We’re doing ancient Egypt right now. I’m going to buy Story of the World today (I’d borrowed it from the library previously) so that we can get started reading the chapters. I’ve ordered a million books on Egypt from the library and I believe I have a few laying around the apartment somewhere.
There is a fabulous blog, Run of the Mill, that has great resources for Story of the World Volume 1. I found it awhile ago and it has proved as useful as I thought it would be.
I went to Barnes and Noble on a book hunt for my schoolwork (one teacher assigned a book that is apparently unknown to man, besides her that is, but that’s another story) and after failing to find what I went for, I checked out the workbooks. I got an addition Kumon math workbook and a smaller math book with drills that the manager of the children’s section recommended to me after I expressed my regret at not finding the Singapore math book that I’d been looking for. He was a retired librarian and I could tell that before he even told me. His love for the books was truly authentic. I’m going to put a visit to one of their storytimes on the calendar.
Borders got a visit from me on another failed textbook expedition. Their bargain zone was full of so many great kids’ books and it was hard decision time at one point. I ended up walking out with two copies of 101 Things Every Kindergartener Should Know About Reading (one for each boy) and a Wee Sing Book that has four cds and over 250 songs. I saw a ton of books but I’m trying to budget my money wisely.
Today Dul worked on writing uppercase and lowercase As in the 101 book. He was also to draw a picture of an animal eating an apple. He decided that he wanted to draw a person eating an apple and I told him that was fine as people are animals too. He got a kick out of that. Since he’s in preschool and I’m treading lightly as he does not like workbooks or written work, I let him stop after that. I asked him, “Do you want to be done with schoolwork or do you want to do another page?” I was hoping he’d say no as he needs more practice writing letters. He yelled out “BE DONE!!!” So he’s done for the day.
Fin did the same page as Dul and he went forward a page and drew a picture of an ape wearing an apron. He decided to add apple trees to the picture as well. He then did the first two pages in his Kumon book where he traced numbers. I’ve decided to check out some Kumon books for letters as well, to help both the boys with legibility. I can read Fin’s stories but he is five and there is much room for improvement. Dul’s letters are nonexistant unless he’s tracing in a book so he needs a lot of work.
I believe we have a scanner somewhere that we got years ago as a gift or a freebie with another buy. We may have even just bought it. Anyway, we’ve never used it but this is the perfect time. If I can get it set up with my laptop, I’ll start uploading some of their work here to keep track of progress.
So today’s work in a nutshell (crossed out means done)
Fin (5 year old kingergarten/first grade)
Math: Section 1 and 2 in Kumon Addition, As in 101 Things, write a thank you letter to family friends (they were gifted a ton of toy cars and action figures along with some other toys), listen to Bible read aloud, listen to classical music during free play, read chapter 2 in DK History of the World, play Adventure in Art History (like one of those tell your own story books where you decide what decision to make/answer to give).
Dul (4 year old preschool)
One page of A in 101 Things.