For quite a while I have been wanting to come up with learning moments for Rory to do when Reagan is taking a nap. These learning moments would correlate with what we are learning in preschool for the week. Let's face it, whenever the baby is asleep, there are a million things to accomplish and often the awake child gets neglected or placed in front of the t.v. because cleaning or bills becomes the priority. I guess to cure my own guilt, I thought that having some activities that I am partially involved in would help to give Rory a little attention from me, and then once she is set up it will give her something to do as I try and get stuff done. As mother's of young children we need to stick together and help each other out because this is a hard, but oh so important job. I figure that if I make it a goal to let you Mamas know what is going on in preschool and some supplemental ideas to go with that, then I may be more likely to actually follow through and do these things with Rory. I will do my best to come up with some weekly ideas and share them here on the blog to help our entire preschool class have opportunity to further their learning and get some one on one learning attention from their Mamas. I hope you find these ideas easy to fit into your busy schedules and beneficial to your child. So on to the activities that I have researched for the week...
We will be reading "Owl Babies" by Martin Waddell on Tuesday and "Little Hoot" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal in preschool on Thursday. I am super excited about this weeks study of owls and the letter "O" because there are SO MANY things that we can do with these.
My first suggestion encourages the recognition of the letter "O" as well as some early Math skills. The letter "O" is so fun because I am pretty sure that is the first letter kids usually recognize so it is easy to come up with ways to build on that recognition. This idea comes from teachpreschool.org which is an excellent resource for parents and teachers.
DIRECTIONS: Have your child start by making a circle. Then have them guess how many cheerios will fit inside the circle. Write the number of their guess next to the circle and then help them count out enough cheerios to fill the circle and see how close they get to their estimate. Deborah from Teach Preschool says that this is, "A simple process to invite our students to combine a little math with writing and an excellent opportunity to use language like bigger, smaller, circle, estimate, count, actual, most, least, more, and less…" So I encourage you to use this language with your preschooler and of course don't forget to discuss our letter of the week. To view more about this activity or to find a plethora of amazing ideas visit my favorite preschool website Teach Preschool
Once you have done this little activity with your preschooler, provide a small container full of cheerios and give them tools like measuring cups, spoons, a funnel, etc and they can play in this cheerio sensory bin while you get some work done. We all have cheerios right? This is an inexpensive and easy way to keep your preschooler entertained and learning. So, if you don't have a box of cheerios go pick one up for some fun letter "o" and sensory learning.
Another suggestion that can be done after we read "Little Hoot" on Thursday is once the littlest one goes down for a nap, let your preschooler know that you would like to build a fort just like in, "Little Hoot." Little Hoot is a little owl that only wants to go to bed but his parents say he has to stay up and play. So he does a bunch of activities to try and keep himself awake, like building a fort, jumping on the bed, and skateboarding. Once you take a few minutes to build a fort with your preschooler, then you can suggest some sort of pretend play that she/he can do on their own. For example, suggest that they have a party with their stuffed animals in the fort while you go and get some work done. Building upon the ideas in the books that we discuss in preschool is a great way to further reading comprehension and to promote pretend play, all very important for our preschoolers. Check out these cool forts I googled...
Mine will probably look a little more like this one...
My last suggestion is to have your preschooler create a background scene for the owls we create in preschool on Thursday. All you need is an old file folder and the owl that we will make in preschool. This provides opportunity for pretend play which is great to encourage as often as possible. It is so important to encourage those imaginations so that they can continue to develop and flourish! Here is the link for the owls we will create and below is a picture of the backdrop with those adorable little owls. I love them, don't you? If your feeling extra creative, help your preschooler make a few more to add to your collection. All it takes is a few toilet paper rolls, fabric scraps (you could just use paper too) and some googly eyes. Wah la you have the cutest little owl ever! Why not make it an owl family? You may need to draw the background scene and then have your preschooler color them in.
A few more simple ideas to further our classroom learning...
If you find yourself driving around a lot this week or you are in the mood to belt it out, try the below song or another owl song from Preschool Express. We will be singing this in preschool and I think you would impress your child if you start singing something from preschool, don't ya think? Just tell them you went to preschool once too (;
IF YOU WANT TO BE AN OWL
Tune: “If You’re Happy And You Know It”
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
Then you get to sleep all day
And at night you get to play.
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
Jean Warren
LATE AT NIGHT
Tune: “Frere Jacques”
Late at night,
Late at night,
Who, who, who,
Who, who, who.
I can hear the owls call
Way up in the trees so tall,
Who, who, who,
Who, who, who!
Jean Warren
Here is a free "O is for OWL" Printable from TwistyNoodle
Have your preschooler color this one day during nap time. I think the letter "O" is definitely one that they can all master this week! Let me know how it goes!
Thank you so much for all the effort you put in to teaching our kids, they are SO LUCKY to have you. The ideas are fantastic! Thank you for taking the time to put them on your blog. Wish us luck! We love you Miss Amanda!
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