Back to School

We took a break last week from school.  We enjoyed a restful weekend with our family but now it's back to regular schedule.  Thought I would post our plans for tomorrow.  Jack is thrilled to have "school" tomorrow and spend time with his friend C. 

Monday, September 13, 2010

BIBLE
“I will live and grow in Jesus.” – That’s our theme for the week. Psalm 1:1-3, Jeremiah 17:7-8, and 1 John 5:12 will help us to learn this concept.

LANGUAGE
Sing the ABC Song (to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star). Present a textured L (we cut one from sand paper). Have the child say the /l/ sound while tracing the letter. Show the /l/ leaf picture card. Select 3-10 letters including L and have the child name the letters he sees. Review the sounds for each letter that has been taught - /s/ and /m/.

Complete the letter L pages from MFW. 1) Look at 6 picture cards for the letter L. Color the pictures, cut them out. (We have two sets so we will play memory with the picture cards.)

CALENDAR TIME/MATH – Sorting by Color/Creating a Real Graph
Ask some new calendar questions: What month is it?, What letter does September begin with?, What months have we colored?, Whay year is it? Say “Yesterday was ________.” “What day of the week is today?” “What letter does (day of the week) begin with?” “Let’s say the days of the week together.” “Yesterday’s date was the ____th.” “What is today’s date?” ‘What number will I write in today’s date square?” “let’s count to see if you are right.” Write the date in the correct box. “Today is (day), August (date), (year). “What colors are we using this month for our calendar squares?” “What color will we use to color today’s square?” “Let’s read our pattern to check.” Color today’s square, remembering to alternate colors. Review the names of the months.

Put out 20-30 teddy bear counters of assorted colors in a pile on a work mat. ‘Watch what I am going to do.” Begin sorting the teddy bears by color. “What am I doing?” “Do you know what we call this?” (sorting) “I am sorting the teddy bears. What does the word sort mean?” (to put the ones that are alike together) “Today you will learn how to sort and make a graph.” Give the child a work mat and 8-12 bears of assorted colors.

“Sort your teddy bears on the mat.” “Now you are going to graph your teddy bears.” Give the child a chart (any piece of paper with a grid on it with squares large enough for the teddy bears). “How do you think you will put your teddy bears on this graph?” “Line up the bears on the graphing grid.” Assist your child if necessary. Ask the following questions: What color you have the most of?, How do you know?, Do any columns have the same number?, What color do you have the fewest of?, etc… Put the teddy bears in a pile on your mat. Pick up your mat and slide the teddy bears into the container. Save the grid for future lessons.

DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITY – Name the Sound
Using small objects and paper bags play name the sound. Name and show the child what is in each bag. Shake each bag so that the child can hear the sounds they make. Close the bags and change their positions. Encourage the child to listen as you shake the first bag. Have them name what is inside. Repeat with each item. Continue until the child has succeeded several times. At another time repeat this activity. It promotes skill in identifying objects, listening for a sound to help make a selection, distinguishing different sounds, confidence, and language enrichment. (Slow and Steady Get Me Ready)

THEME - Leaf
Remember the grapes from the letter S (Sun), go check them if you haven’t tossed them out. Ours are really beginning to wrinkle and are completely brown.

There are lots of great leaf activities to do. Go outside and collect a variety of leaves – different colors, shapes, sizes, etc… Count the number of leaves and sort the leaves. Make a leaf book. Trace each different kind of leaf on a small sheet of paper and label it with the name of the tree, if known. Have the student color the leaves in realistic colors. Staple the pages to form a book.

There is a great illustration about leaves and living and growing in Jesus. I’ll try to post it later. We are also reading lots of leaf books from the library:

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
Picture Guide to Tree Leaves by Raymond Wiggers
Fall Leaves by Don Curry
Counting on the Woods by George Ella Lyon
ABCedar: An Alphabet of Trees by George Ella Lyon
Let’s Play in the Forest by Claudia Rueda
My “L” Sound Book by Jane Belk Moncure