Wednesday June 3rd Poster Power/ Artsy Fartsy
You need:
Chart paper, Large paper
old magazines
crayons or markers
color sheet print outs?
glue
scissors


Toddler:
My friends daughter actually did this activity with (and for) the kids. She took all the old baby magazines we had in the house and cut out babies. They found tons and tons of babies! Then they glued the babies on a poster. We took it to Kinko's and laminated it. We hung it very low to the ground and they LOVE it! Other babies who come over are very attracted to this poster as well!

Preschooler:
Project #1
Is your preschool really "into" something?  What is their favorite animal? My son talked about whales non-stop after seeing them on a Reading Rainbow video. We got tons of books and other whale things. Then we found that the local library gets rid of their old magazines once a year. We got all the National Geographic Kids, what a score! We found numerous whale pictures to cut out and we typed up some fun facts about whales, and glued this all on our own poster. My son shows his poster to all guests! There are also coloring sheets for your childs favorite Tv shows or movie characters. Label your pictures with words and fun facts!

Project #2
We read Brown Bear Brown Bear all the time. Then I found a website (I will add the link if I can find it again) with print outs for all the animals. It took us a few days to color all the animals the right color and then we made another poster about our favorite book! Look up your childs favorite book and see if you can find coloring sheets for it.

Thursday June 4th / Snail Mail

Toddler or Preschooler:

You need:
Paper
Envelopes
Stamps

Write letters today!
Fold a piece of paper in half.
Decorate the front with any crafty materials you have.
Inside show your child how a letter is written.
Have them add pictures, letters, and/or words.
Ask the person in your letter to please write back and/ or call you when they receive the letter!

Language:
Ask you child what they want to say and write it as they tell you. Read it back to them.

Put the letter in the mail box together or go to the post office.
Try to explain to your preschooler how long it will take to get there.
Send out several letters and see how long it takes to get one back.
You might want to call whoever you are writing to and ask them to respond as soon as they get the letter!!

What you do helps your child get ready to Read!
Narrative Skills
-Being able to describe things and events and tell stories

Print Motivation
-Being intrested in books

Vocabulary
-Knowing the names of things

Print Awareness
-Notice print, knowing how to handle a book and knowing how to follow the words on a page.

Letter Knowledge
-Knowing letters are different from each other, knowing their names and sounds and recognizing letters everywhere.

Phological Awareness
-Being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words

In Literacy it is called Phonological Awareness.
We just call them Nursery Rhymes and FUN.

Practice saying nursery rhymes to your toddler and preschoolers.
Emphasize the rhyme.
Add actions as you sing and recite. This helps the child break the language into parts.
Singing is a good way to hear different syllables.

Memorize a few for in the car and on walks.

Baa Baa Black Sheep
Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Hickory, dickory, dock
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down!
Hickory, dickory, dock.

Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet,
sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Little Boy Blue
Little Boy Blue,
come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow,
the cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under a haycock, fast asleep.
Will you wake him?
No, not I,
For if I do, he's sure to cry.

I See the Moon
I see the moon
and the moon sees me
The moon sees the somebody
I'd like to see.
God bless the moon
and God bless me
God bless the somebody I'd like to see!

Extension:
Make up your own silly Nursery Rhymes.
Also watch after you teach your child Nusery Rhymes how often you see "references" to them in books, toys, Tv, and everywhere!

Has your preschool just started the art of jokes or have they been doing it forever? We have just started jokes as of a few weeks ago. This is so fun to watch. I love when he tells a joke and uses the wrong punch line. "Why does the chicken cross the road? -To get to the mooovies!" "knock Knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? What are you cryin about?" This cracks me up!

Here are some simple jokes you can do with your preschooler. Watch how they try to figure out how these work.  There are hundreds posted on other websites if you need more.

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Butter
Butter who?
I butter not let you in.

Knock knock
Who's there?
Boo
Boo who?
What are you crying about?

Knock Knock
who's there?
Interupting cow
Interupting c....(You have to interupt the person!)
mooo moo moo

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side

Why did the turkey cross the road twice?
To prove he wasn't a chicken

Why did the cow cross the road?
To get to the moooovies

Parent Info: Math includes being able to compare objects by size. Today let's talk about BIGGER and SMALLER.

Toddler:
Today go on a bigger and smaller hunt. Find tings in your house bigger than YOU (your toddler). You could find things inside such as; BIGGER refrigerator, furniture, bathroom sink, or bookcase. SMALLER a book, crayons, potty chair, or kleenex box. You could find things outside such as; BIGGER trees, street signs, swing sets, or fences. SMALLER ants, shovel, grass, leaves, or chalk. It is never ending really.

Preschooler:
Game:I Spy except today you can say "I spy with my little eye something bigger than_____________" or "I spy with my little eye something smaller than_________________"

Game: Pick up an object. "Let's find something BIGGER than this car." or "Let;s find something smaller than this drum." Then join your preschooler and go on a hunt looking for objects.

Toddler:
We know toddlers do not read but they ARE aware of print. You can use the Sunday paper and look at the pictures and words. The ads are a great place for your toddler to look at. Try a "Picture Walk" with your toddler. Look through all the pictures and see if your toddler can name and identfiy objects. You will need to start and they will jump in.  Try the food ads and see what foods they can recognize by the pictures.

Toddlers are known for seeing a symbol and recognizing where they are or what it is. Examples; Does your child know Mc.Donalds as soon as they see the golden arches?? (I'd love to tell you mine don't but....) What else do they know? What else can they "read"?  Mine also recorgnize the Target symbol, and the sprint logo (because we were at the store often for awhile!!), and many others. These are excellent pre-reading skills!

Preschooler:
You will need the Sunday paper, and two scissors.

One child size scissor and one adult.Take out the food ads and look through them with your child.
Show them how to cut out pictures. Then you cut out around 10 items that you have in your kitchen. Allow them to cut another ad of food items (cub and rainbow where I live), it doesn't matter if they cut correctly, just let them practice their cutting skills.

Glue your pictures to a piece of paper and decorate it like a teasure map. Explain to your child you are going on a treasure hunt in the kitchen to find the foods on your paper. You can add the word to the picture for literacy skills. Ask your child where they think each item will be...Is it in the refrigerator? freezer?  cupboard? shelf? pantry? etc. Follow their lead through the kitchen and make a large X over the pictures when you find them.

Practice literacy pre-reading skills by starting at the top left and "reading" across the page. We finished with the last picture (oreo cookies) and had a snack! My son thought making large X's with the sharpie marker was great, and he laughed if he guessed the wrong place

Toddler: Take your toddler on a "tour" of your house/apartment. See how many things you can give your toddler to touch, open, feel. Talk about textures (use words like smooth, rough, bumpy, sharp, breakable) and explain how things work.

Preschooler: Have them take you on a tour. Ask them to tell you about everything they see. What is important to them, what do they tell you about? Listen and repeat what your child is telling you about.