Little Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue

We practice and recite a nursery rhyme each week. This week we learned Little Boy Blue and did some activities. Sometimes we do a puppet show or a craft as well. You can also see our Humpty Dumpty, Old Mother Hubboard, and Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater activities.

1. Watch the nursery rhyme on You Tube. There are quite a few videos on each nursery rhyme. Some are a little weird but there are some good ones too. Here is one and it will lead you to many others http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJJSRdIL158

2. Here is an 8 page mini-book for your child to read on Little Boy Blue

3. Use some coloring sheets from Enchanted Learning.

4. Act it out!

Dry Erase Activity Center

We received the Crayola Activity Center Dry Erase board as a Christmas gift and I really, really like it! It comes with 8 activity pages but what I like best is that I can print my own pages or even pull a page out of a coloring/workbook and put it into the activity board. Since I have twins I have to buy 2 workbooks or print 2 of everything, this activity board allows me to print only one and let both girls us it.
I'm not a big fan of dry erase boards since the markers often evaporate as you use them and frustrate the kids. But these markers work great as does the eraser.

Here is the plastic sleeve that you slide the worksheet into before sliding it into the activity center. There is a little green lock that keeps it from sliding out. This activity sheet was printed here

I think this will save me lots of paper and lots of ink....plus the girls think it is cool and like to use the markers and the erasers!

Beginning sounds

objective:
a. to recognize beginning sounds of 4 words
b. to point out the initial sounds that are the same

Points to remember:
1. This skill is typically a kindergarten skill and may be not possible for younger children. I am trying it with Brooke since she is beginning to notice beginning word sounds
2. Make sure the sound is the same not just the beginning letter: for example, grape and giraffe both start with "g" but make different sounds.

Lesson:
1. Set out an itsy-bitsy miniature.
2. Ask you child to name the object. "Nailpolish"
3. Say, "Yes, nailpolish begins with /nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn/. Listen to these words. Magnifying glass, octopus, needle. Which one begins with /nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn/?"

4. Before she makes a choice, I review the words and really stress the beginning sounds. Nnnnnnnnailpolish - mmmmmmmmmmmagnifying glass.
nnnnnnnnailpolish - ooooooooooooooooctopus
nnnnnnnnailpolish - nnnnnnnnnnnneedle.
5. Try again with another set of choices. Set out the milk and ask you child to say the word milk.

6. Say, "What begins with the same sound as mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmilk? Is it monkey, nailpolish, bear.
7. If your child needs some help, say the words again and stress the beginning sounds.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmilk - mmmmmmmmmmmonkey
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmilk - nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnailolish
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmilk - bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbear
8. Here we tried owl with the choices of bear, otter, and nailpolish.

Modifications:

1. If you are focusing on a letter, use that as your first item 2. Only do 3-4 the first time around so it is not an overwhelming task.

Go Togethers

objective:
a. To develop thinking and reasoning skills
b. to increase vocabulary
c. to become aware of relationships between objects
d. to answer questions about objects and reasons

Point to remember:
1. Answering questions is difficult for Brooke. We often have her sister or brother model the answer to the question.
2. Get your cards sorted and paired before you begin the activity with your child.

Lesson:
1. There are 40 cards (20 pairs) in this game. Pick out 10 cards or 5 pairs to use.
2. Set one photo on the table. Ask, "What is this?" and "What do you do with this"
3. Then set out 3 cards, one of which is the match to the first photo and ask, "Which one goes with it?"
For example,
Set out the card with the paintbrushes

and ask, "What are these?" "What do you do with these?" "Do you have these?" "Where do we keep our paint brushes?" and any other appropriate questions to get your child talking
Then, set out 3 cards and ask, "Which one goes with the paintbrushes?"

Once your child points to the picture, ask her to say the name of the object as well as point.
4. Ask your child, "Why do they go together?" Brooke has a difficult time answering why questions so this is really important to us

Modifications:
1. Use real objects or get picture cards from a memory game to create the pairs.
2. Try playing a game of Go Fish or Memory with the cards but instead of getting matching pairs, you'll collect pairs that go together.

I'm Thinking of an Animal

objective:

a. practice thinking skills

b. practice listening skills as the child listens to clues about an animal

c. promote listening to language and communication skills

points to remember:

1. Only use animals that your child knows.

2. Introduce some new vocaulary such as "paws" instead of feet and "snout" instead of nose

Lesson:

1. Set 4-5 itsy-bitsy minuature animals in front of your child

2. Give clues that helps you child figure out which animal you are asking her to pick

"I am thinking of an animal that is large."

"It is brown"

"It has large paws"

3. Your child will pick the animal

4. To once your child understand the nature of the game, try playing without any visual clues. Take away the itsy-bitsy minatures and play with just auditory skills.

Modifications:

1. This is a great game to play in the car or while away from home.

Letter Hunt Worksheets

I found these fantastic Letter Hunt Worksheets at Confessions of a Homeschooler and love them.

They fit right into our Letter of Week curriculum and help the girls to notice the letter in words. Check them out here

Read the story to your child then let your child circle the capital and lowercase letters in the story.

Marathon Certificate

I am quite proud of myself so I'm posting my Marathon Certificate!

Overall Place was 5884 out of 13536 - that is 43%

Gender Place was 2006 out of 6273 - that is 31%

Age Division Place is 341 out of 1070 - that is 31%

I rock!

Identifying Sounds

Objective:
1. to develop the memory and attentional abilities for thinking about sequences of sounds and the language for discussing them.

Points to Remember:
1. Use objects that make interesting, distinctive sounds. Some examples follow:
banging on wall/table/lap
blowing
blowing a whistle
blowing nose
clapping
clicking with tongue
closing purse
coloring hard on paper
coughing
crumpling paper
cutting with a knife
cutting with scissors
dropping (various things)
drumming with fingers
eating an apple
folding paper
hammering
hopping
noisy chewing
opening window or drawer
pouring liquid
ringing a bell
rubbing hands together
scratching
sharpening a pencil
slamming a book
smashing crackers
snapping fingers
stamping
stirring with teaspoon
tearing paper
tiptoeing
turning on computer
walking
whistling
writing on board
writing with a pencil

Lesson:
1. In this game, the children are challenged first to identify single sounds and then to identify each one of a sequence of sounds.
Here is Brooke listening to a clasp on a purpose

2. The children are to cover their eyes with their hands while you make a familiar noise such as closing the door, sneezing, or playing a key on the piano.
3. By listening carefully and without peeking, the children are to try to identify the noise.
4. Once the children have caught on to the game, make two noises, one after the other. Without peeking, the children are to guess the two sounds in sequence saying, "There were two sounds. First we heard a ____, and then we heard a ____."
5. After the children have become quite good with pairs of noises, produce a series of more than two for them to identify and report in sequence. Again, complete sentences should be encouraged.
6. Remember give every child the opportunity to participate mentally in these games. If you are playing wiht more than I child, it is important to discourage children from calling out their answers until they are asked to do so.

Modifications:
1. With the children's eyes closed, make a series of sounds. Then repeat the sequence, but omit one of the sounds. The children must identify the sound that has been omitted from the second sequence.
2. Invite the children to make sounds for their classmates to guess.
3. These games also offer good opportunities to review, exercise, and evaluate children's use of ordinal terms, such as first, second, third, middle, last. It is worth ensuring that every student gains comfortable, receptive, and expressive command of these terms.
4. Feel free to tape record some of the sounds and see if you child can hear the sounds on tape as well (it is often more difficult for a child wearing hearing aids to hear sounds on tape since the sound travels through 2 technology devices before being heard)

Go Fish

objective:
a. to ask the question, "Do you have a _______?" correctly
b. to recall the vocabulary for common words

Points to remember:
1. You can make your own cards like we did or use store-bought cards
2. The words can all be a certain sound you are focusing on or a certain theme

Lesson:
1. Look through the cards and help your child recall the names of the objects
2. Give her 3 cards, give yourself 3 cards and put the remaining cards face down in the middle
3. Have your child ask you for a card. Make her correctly say, "Mommy, do you have a dog?"
4. Give her a dog if you have it or say, "Go Fish"
5. Continue to take turns requiring your child to say, "Mommy, do you have a ____?" and "Go Fish" at the appropriate times.



Modifications:
1. We had many tears over winning the game....for our family, it is best for me to play with just Brooke so I can teach her game etiquette too.
2. These cards can be used for a game of Memory as well.

Snow-Dough Play-Dough

I made some snowflake playdough to use today. You can find the recipe here

The playdough has silver glitter added to look like snowflakes. We used cookie cutters in the shapes of snowflakes, snowmen, and stars. Since we are focusing on the letter Nn this week, I included a N cookie cutter.

As part of the girls magnet boxes for the week, they complete a letter PlayDough Mat from Homeschool Creations. We used the snowflake playdough this week.

Coloring

objective:
a. practice colors
b. follow directions
c. work independently



Points to Remember:
1. Some children like to follow directions and others prefer to do things there own way. Of course, both are important.
2. Let your child know that when they go to school, they need to be able to follow directions.
3. If your child really wants to do it her own way, print two sheets. The first one follow the directions, the second let her color as she wants.

Lesson:
1. Print the Coloring Sheet

2. I color over the word "pink" with the color pink. Set out the 7 colors that she will need.

3. Make sure your child know to color number 1 pink, number 2 brown, etc.

4. Let your child color independently and show you her work when she is finished.

Modification: 1. You can do this with any worksheet or preschool coloring book. Brooke does not like to follow directions so this is a skill we work on quite often. I would rather deal with the tears and tantrums at home than have her behave poorly at school. 2. I choose a farm animal sheet since our Nursery Rhyme of the Week is Little Boy Blue which has some farm animals in the rhyme.

Magnet trays

Monday through Friday, Brooke and Kate have Magnet Trays to complete. I set up 3 trays each day that encourage them to work independently on certain skills such as letters, numbers, shapes, real-life skills, cutting, and more.

The reason I call them Magnet Trays is: 1) the activity is on a tray and 2) they get a magnet for completing it. Once they collect 45 magnets, it is a trip to the toy store to purchase a small toy or treat. Now, 45 may seem like a lot of magnets but remember I have 2 girls earning 3 magnets each so we get up to 6 magnets in a day. I do not force them to do an activity if they don't want to, but they don't get a magnet unless they do complete the activity. For example, Kate does not like Lacing activities and often will not do that tray.

Coloring Sheets

Lacing Letters

PlayDough Mats

Small Motor Skills

Dot Painting Letters

Shape or Size Sorting

Tracing

Numbers and Counting

Real-Life Skills

Alphabet Practice