MFW Kindergarten - Tt is for Turtle

This week we studied:

Unit 6 of MFW

Printables pictured are from MFW  unless otherwise mentioned.

Theme:

Turtles

Words to Remember:

I do not quit.  I persevere.

You can read about our curriculum choice and organization HERE.

We've been doing our kindergarten since JZ turned five in June.  In August he "officially" started kindergarten.  We are homeschooling through a public charter, so even though his learning takes place at home he is technically enrolled in a school.  As the children of friends from all over the country started school I enjoyed seeing their first day of school photos on Facebook.  A good friend suggested that I take a photo of my boys in their jammies at Starbucks, so we did!  To kick off the official first week of school we made a Starbucks run in our jammies.  While I normally don't suggest sugaring your kids up before doing school work, this memory was priceless and will most likely become a tradition.

This unit was all about turtles with a focus on the letter T.

We did a fun turtle craft.  Keep in mind that we focus on the process of art, not the end product.  The boys painted paper plates green to represent the shell of a turtle.  We left the paint to dry while we did other work.  Once dry we glued the paper plates to a sheet of paper, and JZ (5) and J-Bug (3) drew their turtle's head and legs.  They both chose blue crayons to draw.  J-Bug kept his turtle realistic.  JZ exercised a bit of creative freedom.  He said his was a "turtle alien".  The final touch was googly eyes.  My boys think all crafts should have googly eyes.

I wrote the numbers 1-20 on post it notes and put them in random order on our wall.  I kept 1-10 in the top row and 2-20 in the bottom row.  JZ put the numbers in numerical order.  The post its did not stick well to the wall, and it was a bit frustrating for JZ.  We did this same exercise in our next unit, but the next time we did it I put the post its on our DIY magnetic board.  

JZ has grown accustomed to our units including a themed snack.  One day he asked where our turtle snack was.  I didn't have anything planned, so I asked him what he thought we should use.  He suggested bread and carrots.  I suggested the peanut butter and raisins.  If you are interested in making the snack more realistic I would suggest using celery since it is green.  I didn't want to steer him away from his ideas, so we stuck to what JZ picked out.

The theme for the week was perseverance.  We read The Tortoise and the Hare then played a game to demonstrate perseverance.  Using jump ropes as starting and finishing lines we raced.  After a couple of runs I gave the boys two stepping domes each, one for each hand.  I instructed them to run with the domes in their hands.  The next time we added a ball to each dome.  I told them they couldn't drop the balls, so while it was still a race they had to go a little slower and stay steady.

We continued to add balls to the domes, one at a time, until the boys had no choice but to walk slowly to the finish line.  A few times they dropped a ball or two.  I used the game to show them how even when something seems too hard, if they stay focused and keep at it, they can finish strong.  J-Bug was not particularly fond of this game.  He doesn't like when activities are hard.  It was good for him.  JZ loves a good challenge and he kept coming up with suggestions for making the game more difficult.  Long after J-Bug dropped out of the game, JZ continued to give me directions to play,

We started All About Reading level one.  So far it has mostly been review for JZ, and that has been a blessing.  Reading is fun for him, and while I want him to continue to learn I also know he isn't quite ready to be pushed.  I want to keep it fun for him, so he looks forward to reading and doesn't get burned out.  He loves the letter tiles and enjoys making words with them.  He is reading through Run, Bug, Run the first book in the program.  He requests to read through it often, and when I recently asked him what he favorite book was he said Run, Bug, Run.  While it's an easy reader consisting of CVC words, the stories are engaging and entertaining and keep his interest.

When we first started AAR we didn't yet have our magnetic board put together, so we did the lessons on a table.  This worked just fine, but it is much easier now that we have our magnetic board.  Setting up the letters for each lesson certainly wasn't hard, but it took time.  I love having it set up and ready to go on our magnetic board without any prep needed.

Please note the Tt and turtle cards are part of My Father's World, not All About Reading.

We also did an Egg Carton Turtle Craft.

For more craft, learning and play ideas with a turtle theme visit my Pinterest board Tt - Turtle.

Turtle Books:

More kindergarten ideas:

• Ss Sun
• Mm Moon
• Ll Leaf
• Aa Apple
• Nn Nest