Homeschool update: Lydie's mid-year kindergarten update

I teach kindergarten to Lydie four days a week, with Wednesday being our day off. On Wednesdays we drop the boys off at their hybrid school and then enjoy 9:00-2:00 together in Birmingham. We usually spend from 9:00-10:30 at Bible study, each with our own friends. We ALWAYS eat lunch out at the restaurant of her choice, sometimes with family (often with Aunt Chelle and Greyce!). Sometimes we visit Nana, especially if she is under the weather or has a doctor's appointment/chemo treatment. Sometimes I have a doctor's appointment and she tags along and charms all the nurses and doctors. But mostly, we shop and eat lunch together for the rest of the day. She loves boutiques, antique markets, and Target as much as I do! Wednesdays are super fun and I can tell they fill up her little love tank (and mine, too!). On the other four days here is what her morning looks like:

::Morning Routine::

Breakfast and chores: Lydie is in charge of emptying the trash cans in around the house and making her bed/cleaning her room. She dresses herself and brushes her teeth. She also clears the breakfast dishes and cleans the table and sometimes floor. Then all the kids do a list of exercises Andy came up with: 30 push-ups, 30 sit-ups, jumping jacks, wheelbarrow walk up the halls, etc.

Devotion and prayer: We read from one of Susan Hunt's children's devotions. We memorized verses the first half of the year. Now we are working on catechism questions.

Fine Motor Skills activity: She plays with pegs, play dough, lacing, beading, puzzles, legos, etc. while I get the boys started on their work.

Calendar time: We review counting to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s, shapes, patterns, dates, days of the week, months of the year, her address, phone #, birthday, emergency 911 #, left/right, coins, ordinal numbers, and holidays.

Singing time: We sing 3 or 4 songs from the Wee Sing series. The singing includes dancing and instruments usually. She loves all of the old classics...Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush, If You're Happy and You Know It, etc. She also works on memorizing a short poem at this time.

Extra practice: Each school day I use the dry-erase board with Lydie. I write letters and numbers and she identifies the name (and sound for letters). I write a group of capital letters and lower case letters and she draws a line to match the pair. I make patterns with letters and numbers and she solves riddles. I write three and four letter words for her to sound out and review sight words. Then we do 3 or 4 Brain Quest K cards.

Math: Horizons K worksheet

Phonics and Handwriting: Horizons K or Spectrum Phonics K worksheet

Her signature in September...

and her signature in December.

Reading: Bob books or Starfall readers.

Units (Read-Aloud, Science/History and Art): I read a book aloud, based on a seasonal/history/science theme and we do an art project to go along with it. Sometimes instead of an art project she will ask to just look at an illustration from the book and try to paint or draw it. I love when she does that! Here are a few of her snowy-themed art projects:

Our favorite winter read-alouds this month have been: Max and Mo Make a Snowman, The Biggest, Best Snowman, A Little Bit of Winter, Winter Tale, and A Winter Walk.

Biggest strides:

~Reading three and four letter words much more quickly, still sounding them out, but much more fluently and recognizing some words without having to sound them out.

~In math, she is counting to 100 well, identifies most numbers to 100, very good at patterns and calendar skills, has memorized her phone number and address, is adding, and is beginning to count coins and tell simple time.

~Her handwriting has matured enormously.

Lydie is easy and fun to teach because she is SO enamored with learning! Her enthusiasm makes for a fun morning, which is such a blessing because I expect a lot out of her. I am looking at her school table now, covered in rocks and clay. She studies those rocks from our gravel driveway with a magnifying glass for fun. And the clay mess is from a clay bowl she made and colored "just for decoration". Everyone needs a pretty bowl for their school table, right? She has drawings and ribbons taped everywhere, even on the blinds above her school table. It's so endearing!