Home School Curriculum in Action- Brown Bear week!

I had the privilege this week to see my Kindergarten home school curriculum in action!  Being a classroom teacher, it was neat to see the dynamic of a home school family.

 

 

The mother (Emily) approached me this summer and asked me if I would be interested in creating lesson plans for her.  She home schooled her oldest starting in 1st grade and wanted something fresh and interactive for the younger child as she started Kindergarten.  I was thrilled with the opportunity, but a bit overwhelmed.  I mean, I created lesson plans in the classroom, but the thought of creating them for an entire year and for someone else is a different story.  Thankfully, this family has been my inspiration and my driving force to complete this HUGE project!

 

Each week, within each month, has a different theme.  The first week in September is Brown Bear.  I pulled many of the resources included from my Brown Bear unit.

 

 

The first activity for each day is a math journal prompt.

When there is a specific theme and standard I want the parent or teacher to teach, I include prompts to match both the theme and the standard. This week, they are working on sorting, counting cardinality and greater than.

 

 

There is also always some kind of game, center, activity and instructions for the parent to teach the standard for the week. 

Here is the game she played just before I arrived.

 

 

I also include games, songs, videos, and links to other activities to do as a brain break or to re-enforce a skill. 

She was playing this game in this picture.

 

Then, it was time for the literacy lesson of the day.  Emily was explaining what she needed to do to make her own Brown Bear student book.

 



 

She had to read the color words on each page and color the animal to match.  She did a great job! I think she only peeked in the book once. :)

 

Big sister is a pro at home schooling.  I was very impressed how she was able to stay on task with me being in the room and talking to her mom.  Emily said, she knows in a brick and mortar classroom they would have distractions around them, so it's good for them to be exposed to noise and other things going on.  She says, since she is home schooling two kiddos, she normally allows the other one to read, put on headphones or practice piano when it's not their turn to have 1:1 time.

 

Now it's time to re-tell the story.  She allowed her daughter to help her put it in order instead of just stapling it and handing it to her.

 



 

Here's a quick video from the re-telling:

Now it's time for Science! This week, they have been learning about living and non-living.  She was getting this video ready when I snapped this pic.

 

Now, it's time to use our Science Journal and make observations about some different things that are living and non-living.

At the end of every day, there is a writing activity.  In the lesson plan, it says to ask the child to imagine they are going to add an animal to the story and it gives a sentence prompt.

 

 

It made my heart so happy to see my curriculum in action!  I do miss being in the classroom... So, this gave me just a touch of teacher happiness for the time being!

 

If you are a home school parent, a teacher who is tired of planning, or just want some fresh ideas... Check this out!

 

 

  You can also check out the curriculum for the entire year here!