Here's a look how we start out the school day.
James gets down workbox #1 which has a binder and dry erase marker and various materials we need for the binder and calendar activities.
Morning Routine and Chores
The first two pages in his binder are actually not part of our calendar routine, but I put them in the binder because it helps us remember our morning routines and stick to them...
The first page is his daily morning routine, and the second page shows his weekly chores. {we are still working on making the weekly chores a normal routine as this is a new addition to our binder. :) They correspond to my weekly chores too so I can help in each room as he learns the task.} Each chart is in a sheet protector so they can be used over and over. He uses the dry erase marker to check off the item as he finishes. (each morning he erases the sheet and starts over again)
When we have finished cleaning up after breakfast...we officially start school with our calendar time. (he still has binder out/workbox #1) This is what I call "Circle Time". Which really doesn't make any logical sense...but...whatever. The kids come sit on the floor in front of the board.
Everything is attached to a triboard and is sitting on the ledge of a big whiteboard (which for now is resting on the floor :) We start out at the top left corner of the board and work our way down... All of our printables come from one of these awesome sites:
PLEDGES:
We stand up and say the pledge to the American flag (just found a new great printable for the pledge...will be printing that out soon!!! Next we say the pledge to the Bible. The kids take turns each day holding a Bible up high standing up front each day. (James picked this "standing/holding Bible up high" from VBS one year...and it stuck :)
GOD'S STANDARDS:
Then we review God's Standards for our school day-James points to each heart as I read them.
ABC AND BIBLE VERSE SONGS:
Then we sing our ABC's. (This is a new element I added for Bella this year. For the beginning of the year, we just have the ABC's right now. I plan on making a flip chart of songs as we add one song a week from Songs for Saplings program from Totally Tots, singing through ABC bible verses as we get to this spot on the board.)
CALENDAR:
Then we go to the top right side of the board and sing the months of the year song, and review what month it is.
Days of the Month Song:
(It is sung to the tune of O My Darling Clementine)
There are 12 months, there are 12 months,
There are 12 months in a year
January, February,
March and April,
May and June,
July and August,
then September,
next comes fun October too,
then November and December,
That's all 12 months now we're through.
Then we review the season and month. It is always being moved by Bella...so we actually get a chance to move it to the correct spot each day. We find today's date on the calendar, point to it, then sing the following songs...
Under the calendar is our Days of the Week sheet.
We spread out the day cards as we sing and place them in order, and select the correct day. Then we review Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow concept.
Days of the Week Song
There are seven days, there are seven days,
There are seven days in the week.
There are seven days, there are seven days,
There are seven days in the week.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow Song
(To the tune of "Frere Jacques")
Today is _______. Today is _______.
All day long, all day long.
Yesterday was ______. Tomorrow will be _______.
Oh what fun! Oh what fun!
All day long, all day long.
Yesterday was ______. Tomorrow will be _______.
Oh what fun! Oh what fun!
We point again to the date on the calendar and sing:
The date is...Song
(To the tune of "Frere Jacques)
Today is Thursday (Today is Thursday)
August 5th (August 5th)
2010 (2010)
That's the date (That's the date).
Next, I write the day, date, and code date on the white board. We also add a tally mark for the day and count the total by fives.
NUMBER OF THE DAY / 100 CHART:
Then we move on to the number of the day. I write it on the board and review place value, addition and subtraction, greater and less than, and other math problems with the number of the day. Then we color in the number on the 100 chart.
SHAPES AND COLORS:
Above to the 100's Chart are the pockets for the shape of the day and the color. I let Bella pick one out, and we review what it is, and think of something that is that color or shape. Like a brown teddy bear, or square window.
We also have a mystery box for our Hubbards Cupboard Bible Curriculum Color of the Day. I will give a few hints until they guess what is in there...EX. it's brown, furry, and makes a sound like this: "Roar!"
Once they guess what is in the mystery box, they get to go on a scavenger hunt for the color of the day and collect things from around the house. I set a timer, so they only have about 1 minute to do this.
MONEY:
To the left of the 100's chart is our money review...we recite a money chant to help us remember the values of the coins, and then we make the date with the cards. On days like today (5th) I ask that he find more than one solution. (5 pennies OR 1 nickel)
BINDER:
And last but not least, we pull out the binder! Ideally, I would like for him to work on the binder on his own, as we go over it as a "group", he could be filling out the information that we went over together on his own sheets...but for now he does it with my guidance. The only thing not on our calendar wall that is in his binder is a weather graph, and skip counting sheets.
Oh yeah, and remember yesterday how I mentioned Bella getting her "binder" too? Here she is in action working side by side with James.
That's our morning routine. I am linking up to these great blogs.
Check them out to see what other moms and kids are doing lately.
