Saying Goodbye to Kindergarten
My youngest child is in his final days of kindergarten. I am so torn. Watching him grow up is so much fun, and yet letting go of the young years of parenting is HARD. He’s my baby, so with him lies the “last time” of everything. If you ever want to read a children’s book about that concept that will have you wracked with sobs by the end, read “Let Me Hold You Longer” by Karen Kingsbury. The book drives home the point that we need to hold on to our kids’ moments, because it may be the last time they ever do that particular thing, and that season will become only a memory. Right now my kindergartener still hangs on my legs and pretends like he is a koala bear. He throws his arms around me in the morning with reckless abandon. We snuggle on the couch and sound out words. One day, he will be a completely independent reader and won’t need me by his side to read, he’ll think acting like a koala bear is too silly, and his morning enthusiasm will lessen. I know this well, as my daughter is 13, and I have watched the transformation in her. With the last one, parents realize it passes too quickly and without warning. So for now, I will take in these last days of kindergarten, soaking in every ounce, cherishing these “lasts.”
Here are some things I have LOVED about Stet’s Kindergarten year….
Master Learning Board – teaching kids the basics
The learning board is a great tool for those who homeschool, or for those with younger kids who are home and want to learn during the day. This is a deluxe version, though you certainly can scale this back and do even a few categories. Here are the various learning areas i put on my board:
1. Months of the Year
2. Days of the Week
3. Write the Date
4.Color of the Day
5. Weather
6. 100 Days of School Chart
7. Bible Memory
8. Seasons
9. 100 Days of School Chart
10. Make the Date with Money (using Velcro)
11. Latin Roots
12. Manners of the Day
13. Skills of the Day
14. Some quotes
You can download some of my templates HERE. Have fun and tailor this to the ages of your kids.
Teacher Gift: 1st week of school
This is what I did for my kids’ teachers this year for the first week of school. I included this note. The flowers are from our garden, and we used a canning jar for the vase. We are very excited about the kids’ teachers, and we wanted to let them know!
Et Tu, Brute?
We don’t always homeschool…. we love our local public school too…. but this year I’m homeschooling my boys and we are reading this book for history. We are at about 300 A.D. and have loved every page. My 9 year old son brought this as his book of choice on a weekend trip we took! That tells you something. It is written very intelligently, and also explains history in a clear and simple, yet captivating, manner. Every day I hear, “Mom, can we PLEASE read history today?” I sing back “YES!” because I love it as much as they do. Shoot — I feel like I’m learning as much as they are! This book is a MUST HAVE for every family library! Order it here. Read it with your kids and be prepared to get drawn in…..history will come alive!
Pattern Blocks — an oldie but a goodie
Pattern blocks keep my children occupied for hours. They are most often used to build math concepts like symmetry, order, counting, number operations, data collection, and estimation, but I also keep them out to keep little hands productive! If I leave the jar out on the counter, it isn’t 5 minutes before someone is building something with them. I like them because they are educational and fun!
* build visual-spatial skills
* increase pattern recognition
* practice shape recognition
* visualize how shapes work together to create new shapes
* master color recognition
* learn beginning math concepts
* practice creativity
green triangles
orange squares
red trapezoids
blue rhombuses (or rhombi)
tan parallelograms
yellow octagons.
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