Monday, September 30, 2013

August-December Preschool Packs

Woot Woot!  The August-December Preschool Lesson Plans are all updated!  They now contain 965 pages of lesson plans and activities for your preschooler.  Our preschoolers learn so much and are reading by the end of the year.  Yours could be too if you follow along with us!  This post gets long as it details all 32 preschool packs for Aug-Dec, however, if you're REALLY interested be sure to scroll to the bottom for a chance to win the whole download!
1.Welcome and Manners Download
The Welcome and Manners preschool pack sets you off on the right foot to have a fantastic school year learning the basics of reading, math, science, art, social studies, music and the world around us.  There are printables to help set up a learning station for preschoolers (colors, shapes, numbers, etc.) as well as activity pages to learn the quantity of 1, what "school" will look like and the routines we will follow, how to listen for sounds and participate appropriately. 
2. School Tools Download
School Tools introduces students to many of the tools they'll be using throughout the year.  It introduces new vocabulary words like "respect" as we talk about how you'd show respect for school tools.  I find that introducing items and having a conversation around how to use and treat them provides the students with the structure and understanding they need to be successful throughout the school year.  There are many less broken pencils and crayons as we go along as well.  We start learning the quantity of 2, talk about how to share and the difference between needs and wants and introduce matching according to color.  We get more into sorting according to variable attributes later, and matching by color is a great place to start.  Volume is a fantastic study to start right off the bat so that children can understand "indoor" and "outdoor voices" and when to use them.  We arm children with the tools they need to be a successful reader by giving them age appropriate actions and reminders for what they do when they see a letter. There are also coloring and tracing pages to go along with this fantastic set. 
3. I Am Special Download
This pack starts introducing how each of us have our own special talents and abilities.  We look similar in certain ways and we look different in certain ways.  No one else is exactly like you!  As we study the quantity of 3 and start learning the letter M we trace, color, match, sing and use a magnifying glass to study our finger prints.  There are also materials to make a class or family apple tree that shows why each person is special.
4. Manners Download
We continue our conversation about fairness and respect as we talk about Manners on our 4th day of school.  We hit on how each person's actions affect the whole group.  We can share, help and be happy when we have manners throughout the day.  There are tickets for positive reinforcement and happy/sad face puppets for a few activities throughout the day.  The vocabulary "equal" is introduced as we talk about sets up to 5 and what quantities are the same.  We continue practicing the letter M with cutting and pasting activities and tracing activities. 
5. Feelings Download
6. Fall Download
7. Dentist Download
8. Opposites Download
 9. Animal Friends Download
 10. Families Download
 11. Nursery Rhymes Download
12. Spiders and Miss Muffet Download
The Spiders and Miss Muffet lesson plans and activities are such a blast!  We're introduced to the sight word "the" and get to play some matching games with it.  We also talk about long and short and continue our study of numerical order.  There is a "Spider Facts" mini book and a clip card spider with dice.  You can also play "Smack that Spider!" and play with the Little Miss Muffet printables.  There is a long path and a short path spider game (who will win first?) and a hidden letter activity.  We focus on the letter S and making all sorts of new words. 
13. Safety Download
I really look forward to the Safety preschool pack.  I'm always amazed that as preschoolers are taught very specifically certain ideas the ideas stick!  My kids are still asking to be excused from the table when we're done eating and we worked on that in August!  The safety pack addresses safety in crossing the street, using scissors, being in the kitchen, playing with toys and many other activities that we do every day.  They can practice the sight word "the" with a sight word money and pockets game.  We also work on colors, the vocabulary "tall" and "short", non-standard measuring and play a long path game where you have to decide what the best choice is to stay safe. 
14. Bears and Bats Download
Bears and Bats pulls from a couple favorite story books: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" and "Goldilocks".  There are manipulatives to act out both of those stories as well as sort items according to size, determine quantity equality, use Do-A-Dot markers and sing songs.  We'll also be tracing and working on CVC words.  We're learning the letter B and there is the cutest toilet paper roll craft to make a bat or a bear. 
15. Bubbles Download
It is a lot of fun to play with bubbles and explore the different things we can do with them.  In this pack there are so many ideas for making bubbles, using different colored bubbles to make art and even a part about washing the dishes.  The printables are adorable and so fun to play.  There is a long path game where you have to help the kids get to the bubble bath!  There are also counting and matching games, a hidden letter B art, Do-A-Dot "the", a long path phonics game, dot-to-dot and tracing activities. 
16. Helpful Kids Download
I'm particularly excited about the Helpful Kids pack because it is based on Bucket Fillers.  It's the idea of teaching children that we all have a bucket inside of us and if we do something nice, kind or helpful for someone else we are filling their bucket.  It's a perfect set of lesson plans for improving the peace and kindness in your school or home.  We introduce the letter H and talk about all the different things we can do that would be helpful, including how to tie our own shoes.  We continue working on the sight word "the" and size sequencing items.  The Little Red Hen makes an appearance with a recipe for bread and the "Rhyming Dust Bunnies" also stop by to make rhymes with word families that we've already learned (and some we haven't for a little added challenge!)
17. Doctors Download
The doctors pack is intended to help children feel comfortable going to the doctor, even if it's just for a regular check up.  We talk about all the body parts and how we can tell if they are working and growing correctly.  H the Horse from the Amazing Action Alphabet goes to the doctor when he is stung by a hornet.  There is a letter H hidden picture and "the" puzzles. 
18. Caterpillars Download
The letter C makes it's appearance now in our curriculum.  We learn all about caterpillars and their life cycle.  There are puzzles, size matching games, tracing and word families.  We also continue non-standard measurement and introduce the vocabulary "near" and "far". 
19. Pumpkins Download
Pumpkins is another fantastic day in school.  We spend the day exploring pumpkins in many different ways.  We measure their weight, height and width.  We dissect them and talk about all the parts of the pumpkin plant.  We find out if they sink or float.  The printables are great with puzzles and songs, recording sheets for the science experiments, hidden letter coloring pages, size sequencing, shadow matching and tracing. 
20. Halloween Download
Halloween is a very exciting time of year.  With this complete lesson plan you're ready to make the most learning happen around an exciting holiday.  There are two mini books that now feature tracing pages and coloring pages.  Make the jack-o-lantern's face match the text and trace the words in the Halloween beginning reader.  We're still comparing objects by single characteristics and developing vocabulary around different traits. We get to review the letters we've learned thus far and can trace them on fun Halloween monkey pages.  There are pages to make your own haunted house writing and add Halloween characters, we're determining which is different and practicing the sight word "the"!
21. Insects Download
The insects preschool pack contains 43 pages of lesson plans and activities for preschoolers all about insects.  We introduce the letter "I" and the sight word "my".  We spend November talking about comparing attributes of objects and rhythm in music.  We talk about ant pheromone trails and how that relates to following a path and standing in a line. There are mini books about insects and insect safety.  We match beginning sounds to pictures, follow instructions in art, find shapes in pictures, and talk about attributes of objects. 
22. Indians and Pilgrims Download
The Indians and Pilgrims pack has 17 pages that will teach all about the group of pilgrims that settled on the east coast of America and celebrated the first Thanksgiving.  Activities include listening skills that will lead into phonics instruction and math skills that build upon each other week after week.  There is a long path phonics game, sorting the words into a sentence, science activities about corn, a letter I headband, matching words to pictures (from the initial sound), and an introduction of a Venn Diagram. 
23. Scarecrows Download
Scarecrows is a super fun day with oodles of scarecrow activities!  You can play "Old Scarecrow" just like "Old Maid" but fall themed, and even make your very own dancing scarecrow.  There is an alphabet dot-to-dot with the introduction of letter L.  There are scarecrow puzzles and mazes.  There is a scarecrow mini book as well as the anatomy of a scarecrow and looking at scarecrow characteristics. 
24. Thanksgiving Download
The Thanksgiving Pack is jam packed with activities.  With 36 pages of lesson plans and activities there are plenty of review games and new games!  There is a large motor hopping and counting turkey game, a word game with animals to talk about how words can be long or short and are defined by a set meaning.  There are also 5 piece puzzles, a short path game and a grid game.  There are 8 different 3D shapes as well.  Kids need a lot of experience playing with 3D shapes.  You can cut out and glue together all 8 shapes in this pack.  I like to laminate mine and Velcro them so they can be put together and laid flat over and over again.  Did you know that being able to recognize what a flat outline will turn into in a 3D shape is a skill that is tested through the school years?

25. Play Ball Download
The Play Ball pack has 28 pages of lesson plans and activities all about baseball.  We introduce the letter P and the sight word "ball".  There are baseball letter and word wheels to play with, football picture and numeral matching, a ball game for practicing letters and the sight word 'ball'.  We also learn about words having meaning in context and out of context.  We take the sentence "Take me out to the ball game" and play with the word order to find out what makes sense.  There is an activity where preschoolers manipulate the baseball players around the field as they answer questions such as what color, quantity, shape, or word is on the card.  There is also a tracing page full of words that the preschoolers should already be reading, a long path bouncing ball game, a one to one correspondence game, matching upper and lower case letters, and a word wheel to practice their reading.  
26. Animals in Winter Download
Animals in Winter has 30 pages of preschool lesson plans and activities all about what animals do in winter.  This is a fun pack that talks about the changing season and how that affects different animals.  We talk about adaptation, migration and hibernation.  We sort summer and winter clothing and play a short path game to help the squirrel get his acorn! We also match pictures to beginning sounds and words, follow mazes to get the animals that migrate to their new destination, play a winter snowball reading game and read a book "Goodnight Summer" written by my best friend based on the children's book Goodnight Moon.
27. Sharing and Manners Download
What can possibly be better than starting the holiday season with a good dose of sharing and manners review?  Start the month off on the right foot with the fun games, activities, books and lots of learning in the Sharing and Manners Preschool Pack.  We'll practice the letters and words that have been introduced already this school year and continue talking about syllables.  Work together to create a paper chain and start a study about graphing.  Continue your conversation about super friends and how they share! 
28. Gingerbread Friends Download
The gingerbread theme is one of my favorites to teach.  We have so much fun on gingerbread day.  It's filled with baking, sorting, graphing, syllables and ideas for Gingerbread based learning that leaves everyone happy!  Preschoolers will practice writing their letters, play with puzzles and size sequencing, read a fun position words book and explore graphing! 
29. Snow Download
The Snow Preschool Pack continues our learning about syllables and graphing.  The letter F is introduced, don't you say /fffff/ when you're freezing?  There is so much fun to be had with different tracing pages, activities about symmetry, patterning, individuality of snowflakes and people, Tic-Tac-Toe, a spinner counting activity and a play-dough mat! 
30.  Polar Express Download
I am thrilled with the (now 2nd) remake of the Polar Express Preschool Pack.  You'll find word family bells to practice reading all the letters that we've learned thus far. There are counting pages and a Do-A-Dot train.  You'll also find a hop along the path large motor game (one of our favorites to play at Little Adventures Preschool).  It's been introduced before as a jumping game, but now we'll start making it more challenging by adding dice. There is a pattern block train as well as patterning pages. You will practice making tally marks and discus comparison words like larger, smaller, fatter, skinnier.  There is a train for standard and non-standard measurement and a short path game with a spinner.  There are also train cards with sight words that we've learned this year for a game of Matching, Go Fish, or Memory.  You'll also find beginning sound clip cards with all the letters we've learned thus far and a few extras for an extra challenge!   
31. Ocean Animals Download
The Ocean Animals Preschool Pack introduces the letter J with a focus on phonemes (specifically initial phonemes).  We continue graphing with goldfish crackers and a cut and paste activity.  There is Sea Star Bingo, a play-dough mat, a beginning reader book, size sequencing activities, color matching games and a mini lesson on the different ways we can observe Ocean Animals since they live under water and we live on the ground!
32. Winter Holidays Download
December is considered the holiday season because there are so many holidays that we celebrate.  Different families from different cultures and backgrounds celebrate the holiday season in different ways.  This theme gives a few tidbits from a few of the December holidays.  You'll find beginning sound presents, a letter to Santa and a Santa paper doll, New Year's activities and countdown chain toppers! 
33. Thank You Notes Download
This is a nice little set of plans to remind us to teach the importance of writing thank you notes.  There are a few letters that are set up as tracing templates to add details and write thank you notes.  We review counting the quantity of items, read a few beginning reader books, practice our graphing, play Go Fish and match uppercase to lowercase letters, and even cut out our own envelopes and practice folding it and a note card.  
**Preschool packs are lesson plans intended for a small preschool classroom or homeschool.  They are not to be used individually as they follow a year long curriculum that builds upon itself.  The themes specify what the underlying topic is that we'll be talking about with literature, in our art, and any science or social studies activities.  Reading and Math activities most often do not relate to the theme and these lesson plans are heavy in the reading and math department.  Printables expand on what we're able to cover in our 2.5 hours allotted to learn the materials and are often used as homework practice. The reading lesson plans are designed to be used with all the materials from the Amazing Action Alphabet and have been proven to teach children to be successful readers.

**Each preschool pack has 3 pages of lesson plan ideas.  Each child should be introduced to activities that don't involve something you can print from a computer, such as building blocks or painting.  These first 3 pages of lesson plans have all of the ideas that match the theme in one easy spot.  The lesson plans pages are organized by subject for easy referencing.  I've linked many of the materials listed to to provide you with more information about products you might want to consider using.  These packs have a lot of research behind them as I am a licensed teacher with experience teaching PreK-2nd Grade for 10 years.  

Friday, September 27, 2013

Science Friday - Catapults

Science Friday was awesome!  We generally do a Science Tuesday twice a month, but due to a drama class at the same time for my Kinder we through one on the calendar for Friday.  Our science day is basically CJ's science curriculum for the Kindergarten year.  Science happens to be awesome as a big group activity, so we always set it up so that our homeschooling group can join us.

We often use ideas from one of the Mythbusters Science Fair books.  One of the items that was tagged by CJ was catapults.  We started the day watching 2 episodes of Mythbusters before our friends came over.  They were both based on catapults.  They often have 2 myths paired together so we skipped over the parts that were about the other myth and only watched the catapults parts.  When our friends came over we watched a short video about a catapult that explained what they do. (*Watch out for the ads at the beginning and the end.  There is also a naughty word in the middle that I muted while the kids were watching it, so watch it first if that is a concern for you.)

After we watched the video we talked about what a catapult was.  Then I handed out spoons to practice catapulting small animal counters around the room.  It's a simple catapult to introduce the idea to the kids.
 Next, I gave a quick demo on how to build a small wood catapult.  The directions are in the Mythbusters book (mentioned above).  All the wood was cut and pre-drilled for the kids so they could do much of the work on their own.  The kinders and younger needed extra assistance from their adult, but the older kids loved it!  We got to assembling our catapults and launching gluten-free Cheerios around the room. The kids were also given crayons and markers to decorate their catapults however they liked.
 The idea of the catapult is simple.  There is a dowel through the middle of another dowel that freely turns in the side brackets.  There is a hook on one end of the dowel with a hook on the bottom board of the same side.  A rubber band is hooked between the two hooks.  A small basket (the bottom of a plastic cup) is taped to the other side of the small dowel.  The basket is pulled down creating tension on the rubber band.  When it's released it catapults the objects from the basket.
 We tried all sorts of experiments to see if we could fling them up the stairs (and how many stairs it could go up) and we catapulted them down the stairs and across the room.  We explored different types and sizes of rubber bands and had to deal with some stress fractures in the small dowels.  We certainly put our catapults to work!
It was a great day of catapults and playing with friends!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Preschool Nursery Rhymes

Learning Nursery Rhymes with preschoolers is so much fun.  I know my little one and at least one other little one has randomly broke out in nursery rhyme song since our class on Thursday.  Nursery Rhymes are very important for children to develop listening skills, sequencing skills, sound differentiation, and rhyming. We act out nursery rhymes all day long.  Mary Had a Little Lamb:
 Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep:
 Along came a spider.... (Little Miss Muffet)
 Our Nursery Rhymes theme coincides with a letter review. We've already learned letters MTA and are working on committing them to memory.  One of the printables in the Nursery Rhymes lesson plans includes a beginning sound sort.
 We also cut out stars and added glue and glitter for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  Please continue working with your preschooler on using scissors correctly.  The more they play with scissors and junk mail or magazines the better.  Please always keep a close eye on them for safety reasons.
 What's preschool without a little (or a lot) of glitter?
 We've made our way to a quantity of 5 in our math lesson plans.  Today we pulled out the animals again and had everyone pick 5 animals to play with.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Nursery Rhymes

We learned all about Nursery Rhymes in tot school today.  Nursery Rhymes are important to introduce to toddlers and preschoolers for a variety of reasons.  Listening to and learning nursery rhymes aids in understanding of the sounds that make up language.  Children are able to play with the language as they learn to rhyme words. They are also a fantastic way to introduce new and less used vocabulary.  Nursery rhymes use patterns and teach sequencing.  Children act out the stories and exercise their speech muscles while singing/chanting along.  I could go on forever, but instead I'll just share a link with you to a well written article about how awesome they are for children's development: Rhymers are Readers.
 We started the day playing with mittens and books, exploring hole punches and learning to glue little shapes onto our Old King Cole crowns.
 When we headed outside the kids were immediately drawn to the buckets of water and acting out Jack and Jill.  They also just love to play in the sandbox and playhouse!
 This series of pictures just makes me giggle :).  We were playing Jack be Nimble and practicing jumping over a candlestick.  The kids LOVED this activity!
 It was also exciting to play with the Nursery Rhymes tot pack.  I love how the girls were engaged in it and the other children came over one by one to join in on the excitement.  And they all played the game (shadow matching) together.  It was so fun!