Little Hands, Cheerful Hearts: 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.