The second week (first full week) of Kindergarten had a color theme assigned to each day and the kids dressed appropriately. :) (Beware: abundance of artificial "camera" smiles ahead. How are some kids so incapable of smiling on request?)
Monday - Red
Tuesday - Orange
Wednesday - Yellow
Thursday - Green
Friday - Blue
The class read books about each color and created their own color books too. Will came home each day singing a song that spelled out the name of each color. Very cute - I video'ed him singing them - and he loved to entertain us with this daily serenade. ;) Each day, as part of the math lesson, they graphed the number of kids that were wearing the specific color.
Mrs. Mullen introduced "centers" to the class this week where they have time each day to work independently on various activities. We receive a weekly newsletter telling us about the week in review (so nice and appreciated!) and this week I read that their centers included things like:
Math - counting to 5 (he came home with mini counting books that he'd made)
Writing - practiced writing each color name (came home with "color books")
Art - created an orange butterfly
Shapes & Patterns - play doh exploration
etc.
In whole-class math lessons, they worked on writing the numbers 1-5 and sorted objects by size, shape and color. On green day, they did a cute activity with peas where they counted to see how many peas they could fit on a toothpick as well as coloring and tasting peas too!
In the afternoon, the students all have a "special" that they go to with a different teacher for 45 minutes:
Monday = art
Tuesday = gym
Wednesday = music
Thursday = library
Friday = tech
We are hearing rave reviews about all of those as well. The activities that they're doing in each of those specials sound so fun for him/them!
When I think about all that Will gets to do in a single day - all the lessons and experiences and opportunities that are provided to him - it astounds me that public school education doesn't cost a fortune. Will's school fees for an entire year of all day kindergarten were only $100, not including supplies. I believe they're going to increase to a monthly fee by the time Sophie reaches Kindergarten if they plan to keep it all day rather than half day. But still! I am just in awe of all that our teachers are doing for these kids! And it's so sad the lack of appreciation that they get in the way of funding and respect!
Getting back to this week...
They've been focusing a lot on daily routine as the kids all get acclimated to the classroom. They have daily papers, spaces and belongings to be responsible for and Mrs. Mullen is really working to keep them accountable. We talk about classroom behavior responsibilities at home each night too after we see the behavior mark he received for the day. Inside his "Comet folder", there is a calendar starred with each day's mark. It's a stop light system and green is, of course, good. Will received one yellow mark on Tuesday on account of talking and not cleaning up after himself. I expected as much from our easily-distracted, chatty-cathy ;) and Mrs. Mullen and I have been communicating via e-mail almost daily. It's been so nice to keep in touch about how Will's days are going and get to know her a little better. She is so loving with her approach to nudging the kids along in the right direction and praising their improvements. I am just certain that she is an excellent match for Will. We are feeling so blessed!
Will is clearly very taken with Mrs. Mullen. He mimics things that I'm sure he's heard her say in the classroom (i.e. "repeat after me" or "now, boys and girls" etc.) and the other day he told me "she's really pretty". :)
One of the biggest things we've been working on (besides reminding of classroom manners) is handwriting. Ugh. It's such a chore for Will because he dislikes it so much. But when this paper came home this week, I went straight out the next day to get a tablet of lined paper for practice:
He is capable of better than that - I've seen it! But he doesn't enjoy writing and often gets really lazy and hurried with it.
His only actual homework this week was to practice writing his name across the lines - one row per evening. He's never written on lines before - not formally anyway - but this week has been a wake up call that we need to get practicing!
Genoa schools use D'Nealian handwriting to teach the children, so we follow along with this guideline.
The breakfast nook counter (with stools underneath) has been Will's usual "homework spot". It's about as secluded as our house gets and it's right beside our school paper shelves so it works for us. Each night he's practiced writing upper and lowercase of two letters across the lines and then at least one other thing: a sentence, the day's color, etc. I find that he is most interested when the writing has an actual purpose. For example, I had him write a "I love ____" and fill in the blank with some of his favorite toys. So he wrote "I love Transformers, dinosaurs and robots." Robots? Really? But whatever. He actually enjoyed that writing "assignment". :)
Speaking of organization, the action boxes have been very useful so far! Will's homework is assigned on Fridays and due the following Friday with something to work on each night. So it's stored in his box throughout the week. I've added a sharpened pencil with eraser cap to his shelf for his nightly writing practice and a highlighter to my shelf for various uses. I am loving this "system" for paper organization!
A quick pic of little sister this week. :)
And a closing pic of our kindergartner waiting to get on the bus this morning. :)
It's been a good week!
