Week 15 of Pre-K

Bible Verse: "Lord, teach us to to pray..." (Luke 11:1)
Math

 Jenni practiced counting objects up to twenty and writing numbers 1-20.

 We reviewed time. Jenni looked at her flashcards and determined what time it was (1 o'clock to 12 o'clock) and then she flipped her cards over to check (1:00-12:00).

 After reviewing time to the hour, we began working on time to the half-hour.

 Saxon Math K: We focused on naming a shape piece using three attributes - shape, color, and size. J described each piece (large blue triangle, small red square, etc.). Then we played a game. We took turns taking a piece away from the matrix and the other person had to say which piece is missing naming the three attributes.

Other Saxon lessons this week included ordering numbers 0-20, counting backward from 20, identifying a missing number, and identifying ordinal position using counting bears.

We also read a couple of fun math books:

Math for All Seasons written by Greg Tan (this was a fun counting book)

Ten Naughty Little Monkeys written by Suzanne Williams

Go for THE CODE

 This week Jenni reviewed the letter Ww and the sound /w/. She also practiced writing Ww - one of her favorite letters to write just because she can say "down, up, down, up." It's the little things :)

Reading

We are using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading for phonics instruction and Jenni is reading Bob Books: Set 1 for Beginning Readers. Jenni is really enjoying these books. She is so excited when she finishes a book by herself, and sweet Joshua just smiles and claps for her. One time he even gave her two thumbs up - such an encourager :)

Science
Weather Art from Mudpies to Magnets

Winter

Jenni painted a snowman and falling snow using white paint and a cotton ball.

Jenni originally wanted to paint a "nice snow monster" with pink paint but I encouraged her to paint something more realistic :)

Spring

Jenni painted a rainbow using her entire hand dipped in paint :)

Summer

Jenni painted a "summer house" complete with larger-than-life flowers and a pink roof :) Her painting originally had windows on the house but she decided to paint them "shut" because it was a "sunny day" :)

Fall

When Jenni thinks of fall, she thinks of leaves changing colors and then falling off. So J painted a large tree with leaves changing colors and falling off :)

J and I watched YouTube videos showing the changing seasons. As the videos played, J created her own pictures of the seasons from what she saw and heard.

Geography

 We are using Evan-Moore's Beginning Geography, Grades K-2 book to learn map skills, landforms and bodies of water, and continents and oceans. This week Jenni learned about maps. A map is a drawing of a place from above. A map shows where things are.

The Big Green Pocketbook (Before Five in a Row)

This week we rowed The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom. We read the story several times and worked on the lapbook activities, found here and here.

Jenni went through our B4FIAR animal classification cards reviewing animal names and facts. We added two new animal cards from this story.

 J completed the lollipop pattern and then read the pattern (AAB).

Number Identification - J counted the lollipops on each card and matched them to the number card.

Identifying ordinal numbers up to seventh.

 Story Sequencing - Jenni put the cards in order based on the story.

Joshua

I think the favorite thing about November's sensory tub is the feathers :)

Week 14 of Pre-K

Bible Verse: Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)
Math

Baby Girl has learned numbers 0-20! She has been able to count to twenty for some time, but now she knows that the number 16 says "sixteen" - so proud!

( When J was counting she said, "Take a picture of me counting and send it to Grandma so she knows I'm learning my numbers!" J likes to keep Grandma in the loop :) )

In early October we started using Saxon Math K Meeting Book. We transitioned into Saxon Math K in early November. (We had been using Singapore Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics - while we like the book, it simply is not challenging for Jenni. Since I have always planned to use Saxon Math starting in first grade, I decided we would make the transition to Saxon sooner.) What we love about the Home Study Meeting Book - J practices the order of the days of the week, the months of the year, number recognition 1-31, coloring patterns, etc. For example, each morning goes a little something like this... Jenni: "Today is Monday, October 31, 2011." Then she counts from the first day of the month to the current day (1-31). I'll say something like, "What day was yesterday? What day is today? What day will tomorrow be?" And Jenni will practice, "Yesterday was Sunday. Today is Monday. Tomorrow is Tuesday." I love the meeting book and how much Jenni has learned by using it each morning.

Jenni used her MathLink Cubes to create and practice AB and ABB patterns.
(Linking Cubes from the Manipulative Kit for Saxon Math K-3, found here)

 Then Jenni worked on copying simple patterns.
(Pre-K File Folder Center, found here)

Using pattern blocks, Jenni found the blocks to cover each shape on the paper. After she successfully covered the pattern, she counted how many blocks she used of each color.

She covered different designs with pattern blocks.

We played a little math game. Taking turns, one of us hid a number (1-10) and the other person determined which number was missing. Jenni thought it was one of the best games ever :)

We also read a few fun math books:

Divide and Ride written by Stuart J. Murphy

How Big is a Foot? written by Rolf Myller

One Hundred Hungry Ants written by Elinor J. Pinczes

Go for THE CODE

 This week Jenni reviewed the letter Gg, the sound /g/ and started writing Gg.

Reading

We are using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. This week Jenni reviewed letters and sounds using the flashcards I made.

In addition to our normal read-aloud time, Jenni has started reading Bob Books - Set 1 aloud to me. There are twelve books in Set 1, each written in three-letter words and short sentences. They are supposed to be good for beginning readers so we will see how it goes. Jenni enjoys the fact that she can read the book all by herself.

Literacy Center

Ladybug Landing Literacy Center: Jenni puts the rime card on the mat and says the rime aloud. She names each picture as she puts it on the mat and then matches each word to its picture. This is a good activity for J to practice sounding out and reading new words.

(Activity from The Mailbox Theme Kits - Bugs & Garden - Grade K, found here)

Garden Visitors Literacy Center: Jenni puts the letter card (t) from a set on a mat. Then she names each picture (tire and pot) and puts it on the correct sign (begins with t , ends with t ). This is a good activity for J to practice beginning and ending sounds.

(Activity from The Mailbox Theme Kits - Bugs & Garden - Grade K, found here)

Science
Color My Petals from Mudpies to Magnets

 Blue

 Green

Red

We bought white flowers, cutting off all but 6 inches of the stems at a slant. Then we filled each glass with water and added a dozen or so drops of food coloring. We placed the flower stems in the solution to allow the stem to pull the colored water up into the flower. The blossoms very gradually took on a pastel hue of the color they had drawn up. We discussed that normally a plant has roots that begin the work of transporting water up the stem. We described the roots of a plant, then the stem, with its function of fluid transportation and support. J observed the solution, watching for an appearance of color in the flower. (Our flowers didn't take the color as much as they could have. I've read that white carnations work quite well, we just couldn't find them at the store.)

Blueberries for Sal (Before Five in a Row)

This week we rowed Blueberries for Sal written by Robert McCloskey. We read the story each day, did the supplemental activities in the B4FIAR manual, and worked on the lapbook activities. Jenni really enjoyed this story.

 Jenni wrote her name at the top and then she told me her summary of the story and her favorite part while I wrote it down.

 J tracing the lines.

 Then she practiced cutting straight lines.

 Jenni matched the picture to the name. This was a good activity for her to sound out and read new words.

 Jenni reviewed directional words in her Little Bear book. She pasted Little Bear where he was supposed to be according to each page - under, next to, near, on top, etc.

 Jenni circled the first sound of each word.

 Jenni tracing common words that were used in Blueberries for Sal.

Sweet girl working on her math.

Joshua

Toddler hands might just be one of the cutest things ever :)

Joshua put the counting bears on top of his train to take them for a ride :)

 Jenni was trying to tickle Joshua with a feather from his November sensory tub :)

Joshua was extra mischievous this week :)

Funnel Fun

This activity comes from Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander. The handbook provides weekly activities to correspond to the developmental patterns of each age group from birth to age five.

This week Joshua did the activity "Funnel Fun." The activity involved a funnel, measuring cup, glass bottle and a tub of rice.  Joshua placed the funnel in the glass bottle, scooped rice into the funnel and watched the rice fill the bottle. He especially loved pouring out the bottle once it was filled. He was delighted with all the colors of rice, scooping, pouring and exploring!
(Joshua is 1 year, 42 weeks)

 We used our colored rice from this activity.

This activity develops an awareness of how to pour and fill a container, an awareness of "empty" through free exploration, eye-hand coordination, and tactile enhancement.

Colored Rice

 We used fall colors this time around - red, orange, yellow, green and brown.

We made colored rice to use in a sensory tub. We put approximately 1 to 1 1/2 cups of rice in each zip-loc bag. We added one to two teaspoons rubbing alcohol and added drops of food coloring until we reached the desired color. We sealed the bag closed and mixed the rice around until the color was evenly distributed. Then we lined a cookie sheet with wax paper, poured the rice onto the paper and let it dry. Then we added our rice to a sensory tub for future fun.

November Sensory Tub

Joshua's November sensory tub includes four pounds of yellow popping corn, autumn colored pom poms, acrylic acorn gems, feathers, fall leaves, fall fruits and vegetables, two wooden Indians and a turkey, scented pine cones, and a scented candle.