School Starts Monday!

The start of the 2012-2013 school year is upon us, and I'm hosting school for the first week. I took the lesson from ABC Jesus Loves Me and divided it up into 3 days (the first two days we will meet as part of the co-op, and the 3rd day will be done individually with our own children).

I purchased the curriculum lesson plans and the book of printables just to save me the time and aggrivation of printing each week. Seems like we are always out of ink!

 

Also, the curriculum recommends starting with calendar time each day using www.starfall.com. Since this is a computer game, and we have 4 kiddos involved, we decided to turn calendar time into a "circle time" of sorts. During circle time, we will talk about the day and month, season, and weather. We will also discuss character traits, work on our Bible verse, songs, and poems. I'm hoping this will be a good way to focus all the crazy preshool energy a bit at the beginning of our school time. I ordered my calendar on Amazon. Here's the link. I didn't expect to have it in time, but it came this morning! (I ordered it LAST NIGHT!) Gotta love Amazon Prime.

 

The last thing I need to do is finish cutting out my Betty Luken's Through the Bible in Felt set...It's only taken me a month :) I only have two more sheets left. Aren't these pictures gorgeous!? This was a total splurge with some money from my Etsy shop that I'd tucked away. I think it's going to make these stories come alive for the kids.

There must be a thousand pictures. The set is really wonderful. It comes with a storage box, three felt boards with various backdrops, and a lesson book. Looks like I better get cutting!

 

 

And here is how I divided up the lesson plan for the week. I think I'm just about ready! Let the school year begin!

Week 1 - August 27-31
	DAY 1: Introduce	DAY 2: Recognize	DAY 3: Identify (on own)
Bible Story	Creation - Genesis 1 Introduce Using flannelgraph:	Tell story using flannel. Kids take turns putting pieces up.	Review Story - Kids tell alone while putting up pieces.
Verse	Genesis 1:1 (to "Are You Sleeping"	Review Verse	Kids recite without adults.
Song	This is the Day (100 Hymns Disc 3 #18	Review Song	Kids sing without adults.
Poem & Rhyme	7 Days (tune "Are You Sleeping?"	Review Poem	Kids recite without adults.
Book of the Week	Five Little Ducks: Practice counting backwards from 5-1 on fingers.	Read story. Have printables cut and ready to use as props	Read Story: Listen to CD
Craft	Sun, Moon, Stars template	Creation Wheel	Microwave Soap Clouds
Number	Zero - color poster. Trace tactile number. Say number rhyme	Practice drawing zeros, trace tactile number. Say number rhyme
Color	view Boz Colors and Shapes	View Boz Colors and Shapes	View Boz Colors and Shapes
Snack	Crackers and cheese cut to look like the moon.	blue jello, whipped cream (sky)	make flowers with pretzle sticks, colored M&Ms and raisins
Game	Duck Duck Goose	Duck Duck Goose	Duck Duck Goose
Fine Motor Skills	Practice drawing family (demonstrate)	play dough - use mats & cookie cutters	Kids draw family
Gross Motor Skills		Play "Put the Fire Out"
Other	Read "Who Made the World	Read "Who Made the World	Read "Who Made the World