Heidi's Kindergarten

Heidi was eager to begin kindergarten this fall.. Heidi is a very kinesthetic learner so we have had lots of fun doing "hands on" activities.

We made brownies, brownies, brownies, while talking about measuring and amounts of ingredients. We cooked together and made many other things to help our family. We made a wreath for Christmas out of a whole bunch of sliced apples. We played yahtzee to learn our numbers and made flash card with pictures of heart and butterflies. We wrote in chalk on the sidewalk. We painted with watercolors, played outside, and generally explored our world.

We had used "How to teach your child to read in 100 Easy lessons" in the summer so Heidi was already reading pretty well by the time school time came around in August. She could read but did not necessarily want to read. One of my deepest desires for all of our children is that they be proficient readers. I decided she needed a little motivator. She loves clothes and especially Gymboree. She had asked for some pink Gymboree shoes. I had not intended to purchase those shoes for her thinking that they were a bit frivolous. I decided that I had found my motivator for her.

So began our Gymboree Reading List. The agreement was that she would read 25 books (that I approved) and then I would buy her the pink shoes. She finished reading the books in about 5 days. I had her read them out loud to me so that I knew she was truly reading them and we talked about each one. She was so happy the day she received her "book list shoes". She still likes to tell everyone she meets where she got her pink shoes. The added bonus is that the motivator seemed to get her "hooked" on reading.

She is now reading chapter books. She enjoys the Boxcar children and even the occasional Encyclopedia Brown Mystery book. She is currently reading the Pathway reader First Steps and working through the First Steps workbook.

Math

For math last fall we used a combination of things. We used Bob Jones Kindergarten math as a base. We did a unit on money and made a chart showing how many pennies it taks to equal a nickel, dime, and quarter. That was fun and used a bunch of glue. It was also too heavy to hang on the wall! We used various workbooks to help Heidi learn about numbers. Her favorite was her Richard Scarry Number workbook. She did that book almost entirely on her own. We learned how to count to 100 and learned the concepts of addition and subtraction. We did not spend time drilling addition and subtraction facts.

Helping around the House

This fall Heidi was in charge of feeding the cats of which we have MANY!

She sometimes remembered to do this on her own and sometimes not. She was also in charge of taking the bathroom trash to the big trash. John Ross has just taken over that chore for the summer.

Heidi also learned how to set the table properly. She really enjoys placing the napkins beside the plates. John Ross will take over the napkin placing because Heidi feels that since he is almost 4 he can handle that pretty well. She is planning to instruct him on the proper table setting ettiquete.

Heidi is of course in charge of making her own bed. She does a truly neat job of it now. She also should remember to take her own laundry to the hamper. We are still working on this one.