Monday, August 3, 2009

Pre K Starts Today

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So today is the big day, Kelsie will be 4 in a few short weeks and today she is starting 4 year old Kindergarten (Pre K). 
She won’t be attending a school though, we have opted to home school her.  (yes, Kayla is in public school)  I had previously enrolled Kelsie into the Pre K program at Kayla’s school but truth be told she isn’t ready emotionally, not just yet.  She cries almost on a daily basis about not wanting to grow up!  She pitched one more fit when she found out that she had to go to school.  Zack and I spoke and decided that since it’s not legally binding that a child has to attend school at the age of 4 that I would home school her.  She loves this idea! 
I did my homework that is for sure!  I have found some great resources and compiled a curriculum for August, September, October and November.  Each month is based on a theme, complete with letters from the alphabet, worksheets, coloring, crafts, books, etc.  We are going to be busy! 
She was watching me print up her worksheets tonight (for the whole month of August) and she was begging to do them today!  *smiles*  Let’s hope she keeps this enthusiasm up!  If any of you home school and keep a blog of it I’d love to check it out or if you know of any blogs just leave the links in the comments and I’ll check those out as well. 
I will probably make a list of my home school resources as well as my curriculums here on my blog somewhere.  When and IF I add them I will let y’all know.
August 2009 Pre K Plans
Theme {Farm Animals} Learn uppercase and lowercase letter A – D
Big Alphabet Workbook pages 3, 11, 34 -41, 92 – 99, 150 – 157, 202 – 209, 258 – 261
Kumon Workbook Let’s Sticker and Paste! 4 Pages
Kumon Workbook Let’s Cut Paper! 4 Pages
Work on writing first name
Use daily: Sight Word flash cards, alphabet flashcards and number flashcards
Farm Animal coloring pages (Cow, Pig, Sheep, Duck, Rooster, Chicken, Goat, Horse)
Coloring pages for letter A – D (for alphabet book)
Paint Farm Picture
{Activities} -Place chocolate pudding "mud" in a messy tray and let children use their fingers to write or draw with.
-Cotton Ball sheep- Draw or photocopy a blackline sheep pattern onto grey or black paper, cut out. Then let the children glue on soft white cottonballs.
-Muddy Pigs-Draw a pig pattern onto pink paper and cut out. Allow the children to fingerpaint with chocolate pudding or brown paint.
-Paper Plate Cows-Sponge paint black spots onto the paper plate. Add construction paper ears, nose, and mouth, and eyes ( or wiggly eyes).
-Handprint Chickens- A sensory must! Let the child dip their hand into brown or white paint and press the handprint onto colored paper. Add details (eyes, comb, feet) with q-tips or fingertips.
-Play Little People Farm
{Books} Clifford’s Animal Sounds by Norman
Duck and A Book by David Shannon
Duck and Goose by Tad Hills
The Little Red Hen
Little Quack’s New Friend by Lauren Thompson
A Duck in New York City by Connie Kaldor
Little Quack’s Hide and Seek by Laruen Thompson
A Guest is a Guest by John Himmelman

10 comments:

Kelli said...

That's so cute that she's excited. You look like you have lots planned for her...how fun.

Courtney said...

Sounds like you have really got a good plan going. Look forward to hearing about it. Check out we4bates.blospot.com-My friend Kelli. I know she homeschools. Good luck!

Sherri said...

That's so funny (you know how we usually have something like ESP going on with each other)...I started a homeschooling blog just last night(albeit it's private so far until I get about a month's worth of work into it).
I mainly started it because of Freda thinking Matthew doesn't get enough "socialization" just because he's shy around people that he's never met before...yeah,she really knows what goes on in this family what with her living 300 miles away from us(total sarcasm here:).I'm going to show what all we do with schoolwork as well as our "socializing" with friends,homeschool co-op etc.Maybe pictures would be proof enough for her:)Oh,the pudding idea with practicing letters,you can also do that with dried peas,beans or rice if you don't want to deal with pudding sometimes.

Darlene said...

It sounds like you have really done your research and will do great with homeschooling her. Fun and learning at the same time....perfect!!

Did Kayla end up moving to 5th grade or will she be in 4th? I know you said she was struggling with wanting to do the work. So, I was wondering how it ended up.

Anonymous said...

Yipee!!! We start next Wednesday! awwww the sound of a quiet house. I almost forgot what that feels like~

Jo said...

A great book to go with your sheep project is Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw. My dtr did it when she was in pre school

Beth in NC said...

Oh how sweet. I'm sure you both will do a great job! Trust me, I am not looking forward to sending my baby to preschool next month. It is only from 9am to 12pm 3 days a week, but waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

I pray God will bless this year with your sweet daughter!

Heatherlyn said...

Wow! Pre-K is starting already! I'm still relishing one last month of summer. My little guy will be in a preschool coop in the fall. I just didn't feel like driving anywhere twice a day twice a week, and the kids in his coop will also go to school with him. It sounds like you have a lot of fun things planned!

Shannon said...

Sounds like a good plan! Have fun!

Anonymous said...

So how's school going? Hope she likes her teacher..smiles~