Week 15 - Thursday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: Q and R
Theme of the week: Questions and Rhymes

Arts & crafts:
Because Daddy is celebrating his birthday next week and Father's Day is this weekend, we decided to stray from our usual weekly theme related crafts and secretly make him gifts all week long! Today the kids made pen holders using old soup cans. Earlier in the week I had them each come up with ideas for finishing the sentence "I love you Daddy because..." I typed up all of their answers, printed them out and cut them into little strips. Today they glued the strips onto their favourite coloured paper and we then covered the cans with the paper. Now Daddy can smile every time he reaches for a pen at work!




Free play at stations:
As described in earlier free play post

Station 1: colouring pairs of rhyming pictures, drawing and cutting
Station 2: various puzzles (Chip 'n' Dale, Mickey Mouse, Donald and Daisy, alphabet puzzle)
Station 3: Play-Doh, peg board, Code de Couleur game
Station 4: free play toys that rhyme together (i.e. a hat and a cat, a bear and a pear, etc - we made a game out of finding the matching pairs!)
Station 5: Imaginarium Deluxe Marble Racing set
Station 6: basket of theme related books

Story time:
The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss
The Zax by Dr. Seuss
Too Many Daves by Dr. Seuss
What Was I Scared Of? by Dr. Seuss
What's a Fraggle? by Gikow/McClintok
Why Don't Things Fall Up? by Bently/Devaney


Cooperative game:
Bingo using rhyming words.

Science experiment:

R is for Reaction Time!
Today the kids tested how quick their reaction times were by trying to catch a ruler between their thumb and forefinger.

Physical activity:
Outdoor play in the kiddie pool, 4th soccer game of the season.




Outing/social time:
4th soccer game of the season.

Worksheets:
Coloring Q and R word pictures, tracing letters Q and R, tracing Q and R words, counting and finding numeral, tracing the numeral 4, matching rhyming pictures, matching rhyming words, cutting straight lines.

Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
Questions and Rhymes games on the iPad (Bluster, Fun Rhyming Lite, Fun Phonics Lite, Green Eggs and Ham Lite, What Am I Riddles For Kids).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Questions and Rhymes theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai chaud" when they feel hot and "J'ai froid" when they feel cold, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 15 - Wednesday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: Q and R
Theme of the week: Questions and Rhymes

Arts & crafts:
Because Daddy is celebrating his birthday next week and Father's Day is this weekend, we decided to stray from our usual weekly theme related crafts and secretly make him gifts all week long! Today the kids made gold medals for their #1 Dad. First I had them come up with what they wanted their medals to say, then I wrote the passage down on a circular piece of cardboard punched with 2 small holes and had the kids paint over it in gold paint. Once they were dry we threaded a ribbon through the holes, tied it together and voila - a gold medal!




Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
How Does Your Garden Grow? by Layman/Devaney
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Never Tease a Weasel by Soule/Hampson
The Ear Book by Perkins/Payne
Can I Have a Hug? by Gliori

Cooperative game:
Today we played a rhyming game where we matched pairs of cards displaying pictures and names of rhyming words.

Science experiment:

R is for Reaction!
Today the kids created a chemical reaction first hand when they put old copper pennies into a container of lemon juice. They were very surprised when the acid in the lemon juice reacted with the oxide coating on the coins removing it to make them look shiny and new again!


Physical activity:
Running, climbing, sliding and playing with balls in the YMCA gym with me and outdoor play at the park.

Outing/social time:
1 hr at the YMCA childcare and a play date with friends at the park.

Worksheets:
Coloring Q and R word pictures, tracing letters Q and R, tracing Q and R words, counting and finding numeral, tracing the numeral 3, matching rhyming pictures, matching rhyming words, cutting straight lines.

Hands on math:
We incorporated math after we were done our rhyming cooperative game today by sorting the pile of words by beginning letter and counting which letter began the most words and which began the least.

Computers:
Questions and Rhymes games on the iPad (Bluster, Fun Rhyming Lite, Fun Phonics Lite, Green Eggs and Ham Lite, What Am I Riddles For Kids).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Questions and Rhymes theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai chaud" when they feel hot and "J'ai froid" when they feel cold, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 15 - Tuesday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: Q and R
Theme of the week: Questions and Rhymes

Arts & crafts:
Because Daddy is celebrating his birthday next week and Father's Day is this weekend, we decided to stray from our usual weekly theme related crafts and secretly make him gifts all week long! Today the kids made frames by gluing Popsicle sticks into the shape of a square and then decorating them with stickers. They then went through our photo albums and chose their favourite photos of themselves with their Daddy and we taped the photos to the back of the frames.


Free play at stations:
As described in earlier free play post

Station 1: colouring pairs of rhyming pictures, drawing and cutting
Station 2: various puzzles (Chip 'n' Dale, Mickey Mouse, Donald and Daisy, alphabet puzzle)
Station 3: Play-Doh, peg board, Code de Couleur game
Station 4: free play toys that rhyme together (i.e. a hat and a cat, a bear and a pear, etc - we made a game out of finding the matching pairs!)
Station 5: Imaginarium Deluxe Marble Racing set
Station 6: basket of theme related books



Story time:
What Good Are Bugs? by Bently/Devaney
What's A Fraggle? by Gikow/McClintock
What Am I? by Crozon/Lanchais

Cooperative game:
Bingo using rhyming words.

Science experiment:

R is for Rocks!
Today the kids collected rocks from around the yard and then examined them using their magnifying glasses. They made observations relating to size, colour, shape and texture.


Physical activity:
Walk on the bicycle path, outdoor play in the back yard, 3rd soccer game of the season.





Outing/social time:
3rd soccer game of the season.

Worksheets:
Coloring Q and R word pictures, tracing letters Q and R, tracing Q and R words, counting and finding numeral, tracing the numeral 2, matching rhyming pictures, matching rhyming words, cutting straight lines.


Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
Questions and Rhymes games on the iPad (Bluster, Fun Rhyming Lite, Fun Phonics Lite, Green Eggs and Ham Lite, What Am I Riddles For Kids).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Questions and Rhymes theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai chaud" when they feel hot and "J'ai froid" when they feel cold, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 15 - Monday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: Q and R
Theme of the week: Questions and Rhymes

Arts & crafts:
Because Daddy is celebrating his birthday next week and Father's Day is this weekend, we decided to stray from our usual weekly theme related crafts and secretly make him gifts all week long! Today the kids made cards for both occasions using stickers, pompoms, feathers, googly eyes, buttons and fake flower petals.





Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
Happy and Sad, Grouchy and Glad by Allen/Brannon
Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
Never Tease a Weasel by Soule/Hampson

Cooperative game:
Today we played a rhyming game where one person would come up with a word and then each of the other people would take turns finding a word that rhymes with it. We kept on going until we couldn't think of any more rhyming words and then the next person came up with a new word. The game was a huge hit and will probably come in handy the next time we have to wait in line somewhere!

Science experiment:

R is for Ramps!
Today the kids created ramps of various inclines using items from around the house. They then experimented with rolling objects down the different ramps and made observations as to the varying speed and distances attained using different inclines. When we got out the measuring tape to record the distances their objects traveled, an impromptu ramp was actually created using the measuring tape itself after a marble was accidentally dropped and rolled across the room on the tape!






Physical activity:
None.

Outing/social time:
Library visit.
8 of our 15 selections were theme related books:

Questions theme:
How Do Dinosaurs Laugh Out Loud? by Yolen/Teague
Where's My Sneaker? by Mayer
What Am I? by Granfield/Herbert
Is There Room on the Feather Bed? by Gray/Westcott

Rhymes theme:
Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash by Weeks/Westcott
A Perfect Picnic by Albee/Brannon
Super Duck by Alborough
Sheep in a Jeep by Shaw/Apple

Worksheets:
Coloring Q and R word pictures, tracing letters Q and R, tracing Q and R words, writing name, counting and finding numeral, tracing the numeral 1, matching rhyming pictures, matching rhyming words, cutting straight lines.

Hands on math:
Today we incorporated math in with our science activity, measuring and comparing the distances that the items went after rolling down the ramps.

Computers:
Questions and Rhymes games on the iPad (Bluster, Fun Rhyming Lite, Fun Phonics Lite, Green Eggs and Ham Lite, What Am I Riddles For Kids).

Music:
Danced and sang along to our Questions and Rhymes theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai chaud" when they feel hot and "J'ai froid" when they feel cold, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Questions & Rhymes theme compilation CD

Here are the tracks that I put on our Week 15 Questions & Rhymes theme compilation CD:

1. Do Your Ears Hang Low? - 102 Children's Songs Vol. 2
2. What's the Name of that Song? - Sesame Street Songs from the Street
3. What Do All the Doggies Say? - The Music Class Dinosaur Collection
4. Where's Jeff? - The Wiggles (Shane's Faves)
5. Can You Swing Your Arms? - 102 Children's Songs Vol. 1
6. Please, Can I Keep It? - Philadelphia Chickens
7. Dorothy, Would You Like to Dance With Me? - The Wiggles (Shane's Faves)
8. Did You Ever See a Lassie? - 102 Children's Songs Vol. 2
9. How Do You Do? - Sesame Street Songs from the Street
10. What Shall We Do? - The Music Class Dolphin Collection
11. Can You Point Your Fingers and Do the Twist? - The Wiggles (Shane's Faves)

Week 14 - Friday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: O and P
Theme of the week: Outer Space and Planets

Arts & crafts:
Today the kids made planets out of balloons and paper plates. First they decorated the outside ring of the plate (that I had cut prior to starting) using various colours of paint. Once they were dry I inflated a balloon into the middle of the plate and gave them option of further decorating their planets with outer space themed stickers. We then hung their creations from the ceiling!





Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
Strawberry Shortcake and Sad Mr. Sun by Lexau/Sustendal
Our Earth by Amos
The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Cole/Degen
Just Imagine by Shrode/Eubank

Cooperative game:
Dominoes and Bingo

Science experiment:
This week's science theme: Outer Space and Planets of course!

Today I demonstrated how the earth orbits around the sun and how this produces the changing of the seasons. First we inflated a yellow balloon to use as the sun and placed it in the center of a hula hoop which represented the earth's orbit. Then we inflated a blue balloon to use as the earth and stuck a sticker in the upper half (northern hemisphere) to show where we live. Being sure to keep the balloon slightly tilted (since the earth's axis is at an angle) we moved our "earth" around the "sun" and saw how first one and then the other hemisphere tilt toward the sun. The hemisphere tipped toward the sun experiences summer and the hemisphere tipped away from the sun experiences winter. I also reviewed the notions of night and day and how whether or not our part of the earth is facing the sun determines what part of the day it is (as we had done in an earlier experiment this week).


Physical activity:
Gymnastics and Sports Skills Development class at Le Petit Gym.

Outing/social time:
Gymnastics and Sports Skills Development class at Le Petit Gym.

Worksheets:
Finding words that begin with O and P, finding pictures that begin with O and P, colouring O and P word pictures, filling in the missing O and P, writing uppercase and lowercase letters K-O, filling in missing letter in outer space theme words, theme dot to dot, multiple choice quiz about planets, tracing planet names.

Hands on math:
None.

Computers:
Outer Space and Planets games on the iPad (Alien Rock Lite, Letter Wars, Space Images, Solar System Lite, Rocket Chimp, 8 Planets).

Music:
Danced and sang to our Outer Space and Planets theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai faim" when they are hungry and "J'ai soif" when they are thirsty, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 14 - Thursday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: O and P
Theme of the week: Outer Space and Planets

Arts & crafts:
Today the kids made their own planets by squirting food colouring onto coffee filters and then spraying them with water and letting the colours soak together.




Free play at stations:
As described in earlier free play post

Station 1: colouring outer space and planets theme related pictures, drawing and cutting
Station 2: various puzzles (Spider Man, Kai-Lan, Toy Story puzzles)
Station 3: Play-Doh, Lite Brite, Geoforme game
Station 4: free play with star stackers, Buzz Lightyear doll, alien figurines, deck of alien cards, globe
Station 5: Trio and Imaginarium blocks
Station 6: basket of theme related books





Story time:
Jetsons on the Move by Gave/Marks
Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers - Out to Launch by Norman/Mitchell
The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Cole/Degen

Cooperative game:
Poker (seriously!)

Science experiment:
This week's science theme: Outer Space and Planets of course!

Blasting Rockets
Today we practiced trying to send paper rockets attached to stir sticks across the room and into the air by inserting them into straws and blowing as hard as we could. The kids saw how much force it took to send something so small across the room and it made them think hard about how much force must really be needed to send a huge rocket ship into outer space!


Physical activity:
2nd soccer game of the season.

Outing/social time:
2nd soccer game of the season.

Worksheets:
Coloring O and P word pictures, tracing letters O and P, tracing O and P words, matching uppercase to lowercase letters M-P, finding different, counting and finding numeral, writing numerals 3 and 4, cutting small zig-zag lines.

Hands on math:
Today we combined math with our science. Part of the blasting rockets experiment described above included estimating how far our rockets would go, measuring the actual distance, and determining if we overestimated or underestimated and by how much.

Computers:
Outer Space and Planets games on the iPad (Alien Rock Lite, Letter Wars, Space Images, Solar System Lite, Rocket Chimp, 8 Planets).

Music:
Danced and sang to our Outer Space and Planets theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai faim" when they are hungry and "J'ai soif" when they are thirsty, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.

Week 14 - Wednesday

Circle time:
As described in earlier circle time post
Letters of the week: O and P
Theme of the week: Outer Space and Planets

Arts & crafts:
Today the kids made outer space collages by gluing cutouts of various planets onto black construction paper. Gabe chose to add on the planet names as well.




Free play at stations:
None.

Story time:
Dora Climbs Star Mountain by Inches/A&J Studios
Barney - Just Imagine by Shrode/Eubank
Zoom to the Moon by Lee/Saunders
Earth by Martin
The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Cole/Degen

Cooperative game:
Today we pretended that we were astronauts landing on different planets in our space crafts. We talked about various facts as we went about our make-believe explorations, facts that the kids had learned during circle time this week and various iPad games. For example, when we landed on Neptune we said things like "Wow, it sure is cold on this planet!" or "Wow there are tall mountains here!" when we landed on Mars.

Science experiment:
This week's science theme: Outer Space and Planets of course!

Space Capsules
I made these space capsules for the kids and we used them in today's science experiment, letting them fall from the second story of our house and comparing data like which fell the fastest and which went the farthest, as well as why they never landed upside down!




Physical activity:
None.

Outing/social time:
1 hour at the YMCA childcare.

Worksheets:
Coloring O and P word pictures, tracing letters O and P, tracing O and P words, matching lowercase to uppercase letters M-P, counting and finding numeral, writing numerals 7 and 8, finding same, cutting small zig-zag lines.

Hands on math:
Today we used marbles for our math play because they look like little planets! The kids sorted them by size and colour and also played simple addition and subtraction games with them. We also did counting and estimating games and once we were done the kids then decided to chose 9 marbles to represent the sun and 8 planets and put them in order.



Computers:
Outer Space and Planets games on the iPad (Alien Rock Lite, Letter Wars, Space Images, Solar System Lite, Rocket Chimp, 8 Planets).

Music:
Danced and sang to our Outer Space and Planets theme compilation cd.

French:
French is emphasized throughout the entire day; especially theme related words. Today we practiced saying "J'ai faim" when they are hungry and "J'ai soif" when they are thirsty, and also continued to reinforce all of the notions that we covered in previous weeks. We will continue to practice these sentences all week.