Guest newburns Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I have been stalking the post for a while, but I have never posted so I am sure I am not using all possible abbreviations, so bear with me. I started homeschooling my ds for kinder this year. I am using RSM, HWOT, and OPGTR. We're also doing AO artist/composer study and incorporating a little nature study. However, we started yesterday and it all seems so boring.:confused: Does anyone have suggestions for making it more "fun?" I guess I envisioned more cutting, pasting, coloring? :) Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!!! Blessings, Sarah ~Mom to ds(5), dd(4), and ds(2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Well this is not cutting, pasting, etc., which you certainly could have fun with.... but what about a couple read alouds each day. REading aloud great books even at young ages is what brings life to our schooling. AO has a Yr0 list and there are other good lists of children's books you could consult too. As far as the cutting, pasting, etc. goes - why not plan one "fun" activity each afternoon - or even every other day.... play do, painting, cutting/pasting, drawing, coloring, beading, legos, etc.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Well absolutely some coloring, cutting, and pasting would be fun in K5! When my dd was that age, I went to the teacher supply store and got these reproducible books that are exactly that: mazes, things where paste to complete the picture then color, etc. Your dollar store should have some cheap coloring books with things like community helpers, etc. You can make copywork with his phone number, full name, etc. When I worked in K5, the kids usually did 3 of those coloring/fun sheets a day, so you're definitely on track looking for them! Ooo, and they have some that work on tracking skills (tracing curved lines, etc.) that are really good pre-writing skills. I think now you can get on the publisher websites and buy these books as efiles that you just download and print, very convenient! Francis Schaeffer was a company I bought a lot of. One type of activity book was called Lace, Trace, Cut and Paste. And if you just want to buy them ready to go, Timberdoodle sells stuff. With as close as your kids are, you might prefer something reproducible the 4 yo could do as well. And you didn't ask for this, but have you seen the Judy Press book Alphabet Art? It's absolutely ADORABLE for this age. It would add fun to your day, be something all 3 of your kids could do together, and be easy to implement. Just do a different letter each week. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I second the idea of adding some great read-alouds. And some fun, hands-on art or science projects would be great too. Cutting and pasting could be from a workbook (there are some great Kumon and other workbooks out there) or from old magazines and cards, etc. We are using Five in a Row for our core curriculum. We pick one book a week and read it aloud each day, then do a corresponding activity - this week the story is about a duck so our art project will be drawing a river scene, adding some ducks, and trying to show their motion on the water. Science is learning which types of things float in the water and which things sink, and studying ducks. I think it helps a lot to have a weekly or monthly theme, either based on a book you are reading from or maybe a seasonal theme. Then you can add creative activities that go along with that theme. I like having a starting point; I'm not creative enough to just come up with fun activities every day on my own. :001_smile: I hope you have a great, FUN year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest newburns Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Thanks for everyone's help. We are doing some read alouds and I am having them narrate. We are reading The Burgess Bird Book and Fifty Famous Stories Retold. They seem to be enjoying this. They are also drawing pictures of what they liked best about the story. I just thought maybe they weren't getting enough of the hands on stuff. I think I got some great advice of things to add. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paula j Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Collage art is fun at this age. Get some old magazines and catalogs together, conservation magazines would be awesome, and have them cut out pictures and words to glue on construction paper and make a collage. I think a bird collage to go with your bird watching would be great.;) I used to let mine use buttons, m&ms, or teddy grahms as math counters and they enjoyed that. Alphabet macaroni is fun. My dd used to like to paint the macaroni letters and then string them to make words or names. Here is a great site that has craft projects, cutting projects, and coloring projects, lots of stuff you can print out in pdf for free. http://www.crayola.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenmomof3 Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 We always have a lot of fun doing science projects. Since you're doing nature study, I'm sure there's a lot you could make and do. I know our library has a great selection of craft type ideas to study nature - bird feeders, ant farms, making wind socks, etc. We did a fun art type project last year when I read Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert, went on a nature hike and collected acorns, leaves, etc. and then made our own leaf men. Lots of fun! You could also probably find lots of activities related to your read alouds. Just google the topic and I'm sure you'll find color sheets, craft ideas and activities to coordinate. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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