KGRD MODG Do-Aheads


our-lady-of-divine-graceTHIS POST WILL NO LONGER BE UPDATED AFTER 5/2015. NEW PAGE HERE.

There are plenty of things you can do to get a jump on next year. This will be especially helpful if you have multiple kids. The proliferation of “do this with me” in the syllabus has me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. You don’t have to do all of this, because doing ANY of it will help you later.

NOTES FOR NEWBIES

The knee-hugger grades aren’t as fleshed out in math and language arts as most newbie parents expect. If you have never taught this grade before, be sure to see my newbie notes HERE.

ORGANIZATIONAL THINGS

  1. Read Aloud Plans: If you want a schedule for the all the fiction reading for the year based exclusively on MODG picks, email me at ivorysoap76 AT gmail(dot) com.
  2. Print out my 2015-2016 liturgical PLANNER booklet or email me for the syllabi one.Then pass an eye over your crafts and see if they fall right this year.
  3. Check out my OUT OF PRINT list so you know what to substitute.
  4. Print out your handwriting. I think all the handwriting books comes in pdf now. If you do the crate system below, go ahead and file it by week.
  5. For the math plans, you need watercolors, blocks for adding, and get a stack of index cards for the little shape and letter activities sprinkled through the year.
  6. Check out my K-2 GRD Hymns on your devices or upload your CD to itunes and play it from there. This is not intended to be your evening music time.  It’s memory work.  Lump it in there. Scrambling for that CD all year is a pain.
  7. Order your blank books. If you don’t need a bunch of other stuff from Emmanuel, Barebooks.com is the best pricing. I get the “kits” that have a plastic cover and line guide. See THIS post to figure out how many books you need and what sizes.  We don’t draw directly in the blank books in the early years; they’re too cumbersome for little people.  I use something like this and paste it in.
  8. Go ahead and cut out your art cards. I have an attractive, cheap way to store them HERE.  I think the pdf that now comes to enrolled folks says to toss out Miro.  I can’t remember if anything else is ugly.
  9. Somewhere on your Mom notebook, write “All main points, in the right order.” That’s the language arts focus this year in retellings.  Here’s a made-up example for The Very Hungry Caterpillar: “The egg hatched. The caterpillar ate lots of bad food. He ate a leaf. He turned into a butterfly.” If the child left out a point in the retelling or changed the order, the parent should cheerfully prompt him.
  10. On your weekly assignment list, put in a home culture section: “Enjoy something nature-y together.”  “Enjoy some beautiful classical music together.”

BONUS POINTS

  • Start a CRATE SYSTEM: a walmart crate, 32 hanging file folders with tabs, printer paper, index cards.
    1. Put 32 folders in the crate and number the tabs 1-32.
    2. Tear out/copy/print out all of your worksheets, tests, and whatnot.
    3. Drop in any weekly flashcards.