Busy, Busy!

Today we were so busy that we didn't get outside until quarter after 11, and we usually go outside at 11. The cutting work is popular this week. So many little envelopes going home with little snips of blue paper!

Flower was at Tuesday school today. She did more math than I had assigned her, but forgot to do her literature, so it all evened out. :) Every morning, Jelly Bean says that she doesn't want to go to school and that she wants to stay home with Flower, but every day after school, she is SO excited to tell me all about what she has done that day at school. I would really love to have her with us, but I know that the public school is best for her right now, and if I'm really honest, it is probably best for us at home too. Jelly Bean gets distracted easily at home, and when she gets distracted, her good behavior tends to decline. She is also not as an independent worker as Flower (not that I would expect her to be at her age) and would require more time than I probably would be able to devote to her between teaching preschool and homeschooling Flower.

-Mrs. F

What we worked on in preschool today (m)

I did a lesson on brown stair and put out some sequence cards and bird cards today, but none of the students chose those works during work time. Super did matching pictures, knobbed cylinder C, and cutting work, Friend #1 (Al) did cutting, writing letters in cornmeal, and short bead stair, Friend #2 (Av) did the bird puzzle and the bird book, Friend #3(L) pom pom transfer and read books from the library, and Friend #4(J) did the number puzzle and numbers and counters. Friend #3 and Friend #4 were being such good friends today. They were reading to each other and they were helping each other if they didn't know how to finish a work. Friend #2, despite being the youngest student (2.75), continually surprises me with her long attention span and fine motor skills. Friend #1 started out the day with a tantrum, but recovered by the time it was line time and enjoyed work time today. Super still has trouble staying for very long at line, but I'm just trying to be happy with small steps. :)

We have been having so much rain, and the playset in our backyard was wet, so we decided to go on a walk instead. We walked to the park, and decided that the park looked dry enough to play on. We played for about 20 minutes and then walked back and had lunch. Friend #2 and Friend #4 were picked up a little after 12, and then we read a story and Super and Friend #1 and Friend #3 went down for a nap. Well, I pretty sure that only one of the three is actually sleeping, but they are all in bed, and being mostly quiet, and that is o.k. with me.

-Mrs. F

Plans for September 15th, 2008

Preschool:

Practical Life
Sponge Squeezing

Sensorial
Brown Stair
Sandpaper Shapes - Circle

Language
Sequence Cards
Along the Alphabet Path “M”
Nursery Rhyme - An Apple A Day
Sandpaper Letters & Red Series - M Lesson (4s)

Writing
Writing Letters in Sand
Metal Insets (4s)

Literature
Where the Wild Things Are
If You Take a Mouse To School
Good Night Moon

Botany
Trees – Tree Puzzle & 3 part cards

Zoology
Bird - Bird Puzzle & 3 part cards

Geography
Land, Water, Air Lesson

Math
Number 0
Sandpaper Numerals (4s)

Music
Listen to Stephen Foster
Listen to Mallow Fairy song

Art
Museum ABC - M is for Monster
Create a self-portrait similar to Mona Lisa

Character Development
Being a Good Friend – Friendship Quilt

Seasonal Topic
Apples

3rd Grade:

Religion/Copywork (daily)
Old Testament from Penny Gardner’s reading list

Literature (daily)
Little House on the Prairie

Language (daily)
Imitation in Writing – Work on Princess Stories book
1- Read story 2-Pick out unfamiliar words and look up in dictionary 3-Write similar but original fairy tale (3 days a week)
P is for Poetry – Letter M (one day a week)
Flower Fairies - Write a different poem for the Mallow Fairy & draw a different picture (one day a week)

History (three times a week)
Read DK: Ancient Egypt
Do a project from Make History: Ancient Egypt
Read the Zekmet the Stone Carver

Geography (twice a week)
Study about Alaska – State Quarter website
Make Landform stencils

Math (daily)
Begin work with Math-U-See

Geometry (twice a week)
Read Story of Geography

Botany (three times a week)
Work on Plant Kingdom Charts
Do botanical information for Flower Fairy "M"
Identify types of leaves and flowers from last week’s nature walk

Zoology (two times a week)
Work on Six Kingdom Charts
Do zoological information for bird
Take pictures of birds

Main Lesson (three days a week)
Learn how to use dehydrator and dry fruits and vegetables

Practical Life (three days a week)
Cook for Letter M activity – Mozzerella Bread and Hot Chocolate with Marshmellows (one day a week)
Buy a tool (one day a week)
Do mending (one day a week)

Handwork (two days a week)
Do second lesson of knitting

Music (4-5 days a week)
Go to Homeschool Choir (one day a week)
Practice Recorder (two days a week)
Read about Stephen Foster (one day a week)

Art (4-5 days a week)
Study Michelangelo (one day a week)
Recreate one of his paintings or sculptures (one day a week)
Watercolor painting (one day a week)
Free Art (one day a week)

Some of what MA-Preschool has been doing

feet out in front at line time

brown stair extension

tree puzzle with work mat (printed from Montessori N' Such website under freebies)
pom pom transfer

short bead stair

Short bead stair extension

Today was the first day that I really saw Flower complaining

and I'm sure that they will be more as the year goes on, but today was the first time that I hear a lot of "I don't want to . . . " stuff. At first I reminded her that she wouldn't say things like that to her teachers at school, and after that, I told her that if she wanted to keep complaining, then she would need to do her work at her desk in her room. She chose to keep complaining, so I sent her to her room. She was not happy at first, but she did settle down and get to work, and actually finished the two assigments I gave her relatively quickly.

In preschool, most of the friends wanted to do the "writing letters in cornmeal" work and so almost everyone took a turn at that. Block Tower extensions continue to be popular as well as the bird puzzle. We are taking a field trip on September 19th to an apple orchard, and everyone is excited. It was raining AGAIN, so we stayed inside and did play-doh with cookie cutter letters. A grand time was had by all.

-Mrs. F

Only one more hour

until Jelly Bean comes home. I've been missing her the past couple of days, especially during the downtime in the afternoon. We went to Open House last night at her school, and I know the school well since both Flower and Jelly Bean started at the school as 3 year old Pre-K students. I'm very comfortable with the school and with Jelly Bean's teacher. I know that it is the right thing to do to have her there - her behavior issues are helped so much by her being surrounded by lots of other children that are making good choices and she has access to resources that I wouldn't have at home. I hope that someday, maybe by the time she is in 3rd grade, that I'll be able to bring her home too.

But until then, I'll be just a little sad that she isn't here with us, learning and playing and enjoying each other. Oh, and probably having some fighting and complaining too, if I know my two girls and how they act when they are together for a full day. And I'll miss her, especially that last hour, and I'll show her how glad I am to see her when she gets home.

-Mrs. F

Wiggle, Wiggle

Today's Line Time was really wiggly, so I decided to let them go ahead and start work time a little early instead of continuing on with a story. It was just what they needed, apparently, because they got right to work. Super has figured out how to do the brown stair extension where you place the block tower piece that corresponds in height to the brown stair piece. He was busy with that work for at least 20 minutes. Friend #1 enjoyed drawing and working on Transferring with Whole Hand work (I promise, there will be pictures soon), Friend #2 looked at a book about birds, and Friend #3 enjoyed the tree puzzle and hanging cloths on the clothesline. They all did other work too, but these works were the ones that I noticed that they spent the longest time working on. We had Melba Toast for snack today and Friend #2 said "Mrs. F, this is SO crunchy! How did they make it that way?" I tried to give a brief explanation. We talked a little bit about other crunchy foods.

Flower is at Tuesday School. She is really enjoying studying Ancient Egypt. I decided to not go with a single History book, but instead I'm using the table of contents of a book that I have at home for ancient civilizations, and then picking out a number of books on a particular civilization at the library. I tried to get a mix of different books, some factual with lots of pictures, some historical fiction, and some factual with less pictures that would lend itself to research better than some of the others.

I heard from a mom of a former student today. I've had two of her children here at Montgomery Academy. She has her children spend their 3rd year at a small preschool and their 4th year at a larger preschool. She e-mailed me today to say that "her daughter did beautifully yesterday, and I credit you for a lot of that. She didn't cry and although she felt a little shy and just kept to herself, she said it was fun and she loves Miss Judy. So thank you for all the good you did for her! We love Mrs. F!" Comments like that make teaching preschool worth it on the days when I get a little frustrated or a little tired.

-Mrs. F

Plans for the week of September 8th, 2008

Preschool:

Practical Life
Bean Transfer with Whole Hand

Sensorial
Knobbed Cylinder A (3s)
Block Tower Extension (4s)
Sandpaper Shapes - Circle

Language
Object to Object Matching Lesson (3s)
Sandpaper Letters & Red Series - R Lesson (4s)
Along the Alphabet Path “B”
Nursery Rhyme - An Apple A Day

Writing
Writing Letters in Sand
Metal Insets (4s)

Literature
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Jessie Bear, What Will You Wear?
Blueberries for Sal

Botany
Trees – Tree Puzzle

Zoology
Bird - Bird Puzzle

Geography
Land, Water, Air Lesson

Math
Number 0
Sandpaper Numerals (4s)

Music
Listen to Sousa
Listen to Bugle Fairy song

Art
Museum ABC - B is for Boat
Introduce Mona Lisa print by da Vinci

Social Development
All About Me – Height Charts

Seasonal Topic:
Harvest - collecting seeds and gathering vegetables

Outside Time:
Play with ball
Look at bugs
Float boat in water table
Blow bubbles
Use a bulldozer in the sand

3rd Grade:

Religion/Copywork (daily)
Old Testament from Penny Gardner’s reading list

Literature (daily)
Little House on the Prairie

Language (daily)
Imitation in Writing – Work on Princess and the Pea fairy tale (3 days a week)
P is for Poetry – Letter B (one day a week)
Flower Fairies - Write a different poem for the Bugle Fairy (one day a week)

History (three times a week)
Read Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharoahs
Do a project from Spend the Day in Ancient Egypt
Read the 5,000 Year Old Puzzle

Geography (twice a week)
Study about Alabama – State Quarter website
Make Strait and Isthmus landforms

Math (daily)
Begin work with Math-U-See

Geometry (twice a week)
Concept of a Solid

Botany (three times a week)
Work on Plant Kingdom Charts
Do botanical information for Flower Fairy "B"
Look at leaves outside

Zoology (two times a week)
Work on Six Kingdom Charts
Do zoological information for bird
Look at birds outside

Main Lesson (three days a week)
Learn how to use dehydrator and dry fruits and vegetables

Practical Life (three days a week)
Cook for Letter B activity – Banana Bread (one day a week)
Buy toolbox (one day a week)
Sew a straight stitch (one day a week)

Handwork (two days a week)
Do first lesson of knitting

Music (4-5 days a week)
Go to Homeschool Choir (one day a week)
Practice Recorder (two days a week)
Study anthems from other countries (one day a week)
Read about Stephen Foster (one day a week)

Art (4-5 days a week)
Study Michelangelo (one day a week)
Recreate one of his paintings or sculptures (one day a week)
Watercolor painting (one day a week)
Free Art (one day a week)

The 2nd First Day

It went well - not quite as good as the 1st first day, but I think part of that is because two of our friends and Super actually come every day, so it was their second day. Many were wiggly by the end of line time, but most of them were able to find work to keep them occupied during our entire work time without suggestions from me.

I'm debating about whether I have the right mix of materials out. I seem to have a lot of puzzles out - the continent map puzzle, the botany puzzles, the demonstration tray of the geometric puzzle, a number puzzle, and five "regular" puzzles.

I don't have much in my Math area - sandpaper numbers, the bead stair (my version of it anyway. I had the real version, but got rid of it a few years ago because I rarely have attend that are over 4. This one uses connecting cubes, and the colors aren't the Montessori colors.), one set of magnetic numerals on a cookie sheet (all red).

The Geography shelf has only the continent and land/water globe and the continent map puzzle. The Science area has the botany puzzles and labeled and unlabeled control cards for the puzzles and Dover sticker books for flowers, trees, and leaves.

The Language area has some memory/matching cards about summer, sandpaper letters, one set of magnetic letters on a cookie sheet, the red material that is talked about on this blog, and some DK cards that I use for vocabulary building and also later when we start using the moveable alphabet. The language area also has the metal (well, my version is plastic) insets.

The Sensorial shelf just has the block tower, the brown stair, knobbed cylinder A, and color box 1 and 2, the demonstration tray for the geometric cabinet, and geometric solids.

The Practical Life shelf has cloths/clothespins/closeline activity, cutting wood food, dressing vests (actually wearable and in their size) for zipping, buttoning and snapping, and opening/closing containers.

Art has a cutting activity as well as crayons and paint. I turn on the CD for music. There are also some building blocks, large dominoes, and shells. (I know, I'll get some pictures soon.)

I have many of the other Montessori materials and plans for some seasonal works to add to the other areas and I plan on introducing them gradually, as well as doing quite a big of rotating in the Practical Life area. I've done Grace and Courtesy lessons so far.

Things have gone well, better than I expected. So why do I still feel nervous? Why do I still feel like this is my 2nd year instead of my 6th? I need to keep reminding myself to trust and observe the children. If I do that, everything else will fall into place.

- Mrs. F

Preschool Themes for September

September
Shape: Circle

Number: 0

Letters: A, B, C, D

Nursery Rhyme: An Apple A Day

Grace & Courtesy: The Spoken Word

Artist: da Vinci

Composer: Sousa

Social Development: All About Me

Character Development: Being A Good Friend

Seasonal Ideas: Apples, Harvest, Nuts, Autumn, and Michaelmas.

Autumn Garden Activities: Seed Search and Hidden Creatures

The Shape and Number Activites, as well as the Social and Character Development ideas and activities for the month, I found on the Preschool by STORMIE website, and the Seasonal ideas and activites are from Festivals, Family and Food book. The Garden ideas and activities are from Learn and Play In The Garden book. The Composer and Artist ideas are from the Serendipity website.

3rd Grade Schedule

We live in Illinois and we are not required to notify the state that we are homeschooling and we are not required to submit any assessments of her work. I will, however, be keeping records for myself of what we do from week to week, and she is also doing most of her work in a Main Lesson book, so we will have a record of what she did over the course of a year. I had originally planned on having a Main Lesson book for each area, but I decided that it would be too cumbersome for her to have to switch books all the time, so now, our plan is to put most of her drawings and writing from all subjects will be put in one Main Lesson book and when that one is filled, then she will go on to a new Main Lesson book until the end of the school year.

But just in case anyone out there is wondering what Flower will be studying this year, here is her yearly schedule. The link to the Serendipity website is on my blog list.

Religion/Copywork
Copywork: Old Testament verses written in cursive writing – Daily

Language
Literature: Literature List followed by Narration (oral – daily and written – weekly)

Writing: Imitation in Writing (Fairy Tales) – four days a week

Poetry: R is for Rhyme - Serendipity (once a week)

Grammar: Parts of Speech & Parts of the Sentence (Ruth Heller Language Series) – October 15 – October 31st, February 1st – February 15th

History (3 Times/week)
Ancient Civilizations: A Child’s History of the World by Hillyer (Greece, Egypt, Rome, China, India)

Historical Biographies & Activities from the Heinemann Library for Ancient Chinese, Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Greeks, Ancient Romans, Ancient West Africa, Incas, and Aztecs

Geography (2 Times/week)
G is for Geography – Serendipity (once a week)

Landforms & Maps of Countries studies in history (Greece, Egypt, Rome, China, India) (once a week)

Math
All basic operations: Right Start Math – Level C (Daily)

Geometry - Montessori R & D Geometry Manual - Names, etymology, and definition of lines, angles, figures, triangles, and quadrilaterals . Geometry nomenclature cards (Twice a week)

Time (cycle of the year, sundial, hourglass, clocks through the ages): November 1st – November 25th, Measurement – February 15th – 28th, Weight – March 1st – March 21st

Living Math Books: Math is Everywhere, Ancient Roots of Mathematics in Africa and Mesopotamia, Ancient Roots of Mathematics in Asia, Ancient Roots of Mathematics in the Americas – October 1st – 15th. Thales and the Egyptians, Pythagoras and the Early Greeks, Archimedes Part 1, Archimedes Part 2 and Eratosthenes – January 6th – January 31st

Nature Studies
Zoology: Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. Vertebrates & Invertebrates - zoological nomenclature/definition cards, puzzles and nature notebook. (2 times a week)

Botany: Shanleya’s Quest: A Botany Adventure for Kids Ages 9-99. Parts of plants & trees including roots, leaves, stems – botanical nomenclature /definition cards, puzzles, and nature notebook. (2 times a week). Along the Alphabet Path Flower Fairies – Serendipity (once a week)

Practical Life
Cooking: First Cookbook (Once a week)

Carpentry: Carpentry for Children (Once a week)

Farming & Gardening – Plant cycle, Seven Grains, Preserving Food (drying, canning, freezing) – September 1st – September 30th

Shelter (learning about ancient shelters and building models of them): December 1st – December 21st, and Making a House (learning about construction and building a small house): May 1st – May 21st

Music
Recorder – Oak Meadow Recorder (Twice a week)

Music Study: Serendipity - M is for Melody (Daily – listening, Biography, etc. – Once a week)

Choir: Twice a month

Art
Free Art (Once a week)

Form Drawing: Form Drawing for Beginners by Donna Simmons (Once a week)

Artist Study: M is for Masterpiece - Serendipity - (Daily – look at art, Biography, etc. – Once a week)

Handwork
Knitting (Once a week for 1st half of the year)

Crocheting (Once a week for 2nd half of year)

Physical Education
Going Outside – Daily

Yoga – Twice a Week

Dance – Once a week

On my planning evenings, I plan what specifically Flower will be studying for the week. I also have a daily schedule that is more our benefit. I look at it as a goal for what I'd like to see us get done on any given day. Some days, we get everything done and we do it close to the times that I said that we would. Other days, not so much. But I record what she does get done in my Daily Journal, so I know what did/didn't get accomplished during the week.

In my next post, I'll post my Themes for September for the Preschool. Most of what we do in preschool is mostly Montessori-based, but I also incorporate monthly/seasonal changes. It would take me forever to list all the Montessori activities and when I plan on presenting the activity for the year, but I will try and mention what lesson that I taught on any given day.

-Mrs. F

First Day

I will actually have two first days this week because I have some Tues/Thursday students and some Mon/Wed/Friday students. On Tues/Thursday, there are four students and on Mon/Wed/Friday, there are five students. Preschool runs from 9 AM to 12 AM. Our basic schedule at the beginning of the year is:

8:45 to 9 AM Arrival/Greet/Put shoes away/Read books quietly/Explore the seasonal shelf
9:00 to 9:15 AM Journals (The students draw/write in a sketch book. I date stamp it and label it for them.)
9:15 to 9:40 Line Time (calendar/pledge/weather/finger plays & songs)
9:40 to 9:50 Story Time
9:50 to 10:30 Work Time/Snack Time
10:30 to 10:40 Lesson Time
10:40 to 11:10 Work Time
11:15 to 11:40 Lunch
11:40 to Noon Outside/Pick Up

Today we had two old friends (one is 3 1/2 and one is 4) and Super, who went to preschool last year too, and one new friend (3 1/2). It was a good first day. The more experienced students helped the new student and there wasn't even any crying from the new student on the first day, which I think might be a first in my 5+ years of teaching. The three year olds still have difficulty sitting for the whole time at line time (especially Super) but by the end of the year, they will be much better. I did have to remind myself of that a couple of times though.

Two of the students were working on the block tower and they went to put it away and one of the students turned to me and said "The heaviest one goes back on the shelf first, Mrs. F." It was the first time that a child had noticed the weight difference instead of just the size.

I am still serving the snack, but in a few weeks, they will be serving it to themselves/each other. Today we had stick pretzels. Not very exciting, but everyone enjoyed it!

I plan on showing more pictures of the materials and the children working, but I was so busy today that I didn't get a chance to take any. I may get some pictures tonight of our classroom.

On Tuesdays, Flower has "Tuesday school". She goes over to a homeschooled friend's house and they do their schoolwork over there. They are using different curriculums, but it is nice for them to do schoolwork with someone their age once a week. On Tuesday afternoons, her friends' mother takes them to homeschool choir. Flower is so excited that she gets to be in the choir this year. She loves to sing and she has a very nice voice.

In a separate post, I'll post Flower's schedule for the year. Flower has been back to homeschooling for two weeks now, and I'll try and write about some of the things that she has been working on too.

Hopefully tomorrow will go as well as today.

-Mrs. F