Back to School

I can't believe it is time for school to start already.  This summer has flown by and I did not do a good job of documenting it.  We went to Arizona and visited family and friends, we played at the park most weeks, we did service, we had friends over, we had a 4th of July party, went swimming, played in the sprinklers a lot, had craft and library days.  It was a busy summer.

August 15th school started.  I wish they would wait to start school after Labor Day.  It just seems to make more sense to me.

Tyler is in the 1st grade this year and he has a FAN-TAS-TIC teacher this year.  I am so excited for him.  Not only is he in school all day but he likes it.  So far his favorite part of the day is recess and lunch.  Who can argue with that.  I am excited to go and help in his class room and watch him experience life and learn and grow.

this is one of Tyler's friends from last year in kindergarten.  I was excited to see they were in the same class.

Not to forget about Katie, she will be starting school soon as well.  She will be going to joy school.  I am really excited for her because she loves school and I will have the opportunity to teach her on some days.

Big Day for Tyler

Today has been a big day for Tyler.

Not only was it his last day of school but also he learned something today.

This is Tyler's pizza party, his class and teacher.  He also made a great friend this year, Jacob.

But on to what he learned.....Yes, he finally learned how to ride his bike without training wheels.  He has been wanting to try for the longest time but with Brad in a boot for his Achilles and me in a brace for my ACL, we haven't been able to help him.  Occasionally we would take off one training wheel but he just didn't get it but today is the day.  Brad gave him a push and he has been riding ever since.  He doesn't need help to start, he can do it all on his own.

 

 

This has been a great day.  We are looking forward to the summer.  Sleeping in, playing at the park, swimming, feeding the ducks, reading books, exploring and getting into all kinds of mischief.  It is going to be great!

We hope everyone has a great safe and happy summer!!!

Site Words

Tyler is working on site words in kindergarten right now. I want him to be successful and to be a great reader so we practice these words everyday. His teacher sends home 5 words. He practices them and if he feels he knows them well enough, he takes the list back to school and if he can tell them the words he moves on to the next list.

So I thought I would help him out. I have made flash cards with a lot of words on them. I have lamented them. When the list is sent home I pull those words, write the list number on the back and we practice them, in different orders.

I have put the list on our word wall. When he passes off a list, it gets taped to the wall. Also, when Tyler passes off his words, he gets a star next to that word.

We also have letters with magnets on an oil pan. This way he can see the letters, move them around to spell words but also be able to write them. I wanted to buy a white board but they are really expensive. I found this oil pan at walmart for under $10.

The vowels are red and consonants are blue. I have several sets of these letters in case we lose them or if he needs more for his word he is trying to spell.

After we have practiced his words I send him to the board, give him the word, have him spell it with the magnet letters and then write it out. I feel he will hopefully be able to learn them better. He can see them and write them. Also, this will help prepare him for spelling tests in the future.

This oil pan is also great for drawing on. This is Tyler and Katie's famous art work. They love to spell words. Katie will ask how to spell a word and then she finds the letters.