We only have one week left to prepare for Kindergarten. At first, I told my husband, Gabby, to just purchase online to save time and money. But he told me that our girls would enjoy if we involve them in selecting and shopping items. I thought that this week would be tough and exhausting but it turned out that preparation week was super fun!!!
Week 0 is very important in transitioning children from vacation to homeschooling. It is the best time to prepare the environment and finalize the materials needed for at least 4 weeks.
At the top of my list was taking their ID pictures. Austin wanted to wear her anti-radiation glasses and she looked so cute! Max, of course, even if not officially enrolled yet, had to have one. They enjoyed their photoshoot.
Yesterday, first went to National Bookstore for art materials and envelopes. The girls enjoyed selecting items and putting them in their own carts.
Then, we went to papemelroti to look for cute notebooks but they are kind of pricey, and the leaves are brown. So I decided to purchase online for Austin and Mackenzie’s study journal. At National Bookstore, we purchased a notebook and pad paper with blue-red-blue lines so they can practice writing. But I was able to purchase a beautiful storage box in papemelroti. This will be their art box.
Here are the notebooks that I purchased in Shopee. I purchased lined for Scripture Study, Filipino, English, Math, Science, History and Music classes; and blank for Art class.
Then, one of my favorite parts when I was still a young girl… selecting my own school bag!!! So we brought Austin and Max to the Department Store to select their school bags. Here are their bags for only P799.99 each:
The girls also helped in cleaning their homeschool area. They are so excited! I have two blog posts about the importance of prepared environment. One in English (also longer version), and one in Filipino.
Meet Miss Owlyn!!! She will be the one to wake Austin and Max up! If you know me, like really know me, you know that my girls and I stay up really late. So I need help fro Miss Owlyn to fix my girls’ schedule, and mine, too! Miss Owlyn is usually up til morning so before she sleeps, she’ll wake us up! If you want to have Miss Owlyn’s sisters/brothers, click here!
We also started transitioning to our routine and schedule. Few minutes after waking up, the girls do a 30-minute yoga, ate their breakfast.
Last week we just saw a wasp. Austin didn’t believe that it wasn’t a butterfly. So okay researched together. She, then, told me that it was a bee. But then we analyzed a few differences based on their appearances. Then, for the past few nights, we started reading Nature Stories For Young Readers (Animal Life) by Florence Bass. Austin learned that mother wasps first make homes, then lay eggs there, then, leave to look for food and return to put the food in their home. After leaving the food, the mother wasps leave and will never come back. They don’t get to see their little ones. Austin got really sad about this.
We also had an orientation on Friday night on our Family Home Evening. We gave the girls an overview of our homeschooling. We organized our book shelf. I pulled out my list of books for Weeks 1-4, I read the titles and asked my girls to search for each book.
We also printed these weekly planner and the templates I made so every time they accomplish something (a subject to be specific), they’ll put it in the planner.
Buhay Montessori 