Digging for Dinosaurs (pics only)

Little Man trying to climb the stairs

Writing Letters

Each week I spend a few minutes working with the kids on making the letter of the week.  Until today, I had reviewed any of the other letters.  I am really glad I did.  I saw lots of improvement in pencil grip, and most of the kids didn't ask how to make the letters, they just made them (sometimes upside down, but they were still there).  The improvement just goes to show that sitting at a desk practicing on worksheets isn't the only way to learn how to make letters.  The kids have been making letters with magnets, playdough, Lego block and even cars.  When it came time to write them, they knew what they were doing because they learned through their play. 

Digging for Dinosaurs

Today was our first actual rain day!  It has been raining all day, so no outside time for us! :(  Of course there was a great activity to keep the kids busy.  We went digging for dinosaurs.  In honor of our esteemed letter D, I filled a big storage tub with rice and hid dinosaurs in it.  The kids got to dig around and find the dinosaurs.  They also had sifters, cups and other utensils to help with the fun.  Of course, I was so busy keeping the baby out of the rice that fell on the floor, I only got one picture.  I'll try to take more when they play after nap.

Dot Painting

I love no mess painting.  Dot paints make painting nearly mess-free and so it was a must for letter D week.  Dot paints are similar to bingo markers, but my set is smaller.  It's essentially a bottle of watercolor with a sponge at the tip.  The kids had a great time and even started saying, "Dot, dot, dot," as they bounced the bottle on their paper.

Integrating Learning into Play

I am a big proponent of learning through play.  However I realize that for many children there comes a time when learning becomes learning and play is play.  The two are separate.  For us right now, our learning time is portrayed as such so the kids get a sense of what it will be like in kindergarten.  However, I've taught them well because what they are learning is creeping into their free play.  I love it!

With the beginning of letter instruction there is a definite fascination with letters, the shapes and sounds that they make.  Today, the kids asked to get out the magnet building sets and instead of towers, the first thing they built were letters.  They were so proud and excited to show me and their friends the different letters that they could make.  Of couse there was still a lot of tower building going on too, lest you forget it is free play!

We started letter D, color green and shape triangle today.  All of the kids are excited to begin a new letter each week and see what sound it makes and find things in their environment that make that sound.  I told them today that I'm excited to get through colors and shapes so we can start numbers.  One child said, "You mean we get to learn our numbers too!"  Of course, this is preschool!

Square, Triangle and Letter E



Letter A



A Big Tower and Letter L (looks like a V from
our direction, but I assure you, it's an L)











Squares and yellow

We are winding up the week of letter C, shape square and color yellow.  To celebrate, we painted!  While waiting for their turn to paint, the kids worked on a find the square picture and practiced their name on the back. 

Really, we're still here!

This past week or so has been crazy and I just haven't had much time to devote to the blog.  This is just an update to let you know that we've been diligently working on letter C (I have half a post on the super cool melted crayon pictures done, but I need my older girls to demonstrate so I can take pics) and with the short week, we're doing a bit of review.  The kids have been working on writing their names and writing the letters that we know.  Progress is slow, but they are showing a lot of interest and starting to point out other letters and sounds that we haven't done yet, so I know that they are making lots of letter/sound connections.  Look for a post tomorrow and some more pictures. 

Before the end of the week, I also hope to post the video of the kids doing the days of the week and months of the year.  They do it very well, except when I want to tape them.  I have to catch them on the sly!  LOL