Teddy Bear Picnic Mon./Wed.

For Letter B week we had a Teddy Bear Picnic! All the kids had so much fun doing activities with their teddy bears in class and at the park. When everyone arrived, we sang "Cool Going on a Bear Hunt" by Dr. Jean and we had lots of "b" activities to do with our teddies:

Books

Blocks

Button & Bead friendship Bracelets

At the park we did a few teddy bear and letter "b" activities:

• teddy, teddy, bear (duck, duck goose)
• pass the button (We had a button on a string tied in a loop. Each person held onto the string and we sang a song. As we sang, we passed the button from one person to the next and whoever had the button when the song ended, answered a question about their teddy bear.)
• We read the book "Where's my Teddy?" which is one of my favorites to read out loud.

We also had a teddy bear lunch: honey & peanut butter sandwiches cut in the shape of a bear, teddy grahams, & strawBerry juice. After the kids ate, they played with their bears on the playground. Their two favorite things to do were having Noe's dad help them across the monkey bars and making a train down the slide. It was a very fun day. The kids were exhausted by the end, but there were smiles on their faces.

B is for Button

We focused on buttons for one of the days during letter B week.

We sorted buttons by shape, size, color, or number of holes.

We read the book Corduroy and made lift the flap, hiding button pictures. Here's how we did it:

Each child got a small rectangle of paper and drew a place that a button might be hiding. The kids drew things like beds, tables, closets, etc.

They glued a button in the middle of another paper that said, "My button is hiding under the. . .
They glued the edge of their picture next to the button so the picture covered it up. Then we wrote where the button was under the picture.

Tip of the Month: Preschool Math

Although you might not realize it, math is a natural part of a young child's play and daily activities. They explore mathematical concepts as they sort, classify, compare quantities, balance blocks, notice shapes, and find patterns.

There are 5 main areas of math development that are focused on during preschool years:

• Numbers (counting objects and working with numbers)
• Geometry and spatial relations (shapes and sizes or comparisons of shapes, direction)
• Measurement (comparing weight or height, calendar, measuring)
• Patterns
• Analyzing data (sorting, comparing, graphs, charts)

Here are some ways that you can work on math concepts at home:

1. Show how we use math every day. Have them help you measure when you cook or figuring out is a container is big enough for their toys.
2. Play board games and count the spaces with them or play simple games like "Go Fish"
3. Count things at home and on the street: how many cars, tress, pieces of snack, etc. Count things in book illustrations. Find numbers in your surroundings.
4. Talk about the different patterns and shapes you see around you: plaid, polka dot, triangles, rectangles, etc.
5. Use math terms: above, below, beneath, larger, smaller, equal, horizontal, vertical, perpendicular, parallel. Ask them to bring you the smallest cookie or when they pick up toys, ask for specific toys and use math terms to describe where the toy is: the toy beneath the chair.
   
6. When shopping at the store, talk about and compare prices.
7. Explain what you are doing when you balance your checkbook or pay bills.
8. Have them watch you count money at home or at the bank.
9. Weigh and measure your child and chart their growth.
10. Provide hands on materials like a set of blocks to build with.
    

Q is for . . .

. . .Quadrilaterals
For math time we looked at our pattern blocks. We looked at each shape and counted how many sides it had. We sorted the blocks into blocks with 4 sides and other blocks.

After we sorted the blocks, we used our pattern blocks to make pictures on printable templates. (they came from www.kellyskindergarten.com)
. . . Quilts
We talked about what a quilt is . . . a big blanket made up of shapes that fit together. We looked at a couple of different quilts and discussed what shapes made up that quilt. We also talked about how people make friendship quilts. They make them and give them to their friends to remind them that they love them. We made our own friendship quilt.
We traced and colored our hands on our quilt block. Then we sewed our quilt blocks individually. I punched the holes for the sewing part and we used yarn with tape at the end. I taught the kids that when we sew, we go up and down and we talked about going around the edge without skipping holes.
I was very impressed that most of them got it after 1 or two tries and we didn't have to resew very many times.

Math Activities

As part of our day, we have center time where the kids can choose between a variety of activities to participate in. I use this free time to work with the kids one on one and to practice specific skills.

Here are a few of the math centers we have done the last couple of weeks:

I put laminated numbers 1 - 5 on hangers, one number on each hanger. I put a box with about 15 clothes pins next to it. The kids put the correct number of clothes pins on each hanger, then hung the numbers in order on a rope.

Using the laminated numbers from the previous activity, the kids matched star pictures to the numbers in a pocket chart.