Aug 17 2009
First Day Down
Well, after a week or more of build up, we have officially started school for the year. Fuller knew we were starting school on the 17th and kept a mental count down, often asking me to tell him again what we were doing on Monday. I also kept a mental count down, just to remind myself to get up and do things that resembled Getting Organized and Being Prepared.
To begin his school day (after morning jobs and breakfast), I presented him with a schultüte. It is essentially a “first day of school” gift- a cone filled with some treats and school supplies of some sort.
I showed him our lesson plans- craft sticks with each subject written on it. They were all stuck in a small plastic container with rice. The container was labeled “to do” and sitting next to a similar container labeled “done.” I modified the idea from Jamin and knew the visual would help Fuller understand we had things to do today, it wasn’t going to be all Legos all the time.
Yes, you can see I included sticks for TV time. This is because Fuller’s TV time has been reduced and having the visual reminder greatly helped him understand once the 4 sticks were in the “done” container, he couldn’t watch any more of “his shows.”
We managed to get through all the sticks in time for quiet time, which was what I was hoping for. We are doing Pre-K, with curriculum cobbled together by me. Fuller is already beyond most of the full Pre-K curriculum I have seen. And we aren’t ready to purchase a full Kindergarten cirriculum, so I’ve been having fun picking out what books and supplies we will use. I’m guided by what I have been researching on Charlotte Mason and the Rule of Six.
Today we managed the following:
Bible Story – we began reading The Jesus Storybook Bible
Copywork – I am using these free create your own tracer pages.
Journal – I ask him a question and write down all he tells me on the subject. Today’s question was “What is school?”
Reading – Fuller is still going through the BOB books
Nature Walk – we took a walk and talked about birds. We both took some pictures and then we journaled it when we got home (I wrote, he drew). I have purchased Beautiful Birds from Shining Dawn Books (recommended by Jimmie) to help me get ideas.
Read Aloud – The Real Mother Goose
In a few weeks I will probably add some art appreciation, Math, and because of our travels we will be talking about geography (it can’t be avoided- teachable moments!). I don’t want to overwhelm Fuller right away and I still need to figure out what I want to accomplish with Math. I’m looking at this Family Math
But, let’s not focus on what I haven’t figured out. Let’s just rejoice we got through our first day and our first born is officially in Pre-K. It’s an exciting time. I can’t wait to see where this adventure takes us.
Technorati Tags: homeschool, first day of school, preschool, pre-k, family education, Charlotte Mason, Rule of Six
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wow! i am so impressed with your organization…. we are doing pre-k with jeremiah but just 3 mornings a week and really it is mostly reading, worksheets, and some activities that i find online. once the weather cools down we will be working in the yard a lot and i figure we can work some “science” in there.
but we read so much that i try to get varied books with all different subjects so that he is exposed to social studies, geography, art, nature, etc. etc.
i figure we are doing pretty well for pre-k….
i love the task stick idea though, that is great.
i also love the rule of 6! thanks for that link. i like to boil things down for simplicity (and sanity) so this is a great tool for me.
i would like to get together with you once you guys are in a good groove and routine.
hope you have a great week!
You are doing a great job. When you taught and are teaching the letters are you doing the sounds of the letters. Sounding out the letters is so rewarding.
Keep up the good work.
Aunt Nita
Love to all
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The sticks are a Great idea!
So visual, so concrete. I’d even love doing that — wash dishes — move to DONE jar. 
I hope you love the NaturExplorers study. I thought the one I used was very well done!
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Is the “Rule of Six” anything like the “Code of Harry”?
I love, love, love the stick idea!!! We may just try that around here with my nine year old son.
I sure hope you enjoy the NaturExplorers birds unit!
Many blessings on your school year.
Cindy
http://OurJourneyWestward.com
http://ShiningDawnBooks.com
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Cindy, thanks for the NaturExplorers fun. The ebook is really amazing and full of great ideas. Looking forward to getting Fuller into the subject.
Harry’s Code is like 20 plus things. I like the simplicity of six.
Thanks Jimmie! The sticks are working well, so far. Hope I can say the same in a few weeks.
Hi Juanita! Fuller knows all the sounds already, but I have noticed he has been sounding the letters out when he writes them. It is so cute!
Sarah- if I’m not organized then I feel like Fuller doesn’t take anything seriously. I’m trying to figure out how many days a week we will do it. I can’t do the MWF thing because our Wednesday will be Moms’ Group starting again in September, so we are finding our way. Glad you like the rule of six, it has really helped me feel like we’ve been doing things all along. I’d love to get together. I’ll send you an email.
What an excellent idea. Mind if I adopt? Thank you for sharing!
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THANK YOU!!!!! for these ideas…I follow Jammin’ also but not recently.
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Christin, I adopted the idea from someone else, so go right ahead! It has really helped my son visualize his tasks and budgeting his TV time.
Hey, I’m happy so many people like the stick ideas. For a 4 year old, it had helped greatly. He remembers what he did at the end of the day better than he has before.
Making Math Meaningful is a wonderful hands on program!! Cornerstone Curriculum or thru Christianbook distributers. Not expensive either!!
I have the Family Math book and love it. Using it with my 5 year old. Also try the I Love Math series by Timelife. Fun, fun books also.
[...] I had tried to start something like this a few months back, but the words just went over Fuller’s head. Fuller is a visual learner, which is why I added the TV sticks to our lesson plans. [...]