seemed to really enjoy “The House that Built Me” by Miranda Lambert.
We also sang “Old McDonald Had a Farm” and “Every Move I Make.”
We would change out the animals in Old McDonald sometimes as we sang it.
And I taught her a dance to “Every Move I Make” which she absolutely loved.
Art was a total bust, sadly, as I drafted poorly done blueprints of our house and her room and thought she’d like to go in and color or draw things inside each room or where her stuff in her room is, and she really didn’t care. LoL
Repeated lessons:
We continued counting practice, counting 1-20, and it’s really paid off because she can do that all on her own, so we are moving forward with further counting, 21-30 to start.
Handwashing, toothbrushing, etc.
What I would have done differently:
Of course, the science lesson about native animals should have started with less scary animals.
I should have leaned a little heavier into learning about our town and the property that we live on already.
It did nothing but rain because of the hurricane, which didn’t affect us directly but we got all the rain on the outside of it.
If it hadn’t rained so much, we might have been able to take a walk in the woods around our property, which she absolutely loves to do.
That’s really all there is to say about “Where I Live” week, so let’s move on!
Month 1, Week 4 - “About Me”
About the Theme:
This week, we focused on things specific to our K4 student and used them to help her learn words, concepts, etc.
Theme-specific lessons:
I wrote her name on everything I could:
A nameplate we use constantly during lessons.
A game where she had to find her name written on 3 pieces of paper hidden among other pieces of paper with other words/names written on them - she LOVED this, and we’ll probably have to do this again.
She traced her first, middle and last name several times throughout the week.
We counted the amount of words and letters in her full legal name.
A paper with her name on it that she decorated with stickers and we taped to her bedroom door.
I used pictures of her and had her glue the words “hair, eyes, cheek, chin” etc to the picture to help her identify those words with some help.
I made a paper titled “About Me,” where we wrote down her name, her address, her birthday, her hair color, her favorite song and color, etc. all next to a picture of herself, and on the back we wrote down words that describe her like, “Brave, silly, sister, singer,” etc.
We counted fingers on hands and on pictures of hands.
Psalm 139 was our Bible lesson, which is a chapter that states that God thinks about you constantly and knows everything about you.
“Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” and “God Made Me” were the songs we sang.
I found videos about digestion and what happens to the food we eat.
We looked at pictures of family members and distant family members and looked for similarities in the faces.
Repeated lessons:
We continued to review counting 1-20, which I think we have down pat now so we may start on 21-30 or 40.
We continued to work on memorizing her address.
The reminder to turn off lights and electronics not in use and the reward for doing so without being reminded were part of this week.
What went well:
Any time pictures of herself were used, she instantly got into the lesson.
Singing, especially with dance moves, went well.
Measuring her height was exciting.
What didn't go well:
My playlist was lacking and all over the place, but there were one or two songs that she actually seemed to like.
This week was particularly busy for us on the farm and because of the weather that a field trip didn't happen, but I was able to take her and her brother to the library, which I hope to make a weekly or biweekly thing.
I had planned to do a lesson about what her first, middle and last name mean and where they come from, but was never able to.
More art supplies should have been made available for her to use - more stickers, maybe paint, etc.
What I would have done differently
I should have learned more into her favorite things (movies, songs, toys, etc.).
It would have been fun to make some of her favorite foods, and drinks in the week, especially with her help.
Misc.:
I found a way to laminate things - thanks to my husband - and am so grateful that now I won't have to print out new sheets of paper for things we will use over and over, like words for tracing.
With each passing week, I'm reminded how important it is to repeat certain concepts and attempt to memorize certain things, and how important it is to reward the student with an appropriate prize for their focus on something.
In closing, I just gotta say that, yeah, this isn’t always easy but it’s proven to be totally worth it.
We’ve seen the exact same thing with farming, so why should homeschooling be any different?
Thanks, everyone!
-Candace
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