This week included some of the curriculum that we did last year during "Summer" week, so I didn't go into a ton of detail on those activities in this post. Click here to see the post from that date for a better descriptions on those activities and a review/synopsis of the literature we read today.
Good Morning, Friendly Frogs!
I like to have a set activity for the children to do at the table during the short time that they are waiting for all of their friends to arrive. This is usually books, magnets, puzzles, or a sensory activity.
Share: Bring something that begins with letter H (The friendly frogs brought a hat, another hat, a helmet, a hammer, a Halloween ghost, and Mrs. Meg brought a hippo)
Color: Yellow
Shape: Rectangle
Books: Summer By Lois Santrey, Time to Get Dressed By DK Publishing, How Will We Get to the Beach? By Brigitte Luciani
Cooking: Berry Banana Smoothies –the children help measure, pour, and blend some “berry refreshing” smoothies. Top drinks off with paper umbrellas and a straw and drink them outside on the patio “beach”
Dramatic Play: Beach Play prop box (sand toys, sunglasses, towels, sunscreen, flip flops, umbrella, sun hats, beach balls, etc) Encourage the children to pretend they are playing at the beach. What do they see?
Circle Time: Part of our circle time routine is the job chart. Each child finds their name and then I ask them a few practical life skill questions like "where do you live? What is your mom's name, dad's name, last name, etc? What is your phone number? How old are you? What street do you live on?
After this, they choose a job on the job chart. They can choose from Calendar Helper, Lights Monitor, Song Leader, Flag Holder, Sweeper, Snack Helper, or Line Leader
Sensory: Colored Sand Play! This was a hit.
Fine Motor: Tracing yellow wavy lines ("ocean waves")
It's not my style to have children sit around and do busy work all day. They are going to get so much of that when they get to Kindergarten. My teaching philosophy is that preschool is a place for children to learn HOW to learn, and develop a love for learning. A child will be more successful at letter writing and recognition later, if they first learn how to relax, listen, and follow along with a story that is read aloud to them, and if they first develop good control of their fine motor skills. How foreign is the concept of writing a capital letter A, Z, N,Y, M, K, R, V, X, or W to a child who hasn't first learned how to draw a diagonal line?
First we trace with a finger to teach the hand to move in the pattern we want it to
Next we trace the line using a pencil or crayon. Baby steps to handwriting success.Snack: yellow banana, yellow apples, yellow cheese, and rectangle graham crackers.
Art: painting yellow starfish. We added some blue sand to the paint for an extra sensory experience.
Math: Seashell Sort (by size, by shape, by pattern, by color...)
Science: Hot and Cold Chart-provide several items for the children sort and place on a Hot or Cold Chart of where they typically belong. (ice cubes, bed buddy, fan, water from fridge, photo of snowman, curling iron, muffin pan, frozen vegetables, can of soup, blankie, ice pop)
Language: read How Will We Get To the Beach? and encourage the children to examine each page to guess what item Roxanne is missing on her way to the beach.
Cognitive Activity: Play “what’s missing” with similar items that Roxanne (from the book) wanted to take to the beach (book, turtle, baby, ball, umbrella, sunglasses)
Practical Life: I can get myself dressed! What clothes do you wear in the Summer time?
Gross Motor: Beach Balls-provide the children with a variety of beach balls to play catch with.
Music & Movement: Oh What Do You Do in the Summer time, Baby Beluga, Jack in the Box, Animal Sounds Guessing Game
Goodbye Friends
1 comment:
you are my favorite preschool teacher.
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