The first is a printable I call The Weekend Report. Now I cannot claim this as my own original idea. We actually started doing this last year while we were working on our Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum and I liked the idea so much I wanted to tie it into this year as well. The printable, however, is my little creation. I typically have Rhythm dictate to me what he remembers doing over the weekend and then let him draw a picture of one of those things above. It is a great way to warm into narration plus helps him have a gentle introduction to school on Monday mornings.
The second printable I would like to share is our Nature Study form. This is another one of those things that obviously requires mama participation since Rhythm isn't writing yet, but the questions help guide him into making his own discoveries while we are outside. I try to point out little things about nature as I notice them and I have naturally seen his interest and observation grow.
As we are getting started I help him a bit with his observations if he can't think of specifics. For instance, this last week he chose a rock to draw. So, I asked him things like, "What color is the rock? Is it smooth or rough? Is it heavy? Where did you find it? What do you like about it?" As he gets used to this process I suspect he will begin verbalizing more of his own observations and as that happens my guidance will become more general, such as, "Tell me everything you can think of about this rock."
I find it is best to ask the questions on the back of the form after we have come back inside so he is not distracted by whatever it is outside that he wants to be playing with. Asking these questions afterwards also allows him to think about the things he observed while he was playing and not just limit him to the things he was looking at during our actual nature study time.
**A little side note, there is a blank third page in this printable that I couldn't get deleted without deleting half the document. One of those bazaro, "Why are you doing this to me you dumb computer!?" moments. Please forgive me and dismiss it!**
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