Kindergarten!

Summer went by super fast and August is already here!! I can’t believe my big boy is in Kindergarten! Although we began working with All About Reading through summer, He saw all the new books and curriculum coming in and has been anxiously awaiting school to start so he can do ALL OF IT! Me too. Our school time is not bound by a super strict schedule (thanks Ezra and Ruby haha) but rather adds a very nice rhythm to our days and there is a lot of comfort in that. This year our rhythm is divided up into morning time and afternoon work (when the babies are asleep). 

On Monday, we started school with our obligatory First Day picture! Silas said his favorite thing about school is that I am his teacher (heart swell!)! 

We set our calendar up, and took a look in our morning basket. Our morning basket holds all of our Morning Work. This year, we are using a daily Calendar Notebook to keep track of what day we are, how many days we have been in school, seasons, time, and copy work practice.  After that, we started Handwriting. We are using a program called Handwriting Without Tears and each day we use a different aspect of the program. This week we were working on the letter F. So Monday, we used our wood pieces to practice making F, and our slates for “wet, dry, try” (Silas and Ezra’s favorite), and our worksheet.

After handwriting, we took our Five In A Row story out of our basket. Our story of the week was The Story of Ping. We read our story, which takes place in China, so after reading we put Ping on the world map in China. We also colored the Yangtze River on a map of China. After lunch, we started Math. Silas LOVES math! We reviewed a little Reading and colored our butterflies that we drew in Key West. Great first day, even the little ones were busy in school room all day!

Tuesday, I decided to add in a quiet time to our Morning Time. It is something that has been on my heart but I hadn’t quite figured out how to go about it, without it seeming like, I am making you do this, but the Lord impressed on me that I am not making him have time with Jesus but rather guiding him to do so….and isn’t that what my whole entire role in my child’s life suppose to be? So I decided to make him a journal with blank paper so he can draw or color while he listens to worship music. I told him we would just do one song and when it’s over we will move on because it’s just a tiny bit of our day we will give to God and focus only Him and make art for Him and if it’s a prayer, I can write the words for him. He said okay and we chose his favorite song by Phil Wickham. Right away he started drawing an anchor :) Once the song was over he told me he needed more time so I said sure thing! He then told me he was thinking about his dad and all the youth leaders. 

After that, we did calendar time, handwriting, and our story. We made the Chinese flag. In Math, we worked on patterns and Reading final word blends.

Wednesday, I told Silas that it was time for school and he said can’t wait for quiet time! I love that he looked forward to it! We listened to Spirit Move by Bethel. This time, he drew, daddy on drums, Bryan singing and playing guitar, all the people, lights, and God smiling and holding the world. 

After quiet time, we did calendar, handwriting, and Ping. We discussed how Ping went after something he thought was good and it wasn’t and it got him in trouble. We learned the word, discernment. We also talked about how Ping tried to avoid punishment and that it didn’t work out to well for him. We noticed all the art in the book was done with colored pencils, and we drew the sunset over the Yangtze River with colored pencils. This was perfect because we looked at pictures of the sunset we saw in the Keys and studied reflection and ripples and it really brought it all home for us. We also learned how to draw a duck and did math, and reading.

I love how Ruby is right in the mix as often as she can be :)

Thursday’s highlights started with our focus of quiet time being the scripture “When I lie down to sleep, I wake again because the Lord sustains me” Psalm 3:5 since we have another sleep study tonight. Silas drew him and God in a bed and also him sleeping in a bed with an air mask on. We listen to You Make Me Brave and I prayed for his little heart to be so brave. 

This was our last day of Ping, so we had a Chinese feast. Our snack, while we read, was a rice cake just like Ping had. Ruby especially liked that. And after reading, Silas helped make pot stickers, fried rice, and spring rolls. Yum yum. 

We also learned that Ducks don’t get wet because of an oil they produce and we read a book about it and did an experiment with oil and water. 

In the afternoon, we did reading and also double math lessons because he really loves it. He has a teacher at church who always speaks life over Silas and comments how smart Silas is and how good at math he is and I don’t know if that is his motivation but he really is good at it and I want to keep fueling that fire. He is so into the RightStart math and I really am glad I took that plunge. 

playing in the math supplies after the lesson

I sit here reflecting on this week, and seeing the smiles of all the kids, and Silas’ eyes filled with wonder, and Ezra SO so busy, and Ruby is right there with them, and know this is exactly what I’m suppose to be doing, and exactly what they are too- getting to experience life with their built-in best friends and growing in their calling. Scratch that, FULFILLING their current calling as living as wild and free children of God. I’m so very thankful for this season.