A regular week in our K2 homeschool

Some updates from our garden...

The tomato plant has grown.

Bought a Venus Fly Trap recently.

Bought some pots from Daiso. Waiting for the sunflowers I bought over the CNY to dry up so we can plant the seeds. :)

Science

Outdoor learning is set aside almost every Friday. Zech's learning about trees now. We are blessed to have a garden nearby. There used to be many rubber trees in AMK Town Garden. Not many are left now. Zech did some bark rubbing on some trees including the rubber tree.

 

We discovered a broad-leafed mahogany tree and a tembusu tree too. Picked up a couple of tree seeds.

Our mini collection of seeds in an egg carton.

Zech was really amazed at how a small seed can grow into a big tree. The wonders of God's creation!

Learning about seed dispersal. Inspired by a book we read about dandelions, here's Zech trying it out by blowing on a mimosa.

Zech began documenting his learning in a Science journal this week.

 

Bible

In every unit, there's a memory verse from Proverbs. Memorising and copy work is usually done on Monday. The rest of the week is focused on the 5 minute devotional book. Up till now, Zech has memorised 3 verses from Proverbs. He does the copy work when his little brother is taking his nap.

 

Realised recently how important modelling good handwriting is. The size of the model certainly matters to young kids. Zech copied these verses from the teacher's manual. The font size and type of font is big and clear. This is a sure way to teach kids to write in their best handwriting.

English

This year, Zech is learning the sounds of long vowels and consonants. Here's Zech working diligently at one of the easier pages in the workbook.

There are certain sounds such as th  that Zech finds challenging.

These Finger Phonics books are very useful. Using them as a supplement.

Writing "Animal Tales" - Zech copies a sentence from the workbook page and illustrates it.

Mathematics

We are seeing shapes everywhere lately. Shapes hunt is a game Zech enjoys.

 

One-difference train is another great activity that allows a child to think of the attributes of shapes. Taken from the "Complete Book of Math", Zech chose any attribute block and followed it with another block that's different in 1 way yet similar in other ways. We took turns and ended up making a long train.

The Math book Zech is using.

 

Each topic comes with suggested activities. I tear out the worksheets for Zech to do and file them away after marking.

Art

Can't believe I'm teaching Art. However, I need to because my boy is lagging behind in his artistic ability. I didn't order the Art resource book that came with the MFW materials. Using whatever materials I have on hand and the wealth of resources on the internet, I've taught my boy how to draw an aeroplane, a cat, a snake that turned out to be a caterpillar and the latest? I thought I should start teaching Zech how to draw people.

Zech's first attempt at drawing a boy. Not sure how the hands turned out green and the legs black. Perhaps they are wearing gloves and boots? Haha!

What works for my child may not work for yours. But many kids love rewards and I use stickers as a way to motivate my boy. Nothing fanciful but works a million for Zech. Every time he obeys at once or completes a task joyfully, he gets a sticker.

I use 1 index card per week. These are the stickers he gets from me so far this week.

Homeschool is especially challenging this year. But I'm thankful we made it through with some adjustments and laying down of rules. Praying with the boys and getting them to pray aloud help us through hard times too. It's week 7 now and I can still say I look forward to school every day.