I have thinking a lot about what I should post this month. I thought about posting and pretending that everything had gone according to plan. I thought about posting and leaving out the slacker bits. I also thought about not posting at all.
I decided that honesty was the best policy.
So here's the honest truth: I just didn't want to do it this month. So I didn't.
We had an awesome one-week long unit to start the month. Then we had a very, very long spring break.
Part of the problem was that my neighbor went on vacation. And I went on vacation. And there was some time in between when neither of us had a lot of gumption. And since I didn't have any kids but my own to teach for most of the month, it was very easy for me to opt out.
This is worrisome. I cannot let this kind of thing happen next year when Soren is doing first grade.
Don't you want to know what I was doing while the kids were running free range? I was writing a novel. It's pretty cool. But I'm having a very hard time finding the balance I desperately need if this is going to continue. Because I can't spend all day writing and admiring my writing. If I do that, I won't have time for my regular household responsibilities, not to mention homeschool.
May is a new month. And it's he last month of our homeschool year. I am going to finish strong.
In Kindergarten
I decided that honesty was the best policy.
So here's the honest truth: I just didn't want to do it this month. So I didn't.
We had an awesome one-week long unit to start the month. Then we had a very, very long spring break.
Part of the problem was that my neighbor went on vacation. And I went on vacation. And there was some time in between when neither of us had a lot of gumption. And since I didn't have any kids but my own to teach for most of the month, it was very easy for me to opt out.
This is worrisome. I cannot let this kind of thing happen next year when Soren is doing first grade.
Don't you want to know what I was doing while the kids were running free range? I was writing a novel. It's pretty cool. But I'm having a very hard time finding the balance I desperately need if this is going to continue. Because I can't spend all day writing and admiring my writing. If I do that, I won't have time for my regular household responsibilities, not to mention homeschool.
May is a new month. And it's he last month of our homeschool year. I am going to finish strong.
In Kindergarten
The Selfish Giant - I love this story by Oscar Wilde and I thought it would be perfect to prepare the kids for Easter. I won't spoil it for you but I will say that it features all the right things for a Kindergarten story: lots of seasonal details, fantasy elements, and an overtly Christian allegory. I paired this story with a fun circle game to celebrate springtime. The kids took turns wearing a green cape and floral crown and dancing around our circle as the personification of springtime. I made sure to invite all the little girls in our neighborhood for this unit, which was a fun change from our all-boy class. For nursery rhymes I used "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" and "Round and Round the Garden". We also sang "For the Beauty of the Earth". If I had been thinking ahead, we would have learned "Christ the Lord is Risen Today".
The Nest of Gold and Willie and the Oriole - I did do Kindergarten two other times this month and I chose a different story for each of those Circle Times. Both stories were about birds (a robin and an oriole) making nests, which seemed appropriate for the season. After telling the stories, I showed the boys pictures of the birds on the internet and we listened to their calls. Soren was especially excited about the bird call recordings.
The Nest of Gold and Willie and the Oriole - I did do Kindergarten two other times this month and I chose a different story for each of those Circle Times. Both stories were about birds (a robin and an oriole) making nests, which seemed appropriate for the season. After telling the stories, I showed the boys pictures of the birds on the internet and we listened to their calls. Soren was especially excited about the bird call recordings.
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