Tot School Sharing and Manners

What an amazing day of tot school! Today we learned all about manners.  We talked about the letter M making the /m/ sound, we did handprint art, read an M book, and made placemats.

 We talked a lot about sharing and being soft with our hands and bodies.  We played with play dough and Duplos.  We also pulled out the number 1-5 mats and hopped on them the same number of times as the number that was printed on it.

Manners and what was supposed to be Karate...

Yesterday in preschool we had a fantastic time talking about manners, though manners may not be the appropriate word to describe it.  We talked about what good behavior should look like and practiced making the "/n/ /n/ /n/" sound at "David" the book character from "No, David!".  The kids loved it!  Our sight word for the week is "no".  Please read them the book "No, David!", you'll find it in their binders.  While you are reading PLEASE let them read the word "NO" every time you come to it.  You'll also find the word "I" and the word "the" (I think) that they can read as well.  We'll work on the letter N Amazing Action Alphabet book tomorrow in class.

We also spent a great deal of time talking about how to write our names.  It's our goal to have the 3 year old class writing their names by Valentine's.  That's just a month away!  Be sure to practice EVERY day!  Sometimes it works better to use a wet erase marker on the lamination because they have such a fine tip, if you need one please let me know - I have a stash and would happily share.  One of the things we spent a lot of time on was the shape and size of each letter in our name.  Trying to see the shapes of the letters in order to draw them.  There is a great app called iWriteWords (no I'm not paid by them or anything, but if they want to contact me I'd happily give away a copy of their awesome app to a reader on my blog).  Anyway, if you have a device that you let your kids play on, consider installing the app and improving their handwriting skills at the same time.

Wow.  Certainly a lot happened in school yesterday.  We also had the great opportunity to paint with nail polish yesterday.  It's a super fun activity for the kids to practice painting and putting lids on and taking them off.  We only had one bottle drop and explode, phew!  I've already cleaned up with nail polish remover and I'm happy to have all the nail polish given away to preschool families so I can move past this activity in my house. Once again ... phew!

 This afternoon was a whirlwind of reading.  It was the type of day where we never got to our theme (Karate) and only got the bare bones done.  We are doing a little rearranging and with everyone's help (ahem...homework) we'll get into a better spot where I don't have to do 6 different lessons for 8 kids.  We practiced the letter K and worked on reading our Amazing Action Alphabet K book, we began Ready2Read Level 1, we continued work in Ready2Read, we ran around the house like crazies for a few minutes after snack and we drew pictures in our journals while I chatted with adults after class.  There is so much learning going on at this stage of these awesomely absorbent brains that I simply can't fit it all into our short time together each week.  Thanks for enabling your kids to reach great potential by supporting their learning explorations at home!

Manners

What a fantastic day of learning!  We continued working with the letter M today and had a fantastic group reading lesson with the M book on the SmartBoard.  We each took turns reading the pages of the book and demonstrating the skills that good readers do.

 1. Good Readers Look at the Letters

2. Good Readers Point to the Letters

 3. Good Readers Say the Letter Sounds

4. Good Readers Listen to the Sounds They Made

 Keep practicing using all of those skills when you read your beginning reader M book from the Amazing Action Alphabet.  We also had a fantastic conversation with a few books and posters guiding our discussion about manners.  We talked about how different actions make us feel (hitting=sad, sharing=happy, etc.).  The kids LOVED their Popsicle stick happy and sad faces and used them to show me how characters in books were feeling and how they would feel if a particular thing happened to them.  We had our first handwriting lesson today about how to hold a pencil.  We practiced the chant from the back of their name writing page to pinch the pencil and put it into place.  PLEASE help your child hold their writing tools in the correct tripod grip.  If you need me to show it to you please ask!  We had so much fun with our math lesson today.  It involved M&M's and captured their interest quickly.  We talked about what "the same" is.  I had one plate and I gave one to EMan.  Do we have the same number?  Etc. After we all had plates we got mini M&M's (3 each) and talked about how we had the same amount.  Color is hard to separate at this age for this concept.  I could see their little brains thinking, "I have green, she had brown, we do not have the same."  We worked through it a bit and understand that it's just an introduction that we'll revisit for understanding later.  One activity we did was hold up 2 (or 1 or 3) fingers on each hand and touched them to each other.  If they all had one to touch they were the same.  If any fingers were left wiggling they weren't the same.

 Preschool B also worked on handwriting today for the first time.  It took unexpectedly much longer than I had anticipated.  We discussed the proper way to hold a pencil and the different lines of the writing grid.  Remember that to aid kids in writing their writing paper has a top line (sky line), a bottom line (grass line), and a middle dotted line (branch line).  This helps us learn to size the different parts of the letters correctly.  Today we only practiced writing letter M.  We did both capital M and lowercase m.  If you work on handwriting at home (on a whiteboard or on paper) please encourage writing the letter m for the next week.

We also worked on the skills that good readers do.  We talked about how we make the sounds of the letters and if we blend the letter sounds together our ears can hear the word we're reading.  We'll be going at a slower pace with learning the alphabet and reading than I had originally intended.  Please look for an email soon with the new calendar and an explanation of details.  We need to make sure we have these basics down solid before we move on!  We had such a blast with math today.  Similar to the morning class we had mini chocolate chips (white/dairy free chocolate of course) and talked about "More" and "Less".  Zero is an interesting part of our conversation as it seemed difficult to understand more and less in the terms of has something and has nothing.  Use the vocabulary "More", "Less", and "Equal" for the next couple weeks around the house to help kids fully grasp this concept.

Have a great Labor Day Monday!  I look forward to seeing everyone again next Wednesday!

Manners

We had so much fun today.  As a review day we got to plug in all the activities that we've missed in the last few weeks.  We got messy and had lots of fun.  The kids really loved the "No, David!" series of books and read them over and over.  We continued working on AB patterns and hope to move to AAB patterns next Tuesday.  

Manners

Tot school this week was all about manners and the letter N.  We had so much fun playing with Starfall.com and the letter N.  The kids LOVED the part where the little boy is swinging a net to try and catch a butterfly.  They played that page over and over again.  They also loved running around with the flip chips using them as "money".  I believe it was raining money on people and the trampoline was the "bank".  We also spent much of the day playing with the peg boards building many towers. 

Manners

We had a great day in preschool today!  It was fun to learn the letter N with manners and "No, David!".  We continued working on AB patterns and are starting to understand the concept.  We also got to paint with nail polish today!  Since it was such a small group I also let them paint their finger nails in addition to the paper.  We had so much fun!

Preschool Manners

We had such a fun day learning about manners and reviewing the letter M today.  One really fun activity that I do with the kids is give them magnifying glasses and search all over the room for the letter we are currently learning.  Then we use highlighter tape to mark the letters we find.  It's an important stage for preschoolers to start pointing out letters that they recognize in their environment and this encourages them to do it. 

 We followed the Preschool Manners lesson plans and read some stories with characters that acted with and without manners.  We learned how when people act with manners it helps everyone feel happy.  When we don't use manners it makes us feel sad.  As we read the stories kids held up their smiley face or sad face to match how the characters were making them feel.

 We enjoyed popcorn, hot dogs and peppers for lunch today.  We're working every day on serving ourselves and pouring the correct amount of water into our cups.  We're doing fairly well.

 After snack we acted out different situations for a photography book of manners that I'll be putting together tonight.  When you act different situations out and take a picture of it children relate and understand the concept a little more comprehensively.

 As we continue with our math curriculum we're starting to work on one-to-one correspondence as well as equality in sets.  Just matching one baseball with one glove, or one flower to one vase does the trick.

Enjoy the long weekend with your preschooler, and happy learning!

Toddler Manners

We had a fantastic day in tot school today.  We were talking all about manners and how we can be good friends.  We talked about sharing and how we can treat our friends. 

 The letter of the week is M.  We learned all about M the Moose in the Amazing Action Alphabet.  We traced the letter M and made M Watches from the Moffatt Girls.  Most kids loved sporting their watches all day long.  Encourage your little one to find the letter M throughout the house in children's books and on signs in the environment.

 I laminate the back of the watches and add Velcro as a closure.  To laminate just the back of a page I laminate two pages at a time, printed side facing each other, with a blank page in between the pages.  They are slightly more durable this way and yet they are still able to be colored.

 We enjoyed the shape stamps and stamp pads outside in the nice warm weather today.

 We played with a letter M stamp and practiced tracing it with our fingers.  We talked about the color of the ink pads as well as the shapes we were playing with.  There was also plenty of book reading, sandbox and play house fun as well as riding bikes.  It was a great day!

August 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 "August Preschool Packs" contain 4 theme based lesson plans, a total of 136 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. 

*If you work with toddlers be sure to check out the Tot School information for Tot Packs.*

You can now download the bundle of August Preschool Packs HERE, or get them individually by following the links below. 

1.Welcome and Manners {Download}
The Welcome and Manners preschool pack sets you off on the right foot to have a fantastic school year learning the basics of reading, math, science, art, social studies, music and the world around us.  There are printables to help set up a learning station for preschoolers (colors, shapes, numbers, etc.) as well as activity pages to learn the quantity of 1, what "school" will look like and the routines we will follow, how to listen for sounds and participate appropriately.

2. School Tools {Download}

School Tools introduces students to many of the tools they'll be using throughout the year.  It introduces new vocabulary words like "respect" as we talk about how you'd show respect for school tools.  I find that introducing items and having a conversation around how to use and treat them provides the students with the structure and understanding they need to be successful throughout the school year.  There are many less broken pencils and crayons as we go along as well.  We start learning the quantity of 2, talk about how to share and the difference between needs and wants and introduce matching according to color.  We get more into sorting according to variable attributes later, and matching by color is a great place to start.  Volume is a fantastic study to start right off the bat so that children can understand "indoor" and "outdoor voices" and when to use them.  We arm children with the tools they need to be a successful reader by giving them age appropriate actions and reminders for what they do when they see a letter. There are also coloring and tracing pages to go along with this fantastic set. 

3. I Am Special {Download}

This pack starts introducing how each of us have our own special talents and abilities.  We look similar in certain ways and we look different in certain ways.  No one else is exactly like you!  As we study the quantity of 3 and start learning the letter M we trace, color, match, sing and use a magnifying glass to study our finger prints.  There are also materials to make a class or family apple tree that shows why each person is special.

4. Manners {Download}
We continue our conversation about fairness and respect as we talk about Manners on our 4th day of school.  We hit on how each person's actions affect the whole group.  We can share, help and be happy when we have manners throughout the day.  There are tickets for positive reinforcement and happy/sad face puppets for a few activities throughout the day.  The vocabulary "equal" is introduced as we talk about sets up to 5 and what quantities are the same.  We continue practicing the letter M with cutting and pasting activities and tracing activities. 

 **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.

Thursday Tot School - Manners

We started tot school today with the lacing beads all over the table. They were fun to explore and practice our fine motor skills.  

 The kids love the magnetic LeapFrog Fridge Phonics set that I've left out on the magnetic board.

 Playing with the Manners Tot Pack and the Manners II Tot Pack.

 We also played with pompoms and tweezers by sorting them into egg cartons.

 All the kids were very active today.  They wanted to run and jump and slide!  I can't wait for spring so we can go outside every day again.

Coloring our, "Yes, ___" books.  We talked about all the good things we could do every day and then drew/scribbled pictures of them.  When you "read" your child's "Yes, ___" book with them ask them about the different things they can do that show good manners.

Wednesday Preschool - Manners

We continued to learn about manners through studying the letter "N" who happens to be a naughty newt.  They were still enthralled with the "No, David" series of books during our reading time.

 We watched the book "Fair Bears" to talk about what is fair and how we should be treating people.

 We tried flip chips today to practice patterning and I think we're starting to get it!  Please continue working daily on AB patterns with your child.

We played the Starfall.com board game to practice our letters and letter sounds while using our manners in taking turns.

 At the end of the day we pulled out all the dishes and dolls for some exploratory play.

 Afternoon preschool has been reviewing short vowel sounds while learning new letter rules.  Today we learned the sound that /sh/ makes.  Sh is considered a digraph: two letters that make a single sound when they're together.

 Matching /sh/ words.

 Practicing our numerals.

Manners - Tot School Tuesday

I made a silly picture mistake and uploaded pictures from my camera and my iPod at the same time and my computer went bizerk and ordered them all crazy, so I apologize about the random order of the pictures in this post. 

 We read the story "No, David!" and let David know when he was making a sad choice by shaking our finger at him and saying "/n/, /n/, /n/" to practice the N sound.  Then we made "Yes, ___(child's name)___" books.  We practice saying the sounds in our names as we wrote it on every page and then children drew/scribbled pictures of themselves doing good things like helping people, playing outside, giving hugs, etc.  When you read your book with your child ask them what good things they are doing in each picture.

 I left the blocks out from preschool patterning and they became pretend ice cream that we learned how to pretend eat without actually putting it in our mouth.
 We sang the song, "Do as I'm Doing" while we jumped, clapped, twirled and stomped.
 Playing with the Manners II tot pack.

 We're playing a little bit with ABAB patterns and today we explored the idea with beads which also helped us work on our fine motor skills.

 N the newt was so naughty because he painted with finger nail polish on the wall.  We painted with finger nail polish on our papers!

 At one point I was being mobbed with kids who wanted to play our shape learning game.  We're working on learning 2D shapes through February and then we'll play with 3D shapes in March.