Fortis Kinder (T/Th): September 2023

Kinder Week 9 (T/TH)

What an amazing blessing it is that we get to partner in this awesome task of educating these precious children. Praying for you and your children as you continue this journey.

The Objectives for the week are in the notes below, bearing in mind that your student may need more than what is in the box/chart to meet the objectives. Feel free to ask if you need any help making your home days work for you and your child. This is just one of the beautiful things about our model :)

On Tuesday, October 31st, your Kindergartener is allowed to dress in costume as a historical figure from our historical time-period (Biblical) Fun! No toy weapons or anything scary though.

Important Dates:

10/5 - End of 1st quarter

10/10 - Parent/Teacher Conference Day (No School)

10/12 - Spirit Day (NO Pizza)

10/13-10/15 - Fall Campout! Come join us for a potluck dinner on Saturday even if you aren't camping!

10/24 - Picture Make up day

10/26 - Spirit Day/D.O.G.S. Day/ Pizza Day

10/27 - Fall Fest 4-6:30

10/31 - Historical Dress Up Day

**Here is a link to sign up for conference times if you would like to get together. Conferences are optional.

Math

Objectives:
1. Name, recognize and order numbers 1-10
2. Identify and compare basic shapes
3. Recognize solid shapes
4. Identify basic shapes on solids.

While learning about shapes this week, we will pay special attention to the attributes of each shape. Be sure to incorporate this into your home lessons. Ex: "How do we know this is a square and not a rectangle? A square has four sides that are the same. A rectangle has 2 short sides and 2 longer sides. They both have 4 corners/vertices."
IMPORTANT: When studying three-dimensional shapes, we will use the correct terminology rectangular prism and not box. Please use the correct terminology at home as well.
Please have your child complete worksheet: "Solid Shape Scavenger Hunt". Please return Thursday, October 12th to share with the class.
**Please continue reviewing numbers 1-10. Students should be able to name each number in isolation, quickly and accurately.

Reading
Objectives:
1. To be able to sound out CVC words with all 5 short vowels
2. To be able to blend the sounds to read the word
3. To begin reading short sentences

Cards for lesson 40 in OPG can be found here.
Please take this time to review reading short vowel words. It is perfectly normal if your child is not quick and fluent yet at reading the words, but we do want to make sure they are sounding out and blending the word at the end.
Pay special attention to how your child pronounces short e versus short i. Sometimes they can sound similar. In class I tell them that the short e is said with a wide open mouth, and the short I is said with a scrunched up face.
Continue practicing sounding out short vowel words using the WORD FANS that were sent home previously.

Writing

Objectives:
1. To be able to hold a pencil using proper pencil grip.
2 To be able to form all upper case letters properly.
3. To get all upper case letters sitting properly on handwriting lines.

Please continue to monitor pencil grip and correct letter formation! Remember that the habits you establish now could last a lifetime!

Spelling

Objectives:

1. To be able to write the correct phonogram when given the phonogram sounds.

2 To be able to segment 2 and 3 sound words.

3. To be able to blend sounds together to figure out the given word.

Go over yellow phonogram cards and blue key cards at least twice a day. Here is a video with almost 100 different ways to practice phonograms!
Please continue to review AAS steps 1-4. (Lessons 1-5) We will resume with step 5 (Lesson 6) in a few weeks.
Continue blending and segmenting words and alphabetizing the letters.
Dictate the 26 phonograms for your student to write from memory!

Geography

Objectives:

1. To be able to name and point to the continents and oceans.

2. To be able to name the states on the northern border of the US.

We are beginning to experiment with "Blobbing" at school. Here is a short video you can watch if you would like to know more about the first step of blobbing that we will be attempting this week!
Due 11/2, the northern border of the United States. Students will be required to sing the names of the States only. However, we will be pointing at them on the US map at school and you can use the map in your child's blue folder to do so as well. Here is a link to the geography songs and maps.

Memory Work

Hymn of Joy : You can find this poem in your child's blue folder or on the blog under "Curriculum/Poetry". We will be reciting this poem in song form. Here is a link to the song. We will only be doing the first stanza. This poem will be assessed on 11/30.

K week 9	10/2/2023	10/3/2023	10/4/2023	10/5/2023	10/6/2023	10/9/2023	Co-Teacher Notes
Discipleship	Loyalty: Faithfully supporting or showing allegiance. "A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.". ~Proverbs 17:17
Read Aloud	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	End of 1st Quarter
Bible		Discuss: A Giant Staircase to Heaven	Read Aloud: Son of Laughter from JSB.	Discuss: Son of Laughter	Read Aloud: The Present from JSB.
Math	EM-A p87-88	EM-A p89-91	EM-A p92-94 and math journal Day 1	EM-A p95-97	EM-A p98-99 and math journal Day 2	EM-A p100-102 WS:"Solid Shape Scavenger Hunt"
Spelling		Phonemic awareness activities, alphabetizing, phonogram dictation	1) Go over yellow phonogram cards and blue key cards. 2)Have your child put the AAS letter tiles in alphabetical order. 3) Dictate 26 phonograms for your child to write	Phonemic awareness activities, alphabetizing, phonogram dictation	1) Go over yellow phonogram cards and blue key cards. 2)Have your child put the AAS letter tiles in alphabetical order. 3) Dictate 26 phonograms for your child to write		Review Steps 1-4 (Lessons 1-5) as needed, to master 26 phonograms, segmenting, etc
Writing		J, review	HWT p24-25 (J and review center starting capitals)	Capital Review and introduce lowercase c and o.	HWT p26 (all uppercase review) and discuss lower case letters (some are small, some are tall, some go below the line) on page 27.
Reading	Review L37/38	OPG-L39	OPG-L39	OPG-L40	OPG-L40	Review L39/40	Review reading words with all short vowels
Enrichment	Read Aloud: Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle Poem: "The Pancake" by Christiana Rossetti Art: The Gleaners by Jean-Francois Millet Music: "Allemande" by Johann Sebastian Bach						The read aloud will be done on school days. You are encouraged to practice the poem, discuss the art piece, and listen to the music piece on homeschool days. Links to these will be in the notes section above.
Geography	United States: Northern States - Due 11/2
Memory Work	Hymn of Joy Poem Due 11/30

Kinder Week 8 (T/TH)

Related image

Important Dates:

9/23 - Dodgeball Tournament

9/28 - Spirit/DOGS/Pizza Day

10/5 - End of 1st quarter

10/10 - Parent/Teacher Conference Day (No School)

10/13-10/15 - Fall Campout! Come join us for a potluck dinner on Saturday even if you aren't camping!

10/27 - Fall Fest 4-6:30

10/24 - Picture Make up day

10/31 - Historical Dress Up Day

** Here is a link to sign up for conference times if you would like to get together.

Math

Objectives:

1. To be able to count and recognize the numerals 1-10

2 To be able to write the numerals 1-10.

3. To be able to represent the numerals 1-10 on a ten frame.
4. To understand that numbers have order and reverse order

Please go over "Introduction" and "One Step Further" at the bottom of pages 81 & 82 (Tuesday) and pages 84 - 88 (Thursday/Friday).
We are working on number order (1-10) and reverse number order (10-0). Please practice counting backwards from 10-0. Once they have mastered 10-0, start working on 20-0.
Please print these TEN FRAME flashcards and Subitizing cards and add them to your daily routine. Your child should be able to say the number quickly, without having to count.
Here is the link to a fun game we play in class called "Where's the Worm?" just in case you want to try it at home: http://www.kindergartenkindergarten.com/2010/07/wheres-the-worm-number-id-game.html. Start working on recognizing teen numbers since your child has mastered single digit numbers now. We also play this game using our phonogram cards and it is a huge hit!

Reading
Objectives:
1. To recognize all upper and lower case letters.
2 To produce all of the sounds of each of the first 26 phonograms.
3. To be able to blend together CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words using short a, e, i, and o.

I will be sending home a manila envelope with a "leveled reader" (book) in it. Please keep practicing with this book (3 or more times) until your child can read it on his/her own. If it is proving to be too frustrating for your child please let me know and I can send home another book! Please initial the back of the folder (with a sharpie) when you are done with the reader and I will send your child home with another book to enjoy. Keep it fun and encouraging and stop when they are getting frustrated or overwhelmed!
Try this phonemic awareness activity with your student this week - removing sounds. "Can you say cat without the /c/?" (Make the /c/ sound - do not say 'the letter c') Answer: "at". "Can you say sit without the /s/? Answer: "it". Try this with several other words!
Keep practicing reading words with short a, e, i and o using the word fans.

Writing
Objectives:
1. To be able to hold a pencil using proper pencil grip.
2 To be able to form all upper case letters properly.
3. To get all upper case letters sitting properly on handwriting lines.

Please continue to monitor pencil grip and correct letter formation! Remember that the habits you establish now could last a lifetime! Also continue to practice writing their name properly with Uppercase letter, followed by lowercase letters.

Spelling

Objectives:

1. To be able to write the correct phonogram when given the phonogram sounds.

2 To be able to segment 2 and 3 sound words.

3. To be able to blend sounds together to figure out the given word.

Go over yellow phonogram cards and blue key cards at least twice a day. Here is a video with almost 100 different ways to practice phonograms!
Please continue to review AAS steps 1-4. (Lessons 1-5) We will resume with step 5 (Lesson 6) in a few weeks.
Continue blending and segmenting words and alphabetizing the letters.
Dictate the 26 phonograms for your student to write from memory!

Geography:

This week we will introduce the song for the first region of the United States (Northern States). It will be due 11/2. Students will be required to sing the names of the States only. However, we will be pointing to them on the US map at school and you are welcome to print the map and do so as well. A copy of the US map is in your child's folder as well.
United States Original

Memory Work

- Hymn of Joy will be introduced this week. You can find this poem in your child's blue folder or on the blog under "Curriculum/Poetry". We will be reciting this poem in song form. Here is a link to the song or you can use this one here. There are many versions to this song. You can find the one that works best for your child. We will only be doing the first stanza. This poem will be assessed on 11/26.
Hymn Of Joy by Henry Van Dyke

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flow'rs before Thee,
Opening to the Sun above,
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day!

K week 8	9/25/2023	9/26/2023	9/27/2023	9/28/2023	9/29/2023	10/2/2023	Co-Teacher Notes
Discipleship	Confidence: Being secure in who I am in Christ while completely relying on the strength of God.. "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and Courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the lord your God is with you wherever you go.". ~Joshua 1:9
Read Aloud	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.
Bible		Discuss: The Terrible Lie	Read Aloud: A New Beginning from JSB.	Discuss: A New Beginning	Read Aloud: A Giant Staircase to Heaven from JSB.
Math	EM-A p78	EM-A p79-80	EM-A p.81-82 and math journal	EM-A p.83	EM-A p84-86 and math journal catch up day	EM-A p87-88
Spelling		Phonemic Awareness Activities	Dictate 26 Phonograms for your student to write	Phonemic Awareness Activities	Dictate 26 Phonograms for your student to write		Review Steps 1-4 (Lessons 1-5) as needed, to master 26 phonograms, segmenting, etc
Writing		S, A	HWT p22 (S,A)	I,T	HWT p23 (I,T)		Center Starting Letters
Reading	Review L35-36	OPG-L37	OPG-L37	OPG-L38	OPG-L38	Review L37/38	Short o
Enrichment	Read Aloud: The Story of Ferdinand Poem: "The Friendly Cow" and "The Milk Jug" Art: The Bull by Paulus Potter Music: "Toreador Song" from Carmen by Georges Bizet						The read aloud will be done on school days. You are encouraged to practice the poem, discuss the art piece, and listen to the music piece on homeschool days.
Geography	United States: Northern States - Due 11/2
Memory Work	Jesus Died Your Soul To Save Poem Due Tuesday (9/26)

Kinder Week 7 (T/TH)

We are READING! I am so excited about the progress that all of the kindergarteners are making in being able to sound out words. It is tedious and slow at first, but the more encouragement and praise they receive from you, the more excited they will get once they realize that they CAN do hard things! I will be sending home "word fans" on Thursday (short lists of short vowel words). These are great to use in the car or stick in your purse to work on sounding out short vowel words as you wait in line somewhere. I hope you find them helpful.

We have begun adding "grades" into Alma. In kindergarten through 2nd grade your child will be graded on objectives and given a score between 1 and 4.

4. Mastered Objective: Can perform the objective easily without any help every time.

3. Met Objective: Can perform the objective most of the time, but may need a little reminder.

2. Approaching Objective: Can only perform the objective with guidance and help.

1. Struggling with Objective: Can not perform the objective or is not developmentally ready to perform this objective.

In Alma please ignore the percentages as Alma is not set up to do grading like we want. If your child has a 3 then that means they have mastered the objective. If they receive a 1 or 2 on any objective, please devote some extra time (beyond what is assigned on the blog) to that area and help them to master that objective. If you have any questions on how to help your child please let me know!

Important Dates:

9/28 - Spirit/DOGS/Pizza Day

10/5 - End of 1st quarter

10/10 - Parent/Teacher Conference Day (No School)

10/27 - Fall Fest 4-6:30

10/31 - Historical Dress Up Day

**Tuesday, October 10th the kiddos will not have school but that is time set aside for Teacher/Co-teacher conferences. These are not required. If your student has mastered all of the objectives and you don't have any concerns, you do not need to schedule a conference. However, if you or your child are struggling during home school days or your child is struggling to master concepts I would like for us to get together so I can encourage you and offer some ideas on how to help. Here is a link to sign up for conference times if you would like to get together.

Math

Objectives:

1. To be able to count and recognize the numerals 1-10

2 To be able to write the numerals 1-10.

3. To be able to represent the numerals 1-10 on a ten frame.

We are really working on not only identifying and writing numbers 0-10, but also looking at different ways to see those numbers. In class, we do this through the use of subitizing cards, ten frames, rekenreks, etc. Although it may seem as though we are moving slowly, please know that our goal is to really give the children a strong foundation in number sense. Numbers are beautiful! They are everywhere! Mathematics is one of God's languages. Take a look around at His wonderful creation and see where numbers can be found.
Please have your student bring his/her math journal to class each day.

Remember to review previous lesson before moving on to new one!
The "Mini-books" that we do during class are a great way to review and practice. You might want to keep them all in a zip lock bag to have a great toolbox of books your child can read on his/her own. There will be one coming home every school day!

Please keep working on pencil grip and making proper handwriting strokes! (generally left to right, top to bottom). Also continue to practice writing their name properly with Uppercase letter, followed by lowercase letters.

Spelling

Objectives:

1. To be able to write the correct phonogram when given the phonogram sounds.

2 To be able to segment 2 and 3 sound words.

3. To be able to blend sounds together to figure out the given word.

Go over yellow phonogram cards and blue key cards at least twice a day.
Please continue to review AAS steps 1-4 (Lesson 1-5). We will resume with step 5 (Lesson 6) in a few weeks.
Continue blending and segmenting words (ex: cat=c/a/t, c/a/t=cat)

Geography:

Kindergarteners will be expected to be able to point to the Continents and Oceans on a map. Click here for the song we use in class. Due Thursday.

Memory Work:

"Jesus Died Your Soul to Save". Students will say title, author, and then recite poem next week.

K week 7	9/18/2023	9/19/2023	9/20/2023	9/21/2023	9/22/2023	9/25/2023	Co-Teacher Notes	Notes/Comments to Teachers:
Discipleship	Confidence:- Joshua 1:9
Read Aloud	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes
Bible		Discuss: The Story and the Song	Read Aloud: The Beginning: A Perfect Home from JSB.	Discuss: The Beginning: A perfect Home	Read Aloud: The Terrible Lie from JSB.		JSB=Jesus Storybook Bible
Math	EM-A p70-71	EM-A p72	EM-A p73-74 and math journal	EM-A p75	EM-A p76-77 and math journal	EM-A p78
Spelling		Phonogram dictation, Alphabetizing, Phonemic awareness activities	Dictate Phonograms and use this time for additional practice reading short a/e/i words	Phonogram dictation, Alphabetizing, Phonemic awareness activities	Dictate Phonograms and use this time for additional practice reading short a/e/i words		Review Steps 1-4 (Lessons 1-5) as needed, to master 26 phonograms, segmenting, etc
Writing		C, O (Center Starting or Magic C capitals)	HWT p20 (C,O)	Q, G	HWT-p21(Q,G)
Reading	Review L32/33	OPG-L34	OPG-L35	OPG-L36	OPG-L36	Review L35-36	Short i
Enrichment	Read Aloud: The Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall Poem: "The Twelve Months" by George Ellis Art: The Old Stagecoach by Jonathan Eastman Johnson Music: "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster					The read aloud will be done on school days. You are encouraged to practice the poem, discuss the art piece, and listen to the music piece on homeschool days.
Geography	Continents and Oceans - Due ThursdayContinents and Oceans - Due Thursday (9/21) Intro Northern States
Memory Work	Jesus Died Your Soul To Save Poem Due 9/26 (Next Week)
K week 8	9/25/2023	9/26/2023	9/27/2023	9/28/2023	9/29/2023	10/2/2023	Co-Teacher Notes	Notes/Comments to Teachers:
Discipleship	Responsibility: Knowing and doing what is expected of me. A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Proverbs 29:23							End of 1st Quarter
Read Aloud	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes
Bible		Discuss: The Terrible Lie	Read Aloud: A New Beginning from JSB.	Discuss: A New Beginning	Read Aloud: A Giant Staircase to Heaven from JSB.
Math	EM-A p78	EM-A p79-80	EM-A p.81-82 and math journal	EM-A p.83	EM-A p84-86 and math journal catch up day	EM-A p87-88		Send home October Math Journals by Thursday
Spelling		Phonemic Awareness Activities	Dictate 26 Phonograms for your student to write	Phonemic Awareness Activities	Dictate 26 Phonograms for your student to write		Review Steps 1-4 as needed, to master 26 phonograms, segmenting, etc
Writing		S, A	HWT p22 (S,A)	I,T	HWT p23 (I,T)
Reading	Review L35-36	OPG-L37	OPG-L37	OPG-L38	OPG-L38	Review L37/38	Short o
Enrichment	Read Aloud: The Story of Ferdinand Poem: "The Friendly Cow" and "The Milk Jug" Art: The Bull by Paulus Potter Music: "Toreador Song" from Carmen by Georges Bizet						The read aloud will be done on school days. You are encouraged to practice the poem, discuss the art piece, and listen to the music piece on homeschool days.	I moved the original enrichment week to the week of Halloween.
Geography	United States: Northern States - Due 11/3
Memory Work	Jesus Died Your Soul To Save Poem Due Tuesday