Tot School - Bubbles, Balloons, Blocks!

Usually our Bubbles day is held outside, but with the chilly weather and snow we ended up inside and expanding it to Bubbles, Balloons, and Blocks.  I also put together our October sensory bin of orange colored dry rice, plastic butter knives, Halloween erasers, and pumpkin buckets.

 I had another sensory bin set up in my kitchen.  I ran some hot soapy water and scooped off the top layer of bubbles for the kids to play with in the sensory bin.  It made for a nice scrubbing of the sensory bin - now it can say inside all winter.

We did turn on the bubble machine a few times in the basement.  It was convenient that I planned to shampoo the carpets later this week - the timing is wonderful :).  I don't have any great pictures of the balloons.  We had 50 balloons over by the sofa that were used to kick and catch and throw all around.  I wrote the letter B on them and we sang our song "This is the sound that B can make /b//b//b/, /b//b//b/, This is the sound that B can make in words like Bubble and Balloon" (Mulberry bush tune). 

Preschool 10-8-14

Today our morning class enjoyed bubbles!  We had a fantastic time making our letter B crowns from the Moffatt Girls.  We made them because on Monday sweet Little S asked if we could.  I didn't have them in the plans but made room for them today.  We worked on identifying the lowercase b by folding our fingers on our left hand in with the thumb sticking out.  When looking at your hand it resembles the letter b.  This will come in very "handy" (hehe) when we talk about letter d.  We talked about how we read a book appropriately.  Slowly sound out the word, then go back and read the word fast.  Move to the next word followed by the next, etc.  When you get to the period you stop and go back to read the whole sentence fluently.  

 After snack time we went outside for art.  We had a blast with the Amazing Action Alphabet activity page.  We do it slightly differently from the instructions as I've never had success with them.  Rather, we pour a small amount of food coloring and bubbles into a small container, pass out bubble wands and try to blow bubbles to land on the paper.  They turn out really cute.  During math today we talked about the descriptors "heavy" and "light".  We played with a light balloon and a heavy weight.  The kids were so funny.  When handed the weight they responded, "This is light!" and proceeded to lift it up over their heads.  I guess on Monday we'll have to up the weight to the 5 pound set :).

 This afternoon we continued our lessons on letter H.  H is tricky because there is no sound in the throat, only air.  We discovered as we were reading together that many kids have memorized the text.  That is a fantastic first reading skill.  HOWEVER, it is very important that for each of the three reads you are doing at home for homework you spend time sounding out the words on page 2 of each book.  Many of the kids could read me the book but couldn't sound out the words.  Check the blog posts about blending, watch the video, and recreate that at home with each word on page 2 of every book you practice.

 Our math time was filled with the game "Guess My Secret Rule" and the kids did a fantastic job making sets and then asking their friends which one doesn't match.  After snack time we worked in our Amazing Action Alphabet Level 2 Handwriting Book.  I was super impressed that so many of the kids were holding their pencils correctly.  They were also getting better at writing their names.  Keep up the great work!

Spiders, Bubbles and a Hail Storm

This morning's class was all about the letter S as we talked about Spiders, Miss Muffet and the word "the"!  It was jam packed with activities right from the start.  They all have a new reading book, the letter S book.  I couldn't find my stapler so they are just a sheet of paper.  You can assemble them yourself or send them back Wednesday and I'll cut and staple them for you (found it at the end of the afternoon class!).  The S book is a BIG jump into reading skills.  We are blending words like "Sam" and "at" in the book and can now make "sat".  With the introduction of the sight word "the" we now have to memorize what "the" looks like and remember it!  It's not a word that can be sounded out like the other words.  We made bracelets and a clip card game with the word "the".  PLEASE point it out everywhere until your child has it memorized!  It will give them access to much more text this year once they've mastered it.  We also had a ton of fun making spiders in art and singing spider songs!

Our afternoon class focused on the letter B with bubbles today.  We had a great time blowing bubbles in the back yard.  We even tried to blow some for the chickens who seemed more scared than thrilled with the idea :).  We headed inside when the clouds began to rumble and spent the rest of the class time in the basement with hardly any mention of the larger than grape sized hail pelting down on the world around us.  Please work on the letter B book called "Bam" as homework.

 We drew and wrote in our journals all about blowing bubbles and we played with and started discussing the attribute blocks.  We will begin classifying the blocks with our game "Guess My Secret Rule" on Wednesday.  Have a great Monday night!  I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!

Preschool Bubbles

We loved continuing to learn about letter B on Thursday in preschool.  It was very exciting to explore bubbles of all sorts as well.  We played the letter B Starfall.com game and with the Bubbles App when the kids first came in. 

Everyone got their own letter B stickers to put on their shirt as we sat at circle time reading stories about bubbles.  We've also started working in reading groups.  We have half of the kids work on a project on their own (reading from available books, playing making words, etc.) and the other half of the kids work with me at the reading table.  This helps me do more one-on-one with each child.  We play different games at the reading table that target the specific needs of the kids that are playing.  One of my groups is working on the letter names/sounds and quickly recalling them for reading.  We're playing matching games with mini Amazing Action Alphabet cards and tracing sandpaper letters as we say the sounds.  The other group is working on reading and writing words.  We're reading and writing words like "the" "at" and "mat".  We only work on reading words that we've studied the letters in our class.  Even though they may know all of the letters and letter sounds it is difficult to learn to read so isolating a few letters and slowly adding on more is the best approach to take. I always have readers point at the letters with their fingers so I know (and they know) where they're looking and what words they're working on. We always sound it out slow and then move to reading the word quickly.  Even though they're able to memorize the mini books that we're reading we need to practice the actual reading of the words.

 After snack time we got to wash the dishes in the sink and run through the bubbles on the rug.

 We spent a portion of our day outside.  Each child got their own container of bubbles and got to practice blowing them.  We had oodles of fun and are learning so much!

Bubbles

We love letter B and Bubbles day!  We had such a fantastic day learning to make the /b/ sound and playing with bubbles of all sorts.  We played with bubble wands (no solution) during our story time.  We practiced making the /b/ sound every time I pointed out a /b/ sound in one of the books I was reading.  

 We started the day with bubble wrap on the floor for popping with feet as well as bubble wrap on the table for popping with fingers.  We played the letter B game on Starfall.com and with a Bubbles app on the iPad.  We colored letter B watches from the Moffatt Girls and chased bubbles from the bubble blower. We read oodles of stories about bubbles and washed our dishes after snack in a little bit of water and a LOT BIT of bubbles!

 After snack time we got to head outside and everyone got their own bottle of bubbles.  It was amazing to watch as the majority of the kids then spent the next 45 minutes walking around and mingling in different groups as they practiced blowing bubbles.  Just a note to those playing with bubbles: ours weren't producing bubbles at all so I added 2 squirts of dish soap to each bottle, shook it up and then they worked great!  I was totally impressed that only one child spilled their bottle of bubbles.  It's a tot class so I figured there would be lots of spilling.  They are growing up to be so responsible!

October Tot Packs

October has already been so much fun for us at Little Adventures Preschool.  The tot packs for the month are now bundled and there is still a lot of fun to be had.  I still need to get some pictures taken care of, but they'll be coming soon!  Check out the details for the packs below:

October Tot Packs {Download all 4 October Tot Packs}
7. Safety {Download}
This pack is just full of great ideas for learning about Safety! Each pack includes links to all the books and supplies you'll need to have a fantastic time with your toddler learning about firefighters, policemen and staying safe!

Pictures and details of the completed pack coming soon!

8. Bubbles {Download}

Printables in this pack:

Introduction of letter B

Parts of a Face

Bubbles Songs

2 piece Puzzles

Primary Color Bubbles

9. Doctors {Download}

Printables in this pack:

Introduction of letter H

Naming Body Parts

Doctor Shadow Matching

Doctor Themed Songs

Location Word Book

10. Pumpkins - SUPER PACK {Download} (NOT included in the October download of 4 packs)
This pack is a SUPER pack, meaning it is so chalk full of ideas that you will not need to look anywhere else for ideas about pumpkins. There are many more activities in this pack than you will be able to complete in a week, so pick the ones you like the most and get playing!

Printables in this pack:

Introduction of letter C

Pop-Up Pumpkins

Pumpkin Clothespin Party

Matching Jack-O-Lanterns

Identifying parts of the pumpkins face

Size Sequencing Pumpkins

Pumpkin Investigations

Jack-o-lantern Shape Matching

Lacing Pumpkins

Pumpkin Play-Dough

Pumpkin Songs and Poems

This tot pack has 3 pages of activity ideas, book suggestions, and links to the materials I use. You can certainly use all or part of the lesson plans.

The printable pages include songs, matching games, drawing games and other activities.

11. Halloween {Download}

Printables in this pack:

Costume Heads and Tails

How is the Jack-O-Lantern Feeling? A mini book.

Pumpkin Seed Counting Mat

Halloween Letter Review M, T, A, S, B, H, C

Halloween Color Matching

Halloween Shadow Matching

Halloween Tracing

October Preschool Packs

Find the Year Long Theme Calendar here and follow along with us!

The preschool curriculum that is all inclusive and provides hours of fun and engaging learning!  

The "October Preschool Packs" contain 9 theme based lesson plans, a total of 263 pages of lesson plans and activity printables.  My preschooler has begged to do his "homework" because it's a wonderful time that we spend together learning age appropriate concepts!  These plans are intended to be taught in a 10 month sequence from Aug-May, though may be adapted to use individually. 

October {Download all 9 October Preschool Packs}

12. Spiders and Miss Muffet {Download}
The Spiders and Miss Muffet lesson plans and activities are such a blast!  We're introduced to the sight word "the" and get to play some matching games with it.  We also talk about long and short and continue our study of numerical order.  There is a "Spider Facts" mini book and a clip card spider with dice.  You can also play "Smack that Spider!" and play with the Little Miss Muffet printables.  There is a long path and a short path spider game (who will win first?) and a hidden letter activity.  We focus on the letter S and making all sorts of new words. 

13. Safety {Download}
I really look forward to the Safety preschool pack.  I'm always amazed that as preschoolers are taught very specifically certain ideas the ideas stick!  My kids are still asking to be excused from the table when we're done eating and we worked on that in August!  The safety pack addresses safety in crossing the street, using scissors, being in the kitchen, playing with toys and many other activities that we do every day.  They can practice the sight word "the" with a sight word money and pockets game.  We also work on colors, the vocabulary "tall" and "short", non-standard measuring and play a long path game where you have to decide what the best choice is to stay safe. 

14. Bears and Bats {Download}
Bears and Bats pulls from a couple favorite story books: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" and "Goldilocks".  There are manipulatives to act out both of those stories as well as sort items according to size, determine quantity equality, use Do-A-Dot markers and sing songs.  We'll also be tracing and working on CVC words.  We're learning the letter B and there is the cutest toilet paper roll craft to make a bat or a bear. 

15. Bubbles {Download}
It is a lot of fun to play with bubbles and explore the different things we can do with them.  In this pack there are so many ideas for making bubbles, using different colored bubbles to make art and even a part about washing the dishes.  The printables are adorable and so fun to play.  There is a long path game where you have to help the kids get to the bubble bath!  There are also counting and matching games, a hidden letter B art, Do-A-Dot "the", a long path phonics game, dot-to-dot and tracing activities. 

16. Helpful Kids {Download}

I'm particularly excited about the Helpful Kids pack because it is based on Bucket Fillers.  It's the idea of teaching children that we all have a bucket inside of us and if we do something nice, kind or helpful for someone else we are filling their bucket.  It's a perfect set of lesson plans for improving the peace and kindness in your school or home.  We introduce the letter H and talk about all the different things we can do that would be helpful, including how to tie our own shoes.  We continue working on the sight word "the" and size sequencing items.  The Little Red Hen makes an appearance with a recipe for bread and the "Rhyming Dust Bunnies" also stop by to make rhymes with word families that we've already learned (and some we haven't for a little added challenge!)

17. Doctors {Download}
The doctors pack is intended to help children feel comfortable going to the doctor, even if it's just for a regular check up.  We talk about all the body parts and how we can tell if they are working and growing correctly.  H the Horse from the Amazing Action Alphabet goes to the doctor when he is stung by a hornet.  There is a letter H hidden picture and "the" puzzles. 

18. Caterpillars {Download}

The letter C makes it's appearance now in our curriculum.  We learn all about caterpillars and their life cycle.  There are puzzles, size matching games, tracing and word families.  We also continue non-standard measurement and introduce the vocabulary "near" and "far". 

19. Pumpkins {Download}

Pumpkins is another fantastic day in school.  We spend the day exploring pumpkins in many different ways.  We measure their weight, height and width.  We dissect them and talk about all the parts of the pumpkin plant.  We find out if they sink or float.  The printables are great with puzzles and songs, recording sheets for the science experiments, hidden letter coloring pages, size sequencing, shadow matching and tracing. 

20. Halloween {Download}

Halloween is a very exciting time of year.  With this complete lesson plan you're ready to make the most learning happen around an exciting holiday.  There are two mini books that now feature tracing pages and coloring pages.  Make the jack-o-lantern's face match the text and trace the words in the Halloween beginning reader.  We're still comparing objects by single characteristics and developing vocabulary around different traits. We get to review the letters we've learned thus far and can trace them on fun Halloween monkey pages.  There are pages to make your own haunted house writing and add Halloween characters, we're determining which is different and practicing the sight word "the"!

**Preschool packs are lesson plans intended for a small preschool classroom or homeschool.  They are not to be used individually as they follow a year long curriculum that builds upon itself.  The themes specify what the underlying topic is that we'll be talking about with literature, in our art, and any science or social studies activities.  Reading and Math activities most often do not relate to the theme and these lesson plans are heavy in the reading and math department.  Printables expand on what we're able to cover in our 2.5 hours allotted to learn the materials and are often used as homework practice. The reading lesson plans are designed to be used with all the materials from the Amazing Action Alphabet and have been proven to teach children to be successful readers.

**Each preschool pack has 3 pages of lesson plan ideas.  Each child should be introduced to activities that don't involve something you can print from a computer, such as building blocks or painting.  These first 3 pages of lesson plans have all of the ideas that match the theme in one easy spot.  The lesson plans pages are organized by subject for easy referencing.  I've linked many of the materials listed to Amazon.com to provide you with more information about products you might want to consider using.  These packs have a lot of research behind them as I am a licensed teacher with experience teaching PreK-2nd Grade for 10 years.