K5 Homeschool Summer School

*updated 8/13/15 below
Yes, I am that mom. Summer school mom!! I thought about enrolling Cecelia in summer school through her school district just more socially (not necessarily for academics) but then I realized we would be locked in to a schedule of activities for those weeks, it would put a major crimp in Charlotte's naps (that her entire life was already experiencing having to take Cecelia to school and pick her up #thirdkidproblems) and that's boring for me (chauffeur).  I also knew Cecelia would have to do something this summer to avoid some summer slide as she learned A LOT this school year... even with 30 kids in her K5 class. Yes. 30.

So, I thought I'd make a little program/routine that would take about 45 minutes a day. Very doalbe during #2 and #3's naps and give Cecelia and I a little time to spend together by ourselves. She's not been getting the mommy attention lately between Charlotte and her being at school all day.

So our general outline is

My goal was for her to read at least 20 minutes (3 books a day). So she gets to pick two books and I pick one. She can choose from her raz-kids computer logon (left over from school) which is leveled for her independent level and I got a bunch of books from the library at her level. (Good thing or bad thing to have a teacher for a mommy? Yet to be determined!) She can choose from any of them in addition to the computer logon, books she has written, her ABC sounds book from k4, or some math books she made about her teen numbers in school. I then select a book to cover any skills I think she fell short at practicing that day. The little stink is really good at memorizing words and sentences in books. After one read through, she no longer needs to "work" at it. That leaves fewer opportunities to stretch out and used strategies for figuring out unknown words. Therefore, she gets frustrated easily. That mom picks book, usually one day is a new book where she can't just use the picture and initial sound of a word to nail it. She needs to find chunks or endings and put the words together. The next day I'll do a book she previously worked through so she can have another go around to not hate it! 

That mommy picks book is also a book we talk about some of the story elements. At her age setting and characters are appropriate to focus on. So we discuss then she gets to pick which to draw a picture about- her favorite part, the setting, the main character, or the characters. Thanks for the ready made pages Mrs. Jump!

Cecelia likes the Biscuit series!

After we read we are keeping track and trying to read 100 books this summer. She is keeping track on a hundreds chart and then we represent that number on ten frames. In a few more days we will have enough books read to start practicing using the ten frames to count by 5s, 10s, and 2s.

After reading she gets to rotate every other day between writing and math. We just use what she was doing in the K5 classroom and continued it at home. She even has her Writer's Workshop folder from school. I have her do about 20 minutes of either. One day last week during her "Writer's Workshop" time she wrote the book below! I'll translate phonetic spelling in captions below pictures for those that don't work in an elementary school!

"When the baby grows up by Cecelia Eiting"

"When Charlotte is 1 me and her I will teach her how to swim."

"When Charlotte is 2 I will teach her how to walk."

"When Charlotte is 3 I will teach her how to be a writer."

"When Charlotte is 4 I will teach her how to read."

"When Charlotte is 5 I will teach her how to write words."

Below is what Cecelia makes on the back of every "book" that she writes. It's the UPC code you find on the back of books in a library.... silly girl!

A link to beginner writing paper.

On the opposite day she works on a website called MobyMax. She has a login from school. I think they were using it as an intervention possibly. It's adaptive (gets harder or easier as the student demonstrates the knowledge or skill) and follows a best practice philosophy of how we now teach mathematics.

After Cecelia finishes her math or writing is the reward. READING WITH MOM. I wanted another activity to do with her and also a reward but didn't want to do stickers or candy, etc. What is better than more one on one time with mom (no siblings allowed). I also wanted to start exposing her to some different genres and authors of beginning chapter books as she will be moving into those this school year probably. Children's lit favorites like Amelia Bedelia, Arthur, Frog and Toad, Magic Tree House, Junie B Jones, ets are all ones I know she will love. With 30 in her first grade class, I wonder what sort of exploration with texts and/or how much she will actually be pushed as she is already above grade level. She may need some background knowledge on what she likes and some initiative to find those books herself!  And of course another way to make it special is we decided we would always read the last chapter at Starbucks! (Mommy is always looking for an excuse to go there!) So this week we finished her first chapter book ever. The first Magic Tree House in the series. It's almost like I planned it because there were dinosaurs in it and her zoo school this week was Dinosaur School. Boom! Our next one is an Arthur!

So, after a few chapters of our chapter book, this little summer school routine takes between 45-60 minutes. That's 45-60 minutes of alone time with my first baby!

See what else we are up to this summer!!!

*** UPDATE*** August 13, 2015

Today was the day! Cecelia read her 100th book of the summer (not counting bedtime books). To celebrate we are going to enjoy reading a final chapter book of the summer together. I'll give the ol' girl a 2 week break from the grind!!

Ten full ten frames is 100!

I'm so proud of my girl!!

The book we will read as the summer draws to a close... Junie B. Jones First Grader, At Last by Barbara Park of course!! Fitting, don't you think! I hope she likes it!