2/16: Favorite Children's Stories, Letter S, Number 18

Free Play: Memory or file folder games

Opening: We sang "Rain and Thunder" and did an "Ss" bag.  Each child got to pick one thing out of it and we all said "s s star!" and "s s scissors!", etc.

Then we read "The Three Little Pigs".  Then I read it a second time, and this time we stopped when the wolf got to each house.  Logan and Josh tried to build a house out of straw, and then we huffed and puffed and blew it down!

Next Ana and Jacob tried to build a house out of sticks.  We huffed and we puffed and blew that house down too!

Finally Andrew made a house out of bricks. 

We huffed and puffed but couldn't blow it down!  We talked about how things are heavy and light, and that it's better to build a house out of heavy things.  The kids LOVED doing that!

Lesson: I had the kids think about what they would build a house out of.  I wrote it down for them, "If I were the 4th little pig, I would build my house out of _____________."  They each had really fun answers!  Then they drew a picture of their house.

Josh's was legos.

Ana said chocolate milk!

Andrew would build his house out of rocks.

Jacob said circles.

Logan's house would be made out of hearts.

Next we went outside and played tag.  They each got to take a turn being the Big Bad Wolf, and the rest were the little pigs.

Here they are showing off their piggie noses!

Snack: Each child got 18 pretzel sticks.  They helped me count as I put them into cups.  They were so silly, they all took them out and tried blowing them down!

Character counts:  We reviewed what we talked about on Monday, and they each got to tell about what they did for their "helping hearts".  Ana stood up and recited the Pledge of Allegiance for us!  Adorable!

Closing:  Again, we talked about how things are heavy or light.  We decided to see what sinks or floats.  Before we put each object in the water, they got to hold it in their hand and guess if it would sink or float!  They were almost exactly right!

Then they circled the "S s smallest" object in each box of "Ss" words.

And then practiced writing "Ss" and "1" and "8".

While we waited for moms to pick up, we wrote "Ss" with sidewalk chalk and drew pictures!

Andrew with his self-portrait.  Love it!

We had a blast learning about the story of the Three Little Pigs!  And being the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th little piggies!

2/14: Valentine's Day, Letter S, Number 18

Free Play: playdough or puzzles

Opening: We read "Clifford's Valentine's Day" and did a fingerplay: "I put my hands together, this is how I start.  I curve my fingers right around and I can make a heart!"

Lesson: First the kids helped make pink rice krispy treats!  They got to watch the butter and marshmallows melt, and then each pour in one cup of cereal.

Then they each guessed how many hearts were in this jar.  Smart kids, they all guessed 18!  We counted them together, and sure enough--there were 18!

While they played with marbles on the floors, I had each one come to the table and show me how to make a heart with their hands.  We painted it and stamped it, and then I wrote down what they loved about their Daddy, Mommy, siblings, and Jesus.  They were such cute answers!

Next they graphed colors of conversation hearts.  This was very tricky, so most of them ended up just coloring in the hearts, which was cute too!

Snack: We cut the rice krispy treats into hearts so they could take it home and give it to someone they love.  Then we ate the leftovers!

Character Counts: We talked about what being a good neighbor and citizen means and things we can do to help our community.  They each got to choose a "helping heart" to do at home.  Their choices were: Take 5 things to the recycling bin, Pick up 5 pieces of trash at the park, and Practice the Pledge of Allegiance.

Closing: They colored a heart dot-to-dot while I had each one come to the living room to deliver their Valentines!

All the Valentine bags and boxes set up!

Logan delivering his Valentines.

It was such a fun day!  It was SO cute watching them be excited about Valentine's Day!

January 31 and February 2: Nursery Rhymes

We learned Nursery Rhymes this week!  I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures - but I tried!

Our character count this week was "Citizenship."  We talked about our country and the flag. 

We learned lots of nursery rhymes.  

Jack Be Nimble

We practiced our jumping and made our own candle sticks to jump over.

Hickory Dickory Dock

We made our own clocks.  We practiced telling time and counting.

Humpty Dumpty

Little Miss Muffet and The Itsy Bitsy Spider

We celebrated Groundhogs Day. 

Our letter was Qq.  We read "Quick as a Cricket."  We also talked about quiet and loud, quilts, and quick!

1/5: The 5 Senses, Letter N, Number 13

Free play: "I Spy" books with magnifying glasses

Window clings

Opening: All the usual stuff, read Curious George Seasons, Ana brought a guitar as her show and tell so she played "Old Macdonald" while we sang along :), then we sang a "Song of Senses"

Then the kids did a search to find 1 & 3 and we put them together to create 13.

Lesson: I had the kids look very hard at all the items on this pan, then I would cover it and take one away and see if they could guess which one it was.  We talked about how we were using our sense of seeing.

Next they each had 13 items to put in a water bottle.  Then I filled them with rice and they became "I Spy" bottles.

Movement activity: "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"

Next we made a scratch and sniff with orange, grape, strawberry, and lemon kool-aid. (No picture!)
Then I had them close their eyes and let them each smell an item and guess what it was (orange, toothpaste, mustard, onion, etc.)


Snack: We did taste testing with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry wafers (except for Jacob-he got fruit snacks!).  They got to taste 2 of each kind, and then decided what their favorite was and we charted it.  We talked about seeing on the chart how many votes each flavor got and how we could see which was one the favorite.

(It was chocolate!)

Character Counts: We read Just a Bully and discussed fairness throughout the book.   Then we role played some situations.  I gave 4 kids two pieces of candy, but none to the other two.  Then I let 4 kids have a turn with a toy, and then took it away before the other two got a turn.  We talked about what it means to be fair and take turns.

Closing: We watched "The Wiggles" 5 senses song, and then sang along a couple of times.

The kids took turns finding letters and numbers I asked them to find on this "I Spy" chart.

And then they colored a "Nn" nest spinning wheel that showed "Nn" words. (No picture!)

Another fun day learning about seeing, smelling, and tasting!