Sonlight - 1st week

I can begin to tell you how much I prepared for this school year. I struggled with using Sonlight, not because I didn't love it but because I was afraid of it being too hard for a kindergartener. I love the books that Sonlight chooses but worried over whether J could relate to the chapter books that Core A included. Well, we started our first week, even though we were fighting through jet lag and mini-colds.

I wanted a picture to remember her first day, even though she has been in "school" for the last few years. This is her first official school year and her grade would be more like k/1st. J drew herself in the corner.

The first letter that Sonlight works with is the letter F. J practiced her handwriting on a dry erase board that I found in 'Merica.

We played a Twister type game while reviewing the contents of the world. We will play this all week to learn the names. Here, she is putting her head on North America. (I added that one for laughs)

For Bible, we discussed creation. We learned what creativity and orderliness meant. J is coloring her bible workbook page for creativity.

We reviewed patterns using our foam blocks for Math. We have also started a calendar book to practice the months, days of the week, and the date.

J working on her handwriting, the letter F.

We read about first civilizations and created a cave drawing of animals. I was unable to find chalk pastels here to create a true replica of a cave drawing. But we did use our chalk from our chalk board.

J created a letter F page complete with stickers and pictures from magazines. Sonlight works through one letter a week which is basically review for her. She is familiar with her letters and sounds.

Last year, I found 2 metal carts with 3 drawers each. I am using these carts for a workbox type system. I place each subject in a drawer along with all of the supplies needed to complete the day. The last drawer is the fun drawer. This drawer houses fun stuff for the day. I put games, art projects, paint, play dough, just about anything fun. Today's fun item was a game based on The Hungry Caterpillar that I found this summer.

After reading about early peoples, J sewed her own dress for a doll/dog. I cut the pattern from pink felt and she sewed it with purple yarn. This project took 2 days.

Our first Science experiment was discovering if the bottle was as empty as it looked. We learned about some properties of air. Well, it was a busy week, and I am thankful it went so well. I have been stressing over this for awhile. Hope your first week of school went smooth and looking forward to many more weeks.