Little Hands, Cheerful Hearts: Week 11 of Pre-K

This is what we have been up to during our eleventh week of school...

Bible Verse of the Week: ...Jesus called them, and immediately they...followed Him. (Matthew 4:21-22)

Singapore Math

We reviewed solids (cones, cubes, rectangular blocks, spheres). Then we reviewed patterns, what repeats, what comes next, etc. Jenni can count to twenty but we are still working on number recognition for the higher numbers ("fifteen" = 15)

Get Set for THE CODE

This week Jenni worked on the letter Dd and the sound /d/. She also reviewed previous letters and sounds. Dd is the last letter for this workbook. Next week we will be starting Go for THE CODE.

Reading
We are continuing to use this book for phonics instruction. This book's approach seems to be a much better fit for Jenni.

Science
We have started a Preschool Science Curriculum, Mudpies to Magnets, by Robert A. Williams. This book was written for classroom use, so I make the necessary changes since we are using it at home. I have read through the book and have found so many neat activities to do with both Jenni and Joshua. I am all about having the kids experience the joy that comes from finding the answers to questions by doing things rather than by being told.

Rainbow in a Jar

We filled a glass pitcher with water and let it sit for many hours so the currents from the top subsided. Diffusion occurs at a slow natural pace by doing this. We dropped red, yellow, and blue food coloring in the jar. J observed the colors as they slowly spread through the water, forming interesting shapes and patterns as they blended into the colors of a rainbow. We did this experiment again, with a small glass jar for Jenni to try by herself. We used a jar of fresh water from the sink to observe the differences between quiet water and freshly filled water and compared diffusion patterns. Jenni took this experiment further and compared the sounds each jar made when tapped gently. Then J asked for a piece of paper and crayons so she could draw a picture of her observations.

Rainbow Rain

As Jenni worked with paint of various colors and thicknesses she learned how colors blend and how liquids flow. We used red, yellow and blue paint and added water to each of the three colors to create different thickness from thin to thick. J filled her paintbrush with paint and pressed it hard against the top of the paper and watched the paint run down. We talked about which paint travels fastest, thick or thin, and observed what happens when red paint runs into yellow. We discussed the colors the "rain" had made.

Rainbow Stew

Red, yellow and blue

J added drops of red to the blue bag to make purple.

Then she added drops of blue to the yellow bag to make green.

She added drops of yellow to the red bag to make orange.

The red, yellow and blue bags changed to shades of orange, green and purple.

Jenni loves to play with squishy, gooey, messy mixtures, but Joshua still likes to keep his hands clean, so this activity was perfect for him. We prepared a mixture: 1/3 c. sugar, 1 c. cornstarch, and added 4 c. cold water. We heated the mixture until it began to thicken, stirring constantly (it took several minutes). We let the mixture cool and then divided the mixture equally into 3 Ziploc bags. I added food coloring (one color per bag) until the mixture reached the color intensity we desired (red, yellow, blue). Then Jenni added drops of red, yellow and blue to each bag and sealed the bag closed. Jenni kneaded the bags, mixing the colors into a rainbow stew.

Joshua