Week 2: Letter A, Color Red

This is a short week for me.  I'm taking off Friday, so we can have one last family hurrah before the girls go back to school.  I didn't want to start a new theme, but the kids are anxious to learn and who would want to deprive them of that?  Not I.  So this week, we are starting with the letter A and color red and will continue by incorporating those concepts into next week's theme.

Yesterday we played catch-up doing a few things that we ran out of time for last week (and still have a couple things to do).  But, wanting to go ahead and get started, we worked on letter Aa today.  I showed them how to write the letter, we practiced the sound A makes (short a) and then worked on identifying it in print.  To do this, I wrote each child's name on the white board, one at a time and had the kids come up and show me where the A was.  We then circled the letter.  The kids caught on very quickly.  I think we will do this briefly each morning at circle time.


We headed outside since it is so lovely (not a million degrees in the shade).  I heard the kids singing the "Days of the Week" song and the "Letter A song."  It makes me all warm and fuzzy when they are taking their knowledge and using it in different areas.

Our table time activity was writing.  This was the first writing exercise we've had, so it was a little challenging.  I meant to take pictures of the kids actually writing, but after helping several, they were up and gone and I didn't get a single picture taken.  Here are the results of the work though.

3 year old work

4 year old that hasn't shown much interest in writing





Same 4 year old writing his name.  Most of the letters are there even if they aren't in order.





Same and Different

In nearly all preschool "workbooks" you will find a rather lengthy section of pages on same and different.  Being able to find the similarities and differences in objects set children up for seeing patterns in letter shapes and eventually words.  Being that I'm not generally a workbook kind of educator, we worked on this skill in a different way.



Our 2 subjects for the same and different exercise.



We discussed what it means to be the same and different.  Then using popsicle sticks with each child's name written on one, we pulled two names and studied those friends.  To practice, I did some leading as to what might be the same about the two individuals.  Phrases like "Is there anything about X's shirt that is the same as Y's shirt?" were common.  Once the kids got the hang of it, with each group, the children each had to name one similarity and one difference.  They did really well overall.  Next week, I think I will include some activities with classroom objects to continue this skill.

As week one comes to a close, we did pretty well.  There were a few activities that we didn't get to and a few that we started but didn't finish.  We'll catch up on those on Monday (hopefully) and do several activities to continue exposure to the skills started this week.  I am off on next Friday, so with one day of catch-up and one day off, I don't want to start a big new theme, but we will definitely stay busy.  I think all of the kids are really excited to be in preschool and I'm excited to see all the stuff they have learned through their play over the years and can now apply it in a more structured environment.

Beginning Graphing

I apologize for not getting yesterday's post done.  Naptime is my typical "blogging" time and naptime the past couple days was less than restful for me.  Let's just sum it up to say that I'm ready for school to start so those big kids can get back on schedule. ;)

Anywho, yesterday we worked on one-to-one correspondence and I'm happy to say that almost everyone has a good grasp of it.  Granted it needs a little fine tuning, but we do have the whole year.  We started with our raised-letter name cards and counted the letters in everyone's name.  Then we placed a Lego block on each letter.  Once each letter was accounted for, the children made a stack of the letters in their own name.

We placed the stacks next to each other and made our first graph.  We discussed how some stacks were the same height and some were shorter/taller.  The terms greater than, less than and equal were introduced.  While I don't expect mastery of number comparison, these are terms that are used frequently used in early math to compare quantities and a general knowledge of them will come in handy later on.

For table work, the kids used their name cards and traced the letters with their fingers.  Next week we will start working on name writing with similar activities.  And, by popular demand, the Play-Doh made its way to the table where lots of cutting, rolling and cookie making occured.

Gardening, Play-doh and More

I think we are on Day 26 or so of over 100 degree temperatures.  It's so hot that the kids don't want to go outside at all, but seeing the need for outdoor time, we try to get out as early in the morning as possible.  This morning was no exception, but we were on a mission.  It has been three days since we picked tomatoes and there were plenty that needed picking.

Once that task was done, we headed inside for Circle time and our table work.  Our "All About Me" book is finished and the kids took it home to practice last night.  This morning each child drew their house on the address page.  Tomorrow we will finish the book by adding some cell phone clip art and a birthday cake with the appropriate number of candles.  I've already noticed that my Little Man, "O," is reciting part of our address during his play activities.

With name recognition being a big objective for the week, the kids worked on making the letters of their names.  We used the raised name cards from yesterday and rolled out play-doh snakes to outline the letters.  Rolling out the dough was challenging for a couple, but they worked through it and were very proud of their work.

Following the name exercise, the kids spent another 30 minutes or so "playing" Play-Doh-lots of good fine motor work going on there!

Right now, I'm using real "Play-Doh" from the store, just because I found a decent sale on it and I don't typically buy all-purpose flour, so it was just as cheap to buy it pre-made as buy the ingredients.  But, in case you don't have Play-Doh handy, or you are dealing with a gluten sensitivity (Play-Doh has wheat in it), here is the recipe for homemade dough that I use.  For gluten free, you can just sub your regular gluten free flour mix in place of the flour (I used to make one with white rice flour, tapioca starch and potato starch.)

And here is a final picture just to show that preschool is hard work, even if you are just watching.

Name Recognition

In my experience one of the best ways to get kids interested in letters is to work on name recognition.  Once they figure out that a certain set of lines has meaning (their name), then it opens the idea that a certain letters make certain sounds.  That of course begins the exploration of phonics and reading.

To get lots of exposure in, the kids have their names many places-under their coat hook, on their tag for circle time and I just made one with raised letters for a name rubbing project.  This is just half a page of card stock with colored glue used to write the name.  Once dry, the glue provides enough of a raised surface to do rubbings or just to trace with your finger.

I made the colored glue by squirting gel food color into a half full bottle of regular school glue (I used by Elmers and Staples brand and they worked equally well.).  Shake like crazy and then give it to someone else to shake while your arm recouperates.  Once it is mixed together you are ready to go.  I made these cards Monday morning and they weren't completely dry by Monday evening, but this morning they were fine.  So, you need to plan a little ahead, but the activity was great fun (and I learned a lot about where the kids were in their pencil grip-plan to see quite a few fine motor activities in the future).

Like I said, I used card stock because I had a few pieces left from something or other.  Index cards would work or even a thin piece of cardboard.  You could also accomplish the same thing by glue and string or maybe even floral wire. 

Here they are at work.

And here we go...

We had a huge garage sale this past Saturday and got rid of a few appendages, so yesterday I spent the day cleaning up and getting ready for today (the first day of preschool).  All the kids came in and were so happy to be starting a new adventure.

Today we started out with how circle time would go and began learning the Days of the Week and Months of the Year songs (I'll add video when we get good! LOL).  We read a story about the importance of learning your address and talked about our names.

Our first table activity was to decorate names using collage materials.  I wrote each child's name on a piece of paper and then supplied beads, foam scraps and various shapes, feathers, etc. for them to glue on their name.  It took quite a bit longer than what I had originally thought it would, so we didn't get to starting our "All About Me" book before lunch.  We'll work on that after snack and I'll post pics of it tomorrow.  If you don't have the extensive stash of craft "junk" that I do, the same thing could be accomplished by cutting paper up in small squares and gluing them to the letters as we did.  Anything from tissue paper to recycled newpapers or even used gift wrap would work well.

We also went outside in the miserably oppressive heat for 30 minutes or so.  The sandbox was a favorite place since it is completely shaded.  Normally I would take the kids back outside again this afternoon, but with the heat, I think we'll just stay in and do some exercising and work on our book.

In Preparation for Week 1

It becomes more and more evident that I'm a total nerd.  At one point, I thought I was just a food nerd, but I know now that it spans far beyond that!  Last night, I spent the majority of the evening planning the various activities for our preschool debut.  It is now all recorded in my new lesson plan book that I picked up for $1 at Target along with a sheet of star stickers (darn Dollar Spot gets me every time).  Here are the highlights.

Theme:  All About Me

Objectives:  Know full name, parents' names, address, phone number and birthday

Time period:  1 week instruction, continue reviewing and master within 1 month

Activities:  All About Me book, graph depicting the number of letters in first names, name rubbing, fingerprint examination, friend blocks, etc.

This weekend, I'm going to go through our craft/school supply closet and see if I can come up with 6 plastic folders that have the 3 prong clips inside.  I've decided that each week we will try and make a book for the kids to "read."  By using plastic, I can reuse the folder for each book.  I know we have a couple, but I might end up needing to buy 3-4 more depending on what I find.  So far, my spending is way down from what it would usually be, but the whole goal is to spend as little as possible.  It's a work in progress right?