Report Card : The First Week

We're ending our first official week of homeschool! We've managed to accomplish a lot this week.

This week has been a week of finding the best ways to introduce structured learning to our little one.  At this point in time a lot of the curriculum goals are things that can be learned in everyday living (finding colors, shapes, sizes, ect), but we also want our little duck to understand scheduling and the importance of having some structured assignments, so we've been working regularly out of the Success in Preschool workbook (by MEAD) as well as doing tracing and other fun activities.

This week our little Duck learned the capital and lowercase "A". She reviewed counting numbers 1-10, basic colors, shapes and sizes. We also introduced her to the process of writing both numbers and letters.  Our writing exercises involve a mixture of  tracing and coloring in the workbook and on worksheets (tracers) that we have made. If you prefer you can easily make your own "tracers" by using a highlighter to write the letter/number on the paper. We've found that our tiny duck loves the bright colors from the highlighters and that they hold her attention longer than if we just wrote in pen. Once you've written the letter/number and shown it to your little one, let them have the pencil (we are letting her use mechanical pencils but you can use whatever makes you and your little one comfortable) and help them to trace the item you've written. When our little one is working on a letter we have her tell us about the letter (is it a capital or lower case letter? what sound does it make?what are some words the letter is used for?). Once she was able to trace on the lines we provided her pages with dotted lines which allowed her to write the same item she had learned and traced by connecting the dots.  We also did exercises that involved grouping items by color, size, and shape. Grouping can be taught with almost anything, however this week we used candy and coins.

                   
As far as motor skills. This weeks big accomplishment is that our little duck mastered the correct way to hold her pencil and learned to use scissors. She really enjoyed learning how to do both but favored the activities involving the scissors. She seems to be a crafty one ;) Just like my husband when she's concentrating she sticks her little tongue out, which resulted in one of my favorite photos of the week. :)
 

 

My hubby and I have learned (and rather fast) that keeping the attention of a four year old on any given subject is difficult, especially if it is one they struggle with. Encouragement is key, especially with the subjects your little one seems to have problems with. What we are learning the most is to slow down and have a lot of patience. It's not a race and she doesn't need to learn everything today. 

My absolute favorite thing about homeschooling so far is the pure excitement and joy she gets when she masters something or the minute it clicks together in her mind. It's an absolutely amazing process to witness and be a part of and I thank God for it!

Okay to sum it up this week she learned:
The capital and lower case A
Writing numbers 1-3
How to cut on a straight line
How to hold her pencil correctly

She reviewed: 
Numbers 1-10
Basic Colors (Blue, yellow, black, white, grey, purple, pink, orange, and green)
Basic Shapes (Circle, square, rectangle, heart, diamond, and Triangle.
Sizes: Small, Large, Tall, Short, wide, and long

We (the parents) learned:
To slow down
Be more patient
Be encouraging