What a great day, short, but still good. I learned a lot from this day and am hoping that the kids learned a lot too. To start off with the Dahlstroms picked Kali and Anyssa up around 8:15 in their VBus (ha ha, van dressed as a bus). The girls LOVED it! I wish I had pics to post but I could not find our camera and Joe has no idea where it is as well. NOT happy about that...but Mr. Dahlstrom drove the kids over to Heather's and she got some pics of them for me (thank you Heather, Love ya, AND thank you Elizabeth for calling her and asking her to take some pics of the girls) . Nia was not too happy that she could not ride in the school bus so I took her for a walk while we waited for the VBus to drop Kali and Anyssa back off at home school. I had not yet eaten so when the girls got back we sat at the table while I ate and discussed why we give thanks to God and read a verse from the bible (psalm 107:1) "give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His love endures forever". We than went around and took turns giving thanks to Him for different things He has done for us, or given us. Our story today during bible time also represented giving thanks to God for even the bad things because He works those bad pieces of ugly material (our bad experiences) in with the beautiful pieces to make a whole beautiful quilt. Something we don't see when we are just always looking at the ugly.
We then headed upstairs to our classroom and had a great time doing our circle time/bible time. The kids NEED to get to bed earlier though, Anyssa was not enjoying the time as much as Kali, and I believe it had a lot to do with the fact that she did not get as much sleep as she needed. Kali on the other hand LOVED every second of it. We made it through to about 10:30 - 11:00, ahead of schedule on our subjects, when I could tell Anyssa just couldn't do it anymore. It's not that you had to really pay attention to catch the signs, she was very, visually and verbally displaying her discontent for about an hour. I finally released her and continued to work with Kali on letter recognition and sounds. Then we just had to end the day on that note. Kali wanted to keep going, but I had to gert ready for my appointment at 2:00 in Grand Rapids and Nia was notibally not happy that I wasn't giving her the attention she wanted. We will continue in Kali's math lesson later tonight with daddy when he get's home. I have the calendar all set for her and daddy to work on..
I'm thinking that I will work with Kali and Anyssa during different times. We'll still do circle/bible time together, but then I will dismiss Anyssa and work with Kali while Anyssa and Nia play together. During Nia's nap time I will work with Anyssa while Kali continues in her work. I have to remind myself that Anyssa and Kali are at different levels and I can't expect Anyssa to do what Kali is doing in matters of time and lessons. So I'm gonna revamp that one. Need to add more projects in as well. Kali just was not happy that she was not able to do a project. Work in progress is all I can say. All in all though, it was a VERY productive and enjoyable day with the girls. Just some niches to work out.
Oh and hey, I was able to sweep and mop the kitchen floor and give Nia a bath all before my appointment. That's productive, right?? lol
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sounds like a great day, all around, angela!:)
ReplyDeletepreschoolers and first graders ARE at VERY different levels... TERRIFIC idea to teach them separately (this is why i don't understand how teachers in any school system handle more than 1 grade at a time!)... also, remember that preschoolers and most kindergarteners are not really ready for that much 'sitting' and/or 'desk' time... they are still in discovery learning and NEED that play time :) so that will be great for her to play with nia while you do the more 'lessony' stuff with kali :) It will be plenty for Anyssa to get the Bible/singing and phonics (and maybe projects) with you guys! The rest she needs to learn can all be done through just playing and daily conversations with her! she's only 4! :) you're doing great, lady! keep up the good work!!! :) <3 love ya!!!
thanks Elizabeth! takes a load off myself...any ideas you have would really help. I'll keep working with her on her phonics in more of an informal setting. I DO want her to love learning, and although yesterday was just the first day she did not seem to enjoy it at all.
ReplyDeleteWhat you said, is just right... keep it informal with Anyssa. Kali is at the age, where formal is better in a lot of cases. Anyssa is still 4. Play games of all kinds... memory is a great one (can do memory games with anything--letters, numbers, colors, pictures,etc.)...i'll look into my 'resources' for some fun phonics games! if she seems to not be liking things at all...let her chose an activity (playing alone, playing a game with you and/or kali & nia, coloring, etc.)...give her a 3-step 'schedule' to start... tell her 'first we will have circle time, second we will work on our phonics, third you will get to chose something you would like to play'... ending with her choice is kindof like a reward for her doing 'your choice'..make sense? without a schedule, kids get frustrated, and with too long of a schedule they get frustrated... so doing 'steps' like this, helps! :) just a suggestion... do what works for you and the girls! you're doing great!
ReplyDeletethat is an AWESOME idea! I will try the steps schedule with her. I think she'll like being able to make a choice. And thank you again for your helpful tips. It is VERY helpful! <3
ReplyDeleteLove ya! :) how did today go??
ReplyDeleteIt was good...took it easy b/c I was trying to check out a new system for Anyssa..so it was more informal..but got a lot accomplished and felt good about it. Tomorrow will be more scheduled for Kali and I'm gonna try that 3 step with Anyssa...she's REALLY enjoying the games I played with her today for her letters, numbers, shapes and colors. So I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Oh and I got a great idea from that web site I listed for you to do with Kali. I am going to try to incorporate that into her lessons, the scrapbooking. She should LOVE it. She worked on a friendship letter for Kendyl today and I put it in the mail so Kendyl has some mail coming. :)
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