Week Nine, Day Two

Today Aidyn decided he wanted to do some crafts. So I gave him some pre-cut heart shapes, crayons, alphabet stickers, and scribble paper, and he made a wonderful letter collage. During the activity, we talked about the different letters.

Additionally, we read one of my favorite books as a child, Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, then Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree by Eileen Christelow, and finally Monkey Mo Goes to Sea by Diane Goode.

Afterwards, we went on a Letter Hunt/Bike Ride to the library playground. On the way, I asked Aidyn to look for letters and point them out. We found letters everywhere! When we would get close enough, I would name them out and he would repeat. He spent over an hour playing on the playground with a similar-aged boy named Jake who had brought along some toy dinosaurs. Aidyn and Jake played with sticks, scampered all around the play area, and even pretended they were monkeys, per Aidyn's suggestion.

When we got home, Aidyn went down for a nap while watching Meet the Letters.

Week Nine, Day One

After going grocery shopping, I made Aidyn some "monkey sticks." Actually, it's a skewer lined with fruit (we did red grapes, kiwi, raspberries, and blueberries) and talked about how monkeys love fruit. His aunt and uncle came over, and we all had a short discussion about monkeys.

Later, we interactively watched Sesame Street: Learning the Letters and talked and sang through the program. I asked him to identify some letters today and he was able to remember A, B, C, G, and I.

Going down for his nap, he watched Meet the Letters and I could hear him repeating each letter presented. It's such a soothing sound.

Week Nine

Weekly Theme: Monkeys
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Practiced skill: Letter recognition, phonics
Book on tape: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

April Monthly Theme

This month we are taking a break from my planned curriculum. Instead we will be trying out delight-led learning. During a random trip to Daffodil Hill, Aidyn scaled a tree and claimed he was a monkey. Since then he has been sharing, "I love monkeys!" and how he wants to eat and sleep in a tree like a monkey. So we will be having a monkey theme.

When Aidyn's interest piques towards something else, I will follow that curiosity. That is our plan for the month of April.

Week Eight Synopsis

Week eight ended our monthly unit of the ocean. The whole family participated in this one and we really had a ball. Aidyn learned about sharks, whales, octupi, seahorses, otters, seashells, and other ocean life. We spent half of the weekend at Morro Bay where we beachcombed for shells, fed sea lions at an aquarium, and enjoyed the beach boardwalk town. We had a blast with this theme and I am looking forward to revisiting it later.

Week Eight, Day Three

Although my son is feeling a bit under the weather, he still played today in his "house." He invited me in for tea and banana cookies and then we had a nap (with half of my body sticking out of the box-- er, I mean house).

When he was napping with his dad, I dashed over to the library to pick up new books for him. I grabbed Spot Goes to the Beach by Eric Hill and Eyewitness Books: Seashore both for our upcoming beachcombing expedition. Additionally, I picked up a video on letter introductory called Meet the Letters.

When I returned home, I planned out a large portion of his learning roster for the kindergarten year and wrote my goals and aspirations for his world education.

Week Eight, Day One

As usual, we have strayed from our unti study and had a relaxed learning day. In the morning, Aidyn further developed his "house" that he's made from the big box his bike seat came in. With permission and careful supervision, he poked holes throughout the box for "windows" and even brought out his "tools" and made necessary repairs. It was adorable.

He also pretended to be a dalmation puppy for the bulk of the day. Wagging his tail and barking, Aidyn wore dalmation ears and a tail and insisted he was a pooch. Later, during nap time, he watched a video of the book The Poky Little Puppy and another of P.D. Eastman's books, Are You My Mother? and Go, Dog, Go.