Hello, again!  We are at the end of March and will be starting the month of April on Wednesday.  At preschool, April is Book Month.  So starting today, I will be sharing my favorite authors and books with you.

To get your body and brain moving, try this action video from Jack Hartmann about Spring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udrIY0nts-E  I hope you can go outside and look for some of the signs of spring.  My trees are starting to get the little buds that will grow into leaves.  My lilies are starting to grow too.  I went for a walk last week and found something that I had not seen before.  I live in the country and we see lots of deer walking in the field behind our house.  I decided to take a hike into that field.  I discovered a deer path where all of the deer walk.  I took a few pictures to show you.

The dark line  is the deer trail where they follow each other one at a time just like preschoolers.

Deer tracks in the mud.

Story: The first favorite author/illustrator that I want to tell you about is Mo Willems.  Mo Willems has created some very funny and cute characters such as Pigeon, Duckling, Knuffle Bunny, Piggie, and Elephant.  Maybe some of you are familiar with the Pigeon books.  The book that I would like you to read today is Don't Let Pigeon Drive the Bus.  Here is a link to the book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-dHeNfXtgc.

Fine Motor/Writing Activity:  You can draw Pigeon  It's not hard to do.  Try these instructions http://pigeonpresents.com/content/uploads/2017/08/pigeon_draw02.pdf  Remember how we have used straight lines, curves, and diagonal lines to draw.   After you draw Pigeon, think of something else that Pigeon should not drive.  Draw that next to Pigeon.  See if you can write the name of the item that you drew on your paper.  You parents can write "Pigeon should not drive the".  I drew pigeon and will share a picture of that on Wednesday.  I'd like to see your drawing, too.
The picture below is my rain picture from last week.  I had my paper all ready to go.  I saw that it was raining.  I ran outside and put it on the sidewalk.  After I went back inside, it rained very, very hard.  By the time I got back outside to get it, it had washed almost all of the marker off of my paper but the swirling colors were very pretty to see.  You can see a little of the color.

Before

After...woops!

Mo Willems has a wonderful website of things for children to do. You can find it at MoWillems.com

Math Activity:  For this activity, you will need 10 post it notes or 10 squares of paper.  Print the numbers 1-10 putting one number on each square.  Your grown-ups can help you do this.  Now, mix up the papers.  When your grown-up says go, see how quickly you can put them in the correct order.  Have your grown-up time you.  Now try it again and see if you can beat that time.  If you need another challenge, see if you can do it in reverse order.  (Grown-ups, this may be challenging for some children.  Do it as an activity together, maybe starting with just 1-5)

I loved the pictures that I received last week.  I am sharing them with you.  Some of them are childen counting to 20 and some are of art projects. 

It's so good to see everyone!  Check back on Wednesday.  I'll have more to share!  I miss you all!!