Kinder-Tots Preschool is now enrolling!!

Welcome to my blog for Kinder-Tots Preschool! This gives you a glimse of what we accomplish in my classes and how I run my classes. I feel that structure is very important and we work on certain skills on specified days which you will see throughout the posts. Structure allows your child to be prepared and focus because there is never any surprises. My classroom functions smoother and I know that the students work better because of this.

I have been teaching for 5 years and I love working with this age group. I love their excitement for learning and I try to teach in a variety of different ways so that I can spark growth in many areas. These are such formative years and I try my best to help your child reach their highest potential. One way that I feel that I can do this is in my class sizes. I only accept 7 children into each class. I don't want to overwhelm your child too early on- they deserve to have as much one-on-one time now before they get get sent into classes of 20 or more when they enter public schooling. I can also perform my best when I am teaching a number that I comfortable with. Too many in a class can cause chaos and I always want to have the best environment for my students.

I also teach my three and four year olds seperately. Both are on different levels- socially, academically and with their fine/gross motor skills. My three year olds are working on their basic skills and introducing them to letters, numbers and variety of themes. While my four year old class is a Kindergarten Prep class- working on all the necessary skills they will need to perform their best when they do enter Kindergarten. I start an at home reading program in January and we start working on sight words then as well. More information is below about the class descriptions.

I'm a mom of four who has found her calling as a teacher and I hope that I will have the wonderful opportunity of teaching your child. Please contact me with any questions or to receive my registration/information packet.

Thanks so much and have a wonderful day!
Miss Alisha kinder-tots@cox.net 760-298-0549

Three year old class will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:30 am. It is going to be a preparatory class that will allow your child to focus on the basics and give them the chance to develop their needed skills for Kindergarten. The alphabet, numbers, shapes, colors, writing, math concepts and other developmental skills will be the focal point of the class. **Your child will need to be three by September 30th and will need to be potty-trained-no exceptions.**

Four year old class will be held Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-11:30 am. This class will allow us to concentrate more fully on kindergarten preparation. A variety of themes will be taught throughout the year. The class will be small so that individualized attention can be given. We will continue to build on the basics and work on skills needed for Kindergarten by sharpening their skills for a great start to their educational future.

There is a $50.00 registration fee. Tuition is a yearly fee, which is $900 for the two and half hour/two day a week program which is divided into 9 payments of $100. The two and a half hour/three day a week program is $1350, divided into 9 payments of $150.

School will begin with the Orientation open house (short and sweet) for new children and parents Friday August 31st. The schedule will be 10 to 10:30 am for my three year old class and 11 to 11:30 for my four year old class at my home and we will start classes Tuesday September 4th.

Rest of the year for three year olds

Thurs the 10th- colors review day Tues the 15th- alphabet review day Thurs the 17th- practice & shirts for presentation Tues the 21st- last day party Thurs the 24th- Kinder-Tots Presentation

Tues May 8th- number review day

Today we began with name review- they each practice on top of the dashed practice and then they have to write their name on their own. The kids played with wooden blocks, magnetic dolls and little legos. I pulled the students aside in teams of 2 to paint a project for father’s day. Molly was our star and she helped as we reviewed our numbers from 0-10. I was so happy with their retention! We counted to 20 as we pretended to play baseball. The class also reviewed our Spanish and blastoff counting. From here, I switched things up as we have started to review for the program so we practiced and afterwards we wiggled and ate snacks. It was a long snack time cause the kids were slowpokes so we had a short book time and went right into Molly’s show and tell. For our lesson on numbers 1-10, I began with reading “Chicka, Chicka 1, 2, 3” to the students. Zero finally get the opportunity to go up the apple tree and help 10 become 100. I talked to them about 100 and we have to get there. To review how to write our numbers, our class gets up and sings the Numeral song which has the students drawing the numbers in the air. Once the song was over, I read the book- “Numbers” to them. We counted each animal group(s) from 1 to 10 as a class. I sent home a page to practice their numbers 1-5 and coloring. Once we completed our book, we went into my living room to watch Leap Frog’s Math Circus. I wanted to have them watch Numbers Ahoy! But my Netflix wasn’t working out. We practiced counting and singing our colors song and we were done for the day.

Rest of the year- 4 year old classes

Mon the 7th- traditional games Wed the 9th- team work & team sports- wear a uniform if you have one Fri the 11th- games day- bring your favorite game to play with the other students Sight words: two and three Mon the 14th- carnival games Wed the 16th- water day and sun safety at the water park Fri the 18th- making shirts for graduation Mon the 21st- graduation practice Wed the 23rd- last day party Thursday the 24th- Kinder-Tots Preschool graduation

Fri May 4th- Traditional games & Sally's unbirthday

We tried something new today since we have learned all the letters. On the table I had all the letters of the alphabet except for some easy ones. Each child had to pick 3 letters that are not in their name to review, print and practice the sounds with me. After they finished they played with Lincoln logs, puppets and magnets. Once they finished cleaning up, we counted to 31 cutting pretend cake for Sally’s unbirthday. We also worked on counting by 10s and by 5s. Calendar time was next and we worked on our seating and how we will be singing our days of the week and months of the year for graduation. We also practiced our “when I grow up” song so that we can learn the words in time. Summer song and practicing all of our season songs came next with weather time afterwards. Letter time was ABC boogie and reviewing our sight word-fell and other –ell words. Once we worked on those we wiggled, ate a fun unbirthday treat from Sally and explore our books. I showed the class our star’s show and tell and then we got into our activities for the day. We completed the all about me page for May- our last one for the year! Once we completed that, we painted our gifts for fathers day so that I can finish them off this week before Friday. I just briefly talked about traditional games because time ran away from us. After we did that, each student completed their –ell word family book and colored it. Once we finished that, we completed our week!

Thurs May 3rd- colors review day

This day started with scissor practice. Their practice pages are getting longer to work on their skills. Once they completed that, they played with big blocks, animals and small puzzles. After clean up, the students reviewed the colors and we counted to 25- zig sagging along the way. Calendar time, weather and letter time followed with our songs and review. We also started to practice our nursery rhymes for our presentation. Wiggle time, eating snacks and exploring our May books was next on our agenda. Jax shared his show and tell and then worked on our All about me page. Each student colored their page and then we came down to the floor for lesson time with the colors. For our color review day, we first started with reading the book “My world of color”. Once we completed that, we went to the table to color our own version of our world of color. This was a good opportunity to review the colors as they were asked to find them in their baskets of crayons. They colored each item and then went we were completed with the two pages, we came back to our carpets to read the book “The Crayon box that Talked”. It reviews the importance of kindness, working together as a team and shows the beauty of colors around us. Afterwards, I read “Colors” book and we had the chance to see many things in our world that are certain colors. We reviewed with student participation what each color was. Then we had the chance to do our color wheel science experiment at the table. The kids were very patient as I had to prep each color wheel at the table with the colors on the wheel. I mixed the liquid watercolors with a toothpick. Once each color was complete, I placed the paper towel on top to absorb the colors we had created. After we did that, I reviewed each color and what secondary color it had created together. For letter time, we colored our Z page from Tuesday and we sang our Z song and got our z stamp as we reviewed and were finished for the week

Wed May 2nd- Eric Carle Day

I have been giving the students more challenging scissor practice pages to help them be prepared for kindergarten. Once they finished that activity, they played with big blocks, animals and small puzzles. I pulled students aside to complete their all about me page and I measured their height for the last time.  Once we finished with play time, the star helped with colors sight words. The words were no longer their color so they had to know the word- they did a pretty good job for their first time. After that we counted to 20 like painters because our day was about Eric Carle then they had to tell me what they had “painted”. We also counted to 20 in Spanish. For calendar time, we reviewed our new month May and the holidays of the month. We sang days of the week in English and months of the year in Spanish. We also sang our new summer song before weather time. For letter time, we boogied and practiced our ABC song for graduation. The class and I reviewed our sight word and –ell word family and then we wiggled, ate snacks and explored the Eric Carle books that I had put out. Our star shared their show and tell and then we went right into our lesson. For Eric Carle day, I discussed books that he has written and how unique his illustrations are. I taught about how he does his pictures and then I read the Hungry Little Caterpillar. To review this book and our days of the week, we complete a printing practice of the days going along with the “The Hungry Little Caterpillar” book. As we wrote each day, we talked about what the caterpillar ate that day. Once we completed that activity, we had Eric Carle movie time. I have a few of his books on DVD which the kids seemed to really enjoy. We watched the Hungry Little Caterpillar and the Mixed Up Chameleon. Afterwards, we started learning a new song for preschool graduation- When I Grow up. Once we went over this song a few times, we lined up and headed for home.

Tues May 1st- shapes review day

We began our week with name practice- tracing and then on our own. I have been incorporating them writing their names all on their own. Please continue to practice with them at home on this. They played with nuts and bolts, babies and duplo blocks. I pulled the kids aside to work on the letter Z with them- printing and sounding out the letter. I also asked them questions about their All about me page for May and I took their height. After we cleaned up, we came together to work on our shapes. I have a set of shape picture cards and I gave each child 4 cards. When I would focus on a shape, the kids reviewed their cards and then they had to come up at the front of the class and tell everyone what shape they had. We counted to 20 pretending to “zip our jackets” up and down and then we did blastoff counting. Once we completed that we had calendar time with singing, reviewing the date and learning our new season song- summer! Jax helped dress our weather friend and the rest of the class helped to figure out the weather. We boogied to the ABCs and then talked about the letter Z- how it is printed and its sound. I talked about some words that begin with Z and then we finished with singing the Z song. After that, we wiggled, ate snacks and looked at our new May library of books. Jax shared his show and tell and then we started to work on our new nursery rhyme- Little Boy Blue. I first worked on the words and the actions and then we added the song. We went over a few times and then came over the table to work on the song booklet. Once we finished coloring it, the class listened to the song again as we looked at the pages in the booklet. For shape review day, I talked about each one- how they are made and what makes them similar and different from each other. At the table, they had to match shapes in the right direction. Once they finished that, we read the book “The Shape of things”. After that we went back to the table to make our own shape flashcards- each child colored, cut them out and reviewed each one with me. For Z time, we practiced our Z song and read “Zack the lazy Zebra”. We found all the Z words in the picture and then I stamped each hand as we reviewed the sound. Once we finished, we were done with our day!

Mon Apr 30th- Opposites: sink/float

Our morning started with name practice and then went into playing with nuts and bolts, babies and duplo blocks. I pulled the students aside to work on the sight word “fell”. After clean up, our star helped with letter review by pulling letters out of a jar. I had them working with lowercase letters. Once we finished, we counted like robots to 30 and did blast off counting. I also started to teach the kids about counting by 5s. For calendar time, we reviewed the class day of the month and the new month that would be coming- May! Then we sang days of the week in Spanish and months of the year in English. I taught them the new summer song so that we can sing it at graduation. Then we talked about the weather. For letter time, we did the ABC boogie and practiced our sign language. I reviewed the sight word “fell” and then we learned about all the other words that we can make with the –ell ending. Each student came and picked a letter and added it to the –ell ending and then they had to sound it out. Bell, tell, sell, well, yell, dell, smell and then I taught them the blend “sh” so that we could make the word shell. Once we completed that activity, we wiggled, ate our snack and then explored the new May books that I had put out for the class. Our star shared their show and tell and then we got right into our lesson. For class time, we were learning about the opposites: sink and float. We sang our opposites song and I read them the opposites book. To review, I talked about the boats that we saw during our ships and boats day. We talked about what makes a boat float and what kind of materials do float instead of sinking to the bottom. At the table we got together and did a science experience of our own with things that sink and float. I had found numerous times around the house that could either sink or float. Each child had three picks of different items. First they had to make a guess of whether the item would sink or float and then they would put it into the box of water. Many of our guesses were right on but some were complete surprises! Each child was able to try three different things in the water and then I reviewed again about what items sank and float and how they are opposites because they are completely different. To end our day, we review our sight word and other words in the –ell word family. Once we completed that, our day was complete!

Thurs Apr 26th & Fri Ap 27th- no school

Wed Apr 25th- More creatures under the sea

Our great day started with a curvy scissor practice page. I had foam blocks, trains and magnetic letters to play with. I got some work done with a student that was absent during this time. After clean up, we said the pledge, counted to 30 as we swam forward to 15 and then backwards to 30 in AM and . We also practiced our Spanish to 20. The star and I helped the class review the color words. Starting next week, all the color words will be in black so they will need to recognize the word not just the color of it. The class and I reviewed the date and figured out how many more days are in April. We sang our calendar songs in Spanish and then we sang our spring song and listened to the summer song which we will start to learn next week. The star helped in dressing our weather friend and the class and I sang and reviewed the weather of the day. For letter time, we boogied to the ABCs and practiced our signs and reviewed our sight words. After that we wiggled, ate our snacks and explored the April books for the last time. Our star shared their show and tell and then we got right into our lesson of the day which is reviewing the rest of our creatures of the ocean- sharks, swordfish, giant squid and manta rays. We discussed each one and then I finished reading the Magic School Bus book we had started on Monday. We practiced all the actions of the animals- opening and closing our arms like a shark, flying through the water like a manta ray, shooing up and down like a squid and having a long “sword” nose like a sword fish. At the table, I had blue paper and lots of ocean creature stickers and they each created their own ocean scene. Once they completed that project, we came back and reviewed our sight words of the week and then packed up for going to the park. We had a fun time there and then we were done for the week!

Tues Apr 24th- White day & Molly's unbirthday

Our class worked on printing our names today. They also had to print it on their own under the practice. The students played with food, magnetic shapes and tinker toys. I pulled the students aside to work on scissor cutting and their name on their white booklet. After clean up, we had circle time. Chelsea helped us review the color words and we talked about how to make secondary colors. We counted to 24 (the date) by jumping then we practiced our Spanish to 10. We worked on calendar time- the date and what was yesterday, today and tomorrow. The class and I talked about how we will not have class on Thursday but I will see them next month- May! We sang days of the week and months of the year then we talked about our seasons. We will be learning our summer song next month for our presentation so we sang our spring song and listened to the summer song. Chelsea helped dress our weather friend Bob and then the students all sang along with our weather song. ABC boogie was next and the students and I worked with letter flashcards to review letters we have learned this year as well as their sounds. The kids wiggled and ate snacks. We celebrated Molly’s unbirthday and sang to her. Chelsea picked out a book for her show and tell and I read it to the class. For class time, we talked about all the colors and the color of the day-white! We discussed things in our world that are the color white- clouds, snow, horses, balloons, beluga whales, and milk. Some animals have white on them like cows and zebras and other animals. We came to the table and the kids colored the word WHITE with a white crayon. They learned that this was futile since you can’t see white crayon on white paper but they had a great go of it and you can see the white coloring on the black outline of the word WHITE. They always want to use the color white but we can only use it in special times- on dark paper so we can see it. After they finished, I pulled out their white booklets and they each colored something that was the color white (with a pencil because white crayons don’t work on white paper) and then they cut out the pictures of the white things on the books. The items were a cloud and a little lamb and then they glued the pictures in the right part of their books. They came back to their carpets and we practiced our nursery rhyme- Little Bo Peep. Because today is our last class of the month, I had the students sing the song to me. If they all sang and did the actions, I let them pick out a prize. They all did a great job- only one more nursery rhyme to go for the year! The students and I collected our things and walked over to the park for play time. Molly’s snack was twizzlers and noise makers- I hope they had a fun time.

Mon Apr 23rd-creatures that live under the sea

We started off our week with name practice. I will start having them write it all on their own starting next week. For play time, they played with the food, tinker toys and magnetic shapes. I had some work to do with my absent students and then I pulled each child aside to stamp their sight words but I didn’t tell them what they were. After we cleaned up, our star picked letters out of a bag and the students had to tell them what it was and its sounds. Then we counted to 30 –star’s choice of action- Swinging like monkeys in the AM and swimming- forward and backwards in PM. We also practiced our blast off counting and 10s to 100. Calendar time was next and we reviewed the date and sang our songs. For weather time, we sang the spring song and then listened to the summer song that we will be learning next week. Our star dressed our weather friend and then the class helped with figuring out what the weather was. ABC boogie helped us get ready for letter time. After we finished that, we sang the ABC song without the visuals. We worked on our new sight words and we sounded them out to find out that they are “will” and “with”. We also noticed they started with the same first two letters. Once we reviewed them a few times, we wiggled, ate snacks and explored our books. Our star shared their show and tell and then we were on with the lesson- creatures of the sea! We met a scuba diver the other day and all the beautiful things that they saw while they swam under the sea- seaweed, coral, lobster, sea urchin, swordfish, shark, manta ray and giant squid. Today I reintroduced the scuba diver and we talked about the first four things the diver saw- seaweed, coral, lobster and sea urchin. We talked about the coral and seaweed today and where we find it in the ocean. I showed the children in the Magic School Bus book many types of coral and how they are shaped. After we looked at all the different kinds we went to the table to practice matching types of coral together. Once they completed that activity, we came back to the squares to talk about lobsters and sea urchins. I concluded with reading half of the Magic School Bus- On the ocean floor book. We will finish reading it on Wednesday. For letter time, we worked on our sight words- “will” and “with”. Then I had the students come over to the table and they printed the words in their folders. To finish class, we practiced our April poem since we don’t have much more time to pass it off. Some of us are just getting confused on a few of the words so please help review this poem with your child. Thanks!

Fri Apr 20th- #20

Our class reviewed their last letter of the year- Y! We will continue to practice and review all the letters from now on. The students played with puzzles, littlest pet shop and patterning cards during play time. I pulled the students aside to work on the number 20- how to say it in Spanish and how to print it. They each completed a 20 printing page and then they found the 20 hidden butterflies on the page and count them out as they colored them so that they knew they found all of them. We counted in our singing voices up to 30 as well as practicing our Spanish to 20. Garrett helped me as we got a little wacky with our circle time. I did everything out of order to change our class time up a bit. We still practiced all of our skills we normally do. We wiggled, ate snacks and checked out our book selection. Garrett shared his show and tell and we were on to our number of the day- 20! This is our last number of the year- yippie!! We practiced counting in English and Spanish. We learned that 20 in Spanish Is veinte. For 20 practice, I reviewed how to make the number 20- starting with a 2 and then ending with a 0. I printed these on a white board to show them how we print them then we practiced the number 2 in the air with our numeral song- curve it down and slide to the right. I also gave each of the students their own boards and they had to practice until they got the number 20 down. At the table, we counted to 20 as they stamped 20 colorful “gumballs” into a gumball machine. For a hands-on experiment, I had all the students explore a 20 dollar bill-I usually don’t have these around  but thought it might be nice to count all the 20’s on it. We found 4 on the front and 95 on the back. There are 91 mini gold 20’s on the back- I counted those. We also found the number twenty written on the front and back of the bill. Some of the kids wanted to keep their 20 dollar bill but I had to take them back. For letter time, we reviewed our three sounds of Y and we practiced our sign as well. At the table, we made our Y letter friend- the Y with a ball of “yarn” around it. They also glued some actual yarn on the ball. Afterwards, we practiced all the signs- the whole alphabet and reviewed all of our sight words that we have learned so far. I stamped their hands and they were set for the week!

Thurs Apr 19th- planting & I can be patient

We have started to work a little more on cutting doing more at table time when we arrive at school. I had beads, Mr. Potato Head, transformers and star wars characters out for play. Aspen helped us review our color word cards and then we counted to 20 while we “yawned”. We also practiced our Spanish to 10. Calendar and weather time followed. I discussed Earth Day and some things that the students can do to help the Earth. The students and I reviewed the letter Y after we boogied. We practiced its sounds a few times and we listened to the vowel song again- a student favorite! We wiggled, ate snacks and then reviewed our books. Aspen shared her show and tell and then we practiced our nursery rhyme- Little Bo Peep. At the table we colored the puppets to the rhyme and then practiced the song again with our puppets. For lesson time, we discussed patience- what it is, when you need it and why. I then read a story called –“I can be patient” about a little girl who had to wait to see what her seeds were going to be. For our planting time, we talked about the 3 important things that are needed for a seed to grow- water, sunlight and soil. Our class then went out front and we took turns adding soil, seeds and water to our own pot. They planted sunflower seeds so you might need to transplant these when they get bigger. Once we finished them, we came back inside and I read “Gus plants a seed” story to the class. He planted a sunflower seed just like us! To enrich the students some more, we came to the table and colored a worksheet about planting a seed and the plant that it will be become- showing the roots and the stem and leaves that will grow from their seed. For Y time, we practiced our Y song a few times and then I reviewed the sounds with each child as I stamped their hand. To end class, I read Yertle the Turtle and how he treats others unkindly but then he learns his lesson. We lined up and we finished for the week.

Wed Apr 18th- Earth Day

Our day started with a great scissor practice for the kids and then they played with beads, transformers and star wars characters and Mr. Potato head. Garrett helped with us color cards- reviewing the colors and spelling them out. We yawned to 20 and did blast off counting. During calendar time, we just sang Days of the week in English and our spring time. Garrett helped with weather time and the other students helped me with figuring out what the weather was. For letter time, we learned that Y has three sounds- yah, I like in “eye” and “E” as in “rainy”. We sang our song with the three sounds and then we talked about some of the words that start with Y. We also practiced our sight words- “you” and “yes”. Afterwards, we wiggled, ate snacks and explored our books. Garrett shared his show and tell and then our class reviewed or April poem. For our lesson on Earth day, I read “I can take care of the environment”. We discussed what “environment” means and how the characters in the story took care of theirs. I then read “Big World, Little Me” and in that book it gave simple ways for children to help keep our earth clean. I put an at home activity in their folders of ways they can help the Earth at home. I explained each of the activities and I attached star stickers to mark each item completed. If they return it, they get to pick out a prize. For table time, we colored the earth with blue and green and then I asked each child how they were going to help the earth. I wrote this on the little note and then they glued this on to the back of their Earth after they cut it out. While we were coloring I played the song –“3 is magical number” by Jack Johnson from the Curious George soundtrack. It sings all about reduce, reuse and recycling. They were rocking out and it has a great message. Once we were completed with that, we come back to our carpets and I read the Y story about the young Yak who yelled “YUCK”- a great story to promote trying new foods instead of saying it is gross before you try it. After we read the story we reviewed our sign and sounds for the letter Y and got a stamp if we wanted it. In my living room, we watched an episode of Curious George about recycling and how to do it correctly. It was a simple way to teach about Earth day and some thing we can do to help the Earth.

Tues Apr 17th- farm animals

Students worked on the first name as they came in. I am having them start to write it on their own and will be working on this for the remainder of the school year. Please practice with your child at home if they don’t already know how to write their name. I had little people, shape puzzles and tweezers with puffs out for play time. I was pulling the students aside to work on the letter Y- teaching them how to trace it and its sounds. Aspen was our star and she helped us review our colors and shapes. Afterwards we yelled to 25 and did blastoff counting. For calendar time, we reviewed our date, sang days of the week, months of the year and our spring song. Aspen helped us with dressing our weather friend and all the students helped me figure out the weather. For letter time, we learned about the letter Y after we boogied to the ABCs. We learned that Y is a vowel- sometimes. . It has two sneaky sounds- “Yeh” like in yellow and “I” in the word eye. We sang over the song a few times so that we could get the sounds just right. I read the Y words which weren’t very many. Once we finished that, I let the students listen to the Vowel song about all the vowels and then we found the vowels in our names. Afterwards we wiggled, ate our snacks and explored our books. Aspen shared her show and tell with the class and then we practiced our nursery rhyme- Little Bo Peep. For our lesson, I showed the poster of the farm and we found different kinds of farm animals. Then I have another poster- A farm scrapbook and I had each student come up and pick one out and then I would teach about each one. Horses, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, cows, and chickens were the animals we reviewed. Once I taught a little about each one, we went to the table to work on a patterning page. I gave the students 6 pictures and they had to match and glue each picture on correctly. Once they finished it, they colored it and we worked on their name. For carpet time, I explained the process of egg to chick. Then each student had to put it in order. Once they did it right, I put the cards in their folder. For Y time, we sang our Y song a few times and I read our Y story about the young Yak who yelled “YUCK”- a great story to promote trying new foods instead of saying it is gross before you try it then we went to the table to color and practice the letter Y. They did a great job! To end our day, we listened to the vowel song and I stamped the capital Y on their hand in yellow. It didn’t turn out very dark though. Sorry!

Mon Apr 16th- driving under the sea

This week started with name practice- first and last and after that, play time with little people, shape puzzles and tweezers with puffs or sea shells. I pulled each child aside to work on the letter Y- our last letter of the year! We also learned two new sight words- yes and you. Your child practiced printing them in their folders and then I stamped them on their hand. Garrett was sick so Miss Alisha was the star today. Our class started with sign language letter review and then we yelled to 25 and practiced our 10s to 100 and Spanish to 19. In calendar time, we learned the date and then sang the days of the week in Spanish and the months in English. Weather time with our spring song and the class helping with the weather was next. ABC time was full of dance and working on the letter Y- we met our friend of the week- Yorkie Yellow jacket who likes to ride on yachts and play with his yo-yo. He also does art projects with yellow yarn. Our little fingers have a hard time with this sign- sticking our thumb and pinkie out keeping all the other fingers down. Y is a vowel- sometimes. It has two sneaky sounds- “Yeh” like in yellow and “I” in the word eye. We sang over the song a few times so that we could get the sounds just right. Afterwards we wiggled, ate our snacks and explored our books. Because there was no show and tell, I read about Little Critter visiting the sea park. I also worked on the April poem with the class since no one has passed it off yet. For our lesson, we talked about submarines and traveling under the sea. We met a scuba diver and all the beautiful things that they saw while they swam under the sea- seaweed, coral, lobster, sea urchin, swordfish, shark, manta ray and a giant squid. For table time, we went to the table and colored our scuba diver, ocean and surroundings. The scuba diver became a puppet and we let him/her swim all over the ocean. For letter time, we continue to work on the letter Y- its sounds and tricky sign. As our fingers get strong, this sign will be easier to do. I also talked to the students about our sight words and reading. We learned about when two vowels are together the first one says its name. I used the students’ names to show them how this works. I also touched on the silent “e” and how it makes other vowels say their name. I used other students’ names to show how this works as well. We might watch a video all about this in a few weeks. We were finished with our day after that!

Fri Apr 13th- #19

All the students worked on the letter U printing as soon as they came in and then moved on to playing with links, counting blocks, cars and trucks and magnetic squares and triangles. I pulled the students aside to teach them about the number 19- how to say it in Spanish and how to print it. They each completed a 19 printing page and then had to count to 19 as they stamped 19 raindrops on an umbrella page. Our star helped us review our colors and shapes and then as a class, we counted to 19 pretending to unzip our jackets. We also practiced our Spanish to 19 as well. To change up calendar time, we sang days of the week in English and months of the year in Spanish. We reviewed the date and the month as well as having weather time. We moved right in to letter time dancing to the ABCs and then practicing the sounds and the sign of the letter U-I gave them their stamp at this time. We also practiced the all the signs that we have learned so far this year. The class and I went over our sight words again and then wiggled to our wiggle song. After that, we had snacks and looked at books. I read a story to the class that the star chose for us and then we got into our theme of the day. For 19 day, we started with counting in English and Spanish up to the special number. I discussed how to make the number- the one first and then the nine. I showed them a few numbers and they had to tell me which one was the number 19. To complete the 19 printing page, we went to the table and the students had to do a dot to dot butterfly counting as they traced. For review, I put the numbers 1-20 on the floor- spread all over the place. To review our numbers and how they are printed, we sang the numeral song. After that, I called on each student to come and find the number that was next in line. We did a pretty good job with this activity. I was also showing them how to spell the number words. For letter time, we sang our U song and the sign. All the students came to the table and we made our U umbrella letter friend. Once they finished that, we came back to the floor and we did a tossing activity with bean bags to review our sight words. I had 3 different words out and they had to toss the bag to the right word. We would sound them out together if they were having any struggles. We did this all the way up to the end of class!

Thurs Apr 12th- Intro to the farm & Anthony's unbirthday

My class started with scissor practice and then went to play with wooden blocks, magnetic dolls and little legos. I pulled the students aside to work on questions and take their height for our all about me page for April. Our star helped with color word cards and we counted to 30 and did blast off counting. For calendar time, we sang our days of the week and months song. Our class reviewed the date and the calendar. Weather time was next with song and help from the class figuring out what type of weather it was today. ABC time always starts with dancing- helps to get our wiggles out for letter time. We worked on the letter X again- trying to get the sound correct. We sang our ABC song to help us practice all the letters and sounds that we have learned so far this year. After that, I worked on the letter X again with the class. We wiggled and ate snacks. It was a special day because we were celebrating Anthony’s unbirthday so we sang to him and he brought cupcakes for the class. After clean up, the students looked at books and I prepped for All about me time. Kayden shared his show and tell and then we sang our nursery rhyme as we came over to the table to complete the page for our binder. For April, we colored a picture of ourselves, I asked them how they feel when it rains, what they like to do in the springtime and they colored some springtime flowers. Once the students finished that, we started on our theme of the day- an introduction to the farm. The farm is our theme of the month. For lesson time, I wanted to introduce the farm- our theme for the month. I had a poster of the farm and we reviewed each area and the animals and people we meet when we go to the farm. I also had a story to go along with the poster. At the table, we colored a farmer and some animals and cut and glued them on a piece of construction paper. For letter time, I did individual practice of the sound of the letter X and then gave them their lowercase x stamps. We crossed our arms to make an X and I taught them how to make an X on their papers on my white board. After that, our day was complete!