Dr. Seuss

Hello!  I'm sitting at home again enjoying my morning cup of coffee.  I hope that you and your family are well.  This weekend was beautiful.  I spent some time outside.  I hope you did, too.  It looks like we are going to be staying at home a little bit longer than we thought.  I don't like that idea, but I do want everyone to be healthy.   So,  I'll be seeing you this way for now :)

Hooray for Dr. Seuss!  This week, we are going to read books by Dr. Seuss.  Dr. Seuss was a man that wrote and illustrated many children's books.  I'm guessing that you have some at home.  To learn more about Dr. Seuss, go to the Let's Find Out website that I shared with you last week. www.letsfindout.com  Once you are logged in, have your grown-up put the words "Hooray for Dr. Seuss" in the search box.  There you will find a wonderful video about Dr. Seuss.

Story:  The book that I would like you to read today is The Foot Book.  If you don't have it, here is the YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQgg_2uBr2E  I bet that after hearing that story a few times, you might be able to read some of it on your own.  Can you find words that look the same?  Can you find words that rhyme?  Give it a try!

Math/Fine Motor Activity:  For this activity, you are going to need paper, crayons or a pencil, and something to use for measuring.  You can use a ruler for measuring, but I'd also like you to think of something else you can use.  Do you have some blocks that are all the same size?  Do you have toothpicks, paper clips, crayons, etc. that are all the same size?  Those will all work.  Now, if you're wearing shoes or socks, you are going to have to take them off.  Put your foot onto the paper and trace around it.  You may need a grown-up's help with this.  Once you are done, use one of the items above or something else to measure how big your foot is.  Now, measure someone else's foot.  Is that person's foot larger or smaller.  Who has the biggest foot in your family?  Who has the smallest?

Art Activity:  As long as we're talking about feet, how about making an art project with your foot print?  If you have paint, use a brush to paint the bottom of your foot or dip your foot into paint.  Now step on a piece of paper.  If you don't have paint, or don't feel like painting your foot, use the tracing that you did with the math project.  Once the paint has dried, what does your foot look like?  Can you use crayons or marker to add things to your foot print to make it look like something else.

Movement Activity:  I love Koo Koo Kangaroo's "Shake Yo Foot" video.  It wears me out!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59_j0CjY75U

Letter Learning:  The letters for this week are: Gg, Ss, Aa, and Ee.

Here's a few pictures from last weeks activities.  Thank you for sharing!

Happy April!  I'm so glad that April is here.  I'm looking forward to warmer weather and looking for things to be growing in my yard.  For a movement song today, try Spring is Here by the Learning Station https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DobrRgD5aOU.  This is one of those songs that gets stuck in my head after I listen to it.  

Story:  On Monday, I asked you to listen to the story Don't Let Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems.  Today's story is also by Mo Willems.  It is called Knuffle Bunny.  Here is the link to this book if you don't have it at home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmdFoTKsX9c  There are many videos of this story, but most of them do not pronounce Knuffle Bunny correctly.  Mo Willems wants us to pronounce the K at the beginning.  The story of Knuffle Bunny has so much going on that it is one of my favorite reads.  Keep an eye on Knuffle Bunny.  You will see when he goes missing.  How does Trixie feel when he is lost?  How does she feel when he is found?  How does her mommy and daddy feel when Knuffle Bunny is missing?   Also, Pigeon makes an appearance in this book.  Can you find him?  If you liked the story of Knuffle Bunny, there are two more books you can enjoy.  Knuffle Bunny, Too and Knuffle Bunny, Free.

Fine Motor/Writing Activity:  I received a few photos of your drawings of Pigeon.  I'm sharing them along with my picture.  They are GREAT!

For today's activity, I'd like to know if you have something at home that is like Knuffle Bunny.  Do you have something that you like to have with you whenever you can?  Perhaps it's a stuffed animal, a blanket or pillow.  Draw a picture of something that you wouldn't want to lose like Trixie's Knuffle Bunny.

Letter Learning:  On Monday, I completely forgot to tell you what letters we would be working on this week.  Here they are:  Ww, Yy, Gg and Cc.

Math:  I'm happy to announce that PreKinders is allowing you to download the April Math Journal at no charge.  If you don't want to print out all of the pages, simply read them online and draw on a plain piece of paper.  Go to prekinders.com

I've enjoyed seeing your counting pictures and pictures of children putting the numerals in order.  Here's a few that I received this week.

Here's another math activity.  Ask a grown-up to empty their coins from their pocket or purse.  If you have a piggy bank, that will work too.  Dump the coins on the table.  Sort them into categories.  Count how many are in each category. Which has more?  Which has less?  Put them back together.  Can you think of a different way to sort them?  

Science/Social Studies:  We use the Let's Find Out Magazine for many of our science and social studies activities.  Now, you can do them at home.  Here's the link to the magazine https://letsfindout.scholastic.com/

You will need the password: redeemer, to log in.  Then you will be able to see all of the magazines, watch the videos and play the games.  

That's all for now.  I wish I could see all of your smiling faces and your hear your giggles.  That's what I miss the most.  If you've sent me a picture and I haven't included it yet, let me know.  I'm trying to keep track and want to include anyone that would like to share.  Here's Laurel doing a painting.

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!!

Happy Wednesday!

I enjoyed the sunshine yesterday afternoon.  I went outside for a little bit to get some fresh air and exercise.   Today, we are supposed to be back to cloudy skies and perhaps some for tomorrow.  In March, we usually receive a lot of rain.  We need the rain for the green grass to grow.  The rain will help the spring flowers grow.  My activities for you for today and tomorrow are about rain.

Story:  The story that I had planned to read to you today is The Rain Came Down by David Shannon.  You can see the story here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV8snbVhXKU  How do the people in the story feel when the rain is coming down?  Do they act differently when the sun shines?  How?

Science Activity:  You can use items that you have in your house to make rain in a jar.  You will need a jar or clear glass, a plate, ice cubes and hot water.  Have your grown-up put some hot water in the jar about half full.  You can put the ice cubes on the plate and carefully put the plate on top of the jar.  Now watch as the warm air in the jar mixes with the cool air from the ice cubes on the plate.  It will take a little while.  Do you see rain drops on the glass?  You might be able to see a little cloud in the jar as well.

Art Activity:  If it is raining outside today or tomorrow, you can let the rain help you make a pretty picture.  You will need paper and markers.  Draw a picture or scribble (yes, I said scribble) using markers.  When you are finished, put the paper on a tray or cookie sheet.   Place the tray outside in the rain.  Check on it in a few minutes.  What happened to the colors? Here's my picture.  I'll put it in the rain and show you what happens.

Name Printing:  Don't forget to keep printing your name.  Start with an uppercase letter and make the rest with lower case letters.  

Counting Challenge:  Find 20 of something in your house.  Lay them out and count them.  Ask your grown-up to take a picture of it and send it to my email or post it in the comment section.  Let's see how many different things we can find to count.

I will have more stories and activities next week.  Check in on Monday.  April is book month at Redeemer.  I will be sharing my favorite books and authors.  Have a great day!

Hello from DeWitt!

Hello!  I am at home like all of you.  I hope that you are finding plenty of things to do.  I am going to give you a few ideas of things to do at home.  These are things that we would be doing at school if we were able to do so.

Try this video from Koo Koo Kangaroo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpD9kRyBn8o  It will get your body and brain moving.  All of their videos are so much fun!

This week, we were going to be talking about March weather.   Typically, March is a very windy month.  I realize that we got a little snow last night.  Hopefully, that will be gone soon!

Story:  Our story for today would have been The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins.  You can find this book on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOGegRlO79o  When you are finished watching, see if you can remember all of the things that blew away in the story.  Perhaps you can try to remember them in the story's order.  You may notice some things in this story that are a little different.  That's because this story was written by an author from England.

Science Activity:  Make a fan by taking a piece of paper and folding it back and forth.  A grown-up or older brother or sister can help you with this.  Once your fan is finished, make some wind by waving it back and forth.  Now, find things in your house that you can move by waving your fan.

Art Activity:  If you have some paint at home, put some drops of it on a paper.  Take a straw and see if you can blow the paint across the paper.   You may need to have your grown up add a little water to the paint.  If you don't have a straw, take the insides out of an ink pen and use it as a straw.  What would happen if you use a hair dryer to blow the paint?

Letter Learning:  This week, we would have worked on the letters Xx, Hh, Qq and Ww.  Try printing these at home.    Remember, when you are printing, to start at the top.  Sing the song "Where Do You Start Your Letters?" if that helps! See if you can find these letters around your house on wall hangings, books, magazines or newspapers.

Math Journals:  The author of the math journal that we are using is offering the month of March to parents for free.  Go to prekinders.com to find this along with some other ideas.

Check back on Wednesday.  I will have some more ideas for you.  I would love to hear from you!  Even though we've only been out of school for a week, I miss you very much!  I will try to post some pictures of things that I am doing at home.  Perhaps you can do the same.  Your parents can add comments to this blog or email me.
Have a great day!

Group Meeting:  We talked a little bit about St. Patrick's Day today, mainly the color green, shamrocks, and leprechauns.  Our Let's Find Out Magazine had a video about chasing and catching leprechauns. 

Story:  The story for today was Skyfire by Frank Asch.  Little Bear sees a rainbow for the first time.  He tells his friend Little Bird that the sky is on fire.  Little Bird thinks that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Who is right?  Little Bear or Little Bird?  Ask your child to tell you what happens next.

Small Groups:  The children made rainbow toast for their snack.  Rainbow toast is made by putting food coloring in milk and "painting" the milk onto a piece of bread.  We put the bread in the oven to toast it and added a little butter. 

Large Group:  We watched the video with our Let's Find Out magazine.  We cut the magazine into two pieces to make a book.

Snacks:  The children ate the rainbow toast with milk to drink and birthday brownies.  

Spring Break is next week.  There has been some talk about schools shutting down after Spring Break.  I don't know if this is true or just a rumor, but I will be keeping in touch with Bettendorf Schools to determine what our steps will be should something happen.