Older Kindergarten Week #1

Well, this is the first full week of homeschooling for us with our full weekly rhythm. The last couple weeks were catch as catch can to slowly get us up and running.

Circle:

20 minute walk then, Opening verse, Green Orchard, Kooka burra (in the apple tree), Trees in the wind, Mouse Fingerplay, closing verse.

This is the same circle I used last week with great success. Today I tried to embellish with transitions regarding squirrels and lost Brother. He did watch from the chair though, instead of causing problems. That is a huge improvement from last year! I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe I'll change the Kooka burra into a squirrel and add a squirrel poem.

Story:

I read "The Runaway Bunny" to baby and brother, leaving a farm and woodland scene out for Baby to play with while I read Brother's story. Unfortunately, Brother wanted to stay and play too. He did come while I read "Fill Up The House", which is another Dumbling folk tale from my Enki Folk and Fairy Tales book. Brother did stay and listen, but as soon as I was done reading, he was up and in playing with the toys.

For handwork, Brother continued sewing his tooth fairy pillow. He hates to sew, so we are working on a little bit at a time. I have to set the sewing goal for him as he resists. I am hoping that he will eventually start to love it.

This quarter's enrichment is swimming lessons. There were so many kids in the pool and the water was up to his neck. It was very overwhelming for him and he ended up crying for me to get him out and saying "Cancel it! Cancel it!" So, I pulled him out and he came and sat by me until the last 5 minutes. At that point he was able to sit by the side of the pool with his feet dangling into the water. I figure that since he was so upset, the fact that he was eventually willing to put his feet in and sit there was fabulous. I am hoping that by the end of the quarter he will at least be comfortable enough to get back in the pool. We shall see!

Monday is cleaning and baking day. I didn't get all of the cleaning done, nor the baking. I'll finish cleaning tonight and make granola. Hopefully on Wednesday we can bake muffins. Today we also had a piano delivered! Yeah!