Hey friends! I know I am behind on tutorials from last week, and will have a few to post from this week. Be patient with me. We are digging out from the lovely beginning of the Autumn Yucks (colds, tummy bugs). Doesn't it always seem to go that if mom is down, the house isn't far behind? Here are the lesson plans that I've started for this week. You will notice I decided to spend a few more days with last week's number, letter and shape. I really felt like Phillie needed it. If you are following and find that your kiddo seems ready to move on, don't be afraid to comment here or contact me and I will help you figure out how to get the first two lesson plans for this week to work for a different letter, number, shape, etc.
Day 1: Practice sorting colors and counting to 3 as you make paper bead necklaces. If your child is ready, you can throw in a pattern as well. This one does take a little bit of prep time to make the beads. I made them myself as I found that them curling construction paper for our bugs' antennae was difficult for them. However, it goes fast, and I promise, I will make sure to post a tutorial for how to make the beads. All you need is some glue and construction paper.
Have a #3 hunt outside (I went outside and had the kids bring me objects. I asked for things like 3 leaves, 3 sticks, 3 berries, etc.) We also took some time to write #3 on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk and have a bear hunt. The song is above. Have them sit in a circle and pat their legs as they sing. You can add actions like putting your hands up to your eyes for binoculars, swishing arms or rubbing hands together for swish, etc. My kids had a blast and decided to spend some more time outside hunting bears and singing the song together.
Kid Science: Make Lava Lamps! This one is easy and has big effect. You can talk about how some things have more density than others, teach them the definition for density (ie how heavy it is) . It also make s a huge impact. You just need an empty water bottle, fill it about a third of the way with cooking oil and then pour water mixed with food coloring over the top and Shake, shake shake... You don't need the alka seltzer unless you want it to move on its own. it works fine just shaking it. Glitter is also optional. Find instructions HERE
Day 2:
Make Handprint Birds (start by asking them to remember the sound B makes and letting them try to think of things that start with B) I made homemade fingerpaints for this project. That recipe can be found HERE or watercolors will also work.
We made Butterflies again out of the #3 (since my kids love butterflies) They were made kind of like stained glass and hang on the windows. I used the same paint from our previous activity and some wax Paper. I traced their Number 3 with a sharpie and let them paint inside it however they wanted. You can always do traditional mosaic/stained glass material by using tissue paper glued to some sort of base, but I was trying to be thrifty, and while this doesn't have the same effect, its easier than helping kids glue a thousand pieces of tissue paper. LOL Tutorial to come.
Three little Kittens poem. Make kitten face masks using string, paper plates, construction paper and glue. Help your child see how they can make a mouth for their kitten mask using the number 3 on its side. Once the masks are made, have the child act the nursery rhyme out with you.
Day 3: Beginning the Letter D, shape Continued study of the Circle addition of the Triangle, Number 1
Read I'm a Dirty Dinosaur , introduce the Letter D. Let kids be "dirty dinosaurs" and write the letter D in some flour on a plate.
Have pre-prepped Letter D's and necessary attachments cut out. Help them glue and make a Dirty Dinosaur of their very own. If they want to , let them decorate the body of the dinosaur using markers, paints, etc. tutotial HERE
Trace #1 on paper with playdough.
Day 4: read Dirty Dinosaur again. Let the kids pick a piece of construction paper and help them make a dinosaur tail out of a large triangle. Help them cut out circles of another color to glue onto their tail and let them put some glue down and sprinkle things like flour or dirt and other items to make it dirty. Attach it to some string so they can tie it around their waists and wear it.
Start science project for next week. Cover some raw eggs in vinegar. Talk about how fertilized eggs have ONE baby. that these eggs are not fertilized, and you will get to see what babies that live in eggs eat so they can grow later on. Add some food coloring to the vinegar if you would like the egg to be colored. More on this next week. Be sure to put them in a place they won't be disturbed.
Have precut eggs waiting. Help them glue it onto another piece of paper. Have them write a #1 and then Let them draw any kind of animal that they think grows in an egg. Remind them that there is only ONE baby in the egg.
Hey friends! So I am adding the plan for this week to the blog. I haven't had a chance to sit down and finish an overview for the month, once I do, I will add that along with Week 2 and Week 3. In the meantime, hopefully this will be enough to get you started on your homeschool preschool adventure.
The week of September 12-15:
Letter: B Number: 3 Shape: Circle Color: Yellow and Black
Sept 12: Introduce your alphabet chart
Obviously, mine isn't complete yet, but I did get it started and its enough for them to get the gist. I will finish this week and take a picture of the completed chart.
Sing the alphabet song. If you have an iPad/tablet/computer near your homeschool "corner" use this handy dandy video to sing along to. We sang about 3-5 times until everyone was at least TRYING to sing (that includes my 2 year old. She wasn't even close to making the right letter sounds, but she was trying to bark out sounds in rhythm and on pitch, which means it was getting through)
Yes...I am aware this is Barney... but the truth is the fact that there was a visual accompanying the letter (ie they were pointing at the blocks as they sing) makes this a great video. It reaches out to aural learners and those that are visual. If I'd had my own alphabet blocks with all 26 letters, you had better bet we would have set our own out to reach out to the kinesthetic sphere so they could take turns pointing. If you believe your child is a kinesthetic learner, you can TRY to do the alphabet in sign language along with it. This recording goes slow enough it **COULD** be possible with enough practice.
Next: Introduce your letter of the week. B! First I asked if any of the kids knew which letter was letter B. Then we talked about the formation poem:
Mr. B is tall with a great straight back
and TWO big bellies 'cuz he just ate a snack.
We chanted the poem and clapped a few times until they got it and THEN I distributed the Moon Sand on plates. I made my own:
4 c flour
1/2 c baby oil.
I put it on individual plates for each kid rather than in a bin to avoid fights over personal space.
Notes: Make sure your floor is swept BEFORE the moon sand comes out. It will save you time and money if you can just sweep it up and put it back into your container after the kids are done.
Also, make sure you put a cover on your table, even if its just an old sheet. You can use a plastic spatula to scrape off any residual dust from the moon sand and then shake it out.
Your kids should only need to rinse their hands with water. As a side note, you will notice their hands are smooth, soft and silky thanks to the baby oil.
You can use mineral oil instead of baby oil in case you're worried your kiddos will ingest it, my littlest one did take a small bite and realized it was not yummy and moved on with her life...ie playing in it and making a mess.
Once the moon sand is out, repeat the poem and demonstrate drawing a B in the sand and building one as you chant it. Then encourage them to do the same. Once they have built or drawn a couple of B's let them play for a while and turn on a playlist of educational music to listen to while they work. (You will probably find a Barney song playlist in the other videos list of the Barney alphabet video if you used that. That is what I did.)
When things seem to be wearing down and they start getting a little bored with the moon sand, Introduce Suzie Circle (you can see her in the corner of my picture up top but here is the link for a better visual)
Then, we practiced drawing and building circles in our moon sand. I then turned on THIS song about circles:
and then, after singing it once or twice,I turned on the playlist that appeared to the left on my computer screen. and allowed them with renewed vigor to play with their moon sand.
Once that was wearing down, we went on a circle hunt in our front yard.
We took a break after that for lunch, to take Faith to her SPED preschool, live life...
We then made our Bug part of our art project for the next few days. We counted to 3, then traced 3 circles on construction paper and glued them together. We then glued on 6 legs, and 2 antennae made from the same piece of construction paper (we curled the antennae with a pencil), and then added eyes, a nose, and a mouth. ( I will add a picture when my phone is charged)
Art project: use construction paper to make rugs for your bugs. I will do a blog post about ours if you don't have any ideas for how to do it on your own. We will continue our study of the number three by counting out sets of 3 of different shapes to glue onto our rugs (CIRCLES (make a BIG deal about the circles), stars, triangles, and squares) I would strongly encourage you to let the kids count out three for themselves and only let them start gluing after they have their own pile of shapes so they don't get antsy and try to grab from the pile in the middle if they glue faster than another kid.
Read Lift the Flap Numbers, focus on the "At the Zoo" spread today and get them to count all the animals. Be sure to stop when you get to #3 and recall the formation poem. Encourage them to draw it in the air.
Read Bug in a Rug again and let them ask you to read other stories in the collected volume as well! Time reading is time well spent.
Sept 14:
Recall Letter B, the phonemic sound it makes, and the poem. Then read or sing along to (or both)
Baa Baa Black Sheep
(point out that Baa Baa and Black all start with the letter B) Then have them all try to draw a BIG letter B on white paper.
Have them turn it on its side. Ask them if they believe you can turn that sideways B into a sheep. Then show them how. Draw a face and ears on one half of the B, have them do the same, and then make a big deal that he must be freezing without any wool. Then say you're all going to make wool.
Hold up a few pieces of construction paper. Ask them which color is black? Have them cut out a piece of black paper to glue over the second half of the sheep to keep him warm and draw a tail. Then let them use markers, crayons, paint, whatever you have to create a field for Baa Baa to live in. Play nursery rhymes or other educational songs while they work.
Hang up your creations and then watch Barney and Friends: A Little Mother Goose
Sept 15:
Play with Pre-K Finger Match cards Call out colors, let them take turns finding the initial color while the other finds the match, or let them find both. Go through 4-5 cards. Then ask them to flip back and find the color yellow in the cards again.
Tell them that today you want to do something special with yellow and the letter B. Ask them again what sound B makes. Then say "We are going to sing a song about THREE yellow buh-buh-Butterflies"
(to the tune of 5 little monkeys swinging in the tree)
Three yellow butterflies sitting on a tree
Teasing Mister Bluebird you can't catch me
Along comes Mister Bluebird as swift as can be
ANNND
Snaps that butterfly out of that tree.
Have them hold up 3 fingers to sing it and take down fingers as you count down. Then say you're missing something. You need butterflies for your fingers!
Make butterfly finger puppets (instructions to come) Sing it again and gently take the puppets off their fingers as you sing.
When you're done and cleaning up, recall what Butterfly starts with, ask them what color their butterflies are and have them count the shapes on their bug rugs again.
Reread Lift the Flap Numbers and focus on the zoo page again. See if they have mastered cards #6 and 5 in the learning palette. Help them work through it if they still need assistance.
Sept 16: We only have a 4 day school week here. Take today to make preparation for the next week (you may even find you take our 4 day week and turn it into 2, two day weeks. Do what works for your family. ) Let your kids be your guide, if they want to play with their butterflies, allow them to do so, if they want to read, take time to do so.
If all else fails, I LOVE starfall.com! Its similar to abcMouse, but moves at a slightly slower pace and you have much more access to material without a membership than you have with abcMouse. Have them go through the letter B, Number 3, and Yellow activities.
Isn't it funny how in the middle of life things seem to change all of a sudden? I have a theory about that...it happens to me a lot, so I decided that my life is likely the most watched Reality TV show in Heaven...now doesn't that make you want to read more about it? Out of the blue I somehow managed to find my Prince Charming...this blog is about my new life: adjusting from my confirmed single state into the state of a young wife, and now mamma- and the crazy twists and turns along the way (because God is the perfect producer, so he is always finding ways to keep it interesting.) Join me for the ride!
