Our Kindergarten Gratuate

The little peanut is done with Kindergarten!  She worked hard and finished early because she wanted to be in first grade by her birthday.  She made it and is very proud of herself!  I knew she would finish K early this year, so I purchased MFW 1st Grade back in the fall.  Starting a new grade is always a challenge for me.  I'm hoping this is a smooth transition.  Have any of my fellow bloggers gone from MFW-K to 1st?  I'd like to hear from you about the transition between the two!

I'll post pictures soon of the proud peanut!

Summer Math ???

Just a thought.  I've heard some say that they sprinkle some math in over the summer months in order to keep it fresh.  I'm thinking about doing this.  Nothing too formal.  Just thought we could do one to three lessons a week and maybe that will help us ease into a full schedule in the fall.  Can you believe I'm already thinking of fall?  Any thoughts???

Penguin Lapbook

This is the lapbook we completed a few weeks ago when Katie was on the letter Pp.  It was a rough start but once we got going, things began to fall into place.  In the end, I'm glad we did it.

Lapbook Cover

First opened page.  The left side is the back of the cover.  The illustration shows stages of a penguins life.  The picture on the bottom is of a magellanic penguin.  On the right is the food web in a cold dessert biome.  At the center (the line that looks like a fold in the middle), is where the lapbook opens up to the right.

Parts of a penguin on top and Types of penguins and their sizes on the bottom.  The flap on the right is math.

This is the right side opened up.  The pictures on the left and right are of different types of penguins.  The colored picture in the center is actually a color, cut & paste activity showing what daddy penguins do to care for the eggs while the mommies are out fetching food.  The wheel shows the life cycle of a penguin.

It's pretty basic, but really teaches a lot.  There were many more activities and books that we didn't include in the lapbook simply for lack of space.  One activity we did (I wish I had taken a picture) was of the girls trying to carry a potato (representing an egg) on top of their feet, as the daddy penguins do.  Even using their pants to serve as the flap of skin on a penguin, the "egg" kept falling off!  As they giggled through it, they learned how daddy penguins must walk very carefully to protect their precious cargo!