Sometimes doing school with my two Kindergarteners is magical. On those days, I love having a preset time to engage in the wonderful world of childhood with them. I can see how happy and alive they are, which does my mother heart good.
Sometimes, it's just so blah. I don't want to do it. I really felt like that this month. Which is embarrassing to admit, because I felt like that last month, too.
Fortunately, the kids spent two weeks doing school at my neighbor's house. And I could tell that it was magical for her this month. So at least my kids were with a positive teacher 50% of the time.
In Kindergarten
The Snowman - My unit for this month centered around a very simple story that I made up. The story encodes the steps for snowman creation. I thought that we would be able to make a snowman on one of our walks this month but there was no snow on the ground all month long! It has been an unseasonably warm winter. Luckily, a neighbor made us a faux snowman kit for Valentine's Day so we used that instead to craft room-temperature mini snowmen on our kitchen table. I also intended to make snowball cookies (Russian teacakes) for this unit but didn't. What we did do was make snowman pictures out of marshmallows. Soren's friend, Thomas, did that in December at public school and Soren has wanted to do it ever since then. So at least we are keeping up to the public school system, even if I had plans for so much more. To go with our snowman unit, during Circle Time I shared a few nursery rhymes about cold weather ("Warm Hands, Warm" and "When Silver Bells Turn Cockle Shells"). We also sang the song "Once There Was a Snowman".
Anton Treetop - Megan shared with the kids a story from Finland about a boy named Anton Treetop. I had never heard it before, so I asked Carl to tell it to me. This was his summary:
"There are two old men and they knock on the door of a barn and the farmer says that the fur merchant has taken the only room but they could sleep out in the barn. So they slept out in the barn but they were awoken by the fur merchant's eighth child. One of the two old men said something to the other one. And the fur merchant had also been woken up by the baby and had already gone outside. He overheard the two old men and he said, 'No dares! I will make sure that this baby never inherits my fortunes!" The next day, the fur merchant, pretending to be nice and he said to the mother, 'I could have your child. My wife has already had a child. It wouldn't make any trouble to her.' But the father and the mother were so sad. They loved their baby. But they knew that they were also very poor and they didn't have enough food. So they sent their baby to the fur merchant and the fur merchant rode off on his horse. And he rode and rode until he came to a forest with tall trees. And he tied the baby to one of the tall trees and he rode off, laughing. Ha. Ha. Ha. But then a woodcutter came. He saw the baby up in the tree and he said, 'Oh my! A baby is up in that tree!' And he took the baby down and raised him as his own son. And the fur merchant comes to the woodcutter's house and he says something to the woodcutter and Anton delivers a message to the fur merchant family. And then while Anton was sleeping, two old men passed by. They saw the letter and said, 'Hm. I wonder what that letter is in his hand.' So they took the letter and they read it. 'Dear People of the Village, Please take this baby and send him into slavery far, far away.' They said, 'Well, that's not a very nice letter.' So they threw the letter away in the trash and they played a joke on the fur merchant. They wrote a new letter that said, 'Dear wife, please marry this nice old man as soon as possible. The wedding must take place before I get home.' And they slipped it into Anton's hands. When Anton returned to the fur merchant's house, he gave the letter to the fur merchant's daughter. The fur merchant read the letter and said 'Oh my, we must have a wedding!' So they got together and kissed each other and were married. Soon the fur merchant came home. When he came home, he was furious! And he said, 'Anton, now that you are in my family, will you show love to my daughter by going to ask Queen Loki what makes a man happiest?' Anton was very sad but he set off. He rides through swamps until he comes to a fruit rod where he sees a giant. And the giant says, 'Where are you going?' Anton said, 'I am going to Queen Loki to ask her what in the world makes a man happiest?' 'While you are there, will you please ask her why my food is rotting?' Then he saw another giant who was knocking on the door of a castle. And the giant said, 'Where are you going so far north?' Anton said that he was going to Queen Loki to ask her what in the world makes a man happiest. And then he found the third giant who was up in a tree and roasting a moose and he said 'Are you hungry?' and Anton said he was very hungry. So they both shared a nice, hot meal. And after the meal Anton told him about his journey and the third giant says, 'While you are there could you ask her how I can get out of this tree?' Soon he came to a river where a fairy woman was standing at the start. And she said, 'What are you doing so far north?' And Anton said, 'Oh, I am going to Queen Loki to ask her what in the world makes a man happiest.' And the fairy woman said, "While you are there could you please ask her how I can stop doing my job? I have been doing this for four years and I don't like it.' Anton said he would. When he got to the other side of the river, he saw the house of Queen Loki. So he knocked on the door. No answer. So he tried the door. Inside he saw a woman and he said, 'Are you Queen Loki?' And she said, 'No. I am not. But I am her daughter.' And she said, 'What are you here for?' 'I just wanted to ask Queen Loki some questions.' And when she was done with the questions, Queen Loki's daughter said something to Anton and Anton was so scared but Queen Loki's daughter said, 'Don't worry. Hide behind the stove and when my mother gets back I will ask her all the questions and you will return home safely.' And so Anton hid behind the stove when Queen Loki came back. Queen Loki's daughter told her all the questions and then Anton rode home safely. First he found the fairy woman. The fairy woman paddle him across. The fairy woman said, 'Have you got my answer? Has she told you how I can stop doing my job?' And Anton said, 'Yes. When you find another passenger, you should paddle him across but when you get to the other bank you should get out first and say ha! now you have to be the fairy man and run off.' So, next he found the giant who was up in the tree and he said, 'Have you got my answers?' And Anton said, 'Yes. How you should get out of the tree is you touch a branch to the trunk and then all the branches will turn to gold and you will fall out.' So the giant did it. And he was so happy that he gave Anton some golden branches--a lot of golden branches--but Anton only took a few twigs. Next he found the giant who was banging on the door still. He said, 'Have you got my answers? Has Queen Loki asked you how I can find my keys?' 'Yes! They're under your doormat!' He looked under his doormat and he found them. How silly was he! He was so happy, that he gave him bags of as much treasure as he could hold. Next Anton found the orchard and the giant who was in the orchard said, 'Have you got my answers?' 'Yes, there is a worm in your garden and you must squish it.' And then his fruit stopped rotting! He was so happy that he gave him his finest horse! When the fur merchant saw this, he was furious! And he said, 'Have you got my answers?' And he said, 'Yes!' And the fur merchant was furious! Not only did he come home with treasures and his horse but also he came home with his answers! Then, he went to Queen Loki. But when he got to the fairy woman, the fairy woman paddled him across but when they got to the other bank, the fairy woman jumped out of the boat first and said, 'Ha! Now you have to be the fairy man!' and got off. So the fur merchant did the rest of his life being the fairy man but Anton and the fur merchant's wife lived happily ever after. That's the end of the story."
Sometimes, it's just so blah. I don't want to do it. I really felt like that this month. Which is embarrassing to admit, because I felt like that last month, too.
Fortunately, the kids spent two weeks doing school at my neighbor's house. And I could tell that it was magical for her this month. So at least my kids were with a positive teacher 50% of the time.
In Kindergarten
Anton Treetop - Megan shared with the kids a story from Finland about a boy named Anton Treetop. I had never heard it before, so I asked Carl to tell it to me. This was his summary:
"There are two old men and they knock on the door of a barn and the farmer says that the fur merchant has taken the only room but they could sleep out in the barn. So they slept out in the barn but they were awoken by the fur merchant's eighth child. One of the two old men said something to the other one. And the fur merchant had also been woken up by the baby and had already gone outside. He overheard the two old men and he said, 'No dares! I will make sure that this baby never inherits my fortunes!" The next day, the fur merchant, pretending to be nice and he said to the mother, 'I could have your child. My wife has already had a child. It wouldn't make any trouble to her.' But the father and the mother were so sad. They loved their baby. But they knew that they were also very poor and they didn't have enough food. So they sent their baby to the fur merchant and the fur merchant rode off on his horse. And he rode and rode until he came to a forest with tall trees. And he tied the baby to one of the tall trees and he rode off, laughing. Ha. Ha. Ha. But then a woodcutter came. He saw the baby up in the tree and he said, 'Oh my! A baby is up in that tree!' And he took the baby down and raised him as his own son. And the fur merchant comes to the woodcutter's house and he says something to the woodcutter and Anton delivers a message to the fur merchant family. And then while Anton was sleeping, two old men passed by. They saw the letter and said, 'Hm. I wonder what that letter is in his hand.' So they took the letter and they read it. 'Dear People of the Village, Please take this baby and send him into slavery far, far away.' They said, 'Well, that's not a very nice letter.' So they threw the letter away in the trash and they played a joke on the fur merchant. They wrote a new letter that said, 'Dear wife, please marry this nice old man as soon as possible. The wedding must take place before I get home.' And they slipped it into Anton's hands. When Anton returned to the fur merchant's house, he gave the letter to the fur merchant's daughter. The fur merchant read the letter and said 'Oh my, we must have a wedding!' So they got together and kissed each other and were married. Soon the fur merchant came home. When he came home, he was furious! And he said, 'Anton, now that you are in my family, will you show love to my daughter by going to ask Queen Loki what makes a man happiest?' Anton was very sad but he set off. He rides through swamps until he comes to a fruit rod where he sees a giant. And the giant says, 'Where are you going?' Anton said, 'I am going to Queen Loki to ask her what in the world makes a man happiest?' 'While you are there, will you please ask her why my food is rotting?' Then he saw another giant who was knocking on the door of a castle. And the giant said, 'Where are you going so far north?' Anton said that he was going to Queen Loki to ask her what in the world makes a man happiest. And then he found the third giant who was up in a tree and roasting a moose and he said 'Are you hungry?' and Anton said he was very hungry. So they both shared a nice, hot meal. And after the meal Anton told him about his journey and the third giant says, 'While you are there could you ask her how I can get out of this tree?' Soon he came to a river where a fairy woman was standing at the start. And she said, 'What are you doing so far north?' And Anton said, 'Oh, I am going to Queen Loki to ask her what in the world makes a man happiest.' And the fairy woman said, "While you are there could you please ask her how I can stop doing my job? I have been doing this for four years and I don't like it.' Anton said he would. When he got to the other side of the river, he saw the house of Queen Loki. So he knocked on the door. No answer. So he tried the door. Inside he saw a woman and he said, 'Are you Queen Loki?' And she said, 'No. I am not. But I am her daughter.' And she said, 'What are you here for?' 'I just wanted to ask Queen Loki some questions.' And when she was done with the questions, Queen Loki's daughter said something to Anton and Anton was so scared but Queen Loki's daughter said, 'Don't worry. Hide behind the stove and when my mother gets back I will ask her all the questions and you will return home safely.' And so Anton hid behind the stove when Queen Loki came back. Queen Loki's daughter told her all the questions and then Anton rode home safely. First he found the fairy woman. The fairy woman paddle him across. The fairy woman said, 'Have you got my answer? Has she told you how I can stop doing my job?' And Anton said, 'Yes. When you find another passenger, you should paddle him across but when you get to the other bank you should get out first and say ha! now you have to be the fairy man and run off.' So, next he found the giant who was up in the tree and he said, 'Have you got my answers?' And Anton said, 'Yes. How you should get out of the tree is you touch a branch to the trunk and then all the branches will turn to gold and you will fall out.' So the giant did it. And he was so happy that he gave Anton some golden branches--a lot of golden branches--but Anton only took a few twigs. Next he found the giant who was banging on the door still. He said, 'Have you got my answers? Has Queen Loki asked you how I can find my keys?' 'Yes! They're under your doormat!' He looked under his doormat and he found them. How silly was he! He was so happy, that he gave him bags of as much treasure as he could hold. Next Anton found the orchard and the giant who was in the orchard said, 'Have you got my answers?' 'Yes, there is a worm in your garden and you must squish it.' And then his fruit stopped rotting! He was so happy that he gave him his finest horse! When the fur merchant saw this, he was furious! And he said, 'Have you got my answers?' And he said, 'Yes!' And the fur merchant was furious! Not only did he come home with treasures and his horse but also he came home with his answers! Then, he went to Queen Loki. But when he got to the fairy woman, the fairy woman paddled him across but when they got to the other bank, the fairy woman jumped out of the boat first and said, 'Ha! Now you have to be the fairy man!' and got off. So the fur merchant did the rest of his life being the fairy man but Anton and the fur merchant's wife lived happily ever after. That's the end of the story."
Comments
Wow, that is a long story for Carl to remember.