Tuesday, July 27, 2010

My Father's World kindergarten and preschool


This year I am using My Father's World curriculum for Dash and Little Lad, kindergarten and preschool. These little boys learn differently than their older siblings, and I'm excited about trying something new. This curriculum lines up completely with our Charlotte Mason education philosophy, emphasizing narration, art, hands-on work, "living books" and Bible. They also incorporate a lot of Montessori-style work. And it will be fabulous to teach both little boys at the same time.
The reading lesson section starts with the letter S. What does an S sound like? Sssssssss
What does an S look like? A snake. Can you write an S by yourself? This is where my kids have trouble. At 5-years old, Dash still has difficulty gripping the pencil correctly. We work on it, but always take a break before his frustration rises. And Little Lad, being 3-years old, can grip it correctly, but has difficulty forming the letters with the pencil. So we're starting by using our fingers to "draw" the letters in sand. And then to write them with chalk on the driveway.
With my help, Dash made his S poster, and drew pictures of everything he could think of that starts with the letter.
My boy still holds the pencil like an artist does. It works for him, for now.
"Smile, snot, sad face, sunflower, sun, sparkles, snake, shark, snowman...."
We had spaghetti for lunch, and formed S's with our noodles. Then the little boys named items in the kitchen that started with S. Of course, snot came up again, even though neither of them has a runny nose.
Go figure.
School doesn't officially start for us until next week, but I've been trying to get the kids into a more structured routine, with more activities, for the past few weeks. I like to ease into the year.

4 comments:

Catherine Anne said...

I really like this~

Anonymous said...

I considered using My Father's World for K with Tim. In the end we went with Sonlight. Enjoy the fun !

Wendy said...

Judie, we used Sonlight for Isabelle's kindergarten year. I really enjoyed it! MFW fits the boys' personalities better, but they are both great programs. :-)
I'm so glad you had a good first day of school.
Maybe we could get together at the park some afternoon. I didn't realize Timothy and Trev are the same age.

Anonymous said...

The park would be fun, as soon as the temps cooperate. :) I was going to tell you, your letter writing in the sand, we do that too only we use the Jello powder. Then if he gets it correct he gets to lick his finger. :)