Kindy Notes - End of June

Here we are a week into July and I never typed up what Zac and I did together for Kindy in the second half of June! So here is June 15 - 30:

Setting up a ball net in the yard. Setting it up again after it fell down. Again. Tons of ball play. Playing cornhole.

Tricycle riding. Water play. Rock play (moving rocks in his dump truck being a particular favorite). Figuring out how to make music on Natalie's keyboard. Winding balls of yarn; tying endless knots; creating an enormous spider web in his bedroom.

Building elaborate designs with Brain Blox and dominoes (making highways for his toy cars to drive on; building parking garages for them to park in).

Taking a walk to see how the neightbor's peaches are coming along (still green). Feeding fresh veggie scraps to the rabbit. Lots of playing in the rain. First-time-ever water balloons on a hot day. Building marble mazes.

Estimating. Measuring. Mud kitchen and Potion Play is still going STRONG!

Reading On My Beach There Are Many Pebbles by Leo Lionni, choosing smooth pebbles, and painting Froggie Friends inspired by the adorable Tinkergarten Week 1 "Creating Collections" (PDF). Mixing Spring Green and Grass Green to make his very own perfect Frog Green!

We got If I Lived with Noah from the PJ Library and that book was a huge surprise to Zac, since he had never ever heard the story of Noah and the Ark! So we also read Noah's Ark by Jerry Pinkney. And then he spent several days creating Ark forts in his bedroom with quilts and kitchen chairs.

It was quite a big thing, and he played in his fort constantly and set down a sleeping bag on the floor so he could take his naps there. Of course he carefully filled his fort with books and toys. And the dog...

Reading everything he can get his hands on. "I'm just coming to snack from this pile of books on the stool." Of course, we haven't gone to the library at all so I've been buying new books and they come to the house almost daily.

Finishing up the Kindness Curriculum with wonderful stories like Can You Say Peace? and The Colors of Us by Karen Katz, Skin Again by bell hooks, and Less Than Half, More Than Whole by Kathleen and Michael Lacapa.

Playing games like I Never Forget a Face and the magnetic tangrams set Tangoes Jr.. Matching animals on the Coral Reef Habitat Mat. Book Share.

Looking at flowers under his microscope. Trying to regrow scallions from the base/roots in a glass of water. Dress up costumes (knight, dragon). Creating makeshift seesaws, benches, tables, and ramps with boards. Taking an oatmeal bath (soothing on bites and scrapes after all that time outside).

Writing a thank you note to a neighbor for a new toy. Writing a letter to his grandmother. Now that Zac is in Kindergarten, I got him his very own Gratitude Journal, like the school kids have, and we write each night his favorite things of the day, and what he is thankful for in his life overall.

Helping out around the house is really important to Zac right now!

Soo.... Helping to steer one end of the new mattress as I brought it down the hallway. Sweeping the kitchen floor. Sweeping the steps. Sweeping the sidewalk. Mulching the pollinator garden. Tidying the shed. Walking the dog. Learning how to put a pillowcase on a pillow. Cooking!

Zac loves to help with the Hello Fresh recipes and he is always really excited when the box arrives each week.

Wiping mushrooms clean with a paper towel. Mixing up some honey butter for mashed sweet potatoes. Making cherry jam sauce for pork. Making Cherry Ancho Duck Breasts with Pistachio Rice and Roasted Green Beans (Zac asked me if I could please get some duck meat so that he could taste it, and this recipe was an option one week). I was surprised he wanted to eat duck. Zac was very taken with our previous walk around Campus Lake and told me, "When I grow up and I'm a man and I get to choose where I work, I'm going to choose the campus so I can see the ducks."

Making pickles. Eating fresh pineapple. Having a picnic lunch outside on the longest day of the year and reading The Summerfolk by Doris Burn.

Walking around the block to look for fireflies together. Reading The Goat in the Rug and dyeing wool yarn in the crocopot with avocado skins and pits. Explaining carefully when he disagrees with me, "That's not reasonable." Temporary tattoos. A haircut (my first time cutting his hair with clippers).

We are still working on The Adventures of Bobby Coon at bedtime. And, of course, we read lots and lots of other books:

And Zac is constantly sitting outside the door of the Science Room as I'm doing my tutoring sessions, listening in on the stories. So he probably heard many more of the picture books I read for Math Gnomes and Column Algorithms and Native American Legends. He's constantly popping in the door to bring me things that he thinks will go with my lessons, like a picture of a blue whale, or his stuffed baby sloth. So I know he is hearing quite a lot!

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!