Kindergarten Week 24

Sunday around sunset there was an extreme low tide (-0.6 feet). The low tide exposed a sandbar, and though we got down to the water about an hour after we should have, we still found a couple of treasures.

This is a picture of the sandbar from the shore.

And these two are pictures toward the shore from the sandbar.

I found a sea star! I've never found a sea star here. Sea stars in the aquarium are huge, but this one was tiny! I, of course, returned it to the water.

I also found (and put back) a live sand dollar.

I brought home this dead one, tiny and intact.

Two last pictures from the evening -sandpipers and sunset.

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Gemma has not only an imaginary friend, but an entire imaginary family. The other day, she said she was using her imaginary key to lock the bedroom door, and I said, "You know the good thing about imaginary keys? You can't lose them." She matter-of-factly replied, "Oh yes you can." I stand corrected.

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When I try to get rid of something, Gemma argues that it can't be parted with because it's a "seep-cake."

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She's got the beginning of her tap routine nailed.

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At our after school co-op, the kids made an apron of their insides. I was impressed with Gemma's skills with scissors.

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Read Alouds: We just finished Jackanory: The Lazy Leprechaun, and started The Phantom Tollbooth.

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As I type this, I'm sitting on my back porch, looking at Gemma's bucket of treasures from last Sunday, the scent of corn dogs from the pier wafting on a breeze.

Kindergarten: Week 23

*Drew a girl washing a lion

*Went to Sunday School and Church Mice

*Went to the library

*Read alouds included some re-readings from More Milly Molly Mandy, as well as Fly Guy: Bats (which led to watching a YouTube video explaining decibels), My Book House, and Ken Ludwig's book (we worked on the gestures for Bottom's speech)

*Played with patterns to figure out which number would come next in a sequence (Fibonacci numbers). You'll notice that because she's a pre-writer, I write the math problems for her. She likes to write the answers, but I don't want to frustrate her by having her write out the problems.

*Introduced prime numbers (used manipulatives to illustrate the concept that a number of items can be evenly divided different ways, and that any number of items can be divided evenly at least two ways - one group of x, or x groups of one - and that some numbers can be divided evenly only two ways)

*Went to CC (recited Shakespeare: Man is but an ass...)

*Went to afterschool co-op and learned about the circulatory system. Ate snacks of red blood cell Cheerios, platelet pretzels, and white blood cell marshmallows...

*Finally decided to color and put together her Ellen McHenry brain hat

*Did Epes Sargent reading lesson about words ending with "-ence"

*Watched some Ronja: The Robber's Daughter on Amazon Prime. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the theme song... I think we may need to make this a read aloud.

*Worked on playing "BINGO" with the correct timing. Eighth notes are tricky. Also worked on "The Little Green Frog." Thankfully, there are videos of children playing this song on YouTube, and children's librarians singing it. I had never heard the song.

*Went to dance class, and learned some more of her "Rockin' Robin" tap routine

Kindergarten: Week 22

Gemma practiced "I'm a Little Teapot" on piano.

Gemma went to ballet and tap class.

We learned that this June's dance recital song will be "Rockin' Robin," and that the costumes will be red. On "Rockin' Robin," the dancers make bird wings, and on "tweet, tweet, tweet," they flap flap flap. It's adorable.

We finished Life of Fred: Ice Cream, and started Life of Fred: Jellybeans.

Gemma read more Magic Tree House independently, and told me all about a unicorn that was trapped in a tapestry.

She's been weaving a potholder (a gift from Anita & Julia) for a few weeks, and finally finished!

We took a picture of "Flat Sammy from Myanmar" at the Santa Monica pier.

At Tinker Group, they did paper marbling.

Gemma got a maze book at the beginning of the week - Maze Craze: Magician's Castle.

Just being silly - Gemma in her Tinker Group safety glasses...

We did more Pimsleur Spanish in the car, reread some Milly Molly Mandy and My Book House, read aloud various other books, went to Church Mice and Sunday School, previewed CC memory work, etc.

Finally, here are a couple of this week's drawings...

Kindergarten Week 21

Gemma is 75% done with Khan Academy's first grade math. We continued in Life of Fred: Ice Cream; we're nearing the end.

We listened to some Pimsleur Spanish in the car. I'm enjoying this program because it moves very, very slowly (which is actually one of the things people don't like about the program).

At our afterschool co-op, we learned about brains. Gemma made a neuron out of candy, and tried on a brain hat.

She practiced Old MacDonald on piano. Those eighth notes are tricky.

I came home from work one day to find Gemma on page 85 of The Magic Tree House: Blizzard of the Blue Moon (#36). She is officially an independent reader.

Here are two drawing she did this week. This is a tiger...

...and this is Gemma "with red hair" and a dress she said she would like to make for Halloween 2018. (For Halloween 2017, she said she wants to be a Khan Academy avatar.)

She went to dance class.

Also, she learned Bottom's speech from A Midsummer Night's Dream. I have had a most rare vision...

Kindergarten Week 20

A handful of the many things we did this week...

At our afterschool co-op is learning about the human body. This week, we explored the musculoskeletal system and made hands with drinking straw metacarpals and phalanges.

We also had Tinker Group. We made paper cup and string phones, read a story called The Lonely Phonebooth, and took a couple of phones apart to see what was inside.

We made a "Flat Gemma" to send to a pen pal in Myanmar. Gemma chose to color her Flat Gemma's skin purple.

We went to dance class...