Monday February 28th- Planets

On this make up day for our three year olds, we first started with our name practice and then we did an additional practice with Miss Alisha’s help. Upstairs the students played with wooden and foam blocks and nuts and bolts. My daughter Emma was at home today with the day off and she read all the books the kids wanted her to read to them :) Garrett was our star from last week so he helped start our day with shape and colors practice. They have them all down and I think that I will start assessing these skills in a different way- to change it up a bit. We practice counting and our days of the week song during calendar time. I told them that today is the last day of the month and that we would be starting March tomorrow. Our room will also change as well as our library with the change of the month and themes of the classes. We all helped with weather time and then we did our alphabet boogie. The students remembered that we were learning about the letter S and silly Sally Seal who lives near the South Pole. We remembered the sound that the S makes- just like a snake and we also practice the sign- making our hand like a fist. After we sang our S song, we practiced Hey Diddle Diddle one last time all by ourselves and then went into wiggle time. Garrett brought us a yummy snack of s foods. After that we looked at our books and played with Garrett’s show and tell.
Because of our lesson today on planets, I did our letter time first. We practiced our sound again for the letter S and then went to the table to do our S sheet. We colored strawberry, sock, shoe, and sun. They each practiced tracing the letter S on their own and I wrote their names in highlighter and they traced on top on it. I want them to start writing their names on their own- at least attempting it.
For our lesson, we listened to our Planets song and then we talked about each one. We sang each line as we learned about each individual planet. First we talked about the Sun and it is not a planet but the closest star to us. Then we discussed Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The song also mentions Pluto but I changed the words and we add “it’s not a planet at all”- it is a dwarf planet and not considered the normal planet as it used to be. We each colored a planet and we made then each a necklace. Then we put all the “planets” in order and we sang our song twice as we stood around in a circle so that we could all see each planet in the solar system. For a special treat, I had the class watch Blue’s Clues where the song is shown about the planets. They sang along when the song came on. That was our day all about the planets!

Tuesday February 22nd- Number 8

Today we started with our scissor practice. I gave them a harder curve to cut and they tried their best! Upstairs, I had foam blocks, animals, transformers and sewing cards to play with. I sat down with each child to practice the number 8. They learned the letter of the week (S) as we made it. The little song we sang is “make an S and close the gate”. Garrett was our star today and he helped to point to all the colors and shapes. Today was the BEST I have ever heard the class with these- they are doing great! We went into calendar time learning that we would be having a break this week from class on Thursday but next week we get to come for 3 days!! We counted to 20 today and marched all the way. We also learned the number 8 in Spanish- ocho- and then counted up to 8 in Spanish. We practiced our “days of the week” song and we reviewed our months going all the way to July this week. Everyone gets to help during weather time as Garrett dresses our weather friend in clothes for the weather. We did our alphabet boogie song and then we learned about silly Sally Seal who lives near the South Pole. We all made silly faces and practiced being snakes while making the S sound. The sign is simple- making a fist. My sweet three year olds could handle this sign :) We wiggled our bodies and then had a great snack of S and the number 8- thanks Regina! After snacks, we looked at books and then we had our show and tell from Garrett. We sang Hey Diddle, Diddle once and then we made up our own Hey Diddle, Diddle rhyme by adding funny pictures to the poem. Each child shared their poem with the class. They did a great job!
For our lesson, we counted our friends in class including me and we had 8. We also reviewed eight in Spanish and counted up to it. After that, we read a poem about an octopus with 8 legs and all the things he can do with his legs. Up at the table, we counted our star stickers that were going in our number jar. We learned that 4 and 4 equal 8- we showed our fingers and counted them. We also saw that 5 fingers and 3 fingers make 8 too. Then we added our stickers to our number jar. After that, we colored 8 hikers and we added 8 walking sticks to help them up the hill.
We finished our day with reading our story about Silly Seal’s sandwich and all the things he put into it that don’t usually belong in a sandwich. We practiced our sound again as we got our stamp and we were done for the day!

Monday February 21st- Presidents Day

We began our Monday with scissor practice- they are getting harder and the students are doing a great job with them. Upstairs we played with animals and Lincoln logs in honor of Presidents day. I worked with each student to practice recognizing numbers and counting as we stamped cherries on a cherry tree with our fingertips.
Jackson helped me with our letter review and then we started with calendar time. I let the kids know that today was our only class for the week and that we would be out of class until Wednesday March 2nd. We also counted to 28 marching all the way and saluting at 21 in honor of our day. We also practiced our Spanish and blast off counting. We sang days of the week and Macarena months with doing our actions along the way. We talked about the weather, our sight words and letter of the week- E! We reviewed that the letter E is a vowel and has two sounds- E as in eagle when it says its name and e as in egg. We practiced both as we sang our song and also its sign. I read some words that start with the letter E and we practiced our sound and sign again. We wiggled, ate and read some books. Then Jackson shared his show and tell and we ready to learn about our wonderful Presidents.
I started with a child’s biography of George Washington. I read this to the students and then we went over to the table and colored a picture of him. I then read the story of George and the cherry tree. We finished up our cherry tree worksheet by coloring our trees. We were then on to Abraham Lincoln. I read the story of Abraham- his life and his love of books and reading. Then because time was short, I sent the Abraham Lincoln and E practice sheets home to do. I am sorry that I didn’t get them done in class. I also thought that it would be an activity for them for our days off :)

Friday February 18th- Number 15

We started our Friday with practicing the letter R and then upstairs we played with wooden blocks, food and babies. I worked with each child on finger painting 15 “acorns” for a squirrel for our #15 day. Ethan helped us review our shapes and colors. For extra shape practice, I showed some flash cards of different items then kids had to tell me what shape they were. We ran on number 18 as we counted to 28, we learned number 15 in Spanish is quince (keen-say) and did our blast off counting. I always love to hear the kids tell me where they landed after they blasted off- we go around to each child and see where their creativity has taken them. From there, we did days of the week/Macarena months songs, weather time, sight word practice and letter R review. We wiggled, ate a rainbow of colored snacks and cloud (sugar cookies) and explored our books for the month. After that, Ethan shared his show and tell.
For the number 15 day, we first counted in English and Spanish. Then we went to the table to practice printing the number 15. Some students had a harder time with the number 5 but we were all doing it on our own towards the end of the practice. We had to find the necklace with 15 beads and color that on the worksheet.
For letter practice, we colored a rainbow and had to find four words that started with R. We glued them on a construction paper and then practiced our names on the back. We were done with our day after we practiced our sound and sign on last time for the week.

Thursday February 17th- Star shape

We practiced our names downstairs and then upstairs we played with links, littlest pet shop and duplos. I took each child aside to practice our shape of the day- the star! This was the hardest one we had done and I helped them along the way. Audrey helped review our shapes and colors and then it was calendar time. We reviewed the date, counting to 17 today and in Spanish to 7. Our “days of the week” song comes next followed by practicing our months of the year. After weather time, we alphabet boogied and then we reviewed our letter of the week- R. We talked about Rodney Raccoon and his rocket, roller skates and radishes. We also sang our R song and showed Miss Alisha the sign for R.
After that, we got our wiggles out, ate our snacks and then had some book time until show and tell time by Audrey. We practiced Hey Diddle, Diddle one time and then we were ready to start learning about the star. We sang twinkle, twinkle little star and then we counted the sides of the star- there are 10 sides!! I read the star poem to them about our friend the star fish. We went to the table and we added star stickers to our star for our binder and then colored it nicely. After that, we made a scene of the night sky with the moon and stars. I sent home a star can be a badge page to color and review the shape.
For letter time, we colored our Rr sheet and practiced tracing the letter R all by ourselves! Then we reviewed the sound and sign for the letter R as we got the lowercase r stamped on our hands.

Wednesday February 16th- Planting crops & farm animals

Downstairs we practiced printing our names and worked on the order of our letters. Upstairs I had duplos, beads and littlest pet shop for the students to play with. Ethan helped with letter review. From there we did our regular schedule of calendar time- we counted up to 28 – running when we got to 16. We practiced counting in Spanish to 14 and then did some blast off counting. Days of the week and Macarena months were our next items to practice and then on to weather time. We worked on “sit” and “Ann” for our sight words as well as reviewing all of our sight words we have learned so far. We reviewed the letter R and Rodney Raccoon. We practiced the sign and sound of the letter R as well. After our alphabet boogie and wiggle time songs, we had our snack and book time. Ethan shared his show and tell and then we got into our lesson. I talked about growing crops and the different kinds of things that are grown on a farm. We read a seed diagram poem with pictures and we learned that seeds need three things to grow- water, soil and sunlight. We talked about the varieties of fruits, vegetables and grains that are grown on farms and we shared which items that we like the most.
I showed a farm poster to the students and we talked about cows, pigs, goats and sheep. We then went to the table and cut out pictures of how wool is taken from sheep to sweater. I had each child put them in order and then we read about each step in the process. We then finished talking about the other animals on the farm- chickens and horses.
For letter time, we had to use the colors red, green and blue and find the letters that they correspond with. We found out that we were coloring radishes for the letter R. On the back, we colored the letter R and Rodney Raccoon. We practiced our sign and sound again as we got our letter R stamp and we were down for the day.

Tuesday February 15th- Sun & Moon

We always start our week off with scissor practice to warm up our little fingers for the activities of the day. Upstairs I had beads and tinker toys for the children to play with. We had some amazing creations from them. We even learned that you can use the larger beads on the tinker toys so we made some fun designs. Audrey was my star and she helped with shapes and colors practice. For calendar time, we counted up to 15 pretending to be race cars and practiced our Spanish up to 7. We reviewed our date and we sang the days of the week song. I have also been teaching them the months of the year- we learned June today. After weather time, we alphabet boogied and then we met Rodney Raccoon who like to eat radishes, roller skate and play with his rocket. We did our r sound as we pretended to be race cars racing down the track. We also rocketed into outer space with our R sound. We sang our R song and learned the R sign which is your pointer and middle finger wrapping around each other. I read some words that begin with the letter R and found that some of our friends in class have R’s in their names. After we wiggled, ate our snacks and explored our February library, we were ready for show and tell. Audrey shared what she brought and we started with our Nursery Rhyme time. We made puppets for Hey Diddle, Diddle- 5 in all. Then we practiced the poem by first putting our puppets in order of the poem and then using them as we sang the song a few times.
For our lesson today, we talked about the sun and moon. I first talked about the sun showing the planet poster to them as we discussed it. I sang a song about the sun, we learned that it is a star and that if we took all the planets together the sun would still be bigger. We know that we cannot look at the sun directly or it will hurt our eyes- that is why we wear sunglasses to protect them from the sunlight. I also reviewed with them that our planet would not survive if we didn’t have the heat from the sun- it helps our plants to grow and allows our Earth to live. We also know that we see the sun in the day and its opposite is the moon.
For the moon, I showed them where it was on the poster. I sang them a song about the moon. The moon is rocky and cold. We see the moon at night but it doesn’t always look the same every night. After we talked about this, we went to the table and colored sun and moon puppets. I then asked them questions about the sun and moon and they had to show me the right picture of the sun or moon to answer the questions. I sent home peek a boo moon for an activity there.
For letter time, I read the story of Rosie Raccoon’s radish. Each child reviewed the sound of R when I gave them their R stamps on their hand.

Monday February 14th- Valentines Party

We started our day with scissor practice and then upstairs I had each child pick their own play dough out of the prize jar. We played with it for our play time with cookie cutters and rollers. Ethan was my star for the week and he helped quiz the students on the letters that we have learned. We were so excited to be at our Valentines holiday on our calendar! We counted to 28 and we shot off like a rocket on the 14. We also practiced our Spanish numbers up to 14 and we did our blastoff counting. We sang our days of the week and months of the year songs. I taught some more moves to our Macarena months- so cute! We all helped with weather time and I introduced two new sight words- sit and Ann. We learned that sit rhymes with it and Mit- two prior sight words that we have had. We also learned Ann who is a giraffe in our reading books. Before letter practice, we did our alphabet boogie. Our letter for the week is the letter R. We met Rodney Raccoon- he loves radishes, roller skating and his rocket. We practiced our sound and sign for the letter R and then did our wiggle song. After snack and book time, I got right into our letter time so that it wouldn’t interrupt our party time. I had all the students watch as I demonstrated how to print the letter Rr. Then each student wrote their names and practiced printing the letter R. They also traced the shapes on the page and colored it. Once we were completed with that worksheet, we started on our party.
I started with reading some Valentine books from our library- “Happy Valentine’s day Mouse”, “How do dinosaurs say I love you” and “Skidamarink- The I love you song” book which I sang to them and taught to them quickly. I had valentines for their parents ready to create and then valentines’ containers to decorate with stickers. After we did that, I had the students look at books as I got our table ready for cookie decorating time. Each student had their own cookie, frosting and sprinkles to decorate with. Once they were done, they ate them and I had water and milk for them to drink. After cookies, we all had turns to share our valentines that we had made for each other in class. They were all so fun and the kids loved sharing them with each other. I gave each child an R stamp as we practiced the sound when we were leaving for the day. We had a wonderful Valentine’s Day with each other!

Friday February 11th- Number 14

On Fridays, we practice the letter that we learned that week and then we stamp it on the back of the sheet. Upstairs I had tinker toys, wooden blocks and links waiting for the students to play with. One of our number activities required painting with bingo stampers so I took each child aside and they stamped 14 polka dots on a white shirt worksheet. Campbell finished the week with practicing our colors and shapes. Calendar time was great because we learned our next Spanish number 14 or catorce. They were so excited to learn another Spanish number! Days of the week and Macarena months songs were next followed by weather time. Sight words practice and then letter N time came next.
Campbell shared his Ninjago (loved that it started with N) after we wiggled, ate and read.
For lesson time, we practice counting to 14 in English and Spanish. After that, we went to the table and each student practiced tracing the number 14 on their own. We usually do this individually but they have grown so much and are able to handle practicing on their own. Some of us were getting mixed up on the number 4 but I was there to help and get them back on track. After that we all made noodle necklaces with needles. Each student choose 14 noodles and they used a needle and yarn to make their necklace. This was a great fine motor activity and it integrated our number and letter for the day.
For more N practice, we cut out eggs with various words that began with N on them. Then we made a nest for them to sit in. After practicing our sound and sign once again, we were done for the week.

Thursday February 10th- Valentines Party

We started our day with name practice and then went upstairs to play with our big plastic blocks, star wars toys and Mr. Potato head. Tyler helped with our star of the week duties. We had our calendar, weather and letter time. After snack time, Tyler shared his show and tell with the class. I wanted to make sure that we got our normal letter time in before the party, so we each colored and practiced the letter Q. After that, we had story time. I read “Bob the Builder’s Valentines” (Tyler’s request), “How do dinosaurs say I love you?” and “Happy Valentine’s Day Mouse!”. I wanted to share the last one with the class since this is what I gave them for their valentines this year. We went back over to the table to make valentines for our parents and then we created our valentine containers to hold our valentines from our friends. We came back to the floor for one more story-“Emily’s Valentine Party”. We then went to the table and colored a cookie can be a heart worksheet. After that, I cleaned up the table and prepped for our cookie decorating time and the students explored the books. Once I was ready, we had everyone come back to the table and decorate their cookies and then eat them up. They didn’t last long. :) Once we were done with our yummy treat, it was time to exchange our valentines. The kids loved this and were so excited to share what they had brought for each other. I practice the Q sound again with them and we were done with our Valentines party!

Wednesday February 9th- Dependability

Downstairs we started the day off with name practice- they had to trace on top of their own name and then use the clothes pin letters that I made them and practice putting the letters in the right order. Upstairs I had puzzles, wooden blocks, and star wars guys out for the class to play with. Campbell helped the class review the other half of the letters that we have learned so far. We went right into calendar, and weather time. Sight words were reviewed and we practiced our letter N sound and sign some more. After our wiggle song, snack and book time, Campbell shared his show and tell. For our lesson, we talked about dependability. This was a class discussion day. We talked about farmers and how they have many jobs on a farm and how they have to follow through with their assignments or there can be problems. I had them think about how they are dependable at home and what it means to be dependable. I urged them that they might be more dependable when they are asked to do something at home. I sent home a poster with a dependability poem on it which talks more about what we chatted about in class. For letter time, we talked about animal noises and found those animals that are noisy. On the back of the worksheet, the students colored the letter N and Nancy Nurse. We also read the N story- The Nicest Newt who we found can be sometimes naughty. We practiced our N sound and sign, got a stamp and we were done for the day.

Tuesday February 8th- Pink & heart shape

We started the day with scissor practice and played with animals, little legos and Lincoln logs upstairs. We were learning two things today- the color pink and the shape of a heart. I took each child aside to practice the shape of the heart so I could help them with this skill. Tyler was our star for the week- he helped me with colors and shapes. Not all of our friends were wearing pink so I gave each child a pink heart sticker to wear so we could all be wearing pink for the day.
We had our calendar time- counting up to 15 and in Spanish to 7. We also practiced our days of the week song and then moved into our weather time. From there we did our alphabet boogie and learned about our new letter of the week-Q! Queen Quintella was our letter friend and she loves to make quilts. I taught them that there aren’t many words with the letter Q, but when we see the letter Q he usually has friend U. I have a great song to go along with this concept so we listened to it and some of us even danced along. I tested each child with pronouncing this sound and we practiced the sign as well as we sang our Q song. We did our wiggle song afterwards and then it was snack time. Once snack and book time was done, Tyler shared his show and tell. For our lesson, I started with reading the book Pinkalious and we talked about how we make pink by mixing white and red together. For talking about the heart shape, I had a little finger play for them to learn how to make hearts with their hands. For art time, they each were given a cup with white and red finger paint. Each child was in charge of making their own pink paint to use to paint their heart shape. Some of us got a little messy but it was contained :)
For letter time, we read our story about the Quiet Quail and sometimes it helps to be loud sometimes. We also practiced our Q song and sign again. I review the sound with each child as they get their letter stamp.

Monday February 7th- Farm buildings and equipment

Mondays are scissor practice so we did that downstairs and then headed up for play time with animals, little legos and Lincoln logs. I pulled each child aside to practice the letter N during this time. Campbell was my star of the week and he helped the students review letters that we have learned so far this year. We went straight in to calendar time. We counted up to 28 (shaking like a “n”oodle on the 7th-our day of the month), in Spanish to 13 and blastoff counting 10-1. Days of the week and months of the year songs came next with our class learning the next dance moves to our months’ song. Weather time was followed with practicing our new sight words- it and Sis. They seem to be doing well with the sight words. Please practice them with your child though at home. They are all listed in their folders except for the characters names that we are learning as well. Before we got into letter time, we did our alphabet boogie and then we learned more about the letter N. Our letter friend this week is Nancy Nurse who likes necklaces, reading the newspaper and animal noises. We each practiced a different animal noise and everyone had to guess them. We also practiced the sound and sign for the letter N. I read words that beginning with the N so that the students can recognize words they know that start with N- we also were excited because our sweet Nya’s name starts with N!
After letter practice, we did our wiggle song, snack and book time and then Campbell shared his show and tell with the class. For our lesson, we started with the new monthly theme of all about the farm. I have a big poster of the farm and I explained the different areas of a farm- the farm house, pig sty, stables and silo and what each are used for. I also talked about the different equipment used- we made tractor books talking about the different uses that a tractor can be used for on a farm. We talked about the live stock on a farm and what animals that you can find there. Also about the farm itself and what kinds of foods are grown.
For letter time, we completed our N practice sheets by tracing the shapes and coloring it nicely. I reviewed the sound and sign with each child as I went around and gave them the letter stamp on their hands.

Friday February 4th- Number 13

I have made printing practice of all the letters of the alphabet. Today each child could pick which letter they wanted to practice printing and then they had to write their names on the back. Upstairs they played with Mr. Potato Head, lacing cards and duplo blocks. During this time, I was measuring their height and asking them the questions for their All about me page for February. Benjamin helped with practicing our colors and shapes. For circle time, we practiced all of our skills that we do each day. We jiggled bells on the 4 as we counted to 20 to celebrate for Chinese New Year. I also showed them on the globe where China is and some things they do to celebrate there. We also practiced our sight words- I did introduce them to Sis, who is a snake in the books. Some of my students are progressing so well with these books- keep it up! After we got all of our wiggles out and had snack time, Benjamin shared his little dinosaur show and tell with us. We completed our All about me February pages- they are growing in so many areas and it is exciting to see their progression. For our lesson today we were focusing on the number 13. We practiced counting in English and Spanish to 13 and then each student practiced printing it on their own. The number 3 is a harder number to print and some of my students needed extra help. We also did some one on one counting as we counted strips on flags-one activity on the worksheet. We found that the United States flag has 13 strips and I explained why it does with them. We also did some painting today- giving each rooster 13 corn kernels. We had a hard time listening on this activity- some of the kids were really excited and had a hard time not painting more than they should :) For letter time, we play letter bingo. They had to search for the letter and picture on their bingo cards. We had fun ending the week with a game.

Thursday February 3rd- Yellow day

For practice time, we traced our names and then went upstairs for some yellow fun. I made each child a ball of yellow playdough and they played with that for all of 10 minutes. Then they were off to my yellow stations. I had gotten out all the yellow toys I could find- big plastic blocks, duplos, links, beads, and nuts and bolts. I think each child played in each area- I hope they enjoyed it. I noticed that many of the children were wearing yellow on Tuesday instead of today so I gave each of them a yellow bus sticker with a yellow sun so that they could be wearing the color. I also took measurements of all the students for our All about me- February page and asked them the questions on it- Who is your favorite valentine and what is your favorite food this month.
Kate helped us once again with colors and shapes and we were on to calendar time. We were still learning about our new month- February. I reviewed the holidays- especially Chinese New Year which was today. I showed them a globe and where we were and where China is. I talked about the holiday and some things that they do to celebrate their new year. We counted to 15- jiggling bells on the 3rd to celebrate the New Year, sang days of the week and had fun with the weather. We continued to practice the letter P and its sound by popping like popcorn. I am trying to incorporate gross motor skills with our daily routine so we can improve in these areas. After wiggling and snack time, it was on to learning about the color yellow. We discussed things around our classroom and the world that are yellow. At table time, we completed our yellow books and then started working on our corn on the cob project. Each child colored their corn on the cob- yellow for the corn and green for the stock. Then we painted…with glue. They did a great job. I gave each child a little cup of popcorn kernels and they glued them on their corn. I think they had a great time and it was another way to work on our fine motor skills as the pinched the kernels to place them on the cob. We allowed that to dry on the table and we came and took a seat on our carpet rectangles. I read our P story- the Pigs Picnic that we missed on Tuesday. I practiced the P sound with each child as I gave them their stamp and we were finished for the week.

Wednesday February 2nd- Groundhog Day

For Wednesday, we practiced our names- tracing them and then writing them on our own. Upstairs I had transformers, wooden blocks and beads out for playing with. Benjamin continued to help us with our letter review. It was a great day because we started learning about February! We reviewed all of the month’s holidays and counted up to 20, in Spanish up to 12 and we blasted off 10-1! After days of the week, months of the year and weather time, we reviewed all of our sight words. We wiggled and ate our snacks then explored all of our new February books in the library area. For our lesson today, we learned all about Groundhog Day. I explained what happens on Groundhog day- if the groundhog sees his shadow, then we gets scared and goes back to bed for 6 more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t then he stays awake and spring is on its way. We looked at some of the books that I have about Groundhog Day and then we went down stairs to see if Phil saw his shadow this morning. He didn’t so spring is on its way! Upstairs we learned our new poem of the month about Mr. Groundhog- please practice this one with them at home because it is a bit longer than the others we have had in the past. At the table, we did a bit of printing practice in our little groundhog books. We did a craft with Mr. Groundhog popping out of a cup. They did a great job coloring and cutting out the grass. They really liked the end result and had fun popping Mr. Groundhog in and out of his “hole”.

Tuesday February 1st- Number 7

We did our scissor practice at the table downstairs. We are continuing to improve on our fine motor skills. Upstairs we played with the food, baby dolls, and my big trucks. I was pulling each child aside to practice tracing the number 7. Kate was our star this week and she helped with our color and shapes practice. At calendar time, we were so excited to see our calendar changed from January to February. We talked about the all the holidays during the month. We counted to 15 and practiced our Spanish to 7. For letter time, we met Petey Porcupine and saw that he likes to eat pineapple and paint with pink paint. We practiced our sound by popping like popcorn- they were so cute! I showed them the sign of the letter P but it is the most difficult letter in the sign alphabet so I didn’t try to push them. We are just developing our fine motor skills and sometimes our sweet little fingers can’t make the signs :) After alphabet boogie and wiggle time, we had a wonderful treat! Tyler had celebrated his birthday on the 31st, so Liesa brought Krispy Kreme doughnuts for all the kids. They were in heaven- hopefully your didn’t have a sugared up kid for the rest of the day :) We sang Happy Birthday to him and had a great time at snack time. Afterwards, we learned more about Kate- thanks Jeannette for completing her journal. It is always fun to see the similarities in the children. Kate like Dora and all the kids agreed and we so excited to know that she likes Dora too. We also passed around her show and tell. They loved the potty that flushed.
For practicing the number 7, we read our seven poem about the colors of the rainbow. After that, we sang our numeral song that helps us to know how to write the numbers. We write them in the air- It is a great way to use our bodies to learn. We went over the table and put seven heart stickers in the jar on our worksheets. For our big seven project, we colored seven people and seven pets (both start with “P”) and we glued them together. This one took some time. I was doing it in parts and some of my friends are faster artists than the others :) Because of this, we missed out on reading our P story for letter time. Instead we read some words that begin with the letter P. We practiced the sound of P again, got our stamp and we were done for Tuesday!

Monday January 31st- Dental Health

We started our Monday with scissor practice. I have started giving them more difficult practice sheets and they are rising up to the challenge. Upstairs I had my play food and other “household” items out, Little People sets, Star Wars characters, and my big trucks. Benjamin was my star this week and he helped me with reviewing our letters we have learned so far. We had calendar time- counting all the way to 31 today for the date. After our Spanish and blastoff counting, we sang Days of the week and months of the year. I started teaching them the movements to our months of the year song. Afterwards, we talked about the weather. Because we didn’t have a letter to focus on today for circle time, we practiced all of our sight words and learned a new one- meet. We got all our wiggles out with our songs and had snack time. Afterwards, Benjamin shared his show and tell. For our lesson we talked about dental health. February is dental health month so I wanted to focus on this theme. We did a discussion on what things are good for our teeth and what is bad. I showed them how to brush their teeth in a circular motion and we talked about the dentist. I sent home the book-“I went to the dentist” for them to add to your library- I hope they enjoy this book :) I also sent home a brushing schedule to fill out. If they return it, they get to pick out a prize. At the table, we did a toothbrush counting worksheet. They had to find the correct number and glue it next to the number. My younger crew needs more help with counting at home please. For a special treat, I found a Blue’s Clues all about teeth and our bodies. I thought it was a great way to end our day and our themes for the month.

Friday January 28th- Number 12

On Fridays, we practice the letter of the week and stamp the letter on the back of our practice sheet. Upstairs, I had puppets, duplo blocks and big puzzles out for the students to play with. During this time, I did individual name practice with each child. I took each letter of their names and wrote it on a circle and then glued the circle onto a clothespin. For each child, we reviewed their letters of their name and they had to put them in order by clothes pinning the letter to their folder. This is great for helping them with which letters are in their name, what order they go in as well as their fine motor skills. I will be doing this weekly until they have it down.
After play time, Zach helped us with color and shape review. Calendar time was great as we worked on counting, and reviewing our days of the week. I taught them 12 in Spanish (doce) as we practiced our numbers in Spanish. We also sang months of the year and practice X for the last time this week. After snack time, I took each student aside and they had to count 12 paper eggs out for one of our activities.
For the lesson, we worked with the number 12. I read the 12 dancing princesses to the class. At the table, we practiced printing the number 12 by ourselves and we had to find dominoes with 12 dots on them and circle them. We also colored a nest and glued in the 12 eggs that we had counted into the nest.
For letter time, we talked about different signs that have X on them and what they mean. Then we cut them out and glued them on our big X to take home.

Thursday January 27th- Opposites: hot and cold

Downstairs, we practiced printing our names and then went upstairs to play with foam blocks, big plastic blocks and animals. During this time, I did individual name practice with each child. I took each letter of their names and wrote it on a circle and then glued the circle onto a clothespin. For each child, we reviewed their letters of their name and they had to put them in order by clothes pinning the letter to their folder. This is great for helping them with which letters are in their name, what order they go in as well as their fine motor skills. I will be doing this weekly until they have it down.
Shiann helped with our circle time duties again and we did calendar time and letter practice time. Since this was our last class in January, we did review singing Humpty Dumpty again. After we wiggled, we had a fun snack. For the opposites hot and cold, I wanted to give the students a chance to try something hot and cold. So for snack time, I made hot chocolate and had icy cold water for them to drink so they would taste the difference between the two. After snack time, we had individual book time as I cleaned up snack time and then we were on to the lesson.
For the opposites hot and cold, I talked about how we feel when we are hot. We talked about the summer time- clothes we wear, how we feel when we are in the heat, and things we do to stay cool. We dressed our weather friend in appropriate clothes to show that we dress differently in different types of weather. For the cold, we talked about the weather we are having now and how we have to change our dress for cold type of weather. I read the story of the snowy day and how the cold air is what gets us the snow. We talked about foods that are cold and how we feel when we eat them. At the table, we colored a worksheet that shows a thermometer and how the ice cube is whole in the cold and then the ice cube melts when the temperature is hot. I explained what thermometers are and what they accomplish. I had a few for the students to see- one for the body, for food and for candy. I showed that they all had numbers- those numbers tell us the temperature. Sometimes we need a thermometer in case we have a fever and are not feeling well.
For letter time, we colored our O sheet for our binders. It had an owl, octopus and ocean on it. Each student wrote the letter O all by themselves and then I helped them with writing their names. We practiced our O sound when each student got their O stamp and we had some more book time at the end of class.

Wednesday January 26th- Places we receive health care

 

Wednesdays is for practicing our names so we did that first before we headed upstairs. We played with foam blocks, big plastic blocks, animals and I had my light board out and x-rays that I got for the kids to explore. They enjoyed looking at the bones and body parts on the x-rays.
Zach helped me our again with letter practice. Then we had our normal calendar time- counting, talking about the month, days of the week and months of the year songs and weather time. We continued to practice the letter X- its sound and sign. We had our wiggle time, snacks, library time and then show and tell with Zach- the kids enjoyed his show and tells this week! Then we were on to talking about health care- I discussed where they go when they need to get feeling better or just for a healthy check up. Doctor’s offices or the hospital is the place to go to receive medical attention. I showed the kids my play medical kit and all the things that they would see when they go to the doctor’s. Then I brought over my light table and showed them exactly what they were looking at on the x-rays. I had one of a person’s head and Benjamin said that it looked scary so he closed his eyes- I got through them quickly so that I wouldn’t have any scared students :)
After that we talked about what else needs to be taken care of and I started to discuss the dentist and how they help to keep our teeth healthy and strong. I read “Just going to the Dentist” book to help them understand what goes on when they do go to the dentist. It seems that they all have gone before so we talked about their visits and what happened to them at the dentist.
For letter time, we had a worksheet that showed three different x-rays and the students had to figure out what body part was being shown in the x-rays. On the back there was a coloring page of our letter friend Xavier the X-ray expert.
After stamps, signing and sounding out our letter our day was complete!

Tuesday January 25th- Rectangles

 

We practiced our scissor skills downstairs and then headed upstairs for Lincoln logs, nuts & bolts, baby dolls and small puzzles. I took each child aside to work on rectangles- they had to practice printing them and then finding them among other shapes. They then colored their worksheet. Shiann was the star and she helped with practicing our shapes and colors. We also did calendar time- counting up to 15 and then up to 6 in Spanish. After weather time, we did our alphabet boogie and then learned about our new letter of the week-O! Our friend was Ollie Otter who works at an office. His friend is an octopus and he likes to eat oatmeal and olives. We practiced the two sounds for O- saying its name with its long sound and then we pretended we were at the doctors saying “aahhh” for its second sound. We also learned the sign of O- curving our fingers to our thumb. We sang our song and then I read some words that start with the letter O.
After wiggle time, we had our snacks and then library time. Shiann brought 10 little ladybugs book to share for show and tell and we read it before our lesson.
For learning about rectangles, I had made a big rectangle on the floor with tape. I wanted the kids to see visually and to touch each of the sides of the rectangle as we counted them. We know that a rectangle has 2 short sides, 2 long sides and four angles or corners. I sang a song about rectangles to the students and we looked & talked about different things that are rectangle shapes-windows, dollar bills, etc. We learned that no matter what direction a rectangle is- horizontal or vertical – it is still a rectangle. At the table, we decorated our rectangle shapes with rectangle foam stickers and I had each student stamp some rectangles on top. We also colored “a window is a rectangle” page and we colored a picture in the window. They are getting so cute and creative with their pictures.
For letter time, we practiced our letter O- its sign and sound. Then we read the story about Olive the Octopus and she wanted to learn how to juggle. Everything she juggled started with “O”. She had an accident and drops it all and then realizes that she wants to play the organ instead  We got our O stamps in orange and we were done for the day!

Monday January 24th- Places people shop

Downstairs we did some scissor practice and then upstairs we played with Lincoln logs, nuts and bolts and the baby dolls. I practiced the letter X with each child- they did a great job. Zach was our star this week so he helped with letter review time. We had calendar time- counting to 31, counting in Spanish to 11 and blast off counting. We sang days of the week and months of the year. I will start teaching the movements to the months song in February. Zach helped with weather time and then we met our new letter and letter friend- the letter X and our friend Xavier the X-ray expert. We learned our new sign- we curve our pointer finger like a hook and the sound is like ka and sss together. I reviewed that X doesn’t start many words at all but it is found in many. After alphabet boogie and wiggle time, we had snack time, library time and show and tell. Our lesson for the day was all about places we shop to go along with our monthly theme- All around our town. We discussed places our parents shop to buy things and what they buy there. We also talked about the different things that you can purchase at stores. We talked about three different stores- the hardware store, the clothes store and the gift store. At the table, we did some pattern practice with tools. I will be working with the students individually on their skills with patterning. We then each colored storefronts from a city and it opens and stands up to show the different stores.
For letter time, we finished coloring our X page that we had practiced earlier in the day. For our X story we learned about A xylophone for x-ray fish. He had x-ray vision and could check out all of his birthday presents before opening them. All he wanted was a xylophone and he finally got one from his mom!
After our X stamp and our sound & sign practice, we were finished for our Monday at school.

Friday January 21st- Places to work: Newspaper company, banks, auto repair and restaurants/bakeries

 

We started off the day with our Q practice at the table downstairs. Upstairs, I had tinker toys and Littlest Pet Shop. Tinker toys unfortunately always turn into weapons :( but that is normal with a crew of five boys and one little girl! Jackson helped me to finish our letter review and we went right into calendar time. We counted to thirty and pretended we were robots counting. When we got to 21 (our date today) we turned on. We also practiced our Spanish and blast off counting. We rocked out to days of the week and months of the year and I also played our “QU” song. This song reminds us that Q and U are almost always found together when we see words with Q. We practiced our sound and sign for Q. I also reviewed our sight word “am” and “Sam”. We will be working on “me” and “Mat” next week. To get ready for our next activity, we did our alphabet boogie and wiggle song. For snack time, I made quesadillas and had apple slices. After snacks, we talked about newspapers. I collected some Anthem View newspapers from my neighbors and we explored the news. What pictures we saw, what info is inside them and how they are delivered. I also talked about the reporters, editors, photographers, print managers and delivery people and what their jobs entail.
For banks, I gave each child a wallet of play money. We first found each bill that Miss Alisha asked for so I could have them look for the numbers on the bill so they know how much it is worth. Then we put our money away in our wallets and talked about the bank. Who works at the bank and their jobs there. Many of the students have been to the bank with you so they are familiar with what is accomplished there. I sang a little song about the bank and they enjoyed singing along.
For a mechanic, we had an activity at the table. We talked about what a mechanic is and their job at an auto repair shop. The activity was a matching game of certain tools they need to fix our cars.
For restaurants and bakeries, I just touched on baking and cooking food for others. We didn’t have much time to get into major details.
For Q time, we colored a quilt. They each had to follow the key to know which colors to use. This took us a while to finish but we completed it and it was sent home. I also sent home a Q activity- a gift for Queen Quintella. Downstairs we got our lowercase q stamp and practiced our sounds again and we were gone for the weekend :)

Thursday January 20th- I can work with my friends

 

Downstairs, we practiced our names and then walked upstairs to play with Mr. Potato Head and foam blocks. Before we began class, I took a picture of all of our friends in class.
Payten helped with shapes and colors. I did a review of our shapes and we practiced them in the air. We counted up to 15 and we also practiced our numbers we have learned so far in Spanish- up to 6. We have been learning the months of the year. We learned April today. I do a simple review with them each class and then once we learn them all, I will teach them the song to go along.
For N time, we practiced our sound and the sign again. I also reviewed some of the things around us that begin with the N sound. After alphabet boogie and wiggle time, we had our snacks. I printed out our friend picture for each student.
We had book time then went into out lesson. I first read “How do dinosaurs play with their friends?” and I asked how we play with our friends. I gave them examples of how we played today. Then I read the story “I can work with my friends” and we discussed how the friends in the story worked together. I then divided the students up into teams. Our class has a bit of a problem with just playing with their one friend and not playing with the others. Because of changes and new students, our dynamics have changed in class. I divided the students with someone that they normally don’t play with so we can change things up. I had each team sit in a different area and they had to work together to finish the puzzles I gave them. They did really good and I think I might do that more often.
I brought them back together and we did our N activity at the table. I practiced the letter N with each child and helped them with their names. They did some extra art on the back too. We practiced our sound and I gave them a stamp. We had some extra time at the end of class so we did some more puzzle time :)

Wednesday January 19th- Places to work: police station & post office

 

To start our day, we practiced our names and headed upstairs to play with bionicles, beads and little legos. I took each child aside to do an activity with them involving mailing letters. I had each child pick an envelope and on each one I had written a student’s name. Once they picked, we wrote a note to that student talking about favorite toys, trips and play dates :) I wanted to really have the opportunity for the kids to see the post office’s work in action with mailing these letters to each other.
Jackson helped with circle time and reviewing our letter and sounds we have learned so far. We practiced counting to 30 again, Spanish to 11 and blastoff counting. Because Monday was a makeup day, we reviewed a different letter. This week’s letter is Q and we learned that Q has a friend- the letter U- we rarely see them not together. I have a song that I had the kids listen to so they could hear the sound and different words that “Qu” are in. It is a fun lively song and many of the students jammed along. I read some words that start with Q but that list was very short. After we practiced the sign and sound of Q, we did our alphabet boogie and wiggle song. After snack time, we did a short library break and then we were on to our lesson about the post office. We learned about mailman Oz and his route throughout the town. Also that he starts and ends his day at the post office. For our table time, we finished our notes to our friends with stickers on the front. I was hoping that they would think of their friend they were writing to and choose some stickers for them, but that is a lot to ask of a 4 year old :) We sealed up each letter and then I talked about stamps and how they are needed to pay for the letter to get to your house. I also discussed how a letter looks on the front and what kind of info is needed to send a letter.
For a police station job, we learned that we don’t need to drive a police car to work for a police station- that there are many types of jobs there. We discussed them and learned that a police officer’s job is to help and protect us.
For letter time, we practiced our Q letter by tracing the letter, the shapes and coloring it nicely. I also stamped each child’s hand with the Q as we practiced the sound. Then we finished the day with our Q story- the Quiet Quail and we learned that it is sometimes good to be noisy.

Tuesday January 18th- Blue day

 

We started our day with scissor time and then went upstairs to play with our blue play dough and blue toys- beads, duplos and big plastic blocks. At circle time, Payten helped with shapes and colors. We practiced counting to 15 and our days of the week. We met Nancy Nurse and the letter N. Nancy likes necklaces and the newspaper. Nancy also likes animal noises. We each shared our favorite animal noise and we had to guess what animals we were. We had a great time pretending we were animals :) We practiced our sound to the letter N- we were having a harder time with this sound just because it is close to the letter M. The sign was slightly easier than M from last week- our little fingers have a harder time with the signs. We read some words that start with N and then we went on to our alphabet boogie and wiggle song.
After snacks, we worked on our puppets for Humpty Dumpty. We listened to the songs numerous times as we colored. Then we practiced the rhyme with our puppets while we sang the song. I hope your child can tell you this nursery rhyme. For blue day, we did a review of what we were wearing for the day- everyone was wearing BLUE (thanks moms).
I read a poem all about things that are blue and we learned that blue is a primary color meaning that you cannot mix colors to get blue. At the table, we finished our blue book. Each child colored their special thing that was blue on the back. Some family members ended up blue because they love you so much that they wanted to draw you in blue!
We kept working with the blue crayon as we colored our baskets blue. After that, we added blueberries in the basket which was our finger prints in blue ink. They filled those baskets up with fingerprint blueberries.
For letter time, we read the story- The Nicest Newt and we learned that sometimes even the nicest newt can be a little naughty :) We practiced our sound and sign again as we got our stamp of the letter N. Each child was also able to pick out a necklace to go along with our N day!

Monday January 17th- Opposites: Buy & Sell

Downstairs we worked on our scissor skills and then upstairs we played with duplo blocks, big plastic blocks and puzzles. I took each child aside to practice the letter E-upper and lowercase. Jackson is our star of the week so he helped with circle time and reviewing our letter and sounds we have learned so far. At calendar time, we talked about the holiday- Martin Luther King Jr. Day and we practiced counting up to 30! We will be awesome at counting by the end of the year with all of our practicing :)
I introduced Ella Elephant- she likes to exercise and she plays with her Easter eggs. She is also friends with an eagle. I also reviewed how the letter E has two sounds because it is a vowel. I showed the vowels to the students on our alphabet wall. We sang to our E song and then practiced the sign for the letter. I read some words that begin with the letter E- some of us even have the E in our names. After the alphabet boogie and our wiggle song, we had our snacks thanks to Jackson :)
After book time, we went into our lesson about the opposites- buy and sell. We talked about farmers markets and how the farmers are trying to sell their fruits and vegetables there. We, as shoppers, go there to buy the produce from them. We talked more on when we buy items and when we sell them and we do a lot more buying then selling. :) For practice, I gave each child some pennies- they had to count them to find out how many things they could buy. Each child had a different amount. I had set up my table with all kinds of plastic fruits, vegetables and other items you might buy at a farmers market. We took turns with being shoppers and being the farmers- each having to practice their counting skills. Each shopper could buy one item for one penny. Some of my shoppers got excited and tried to buy more than they had to spend. We had to do some subtraction at that point. :) Then we changed roles and we did it again. They wanted to keep doing it but we were running out of time. I am glad they enjoyed this little role play.
For letter time, we reviewed our sounds and sign of the letter E and then a read a story about the enormous elephant show and all the things he did during his show. To review, I stamped our letter E on each little hand as we practiced the sounds together.

Friday January 14th- Number 11

 

At table time, we practiced our “O”- upper and lowercase and stamped with our O stamps on the back. Upstairs, we played with Mr. Potato Head and links. Nya finished up her star duties with colors and shapes practice. We counted up to 20 and learned 11 in Spanish then we counted in Spanish up to 11. We finished our calendar time with practicing the letter O- sign and sounds.
After snack time, I took each child aside to count out 11 bananas for an activity we would do later in class. I am having a problem with the students not knowing how to count objects. I will continue to work with each child individually but this could be something to do at home as well.
For instruction time, we talked about the number eleven. That it is simple to write because it is only two ones together. We counted in English and Spanish up to 11 and then we went over to the table for 11 practice. First we colored a monkey and then glued on 11 bananas for him. Afterwards we each counted the bananas again. For printing practice, we printed the number 11 and then did a coloring activity.
For letter time, each student cut out picture cards that either started with an “O” or not. We kept the “O” words and glued them on our big letter “O”. At the stairs we talked about the number 11 again and practiced our sounds of the letter “O”.

Thursday January 13th- 5 senses (hearing, smell & touch)

 

We had our new friend Kate join our class. I don’t know what she thought of our preschool but hopefully she enjoys it! The girls sure had fun with a new friend. Downstairs we practiced our names and then went upstairs to play with cars & trucks, wooden blocks and links. Claire helped with colors and shapes and we had our circle time. Because this was a new day for Kate, I was explaining our class and how things work in our preschool. I think that is was a good reminder for everyone of our rules and how we act in class. We practiced our letter of the week- M and its sound “mmmm” like in muffins or mouse. This is an easy sound for all the students. After letter time, we did practice Humpty Dumpty and then did our wiggle song. Claire brought us a yummy snack and then we had book time.
For our lesson, we reviewed our two senses that we learned about Tuesday- taste and sight. For touch, I taught that not only do our fingers touch things but our whole body and feel things- thanks to our skin! I had them touch their carpet rectangles and we felt that they were soft. Then I had then turn them over to bottoms and we felt that they were rough and hard- quite a difference on one object. We went to the table and did a coloring activity about our hands and the different things that we can feel and whether or not they are hard or soft.
We talked about smell and what kind of things we can smell with our noses. We also learned that it is harder for our noses to work when we have a cold and are congested. For hearing, I gave them a little test of what is loud and soft and how our ears can hear both and everything in between.
To review all the five senses, we made a little book. For the sense of hearing, a little bell and for the sense of sight, different kinds of picture stickers. For the sense of smelling, three kinds of scratch and stiff stickers. For the sense of touch, a piece of coarse sandpaper and pompom and for the sense of taste, a piece of candy :)
We had a short book time while I cleaned up the table and then we colored and practiced the letter M which will be added to the binders. We got our m stamp and we were off for the week!

Wednesday January 12th- Other rooms in our homes

At table time, we did name practice- we are improving our names. It is required now that the kids have to write their own names on their papers in class. Some might need prompts on what the next letter in their name is but for the most part they are doing great! Upstairs, we played with wooden blocks, dolls for Nya and cars and trucks with a town mat. For some reason, this morning was a rough one with thinking that we needed to use our outside voices inside- it was a little loud :) Nya helped with our letter practice and we were on to the rest of our circle time. We continued to practice the letter O and its sounds and sign. After snack time, we had our book time to explore all the stories on snow, dinosaurs and our 5 senses. I keep finding more stories each day on my bookshelves that can we added to our monthly library.
For our lesson, we reviewed the different types of homes a person can have from what we learned on Monday. We continued with the theme of the rooms of our home and we talked about our kitchen. We all knew that is where we eat but we also discusses what appliances are in the kitchen that are helpful for us- one that they couldn’t think of was the dishwasher- I am sure when they are older they will appreciate this one a lot! We also talked about safety in the kitchen and we don’t play with stove/oven or things are hot or sharp kitchen tools because we could get very hurt.
For practice, I had each child color and cut out a kitchen tools worksheet. My goal was to teach the student how to compare sizes and put them in order from smallest to tallest. We had a hard time with this so this would be a great thing to work with your child on- which one it taller or which one is shorter. Give them a few things to compare and allow them to learn hands on.
For letter time, we did a maze to get Ollie Otter back to the office. On the back of the worksheet was the Ollie Otter coloring sheet that your child colored. We practiced our sounds again for the letter O and also practiced our sight words- see and Sam. Each child got a O stamp and that was the end of our awesome day!

Tuesday January 11th- our 5 senses (taste & sight)

We practiced our scissor skills and then went upstairs for playing with food and puzzles. At circle time, Claire helped with her star duties. I have been trying to emphasize our counting and have been working with that at calendar time. We sang days of the week and have started learning the months of the year. I introduced the students to our letter friends of the week- Mary and Martha Mouse who are the mouse twins. Mary is merry and happy all the time. Her sister Martha is the opposite and is always mad. They were wishing for some mittens in this cooler weather and like to drink milk. We also read all the words that begin with M and there are many :) We practiced the sound and the sign of the letter and did some wiggling.
After snacks, we were on to our lesson of the week- our 5 senses. We started with learning about taste. I read a story to the children on how our taste buds work and how they help us to send messages to our brain of what we are eating. We did a science project on how our taste buds work. I had four different types of food/liquid for the kids to try. We started with vinegar for bitter- the kids refused to try it but we did smell it and didn’t really want to try it at all. From there, we tried sour with a bit of lemon. Some of us liked the lemon but we all said that it was sour. For salty, I gave each child some pretzels and I let them know that the big crystals on them are salt and for sweet, we each had a Hershey kiss- which we liked the best!
For sight, I had all the kids close their eyes and ask them how they would be able to do their morning routine without sight. We all agreed that it is wonderful that we can. I talked about some of us whose eyes don’t work like they are suppose to so we can either have glasses or contact lens that you can’t see on the eye. We read a story about sight and how it is important to take care of our eyes- wearing sunglasses out in the sun and protecting when we need to.
For letter time, we read a story about Monkey’s Miserable Monday and how everything was going wrong until he realized that it was Sunday and he didn’t need to rush to school after all. We practiced our sign and sound for the letter M again, got our M stamp and we were ready to go.

Monday January 10th- All kinds of homes

We started our Monday off with a little scissor practice and we went upstairs to play with food, baby dolls and puzzles. I wanted the kids to play “house” because we would be talking about homes today. I did “O” practice with each child which was a piece of cake- they have circles down :)
Nya was my star and helped me with new star duties- I have started the kids practicing with flash cards of all the letters that we have learned so far this year and their sounds. As we are getting into reading, I want to make sure that these letters are always fresh and new to the kids. Hopefully they will remember them better. Plus they know their colors and shapes so there is no need to continue practicing those daily- maybe just once a week.
At calendar time, we cover many areas- we practice the date, counting up to twenty, counting in Spanish up to 10 and then blast off counting. Then we do the days of the week- spoken then we sing our song. We speak the months of the year to practice then we sing our Macarena Months song. All the students help me with weather time, but the star gets the best part- telling us the weather and dressing our weather friend. On to letter time which I introduced the letter of the week O and our letter friend Ollie Otter who works in an office. We talked about how many of our parents work in an office and at least one parent of each child’s works in an office. I talked about vowels and how O is one of them so he has two sounds for us. I read many words that all start with the letter O and we even found one in our names- Zach’s middle name just because he knew it. We practiced our sounds and the sign and also practiced our Poem of the month. I created a new area on our bulletin board for the sight word of the week- this week we studied see and Sam. As you can see, I had your child trace the sight word “see” in their folder. This is another area that you can help them- review these words in their folders so they can remember them as we add more to it throughout the rest of the school year.
After wiggle time, we had our snacks and book time.
For the lesson, I read a poem about many kinds of homes. We talked about our homes and they stand alone- not connected to others. We learned about apartments, duplexes, mobile homes, cabins, and stand alone homes. We discussed our bedrooms and who has to share and who has their own. We also discussed what kinds of things and what belongs in a bedroom-a bed, dresser with clothes, toys, a light and a closet.
For a counting activity, I had pictures of doors and window manipulates that we counted and organized. I plan to work with these again because it is a good chance to practice following verbal directions and counting, creating patterns or organizing.
For letter time, we read about Olive the Octopus who loves to juggle and all the “O” things that she tried to juggle- she wasn’t successful  We practiced our sounds and the sign of O and then got our stamp and we were done for the day. This was also the first day that I sent the reading books home

Friday January 7th- Number 10

 

We practiced our names again and then upstairs to play with all the dress up clothes. That only lasted for so long so we were on to the foam blocks. I measured each child to see how they have grown since the last month for our all about me pages for the month. Ethan helped me again with our letters and for calendar time, we worked on our days of the week, counting to 20 and we started a new practice- blastoff counting. We count from 10 to 1 and then the kids blast off- they love it and it gets some wiggles out. Letter time was all about our new sight word- See. I used my word whammer to show the students how the word sounds out. Then we practiced saying the word and reading the word from the board. In each of the students’ folders, I have started putting stickers for each of the sight words that we will be practicing for the next few months. Each student will practice writing them and I will practice with each of them during play time at the beginning of class starting Monday.

Ethan shared his show and tell with the class and then each child worked on their all about me sheet for January that will be another addition for our year end binders.
After snack time, the students looked at my large books all about the number ten and other books in the library. I read all of the large books about the number ten to the students and they enjoyed having such big pictures to look at. When we finished reading we sang our whole numeral song which we practice writing our numbers in the air. We also read our number 10 poem about our 10 little piggies. We wiggled our ten little fingers and toes to celebrate the number ten.
At the table, we practiced printing the number ten and then we glued ten “Bales of hay” on the wagon. I had each child practice touching each one and counting them. After that, we colored a kitten and gave it ten toys (stickers) to play with.
For letter time, we read our first story and I showed them the word see that we have been reviewing. We will continue to practice these so that your child feels confident in their skills.

Thursday January 6th- Number 6

We practiced our names and then upstairs we played with transformers, animals and links. I took each child aside to practice tracing the number 6. I also measured each child to see how tall they have gotten since last month.
Garrett helped me again with star responsibilities. I also did a little testing to see where students were at. I will begin a little assessment next week of each child to see where they are progressing to. We were so excited to see that the theme was the same as the day of the month that we were on. We cheered when we counted to 6 and then on to 15! We also practiced our Spanish counting. After we did our alphabet boogie, we talked about the letter L. We remembered that the sound of L is like licking a lollypop. This is a harder sound for three year olds and many of them were not making the sound correctly but they will with time 
After a yummy snack, we did our monthly all about me page. We then talked and practiced the number six. We sang our numeral song and read our number 6 poem about 6 legged bugs. At the table we finished our number 6 page by putting six snowflake stickers in the jar. We also colored a six cookies page. We stamped out six cookies for our friends on the worksheet.
For letter time, we each traced the letter L on our own and colored the L worksheet. There was a lion, lamp and leaf on the page. We each got a lowercase L on our hands and downstairs, Garrett’s mom sent a lollypop home with each child.

Wednesday January 5th- Opposites: Noisy & Quiet

At table time, we practiced our names and then we played with transformers, animals and links upstairs. I have been doing assessments of the students to see if they know the basics- colors, shapes, days of the week and counting. Ethan helped with our letter practice again and then we were on to calendar time. Some of the students have not learned the days of the week as I have wanted them to so we have started doing a better practice on the days and on counting too- many of us don’t know that 15 exists. So more practice on these at calendar time. We have also been practicing our Spanish counting as well.
After snack time, we were on to our theme- the opposites noisy and quiet. We first did a chart of things in our world that are noisy and those that are quiet. Then I brought out the fun stuff- instruments! Each child had a chance to play each one once- we each practiced the instruments noisily and then quietly. We made an observation that when we were playing at a noisy level we were shaking or playing the instruments hard but when we went down to the quieter levels, we played them soft and slowly.
For letter time, we practiced all of the signs for the letters we have learned so far. We will be singing the ABCs while doing our signs at the end of the year. We will be practicing often to get ready

Tuesday January 4th- I can be honest

We practiced with our scissors downstairs and then we headed up to play with big plastic blocks and beads. Garrett was my little star of the week- he helped with our colors and shapes. At calendar time we had a few changes. Our season, month and year had all changed and we talked about each one. Our letter of the week was “L”. We meet Lenny Lion and we learned that he likes his lamp in his room and he loves to drink lemonade.
A new nursery rhyme was introduced- Humpty Dumpty. We sang the song multiple times and colored our storybooks of the rhyme. These were sent home. You can go through them with your child to remind them of the rhyme throughout the month.
After snack time, I read a few books that the students wanted me to read to them from our new library of January books. Then we read our story- I can be honest to talk about our theme. We learned that it is important to tell the truth and be honest. I also told “The boy who cried wolf” story to them. We learned that it is important not to lie and to be honest in all things.
For letter time, we read a story about a lamb who laughed at everyone until she realized that it isn’t nice to be laughed at. We got our “L” stamps and we were on our way 

Monday January 3rd- Honesty

We started our first day back with scissor practice and upstairs I have big plastic blocks and beads ready to play with. But that wasn’t what the kids wanted to play in- they saw the snow falling from the sky and I should have got them all bundled up to play outdoors but I didn’t and I missed a chance to make a memory! Sorry that I didn’t take advantage of the chance when it was there. We stayed warm and cozy inside and watched all the beautiful flurries fall from the sky. Ethan was my star and we started a new practice this week. We did letter review instead of color and shape review. I know that these smart kids know their colors and shapes so it is on to bigger and better things. We are reviewing our letters in the process of starting to read. More on that to come…
At calendar time we had a few changes. Our season, month and year had all changed and we talked about each one. We have been counting up to 20. We also started something I like to call blast off counting with our class counting from 10 down to 1 then we all blast off! They sure enjoy it :) I also touched on the holidays of the month. Weather time was best of all because we could have a different kind of weather with SNOW! It was so exciting for the students. For letter time, we started to talk about our new adventure- reading. I have introduced the sight word “see” to the students as well as “Sam” as he will be the first friend that we meet in our reading books. They were all adamant in thinking that they can read but as we learning these sight words I think that it will become much easier to them.
After circle time, we had our snacks and then we explored all of our new January books in the library area. I read a few stories about snow to them to go along with our weather for the day.
I introduced our poem of the month and they really learned this one quick! I need to start finding harder poems because these ones are too simple for them.
Our theme for the day was honesty. We talked about what honesty means and then we read our story- I can be honest to explain honesty in simple terms. We learned that it is important to tell the truth and be honest. I also told “The boy who cried wolf” story to them. We learned that it is important not to lie and to be honest in all things.
For letter time, we practiced our letters by recognizing them and their sounds and I read over our first book of the series that we will be starting next week.