A is for apple--Preschool Play

Review A sound.Introduce number One.
Next is our Apple tree activity.Trace circles and color apples Red. I got this activity from http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/shapes/circles.htm

.
Five red apples finger play ”*. http://suite101.com/article/learning-about-colors-red-preschool-lesson-plan-a279150

“Five red Apples

Hanging on a tree (hold five fingers up)

The juiciest apples you ever did see!

The wind came past

And gave an angry frown (shake head and look angry)

And one little apple came tumbling down (fold one finger down)”.

Continue with four red apples until there are none. Apple finger puppets may optionally be used.

Story time:Where is the Apple Pie by Valeri Gorabachev

Guess what the snack is? Apples! Cut inside the apple and talk about what you see inside.

Awesome apple craft!dltk-kids.com




A second Story: Circle Dogs.By Kevin Henkes

Have them make play-doh circles on the dog.Don"t forget to count the circles.




I printed the play-doh mat from makinglearningfun.com

Letter A for Alligator-2 year old style

Introduce letter A and the number 1.A is for alligator.Have them make alligator snout with arms and snap them shut.
I printed out pictures that started with A. We has alligator,ant,apple,Astronaut.

Write an A and trace it with finger.
Story time:Snip Snap whats that?By Mara Bergman

5 little monkey finger play.I printed out some monkeys from PreKinders.com I am going to use these monkeys again for the number 5.

Snap that monkey right out of the tree

Mr. Alligator
Five little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Alligator, "Hey, you can't catch me."
But along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
He snapped a monkey right out of that tree!
(Next verses: 4 little monkeys, 3 little.......,2, 1...)
The last verse for 0:
No little monkeys swinging in a tree
'Cause Mr. Alligator caught them all, you see.
All alone is Mr. Alligator, quiet as can be
With only the wind blowing that tree.
(Blow like the wind)

Have them be the alligator and snap the monkeys right out of the tree.
Alligator hand print: http://theeducatorsspinonit.blogspot.com/
Alligator puzzle from http://www.first-school.ws/activities/hometoys/aalligator.htm

There was a Mom who had a boy.....

Rowen was his name O!

Today I got my idea from http://www.savvysource.com/activities/activity_bm_49_clothes-pin-names
You take cloths pins and write a letter on each.One for each letter of their name.Then write their name on a paper,mix up the clothes pins and have them try to match it to the letter in their name.At 2 years old I will have to guide him but I will use this often to get him comfortable and familiar with his name. I thought that he did pretty good though.

Here is a little project that my oldest started at school and brought home with him.All you need is tooth picks,marsh mellows and a lot of imagination!

Whats my name?

I ask my two year old what his name is and he just looks at me and smiles.If I say is your name Rowen he will them say his name.This week we have been talking about why we are special and recognizing his name.Today I wrote his name on construction paper.Then we took the glue and put cereal on his name.My Lexi joined in.It is a great practice for her writing her name.This took a while to finish.It is important to remember at this age that we go by their cues.When they are done time to move on!

One for Rowen and and one for the paper.

These are a few of my favorite things

Today I traced my little ones hands and we made a mat of their favorite things.They turned out really cute!Questions I asked were favorite color, favorite toy, food and things that they like to do.




For music and movement we did the hokey pokey.This is a great song for teaching parts of the body. Next we did if you are happy and you know it,Down by the bay and hickory Dickory dock.There is a cute little hand play that can be found at gryphonhouse.com.Go to free activities.Then music and movement.

Here is the schedule that seems to be the best:
9am-drop kids off and mom chores or errands
10am- snacks and story time
10:30-music and movement
10:45-lesson and activity
11:30-lunch

Back to school

We survived this week of school it was a great summer! The week before school we did a review week.Each day we did 5 letters.We had a letter race where I would call out a letter and they would run to it an say its sound then we would do an activity to do with that letter.









 For example we looked for the letter N in a book and my daughter found Cat in the hat by Dr. Seuss. I photo copied the page Up Up with a fish and the kids drew what they thought the cat would juggle and balance.



Then I had the kids try to balance things. We also visited the school.I have a new Kindergartner this year! I am starting to feel better so hopefully you will start to see me post more as I get into the swing of things.


Preschool for my Tot has started.It is very casual I just schedule things but follow his lead if he wants to skip it then we move on. I will be working on attention span here soon.We read books. This week we read What I Like about Me by Allia.

 At the end of the book it has a mirror where the kids can look and we talked about what we liked about them.It is important to help our children have a good self esteem.I was little for my age and was teased constantly.I didn't have a good self esteem. So it is really important to me that they feel important and special.I had them draw pictures of themselves.Rowie just scribbled but he is still growing those fine motor skills.

 I also introduced his name and had him trace the letters with his finger.This is a good pre-writting activity.Next we do music and movement.I found some good websites for ideas.The main thing is to keep them moving.I am still working it all out. Here is an example we sang Twinkle little star and shook symbols and bells.

We did it fast,slow,quiet,loud.Then we played hot potato.Freeze dance is another favorite.It is where you play music and then when it stops you freeze.Last we sang Itsy Bitsy spider.


Here are just a few fun pictures of the first day of school.They are all growing up so fast!

Corban First Grade

Alexis Kindergarten

First day hair style

Corban and Rowen