Poetry memory work

If you have a reluctant writer and/or reader. You might be able to reach them through Poetry. This has been one way to get little Moonbeam to do copywork with minimal complaints. She has a a keen skill for memorization which will help her so much later in life. When we first discussed Poetry 2 years ago at the end of Kindergarten I was shocked I could still recite Paul Revers Ride from 3rd grade, but ask me what I had for breakfast forget it.

So little Moonbeam has a few poems stored in her memory and this week we are adding

Manners By. Florence A. Richardson

Water and soap will make you sweet;
Brush and comb will keep you neat
But "Thank you," "Please," and "Pardon me,"
Will make a sweeter child of thee.

With clothes that have no spot or rent,
With shoes that shine, be not content,
But polish up your manners, too;
Make courtesy a part of you.

We have a schedule for learning our poetry as follows,

Mondays We review/recite last weeks poem and I read this weeks poem to her twice then we read it together a third time.

Tuesdays Again I read the poem twice and we read it together once then we do the copy work. I use Worksheetworks.com I title the page the same as the poem and set it to have a space between so not only does she trace the words in the poem she is re writing them too.

Wednesday We do the say recite/ say together and, we start making a lapbook for the poem.
some poems its easier to find things to use in a lap book. I let Moonbeam decorate the front of the lapbook and we staple our copy work to the wide center part then use the smaller sides to put a typed copy of the poem, colored images for example for this poem I might print out some clothes and combs for her to color. Sometimes we even use things she has cut from magazines or newspapers.

Thursdays Again we use the same recite twice, together once, and then finish up our lapbook.

Friday 98% of the time she is ready to recite alone and we choose next weeks poem.

This method has worked well for her and I.

Getting ready for Kindy...

Looking at Homeschooling curriculum is sometimes enough to make your head spin. This first year is so critical that you don't want to make mistakes (but you will, and you'll fix and tweak it a bunch). I guess this is why so many of us second guess ourselves so many times. I belong to a few homeschooling groups and forums and sometimes I see these long lists of what folks are doing with their kindy kids and I scream a little on the inside. I don't know if it is because I wish I could or because I am thinking your kidding me right? I personally firmly believe that kindy is all about the 3 R's and anything else is just the icing on the cake. My youngest is going to start kindy this summer (we school year round) She is not yet at the age where I even have to report her "schooling" I have 2 years for that. Now by the standards of Public Schools she wouldn't be of age to start kindy for another year.

With that said when you have a 4 year old who begs to "do school" already knows all her numbers, colors, shapes, and letters by sight and sound. It is time to go in my opinion. The biggest issue I see coming down the pike is that her handwriting is just not there yet, and nor is she very excited about trying very hard.

As far as choosing a curriculum goes for kindy its not as hard as some make it out to be. If your a "seasoned" Homeschooling mom chances are you have tried a few things already.

#1 for me is choosing a strong phonics program. There are many to choose from. I personally didn't like   "How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" I found it boring, my daughter didn't like and dreaded every time I pulled it out. Funny thing is I kept it just in case the next child in line would like it.
Seeing as my youngest is only 4 most of our phonics will be online or dvds. My children seem to respond better to this type of learning for phonics. Starfall.com is fantastic and we also have a membership to ClickNKids.com and let us not forget the wonderful leap frog dvds.

#2 Is handwriting. This is easy enough to do with out a fancy program. I know many folks love handwriting with out tears. I am sure its a wonderful program and I do like some of their concepts I just cant seem to shell out the cash for something I can do for free. So many handwriting generators, free worksheets, and resources on letter formation. I like the Zaner-Blosser style of writing, not a fan of some of the other styles.

#3 is Math. Math is pretty fun at this age. Lots of manipulative's, coloring, and so many games. It's another subject that you can pretty much do for free at a young age. We will be using MEP reception which is free in pdf form. We may decide later on to add in something to supplement with.

As I said everything else is the icing on the cake. We will do plenty of read-a-longs, she will sit in with her sisters on SOTW 2 just as she has sat in for much of SOTW1 this year. She will also sit in on Science, Art and Music. I'm not expecting her full cooperation by any means but hoping she matures more this coming year and is more willing to let me be the teacher lol.