Kindergarten at Home - Day 32 - Sense of Touch

Science meets Art: Sense of Touch.  Today, we explored our sense of touch through creating a work of art utilizing different textures.  Represented in my daughter's original caterpillar artwork are textures ranging from rough to soft.  Feathers are soft.  Pompoms are round, tall and soft, and squishy.  Glitter is rough.  Pasta is rough and soft at the same time, and is hard and solid!  Leaves are soft and crinkly.  Brother (who is 3, going on 4) got to make one too.

Then, we played a game where you must rely on your sense of touch alone to guess what an item is behind your back.  I tried to choose objects with different texture attributes, and different levels of solidity.

Language Arts - Reading Comprehension: Using visual and verbal clues to help you predict what will happen next in a story.  The pictures and the words in the story can both help lead you towards what might happen next, or what to expect in a story.  We bought this really cool Pop-Up book from Costco and in the pictures below, she is interpreting the pages to her brother, and showing me how the Unicorn leaps from the page!  The book also utilizes her sense of touch when she is able to flip different objects on each page, and make certain items move.

For "recess" today, we got to go see the movie Brave at the local discount theater/nickel arcade (the theater plays movies after the initial release period, up to the DVD release.  I love these type of theaters because you can take the whole family for close to the same price as one ticket at a new-release theater!  Only $8 for the three of us!  Plus, the theaters are usually not packed.  This one has an arcade, so if the kids are too cranky for the movie, you can cheer them up with a few nickel games!).  We met up with one of my girlfriends and her 2 1/2year-old son; it was his very first real movie!  The kids loved the movie, but there are a couple scary scenes with a mean bear, which prompted my son to climb in to my lap.

Technology Studies: Typing letters A-Z, plus numbers 0 - 9.  The kids did this lesson together, taking turns who would be able to find and press the requested letter or number key.  [note: my daughter is letting the Unicorn from her pop-up book watch too]

Kindergarten at Home - Day 31 - Presidential Town Hall Debate

Social Studies: Presidential Debate.  Today was the 2012 Town Hall format Presidential Debate.  Although this was not an assignment from the Connections Academy, I feel it is important to start learning about how our country works at a young age.  She knows that the President is Democrat, Barack Obama, and she has heard us talk about Republican Nominee, Mitt Romney.  I also made sure to point out that there are other people we can vote for who were not represented at the Town Hall Debate, such as: Libertarian, Gary Johnson, and Green Party nominee, Jill Stein, and Virgil Goode from the Constitution Party... among others.  I told my daughter about how we get to vote every four years for the President, and that the President may serve two consecutive terms (4 + 4 = 8 years!).  So, Obama can be voted to be President again for 4 more years, or, we can vote a new person to be President if we think Obama (or the current president) didn't do a good job.
She tuned out after about 6 minutes.
Afterwards, we decided to have a debate of our own!  Daddy and the kiddo sat at their mini podeums, while I asked them questions about the important issues, like: "Why do we need to learn how to read?" and, "Should we have candy for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner?"

Then, we read the Bearnstien Bears book "The In Crowd" and I told her that she needs to make her own choices, and not just follow what everyone else is doing, or what you think someone else would do.  In 2008, it was "cool" vote for Barack Obama.  I want her to stand above what is "cool" and make the choice for herself because the candidate represents the issues she believes in. 


Math: Subtraction through eating.  For a snack, I made them fruit and vegetable caterpillars.  We practiced subtration by counting up each of the caterpillar's segments, then I had them eat a certain number and tell me what is left.  We also practiced repeating more complex patterns than in previous days, but I didn't get a picture.

Language Arts: Live Lesson, Dibels Testing & Making Predictions.
We had a Live Lesson today with her teacher online (it works sort of like video conferencing, where all of the students are connected to the teacher and can interact within the virtual classroom).  Her teacher read, "Benny's Pennies" to the whole class, and we did a mini math lesson with the pennies.
After the Live Lesson, my daughter was first on the list to preform her Dibels testing with her teacher over the phone.  Her teacher connected with her over the internet and the telephone to show her letters on the computer and ask her over the phone what sound it makes.  Then, the teacher showed her pictures and asked her which letter-sound the word began with.  This is a required state benchmark test.
Later in the day, we did workbook exercises and practiced making predictions with the book, "I Went Walking."  We went for a walk outside (I forgot my camera) and she made observations about what she saw outside that day.  THE LEAVES ARE FALLING!  Yes, it is officially Fall, and it has been cold and rainy here for most of the last week - booooooo.  So, most of the pictures are taken from our bedroom, where it was warm and cozy!

Kindergarten at Home - Day 29 - Columbus Day Activity

Today was a state-wide Furlough Day, so only one lesson was assigned: to study what it means to take a holiday, or a day off.
Since this week had the Columbus Day holiday, I decided to tell them about Columbus.  The kids did a little art project making pictures of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria from cut-and-paste ship hulls, and hand-drawn masts and sails (I showed them a picture online of what the ships may have looked like).  Then, I showed the kids how to fold paper hats that are similar to an Old World ship captain's hat.  Ahoy, Matey! 
The way I taught my kids about Columbus was different than the way I was taught in school.  I focused on him as a Tradesman and Explorer who was curious and wanted to find better routes across bodies of water, and NOT as the Discoverer of our continent, the way I learned it in Elementary School because this is actually WRONG! He did not make it to mainland North America at all; it was the Bahamas and South America he "discovered," according to Spain.  Later, he also explored more of the Caribbean and South American coast.  He was NOT the first one there, like I had learned in Elementary School - the Vikings had actually already been there before him.  Then, we talked about how the natives had been there for centuries before him, and how he mistakenly called them Indians, because he thought he had landed in India!
Honestly, I don't think Columbus Day should be celebrated as a holiday at all.  I suppose it makes sense to keep it as a retail holiday, since Columbus was in the industry of selling goods and trying to find the best prices around the world.  But to have the day off?  Hmmmmm, doesn't make sense to me.  I think it would make better sense to have an Einstein holiday, or Newton holiday instead.

Kindergarten at Home - Day 28 - Tin Can Telephone (or, Paper Cup Phone!)

Telephone Etiquette.  The assignment for today was to practice talking on the telephone using basic telephone etiquette, and to practice reciting your phone number.  I decided to take it a step further, and made cup-and-string phones after we practiced with real phones (they played with my vintage rotary-style telephone and my modern Bluetooth handset that is a replica of a vintage phone.  I rarely us it - I bought it because I was nostalgic for the way I used to talk on the phone.  It's not hands-free... kinda defeating the purpose of the Bluetooth technology, but hey, it's fun!)

To make the homemade cup phones, we used Kite String and two disposable cups.  First, poke a hole through the center of the bottoms of each cup; then, connect them by feeding each end of the string through each cup (tie a knot at the end after feeding it through the hole in the cup); stand apart, keeping the string taught; then, one person can talk into their cup while the other person listens in their cup!  The sound will follow along the string!
First, we tried a short string, then tried a longer string.  We also tried turning a corner with the string, which does work, but not well.  I'm sure we could play around with it and look it up to see what the best method for keeping the sound on the string while turning a corner would be, but the kids just wanted to play, so I'll save that science lesson for another day after some research.

 Language Arts: Zig-Zagging Zany Zz's, Zealously [while in the] Zone!

Art: What can fit in my pocket?  I had her try to think of different objects that could fit into the pocket she sewed the other day, then to draw them, cut them out, then put the paper version of the object into her pocket.  She decided she should trace each item so that they would be the accurate size.  Later, we played a game where you had to guess what object she was describing that is in her pocket.

Technology Studies: Typing letters on the keyboard - practicing finding and typing N-Z.  Daddy got to help with this one after he got home from work.  [We've been doing school outside this week, so, as you can see, we haven't updated our Days of the Week board behind the computer!]

Kindergarten at Home - Day 27 - Memory

Kindergarten Active Activity: Simon Says, with Patterns!  We went outside and played Simon Says, but we added onto the game by making patterns of movements they had to repeat instead of only doing one command.  Like, "Simon Says: Left hand up, Right hand up, Left leg up, Right leg up" and then they had to repeat that pattern three times in a row.  We added difficulty as they got the hang of the game.

Language Arts: Recalling details from a story.  Practicing listening skills.  We got to do this outside too!  We wanted to get as much outdoor time as possible in today and tomorrow because the rain is coming Friday!

Math and Memory: What's Missing? game.  First, I put shapes out on a tray and had her memorize them in order, then I had her turn around so I could remove one.  While her back was turned, I slid the shapes close together again so that it wouldn't be obvious where the empty hole was.  Then, she had to guess which shape was missing. 

Then, we played the game with multiple objects on the tray, and the kids had to guess which item got taken away.  Oma (grandma) got to do this one with us too.  The kids love when Oma gets to be a part of their lessons!

 Then, my daughter wanted to show me a game she says she made up, where she hid an object under one of three cups, and I had to guess which cup it was under.  Then, I showed her the street-magic game where you put the item under the cup with the other person watching, then mix the cups up to try to follow the object.

Kindergarten at Home - Day 26 - Repeating Patterns

Math: Repeating Patterns.  Both kids enjoyed this activity.  I would create a pattern using connecting cubes, then they were tasked with repeating the pattern.

Art: Sewing a pocket.  We used a simple rectangle of felt and we folded it so it would have a sturdy bottom, then she sewed both sides.  This was an assignment to create a pocket for the activity we'd do tomorrow.

Social Studies: Family and Home.  We made a basic line-drawing family tree, going back to Great Grandparents.  Then, I explained to her how aunts, uncles and cousins are related to us.  Then, she drew a picture of our home and who lives in our household.  She drew a cute picture of the outside of our house, and the four of us humans and our dog are looking out the window, and then our chickens and horse are outside in the yard.

Language Arts: Yielding Your Yy's Youngly, Yet Yearningly.

Kindergarten Activities & Games: Target practice.  Trying to throw a ball into various size "holes".  After she mastered getting the ball into the hole, she had to take three steps back and try again.  [Yes, that is a Cheesehead hat as the middle target!  None of us are official Cheeseheads but the kids love to play with it... it was a souvenir gift from Great Grandpa's trip to Wisconsin]

Kindergarten at Home - Day 25 - Zoo Playdate + Playdough Math

 Had a Playdate at the Zoo today!

We timed it just right and caught the zookeepers feeding and training the Otters!  It was pretty cute to watch because the otters hold their food between their paws in the most adorable way!  The caretakers were training them in a similar way you would with a dog.  They motioned to one side of the pool, and if the otter performed, they got a fish.  Then, they would tap on the water to call the otter forward, and if the otter waited patiently in front of the trainer, they would get a fish.

We got in for free, even though we allowed our zoo membership to lapse, because our friends have a membership that gets guests in for free : )  We really enjoyed our membership because with small kids, it is MUCH more fun to go to the zoo without worrying about seeing everything in one day; you can see a few of the animals, then have a leisurely picnic lunch and play with friends, then see another section of the zoo on the next trip!

Language Arts: Journal Writing.  I explained to my Kindergartner what a journal is, and how it can be great as a memory book, or as a way to write your feelings down on paper.  After showing her that she needs to write the date at the top of the page, I had her dictate to me what she wanted to write in her Journal.  I wrote the letters using a yellow pen, so that my daughter could trace them with her pencil, making her marking the dominate result.  This way, it is easier to see which letters she needs to practice proper formation a little more.   She wrote about her trip to the Zoo today.
Then, we Xactly Xribbled Xx's Xcreaming Xcitedly (ha-ha, I know I cheated there, but each word does have the basic sound X makes! I'm sure I could look up some X words, but I just don't have time right now!)

Math: Addition and Subtraction.  We used play dough to help illustrate the concepts of addition and subtraction visually.  It is easy to see that with addition, you count up everything, and with subtraction, you are taking a certain amount away, and basically counting up what is left.