Monday, August 20, 2012

First Day of MFW K

{CLICK HERE} to view the rest of our MFW K unit posts.
{CLICK HERE} to view our post explaining WHY we chose MFW K for our family.


Today was Alex’s first day with My Father’s World Kindergarten.  It starts off so gently, and it took us less than an hour to complete.  Before we got started, I had the kids pose with signs of what they are working on this year.  Jensyn’s just says “I’m Cute”…perhaps it should have said “I’m Trouble”, but I was nice ;)
August2012 185

Max – age 3                                     Alex – 4.5                                        Jensyn – 16 months
August2012 187August2012 191  August2012 186 
Mama’s First Lesson: NEVER plan your first day of something new on a Monday after a extra busy weekend.  We had a family reunion and Max’s birthday party…so today we had overtired kids who really just wanted to play with the new toys.  It worked out to be a good morning, but these “outtakes” of Alex should give you a good idea of how our morning started!
     pouting                                      crying                                          smiling through tears
August2012 188 August2012 189 August2012 190
Keith had the idea to rearrange the playroom (bonus room over the garage) a bit to make a school area.  We had the calendar wall , but there was no good work space upstairs.  We divided the room into two separate areas; We’ll try this & see how it works for us.
Now there’s a family room side and a school side.
August2012 192August2012 194
Here’s the wall along the left side, where we keep all the toys:
August2012 193
    Here’s the school table & our (messy) shelves.August2012 195
Here’s the calendar wall…the calendar is inside the closet door so the baby isn’t always pulling off all the numbers.
 August2012 197August2012 196
We wisely waited until Jensyn was sleeping before getting started.  The mailman brought a package FIVE MINUTES before we got started (phew!), and Alex was excited to rip into it!  He discovered “God Made It For You!”, a neat book that details each day of creation that was highly recommended by several people.  We read about the first day of creation from this book.
 August2012 198 August2012 199
We did a calendar time, turning over today’s number, finding out what day it is, finding out what month it is, and pointing & counting from 1 – 20  (today’s date number).  Then Alex added a straw to our hundreds/tens/ones chart for our first day.  (He’s been waiting to do this since we bought the straws a few weeks ago!)
August2012 203 August2012 204
We watched a YouTube video of the song “This Is My Father’s World” on the Kindle.
(To be honest, Alex was bored by it…he prefers the Go Fish version…but we’ll probably watch it once a week because this version of the song & the photos shown in the video are so pretty!)
August2012 205
Max wandered over when we sang the ABC song, and then the boys took turns pointing to A or B…which are the only two letters to be worked on for the first day.
August2012 206 August2012 208
After that, I gave each boy a small block, and they took turns placing their block on the letter that I named.  WAY too easy for Alex, but still hard for Max.
August2012 209 August2012 210
I gave Max the option of joining us at the table to make the first page of the Creation Book.  I did the cutting for him, but he had fun gluing.
August2012 211 August2012 212
Alex did his own cutting…although he purposely cut in the wrong place so that he could have the special privilege of using tape to fix his “mistake” ;)
August2012 217 
August2012 219
Before heading downstairs for a surprise snack (I’d set it up when they were already upstairs…), I asked Alex to do one last thing: write his name on the August line.  We’ll have him write his name once a month to record how his writing changes throughout this year.
Edited to add: lots of people have e-mailed me about this page.  It’s not an original idea, but the page was my creation.  If you’d like a copy, you can download it here: https://www.yousendit.com/download/TEhXb3BPZDVubVZMWE1UQw
 August2012 218 August2012 220
We prayed to thank God for creating light and dark and for giving us a nice first day of school, then we headed downstairs for the much-anticipated snack.
Alex caught on REALLY quickly to WHY we were having oreos & milk.  He took one look at his plate and said, “OREOS!  Just like LIGHT and DARK!  And MILK – it’s like the LIGHT!”
August2012 221 August2012 222
I certainly won’t document every day with such detail, but I thought it would be fun to record his very first day.  I’ll save the rest until we’ve completed Days 1 – 10 of creation!
Psst…if you’re using MFW K or following along because you’re thinking about using MFW K, I’d love to hear from you!  Please leave a comment, share your blog link in the comments, or send me an e-mail ~ I’d enjoy keeping in touch!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

aww I love the new space! It actually really really made me want to drive out there and visit you! Hang out in your school/playroom and let Sammy, Alex and Max become good buddies!

Looks like a great first day!! I am all giddy with excitement for you guys over there! So glad the first day went well! Ours is tomorrow!

Tamara @{School}Days Gone By said...

Hi! I'm Tamara from {School}Days Gone By where you linked up your first day pics! LOVE your school room!! And the idea with the "name throughout the year" ....genius! Your kids are absolutely adorable. :) Thanks for linking up!!

web said...

Would it be possible for you to share the printable of first day of tot school, like Max is holding in the picture...that would be perfect for my class at daycare!!!...Please??? and thank you, if you can!!!

MamaDuck76 said...

Web ~ I didn't save it, but it would only take a minute or two to make it again. E-mail me or leave a comment with your e-mail address, please, so I can send it to you :)

MamaDuck76 said...

Thanks, Tamara!

Cass said...

Hello! I am using MFW K this year and it will be our first year homeschooling. We haven't started yet, so I am looking forward to following along with you to see what you come up with!

Cassandra

MamaDuck76 said...

Hi Cassandra! Hopefully your kindergartener will love it as much as my little boy does. He was crying yesterday because we didn't do school! ;)

We are, for the most part, sticking to the Teachers Guide. I'll be adding in a few extras, like snacks or crafts, on occasion.

If you're looking for some REALLY creative ideas, check out my friend Michelle's blog ~ she is completely changing up the program & having a whole lot of fun with her kids!

http://thoughtsofesme.blogspot.com/

Jenny4 said...

Hello,
I'm Jennifer. Currently using MFW for the first time with my 7th grader and 9th grader (ECC and AHL). I also have a four year old and a two year old. We will be beginning the MFW K sometime towards the fall. I've already started to gather some stuff for sensory boxes I saw at simplyhomeblogspot.com. I use a sensory box now, so I am excited to use some of her ideas! I love the sheet you came up with for each month. I can't wait to start this with my little guy - he will be 5 in October so we'll be starting early and taking it slow too. Jennifer

Jenny4 said...

jnnfralx71@yahoo.com

I am Koogle... said...

@ Jenny4,

Will you list again the blog where you found sensory box ideas? I went to simplyhomeblogspot.com and couldn't find anything??

Dawn, can you provide any help?

Thanks!

I am Koogle... said...

Dawn,

I wish you WOULD document every day with such detail! I read every word...and enjoyed experiencing your first day with you. lol.

I love how you put the calendar inside the closet door...great idea...and so smart! :)

MamaDuck76 said...

I had the same issue, and I found it at:
http://www.simplyhomeblog.com/

She does some very fun, hands-on activities with her children. Her photography is beautiful, as well! The whole blog is very well done, but watch for her MFW K posts...you'll love them!

MamaDuck76 said...

Hi Koogle,
My computer is being 'grumpy' and won't let me reply directly to your comment :)

Thank you for the compliment. In a way, it would be fun to document every day in great detail...but I'd run out of time to actually teach if I did that, ha ha!

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that is very true...it's exactly why our calendar is inside the closet. Otherwise, I'd be replacing the calendar cards multiple times every day, thanks to little hands!