Momma Goose Was On the Loose!!!

     Hello lovely readers of mine. I hope this past week was kind to you. It has been a very busy and productive one for us. Most inportantly a lot of fun too. You see, this week is by far my favorite week for planning because it is, as you may have guessed from my blog entry title, Mother Goose week! Momma Goose week is so much fun to use for educational purposes. I know, Mother goose rhymes have some dark meanings behind them, BUT for young children they are so helpful to use for early literacy. There are tons of different rhymes to pick from. The ones I picked happen to have the use of the letter S, because Ss also happens to be our letter of the week.
     Another reason I had such a fun time with lesson planning this time aroundis because it is the letter Ss week. Ss is such an easy letter to think up actibitues for as there are so many words and activities that use the Ss sound. This week us packed with fun activities.
     Before going into all the activities we worked on I need to take a moment to give a shout out to my daddy. It is his birthday today!!! I am very blessed to havevhim as my dad, and so grateful to have him around and active for our kid. My son has a very sweet bond with his PaPaw and we are so happy for that. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!!!

Monday:Martin Luther King Jr. Day-vacation day

Tuesday:Intro Uppercase S/Baa Baa Black Sheep
Books: My s Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
Mother Goose Rhyme Book
My First Dictionary

Songs: Sharing Song by Raffi
Baa Baa Black Sheep

Activities:
Intro Uppercase S, Intro Ss picture vocabulary words, color uppercase S work page

Play with sunflower seeds and corn kernals

Build skyscrapers with wooden blocks

Intro Baa Baa Black sheep. Have child paint in a picture of sheep with black paint. Use a black pom pom and clothes pin for added fine motor skills strengthening. I, nyself, realized we were out of black paint. I tried to fix this by using food coloring and white paint, only it ended up turning into a funky blue greenish color no matter how I mixed up all the colors. I failed. 😂😂😂

Wednesday: Intro Lowercase s/Intro Opposite concept of In VS. Out/Itsy Bitsy Spider
Books: Morris Goes to School by B. Wiseman
Mother Goose Rhyme Book
My First Picture Dictionary

Songs: School House Polka by Veggie Tales
The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Activities: Intro lower case s, review Ss picture vocab, lowercase s coloring activity page

Practice In/out with the space sewing and shape bead set

Spinning fun in the office chair

Play with saint peg dolls and spin playhouse and slide and swing and school house

Intro Itsy Bitsy Spider. Make handprint spider.

Thursday:Tracing and Scissor Skill Work/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Books:Sea Stars by Lola M. Schaefer
Mother Goose Rhyme Book
My First Picture Dictionary

Songs: Shout!
Shout to the Lord
Twist and Shout!

Activities:Review Ss vocab words in picture dictionary.

Practice tracing activity

Practice scissor skills

Play with water in sink with food coloring and silver glitter.

Play with shaving cream

Intro Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Use playdough and star cookie cutter to cut out star shapes.

Friday:Ss Vocab Review Day/Sleep Baby Sleep

Books: Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
Mother Goose Rhyme Book
My First Dictionary

Songs: Shake My Sillies Out by Raffi
Sanctuary praise and worship song
Sleep Baby Sleep

Activities: Review Ss vocab and do vocab coloring activity

Play with the slide

Play with salt and sugar

Play with tool set for the screwdriver and saw

Work on tool puzzle with the screw driver, saw, and sander.

Intro Sleep Baby Sleep. Roll play with a baby doll (or in our case teddy bear as we do not own a baby doll...) about how to be gentle with babies. Use dr kit to play de for dramatic play.

Pre-k Class Room Set-up Tips

 

     I am super excited about getting our playroom/classroom set up in a new area of our home. This room was the guest room, but we ended up transitioning our kid into a full sized bed during the time he was sick and we could not fit in his toddler bed with him to help him sleep better. Because of that there was a new open space and what better way to utilize it right now than to use it as an official classroom. As you can see the room is small, but it is mostly he and I in there so for us it is a great space. 

     Since I just finished setting up our little room I thought I might to a post on the importance of the classroom set-up for optimum learning experiences for little ones. Kids love order. They enjoy making messes, but they strive in an orderly kept up space where everything is in the same spot and they can count on that. Kids also love work/play/reading areas. Keeping play areas as far away from book and quiet area is really great for kids to better keep focused when listening or looking at a book. Their work/art area should try to be moved away from the play toy area as well. It is much easier for kids with naturally short-attention spans to keep focused on an activity when the toys are a little farther away from that area. Educators need to make sure there is a big open space for playing spaces. Playing spaces should includethe toys, sensory play activities, and dramatic play areas as well as room for body movement. Making a playroom/classroom fun and asthetically pleasing to the child is also very helpful. Hopefully this can give you some ideas for setting up a playroom/classroom if you get the chance too.

Mini New Testament Vacation Bible School Week

     I am so happy to finally get back into a normal groove after two weeks of watching my little guy be sick. It is one of the hardest parts of being a momma. Watching your kid be sick, no matter what it is that they are sick with. It helps me appreciate when he is his healthy energetic self.
     This week I decided to do a mini vacation Bible school week only this time around I picked stories on the New Testament to focus on. Again, just like with Old Testament week there are tons of stories to choose from. You may like the ones I picked, but then again you may not like these stories, but like the idea of using New Testament Bible stories as a weekly theme.  Really this is mostly for me to share ideas I found most helpful, fun, and educational for my kid.
     We also learned about the letter Rr and the opposite concept of high vs. low.

Monday-Intro Uppercase R/Miracle of Paralytic Man Through the Roof
Books: My r Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
The Preschooler's Bible
My First Dictionary

Songs: Rain Rain Go Away
It's Raining It's Pouring
If All the Raindrops Were Lemon Drops...
Jesus Loves Me This I Know

Activities:
Intro Uppercase R and intro Rr vocab words
Uppercase R coloring page

Pray the Rosary together

Play with dry rice

Read the story of Jesus and the paralytic man who gets lowered from the roof.

Use legos to build a house to reinact the story together.

Tuesday:Intro Concept of High VS. Low/ The Story of The Boy Who Ran Away (The Prodigal Son)
Books: The Child's World of Responsibility by N. Pemberton and J. Riehecky
The Preschooler's Bible
My First Dictionary

Songs: Rise and Shine by Raffi
This Is My Commandment

Activity:
Review Rr vocab from picture dictionary

Play with the robot and rocket ship sewing and bead kit

Talk about the importance of being respectful and ways my son can show respect for people and things. Read the story of the prodigal son and also the book on responsibility.

Play with stepping ladder for the comcept of high vs low

Wednesday: Intro Lower Case r/ Jesus' Ride Through Jerusalem (Palm Sunday)
Books: Rusty Red the Sound of R by Cynthia Klingel and Robert B. Noyed
Red by Sharon Gordon
The Preschooler's Bible
My First Dictionary

Songs:Row Row Row Your Boat
Jesus Loves the Little Children
Jesus Row the Boat Ashore

Activities:
Intro lowercase r and review Rr vocab with first picture dictionary. Lowercase r coloring page


Play with race cars and race car track

Intro the story of Palm Sunday. Cut out pretend palms and lay down blankets for cloaks. Then use dramatic play to reinact the story. Let the child pretend to be Jesus while you or daddy pretends to be the donkey.

Thursday:Review High VS. Low/Tracing and Scissor Skills/The Story of Jesus' Baptism
Books:Teach Me About Relatives  by Joy Berry
The Preschooler's Bible
My First Dictionary

Songs: I've Been Working On the Railroad
There Must Be Something In The Water by Carrie Underwood

Activities:
Review Rr vocabulary. Play with the train and railroad tracks

Use slide to reinforce high vs. low concept.

Intro the term relatives with the booj about relatives. Transition to how Jesus' relative, his cousin, was the one to baptize him. Read the story from his Bible. Share some pictures of his baptism day. Play in the kitchen sink with water.

Friday:Rr Vocab Review/The Story of the Resurection
Books:The Velvateen Rabbit  by Margery Williams Bianco
Thr Preschooler's Bible
My First Dictionary

Songs: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Christ Is Risen by Matt Maher

Activities:
Review Rr vocab and do vocab coloring page

Play with mirrors for our reflections8

Make a rainbow cross with fingerpaints

Read the Resurection story and talk about the cross we just painted is one symbol people use to show Jesus resurected from the dead...
Intro the Shroud of Turin (for the readers who stopped by and have not heard of the Shroud of Turin before, it is what we call the burial cloth Jesus was wrapped in after he died. We as Catholics find this shroud very special as we believe Jesus left a photo of his full body burned into this cloth. It is considered a miracle. You can search more info on it if you are intrigued and would like to learn more...granted when you google it you will find stories claiming ot is false as well as true, but as with anything that deals woth faith you have to decide for yourself what to believe). Explain how we believe this is the reflection that Jesus left us of ehat he looked like.

What New Testament Bible activities, songs, or letter Rr tips do you have that I missed? Please comment with your ideas please!

Information Requesting Mechanism? What Is That? Why Do We Need To Know?

 

      Information requesting mechanism is basically fancy term for how we ask questions, more specifically the question of why. We all have questions that make us wonder. Things we want the answers too and sometimes will never know until the day we come face to face with God. As many questions as us adults have and wish we had more time to pomder, young children have even more things to question and figure out.
     At anytime around age three you may have notice the beginning signs of the questions that have been giving your child a hard time to understand. Questions that to us adults seem so simple that answering an endless stream of these quesions seems exhausting. Sometimes you wonder if the child is asking why repeatedly as a way to get on your nerves, but in all honestly it really is them wanting to know more about life.
     As a daycare teacher I am pretty sure I was asked why by my students atleast fifty times a day. There were moments when I would get rrustrated, but those were mostly because I was not able to give them an answer. I would have to wait until I was off of work to research answers to some of their questions. Sometimes I was interrupted by something more important going on with a different student so I was not able to answer and would accidentally forget to go back and respond to the student that asked the question.
     Children who ask questions are showing you a leap in their cognitive development. They have figured out not only the words they need to express what they are interested in learning about, but that also they can on their own search for someone to help them know the information they are seeking. Having a trusted adult they know will have the patience to help them with their questions helps them feel comfident aswell as safe and independent and most importantly loved and feel important. One of the best things we can do for our little ones is answer as much as possible their questions.

Importance of Playing with Playdough

   

     The past several weeks I have dropped the ball on all of my posts about benefits of play. Different things have just kept my focus and energy else where. Today I though I would spend a little time explaining the importance and benefits of playing with playdough.

     Playdough is sometimes messy, sometimes hard to keep kids from mushing colors together for a big blah look, or keeping the containers from being hidden away by other little hands not interested in playing woth those who are using the playdough. It can get smooshed in carpets and such, but the thing is as much as playdough can seem like a real hassle or waste of money it really is one of the greatest pre-k learning/teaching tools.

     When kids play with playdough they are constantly using their fine motor skills. Depending on the toys they use with the playdough they also strengthen their gross motor skills too. The more they exercise those muscles the more helpful it will be for when they are learning to write or draw, and even be less messy eaters, and much more. Hand eye coordination is also exercised when using fine/gross motor skills.
   
    Using playdough is great for literacy skills. You and your child can roll and mold playdough into letters of the alphabet, numbers, and shapes. With all different bright colors of playdough you can also help with color recognition.
   
     Playdough is great for sensory play and relaxation. Folding, squishing, molding, bright colors, and even the smell. Sensory play help children be calmer and more focused when breaking down in their minds new concepts.

     Playdough is great for creativity and speech development. Some really great conversations and stories can come from just free playdough time. Children get to stretch their imaginations and have fun relaying what they have created. Those with speech delays have fun with explaining what they want to see or what they want to create.

     Playdough is a great tool for emotional development. Sometimes they do better explaining themselves through artistic outoets. They do better building and showing adults what they are feeling than using their words.

      Tips for helping playdough last are first I always keep playdough in a air tight plastic container so it helps it not dry out.  Also I give my kid one color at a time. He can change out the colors as much as he wants, but it lasts longer than a free for all mixed color mess. Now as the playdough is towards the end of it's peek play texture and I plan on tossing it out soon than I let my kid have at it. If a playdough container goes missing I always at or the playdough in a ziplock bag and then also in the bigger plastic air tight container and it lasts longer. Sometimes I can add a some water to it and work water into it to get it soft again, but usually I will do that if we have not had a new one for very long.

     What ways can you think of that I missed for how important playdough is for young kids?

Sneezing and Sniffling In A Winter Wonderland

     Last week if you read my previous post was not very active due to a nasty cold. This week was just as, if not moreso, relaxed due to the fact thatvmy son's nasty cold ended up causing him a double ear infection and sinus infection. The antibiotics hopefully are working, but after four days of it he has still been fighting this infection with a fever. So far this morning he has been fever free, but the day is young. Heck it is still dark outside. I was told by his receptionist to give this six days of a potential fever before freaking out because of how sick he had gotten.
     Not only was my son sick, but over the last week-end I ended up finally catching this cold. Sick kid and sick mom is not easy. I barely survived the day so as you can see blogging was not on my high list of to-do's during this time. We did learn some things though thanks to my v8 energy drink, airbourne, and whatever energy my child was interested in using, which has not been much. So we have read lots of books together.
    This week we learned a little bit anoit the season of winter. Here where we live a good snowy winter is a hit or miss. Some years it is a white snowy cold winter wonderland...so far this year no snow and a lot of cold weather, so I had to use my imagination for some indoor winter activities.
     This week we also have learned about the letter Qq and the comcept of quiet vs. loud.

 Books We Read Together:
My q Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
Welcome to the Ice House by Jane Yolen
This Quiet Ladyby Charlotte Zolotow and Anita Lobel
Safety Winter by Sue Wilkenson
Quack! The Sound of Q by Cynthia Klingel and Robert B. Noyed
Boot Weather by Judith Vigna
Sarah's Questions by Harriet Ziefert
Walking In A Winter Wonderland by Tom Hop Good
Quick As A Cricketby Audrey Wood
Sneezy the Snow Man by Maureen Wright

Songs We Sang Together This Week

The Queen of Hearts nursury rhyme
Sleigh Ride
The letter q song from abcmouse.com
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Five Little Ducks by Raffi
Frosty the Snowman
A Quiet Quarterback song
Jingle Bells
Do You Know the Question Man?
If All the Snow Flakes Were Candy Bars and Milk Shakes

Activities We Worked On Together
Letter Qq coloring sheets
Qq vocab review coloring sheet
Painting a winter scene with q-tips
Play loud and quiet songs together on the piano
Play with shaving cream
Paper shape quilt collage
Play with ice
Use cotton balls to have a "snowball" fight
Play Quiet As A Mouse
Go on A Winter Nature Quest Walk through the neighborhood.
Play with dry quinoa

Winter Topics We Learned Something About
What happens in nature during winter.
Winter animals
Winter safety
Winter activities
Winter Holidays
Winter clothes

Educating A Sick Child....I Need A Sick Day to Recover from my Child's Sick Week

 

  As you can see it has been awhile since I wrote up a post. I hope you have all been able to enjoy the Christmas season with family, friends, and laughter, and wonderful memories. Christmas has gotten the best of me thistime around. We hosted my in-laws for Christmas this year which happened last Thursday. I was very focused on house cleaning, meal prepping, cooking, and setting up the tables for everyone. It was a tad trickier to figure out for me since almost seven months ago, due to my doctor ordering me to, I switched to a vegan diet. I also had a family member with siliac disease, so gluten-free for us, and another family member with multiple food allergies and intollerances, and one with diabetes. When people come to my house to eat, especially a holiday meal, I always want to make sure everything is as safe as possible for all my guests to eat. I hate the ppdsibility of people thinking I did not think their dietary needs are important while watching others get to eat half of the things because I ignored their needs wgich may then make them feel undervalued or like I do not care because I do. I may be a vegan diet eating person, but I also would not make everyone avoid meat around me. I baked a real ham so there was meat for all my non vegan eating family members (everyone but me). I just made all of our sides vegan so I could feast. We had green beans, kale, sweet potato casserole, and homemade potato salad. Two of my nieces spent the night with us that night which was a lot of fun too. Needless to say my blog got put on the back burner last week.
     This week two of my nephews cane to visit for four days. Simultaneously my kid came down with a very nasty cold. Not the flu, thankfully, but has still knocked him out. He is still not feeling to great and nos his daddy has it. I have been taking airbourn in hooes of lessening the blow if/whrn I get it. Hosting two teenagers and caring for two sick people has not left me with much time to blog about what little things my kid and I have gotten to work on.
      I wanted to do a 12 Days of Christmas theme with my son this week, but that got put on the back burner for next year as far as activities go. Instead we worked mostly on the letter Pp activities. I will do my blog a tad differently. Instead if breaking up what our activities were each day, I will just share a general list of activities that we did, but also if we were all feeling better we would have done, but resting when sick and following his lead on what he feels up for is probably for the best for our kiddo. He is only three afterall.

Books we looked at this week:
Jack Kent's Twelve Days of Christmas by Jack Kent
The Christmas Storyilluminated by Isabelle Brent
The Story of the Three Wise Kings retold and illustrated by Tomie DePaola
We Believe In Christmas by Karen Kingsbury
Tonight You Are My Baby by Jeannine Q Norris
My P Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
New Year's Day by David F. Marx
A Pet the Sound of P by Alice K. Flanagan
Potty Animals by Hope Vesteegaard
Jacob's Eye Patch by Beth Kobliner Shaw and Jacob Shaw
Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

Songs we sang this week:
12 Days of Christmas
Silent Night
Angels We Have Heard on High
We Three Kings of Orient Are
Hark!The Herald Angel Sing
Purle People Eater
His Peace Is Flowing Like A River
I am a Promise
Going on a Picnic by Raffi
Eight Little Piggies by Raffi
5 Little Pumpkins

Activities we learned with
Family prayer evenings
Painting
Play dough fun
Banging on pots and pans
Play with dry pasta
Draw with pens and pencils
Play on the piano
Play with people and play houses
Play pirate
Play around in purple water (food coloring in kitchen sink)
If nice outside and Anthony was feeling better a playground day
Pajama pizza popcorn pic nic party day... if we did not have the creeping crud we would have invited friends over to maje it really fun, but did not want to pass it along to anyone.
P coloring pages
P vocab work