Wednesday, October 15, 2008

November Lesson Plan

Theme: Giving Thanks

Letter: T

Number: 3

Color: Brown

Shape: Triangle

Bible: Being Thankful/Giving Thanks

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Looking for something to do?? Try these themes with your kids...

November Observations (frankly I'm shocked there are so MANY!)

Subscribe to this blog for updates on all National Awareness Campaigns! It's a promo blog for an e-promo company but it keeps you informed!!

National Aviation Month

Child Safety and Protection Month

National Family Stories Month (more here)

National Peanut Butter Lovers Month

National Sandwich Day (Nov 3rd)

  • Make all sorts of crazy combos with PB!

America Recycles Day (Nov 15th)

Mickey Mouse's Birthday (Nov 18th)

National Games and Puzzles Week (16th - 22nd)

National Flossing Day (Nov 28th) (did you know we should floss our child's teeth as soon as they come in?)

Thanksgiving

Resources for Thanksgiving activities

Stay tuned next Friday for what Chrissy and I are doing in November!!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Today's Topic: Fall Harvest

This morning we decided to go buy our apples for the projects we have planned for the first two weeks of the month!



I had hoped to go PICK apples but I am learning things in this process right along with Evan. Apples have already been picked (for the most part) and the picking farms around here are only open for pumpkin picking now!


We went to Sprouts to take advantage of a good sale on apples.


We picked up enough Jonathan's to make our applesauce and caramel apples. We also picked up about seven other varieties for an apple tasting and a few small fuji's for apple stamping/painting.


Our project for today is to read about Fall Harvest and make our Fall lapbook! I got this idea from A Glimpse of Sonshine

I cut out all the shapes and Evan will glue them in the tri-fold book as we talk about them. We have lots of other stuff planned...stay tuned!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

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Sunday, September 28, 2008

What our day looks like


Here is an idea of what our day looks like. Anyone who has little ones knows that nothing ever goes exactly as planned. This is a sample of what our day looks like when we are home all day. Some days go better than others but I have found that a schedule helps. I have one that just turned 3 and one that is 18 months. I watch my niece part time who is 20 months on Tues. and Thurs.

7:00-9:00
Breakfast-get ready-free play

9:00
Outside

9:45-10:00
Snack

10:00-10:15
Circle time

10:15-10:35
Center time

10:35-10:50
Table time-art project or other table activities

10:50-11:30
Free play

11:30-12:30
Lunch and free play

12:30-3:00
Get ready for nap and quiet time

3:00
Snack

3:30
Outside

4:30
free play or a show while I make dinner

5:00-5:30
dinner


*When we have activities planned for the day we may move things around a bit or skip some of the activities for that day. Both of my girls are in a playgroups and once a week we go to story time at the library. We often have one day a week to run errands or do a fun activity.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Letter 'A' ideas!

In case you didn't see the link to this blog on our sidebar...

Glimpse of Sonshine has a great post about making letter lapbooks with her preschooler for the letter 'A' this week!

I really like this idea and since my son is wild about "reading" things...this is probably a good way for us to learn the letters.

Share your ideas for learning the letters -- leave a comment or send us an e-mail to becentsable@gmail.com

Monday, September 22, 2008

October Ideas

See October's Theme and Lesson Plan here  

Weeks 1 & 2:
apples and trees, changing of the seasons

ACTIVITY DAY


apple picking at orchard

walk in the leaves

CIRCLE TIME

Songs
 
(to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down)
See The Apples Falling Down
Falling down, Falling Down
See The Apples Falling Down
Down To The Ground
Pick The Apples And Throw Them Up
Throw Them Up, Throw Them Up
Pick The Apples And Throw Them Up
Up To The Sky

Books

The Apple Pie that Papa Baked
Apples to Oregon
The Four Seasons
Books about apples, seasons
 
Jesus or Bible Time

Theme: Jesus made the seasons change and apple trees
 
Prayer:
Oh. . .the Lords been good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need
The sun and the rain and the apple seed
The Lords been good to me, Amen.
 
Numbers or Letters

Practice Counting 1-10 with fingers

Practice showing 1, then 2 fingers
Count with leaves and apples (one then two)

Number songs:
 
Five fingers in my pocket (we know this from Music with Mar)
 
The ants go marching 1 by 1, 2 by 2, etc. This is great for a walk and even though I've only seen the lyrics published up to number 4, the link above has all they way to 10! We have fun making up our own lyrics and the kids really get into marching and squatting down to the ground. It's our favorite!
ABC song: F is for Fall, hold up letter F click here

CENTER TIME

sensory center: fill bin or box with leaves, pinecones, and other fall things

coloring

puzzles (Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles are great!)

varied selection of toys

COOKING WITH KIDS

applesauce in the crock pot or oven

apple pizzas with brown sugar and butter (on buns or pita bread)

apple sandwich (2 apples with peanut butter)

ART TIME
pinecone painting: use pinecones to paint with. Cut out big leaves from fall colors and let kid dip pinecones in paint to decorate fall leaves

paint with apples: cut apples at different angles and let children brush on paint and use the apples as stamps. Talk about the different shapes made by each apple and the space where the seeds were.

Print this tree coloring page: have children color the image first. Children can decorate the tree with "apples" by fingertip painting using poster paint or washable ink pad, red round stickers or red paper cut-outs using a coin as a template. Have children add five or ten apples. Have them count them to practice numerals and number order
apples: kids tear red paper up and glue on paper plates-add a stem and leaf to the top

OUTSIDE FUN
 
"bob for apples": hunt for apple cut outs in bucket of straw

leaf hunt: have children find leaves of different colors or shapes and sizes...collect them all and even glue them onto large paper for display or save them for the sensory boxes

WEEK 3 & 4

ACTIVITY DAYS:
 
Pumpkin patch

Fall fun night with community or church

CIRCLE TIME
 
songs
to the tune of "Do your ears hang low?"

Do you love Halloween?
When you dress up to be seen,
You can be a furry cat
Or a silly flying bat.
You can walk down the street,
Knock on doors, say "trick or treat"
Do you love Halloween?

books

We Gather Together
Good night moon
Books about pumpkins, harvest, halloween
 
Jesus or Bible Time

Theme: God made the sun and moon
 
Poem/Prayer:
I see the moon,
And the moon sees me;
God bless the moon,
and God bless me.
Anonymous

 
Shape/Letters/colors
shape-circle like a pumpkin and the moon
ABC song-P is for pumpkin-hold up letter P click here
color-orange like a pumpkin-find orange things in the room


CENTER TIME

sensory center-fill bin with leaves, pine cones, and other fall things coloring

Orange play dough

blocks

selection of toys


ART TIME

 
pumpkins-kids tear orange paper up and glue on paper plates, add a stem and leave at top
 
moons with craters: paint a yellow moon and glue cheerios for craters
pumpkin mobile: on a hanger or string on to yarn/fishing line for cute homemade decorations
 
create projects to decorate outside of house
- ghosts to hang from tree
- paint pumpkins to set outside


COOKING WITH KIDS

pumpkin seeds
pumpkin pie
pumpkin muffins

OUTSIDE FUN
 
pumpkin hunt: put paper pumpkins in the garden


ORANGE DAY
everyone wears orange
 
circle time is all about orange!!! Scavenger hunt around the house for orange things and bring circle time

art time: cut out a big carrot for kids to paint on. Cut the end of a large carrot off and let kids dip in orange paint stamp their carrot

cooking with kids: pumpkin pancakes. Make orange colored pancakes and let the kids decorate a face with fruit cocktail
Make orange hand soap: save an empty foaming soap dispenser, add clear liquid soap (dish soap works fine) and 1-2 drops food coloring) shake well! We make new colors of soap every few weeks and the kids LOVE it!

*many of these activities come form the Mailbox magazines, everythingpreschool.com and first-school.com (linked at right)

Friday, September 19, 2008

Our "Schedule"

So, if you have EVER had children you know "schedule" is in quotes for a reason!!

We attempt to follow the schedule below. Chrissy's family follows a different schedule that works for them.

We have preschool time (focused activity) for 30-45 mins two days a week. My daughter is only 16 months old so I typically do this while she is napping so my son can have my undivided attention.

  • During this time we do our craft project and talk about our letter and number

Circle Time and Center Time are interspersed as often as we get a chance since they are more entertaining and less "sit still and focus" things.

  • Circle Time: We read stories (including our bible stories), sing songs and rhymes or pretend play within our theme. Chrissy posted about Circle Time here.
  • Center Time: I haven't done this yet but the idea is that you select 3-5 toys for your child to play with that relate to the theme for the month and place them in the center of the room. These would be in a room without other distractions (TV, other toys, etc) for about 20-30 mins. Let the child play at will for the length of the activity.

Our only other scheduled time is for our "activity days". These are the planned outings for the month and are only 2 or 3x a month (not necessarily every week).

This schedule is new and subject to revisions as we go along since I have no idea what my kids will actually be able to handle.