Week one: Kindergarten!!!

Woah, wait, did this really happen already?!

So, first week of "kindergarten" with my girl. I wanted to try a week before getting with my CC community - feel out a schedule and see how well the memory work goes for her.

Proverbs 16:3
"Commit thy works into the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."

I love it.

So, first, she surprises me with how well she can memorize stuff - especially if there is a song. No, she won't tell other people what she's learned, but she will say it to me. Over and over again.  

It's the age, their brains right now are geared towards memorizing things - that's how they learn daily communication and behavior skills.  And yes, I am amazed. I am blessed.  She's not perfect, but she's willing to work - or face the consequences.
- yes, I make her work. I'm not a strict task master, I understand her age, lack of focus, and need for movement. However, I do make her complete a section at a time. She needs to learn that sticking with something, even if it's just five minutes, is important.
- Proverbs 12:1 "Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof [is] brutish."
- Proverbs 29:15 "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left [to himself] bringeth his mother to shame."

Enough of that rant.

Our days... Let's see...

CC Memory work covers a wide variety of topics. A timeline of the world (general info), history facts, science facts, English grammar, Latin, Math (formulas, skip counting, etc), geography.... When the children get older, it's up to the parents to expound on this information. For M'ija, I'm just going to take it week by week and see how much she can remember.

Doing the memory work doesn't take long at all - I tend to throw it in when we are doing laundry, cleaning, whatever. Example: She learned four Latin words while helping me hang laundry on the line, and I reviewed them later that day while washing dishes

All the memory stuff I've gone over with her, she's currently got. Oh, I'm sure she will forget some, but really if she retains even one tenth of what she learns this year I'll be thrilled. It's her first year and she is young - I refuse to stress about it.

Next, we work on phonics. Yes, we are doing phonics to help her learn to read. Sight words are good, even necessary to a point, but learning to sound out words is (in my opinion) a very important skill that seems to be lost in modern education.
With learning to read comes learning to write - I'm teaching them together. She's already practiced her alphabet, and while she needs more work I think she does a great job for her age.

We spend... Probably 15-25 minutes on this, depending on how well she is able to focus. She does well with worksheets, flash cards, and a simple story/poem that matches the phonetic lesson. It's a bit of prep work, but not too bad. I found a book I love and works great for her. I kinda hope my youngest can use it too. (Link at the end of my post, and no, I do not get paid for my suggestions.)

We are doing math too - her skills in counting are decent, so while I want to perfect her ability to count to 100, I also decided it was time to teach her basic addition/subtraction.
- I realized this also means she needs to be able to write her numbers... See why I said I'm not an expert at this? Someone who has studied early childhood development or elementary Ed would have been like "Duh, you have to plan x and y in order to accomplish z!"  Me, I'm like, "Ooo, I think you're ready to learn z!  Wait, you should probably be able to do x and y first... Let's learn it together!"
So, her penmanship of numbers is also being taught with her math.

Skip counting is part of the CC curriculum (multiplication tables when the students get older), so we worked on that for two days because she had a bit of trouble understanding the concept. Then, I decided to give her a day break before jumping into addition up to ten.
- Another side note: she had done flash card addition previously and enjoyed it, so I knew she was capable at some level.

Yep, got a mathematically inclined child. Must take after her father there.... I didn't want her to learn addition by counting shapes on paper - we did that a year or so ago. I had to find worksheets online with actual *numbers* for her to add.
She did seven problems on her own, got two wrong, and figured the correct answer herself the second time.
She counts on her fingers, not in her head, but I'm ok with that. Again, she's young and it's her first year doing "school".  I want her to really understand the concept before working on mentally adding and subtracting.

Most importantly, I am teaching her the Bible. Verses to memorize, but also stories. We read from the Bible (we use KJV), and I explain things to her. I summarize what we read in simple words.
We are currently studying the story of Jonah. She's familiar with it, but reading it out of the Bible is different than hearing it in Sunday school or watching VeggieTales. We read chapter one, and I had to explain some of what happened in other words. My child doesn't know what casting lots is, or what the word tempestuous means. It's ok. It gives us a chance to talk - I read and retell, and she asks questions. If she doesn't have a question, I ask her a question about it.
- What's really nice: I've learned a few new things myself.

This pretty much sums up our first real week of dedicating time daily to "school".  Friday, we had a good bit of errands to run, so we didn't get far with our phonics review and didn't have any time for writing or math.

It is ok. I can fit it in Saturday, or just let it wait until Monday. I'm a homeschool mom, school is learning about life, and learning everyday. To be successful in life you learn new things (almost) daily.
It's a daunting responsibility, but also a great liberty.

Will every week be as successful as this week? Probably not.
Again, it is OK.

James 4:13-15
" Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall do this, or that."

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

God bless!!