April Kindergarten 2

Here's an overview of what our Waldorf inspired April kindergarten homeschooling looked like during our second year of kindergarten (age 5-6).

Our holiday celebrations this month included celebrating Easter by dying eggs, going to special events at church, and reading books.

April Kindergarten

Our pocket rhyme this month was Little Bo Peep. I figured this was a good month for that one since the Sheep and Wool Festival happens at the beginning of May, and we'd talked about how March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

Week 1

This week in our Waldorf Essentials story, Sam was counting strawberry plants.

She did some weaving and made a pot holder on a loom using this potholder weaving kit.  This week's STEM challenge was about stopping a car going down a ramp.

We did math assessment 1, which was entirely based on games, no writing, and didn't feel like a test at all. In reading, she learned initial blends. We made the mobile from  the I Am Special book. And also to count for social studies, we visited a Mexican restaurant with friends!

Week 2

In our gnome story, Sam and his friend Toby painted eggs. We did a review of color mixing with the dyes as we decorated our own eggs for Easter.

The STEM challenge was to build a paper structure to hold up a board book. Reading was a review of blends. In math, we used the whole and parts circles set for partitioning. This definitely would be grade 1 in Waldorf education, but she is past 6-1/2 so I'm ok with doing it now. She also received a working vintage typewriter, which she enjoys typing on, and she made a Little Bo Peep cotton ball sheep.

Week 3

I wanted to do something special for Holy Week, so we are burning incense for about 2 minutes each day using the traditional Waldorf scent of the day. I use really pure incense with no added chemicals so it is a safe smoke. This actually led to a discussion about good smoke and bad smoke, part of our ongoing larger discussion about ingredients and what things are made of and if they are good to ingest or put on our bodies. We also talked about old plastics and lead and the importance of washing hands.

I feel safer using incense than essential oil diffusers. They have a long history of use and safety. Essential oils take even more time and resources to make and weren't used as heavily as some modern people are using them.

Anyway, yes, our health discussions go to much deeper levels than just "Mr. Yuck means poison" because some things are only poisonous if used the wrong way, such as understanding medicines and "sometimes foods".

In reading, she learned double F, L, and S. Math featured more partitioning and some oral word problems that were super easy for her. She showed some interest in playing the piano. The STEM challenge was to build a little sailboat. We also did a  sink or float test. This week's art lesson involved drawing a portrait of her grandmother who visited.

Week 4

In our story this week, Sam gave his friend a pet so wouldn't be so lonely at new house. We made pancakes like they did in that story and also as mentioned in one of our reader stories.

This week's STEM challenge was to build a chair for a toy. In math, we used place value cards, working on tens and ones. For the Bo Peep rhyme, there was an activity about counting sheep.

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