Growing Great Learners

A new week starts a new letter.
This week we are focused on the letter g and creation.

To begin our day we read the bible story about creation then prayed.

Circle Time
We sang the Creation Song day 1 and day 2 and used the magnetic board pieces for sensory and visual learning about day 1 and day 2 of creation.

I introduced the letter G and the "g-g-g-G for g-g-g-Garden!" saying and hand motion.  For this letter the kids crouch down then slowly grow like a garden while saying the sound.  We did this with just our arms when the dragons were sitting in their desks.  I asked the boys "what is a garden?" and "where do you find them?"  I love listening to their answers.  I didn't get any silly answers to share today they both stated 'flowers'.

We listened and sang to He's Got the Whole World in His Hands 3x while dancing around to release some energy.

I took some jackets out of the closet so we could practice zipping too!

 And our usual weather, calendar, time, ABC, and number review. 

I printed out a calendar for Spencer to color the day in each day.  It will help us practice patterns and numbers. 

Science
We fit some science in today!  I was very excited.  I planned a science activity last week but we didn't get a chance to do it.
Last night (the night before the lesson) I put some seeds in a jar of water and some on a tray for observation with a magnifying glass.
This drew their attention almost all day! 

They really enjoyed looking at them and picking them up.  Exploring the seeds.  This year is all about exploring!

At the end of the day we wet a napkin and put the seeds we had on the tray on the napkin and folded it up. The boys placed them in plastic bags and put them in a dark place.  We will check it in a few days.

Craft
My little dragon is making a Creation Book this week and today we completed the first two days.

Day 1-Light and Dark
Materials

• Blank sheet of white paper
• Yellow colored pencils
• Black colored pencils
• Blue colored pencils

I gave the kids a blank white sheet of paper and multiple yellows, dark blues, and black colored pencils.  I explained the yellows were light the others dark.  They colored the page how they liked. They turned out great!

Day 2- Water and Sky
Materials

• Blank white paper
• Blue foam
• Cotton balls
• Scissors

After extensive exploring of the cotton balls the little dragons were ready for instructions.  They identified the 'water' from the 'clouds' then began cutting the water.  I showed them an example but they both enjoyed cutting strips in the foam.  It was good scissor practice. 

Next we glued the 'water' to the bottom of the page and the 'clouds' to the top. 

More Bible lesson ideas. 

Story Board-Books Alive

Unfortunately I have not had time to go to the library and have been using books on hand for our normal story time.   I Googled Goldilocks and The Three Bears while lesson planning (because it starts with the letter G) and found felt board story pieces.  I cut them out of paper and used them on the magnetic board for our story before nap. I left it up on the magnetic board for the duration of the day so the kids could use it to tell their own version of the story. It will be up for the rest of the week. 

You can find more story board or books alive ideas here.

Felt Board

Hahaha!  I finally figured out how to bring a felt board into the classroom!  I am excited for the possibilities of what can come in the future.  

Today we used the felt board with flowers.  I ordered flower from the boys to place in their little felt pots.  Great for color practice, addition, counting, and following directions. 

Spencer's mema and I found an easel for $15 at a local church sale.  Not only is it going to be great for art but I simply draped a yard of felt over the easel and wa-la a felt board! 

There was some handwriting practice today to.  I was having a real hard time getting the boys to cooperate until I brought out the stickers.  For ever 2 g's they traced they received another sticker.  I told them they were super stars with three stars on their paper.  It worked out nicely. 

At the end of the day I released the boys into the play room.  I set up a small flower shop for them.  Using the leafs from last weeks dramatic play and the tall boxes on their sides for a counter.  

Of course you can never anticipate what the kids will imagine and pretend.  They boys ended up crawling in the boxes and played house.  They still played with the props just differently then I thought they would. 

I was angry and frustrated today. Even after multiple prayers I was agitated and anxious.  Every time I tried to introduce a new activity the boys both groaned or claimed to be tired.  I stuck it out and they enjoyed every activity.  

I kept asking myself if I was wrong.  Perhaps they didn't like preschool and I should allow them to play. After some reflection I reminded myself that I chose this plan for my kids.  For them to enjoy.  They did enjoy them I just wasn't presenting them well enough.  

During the kids nap I took a quick nap.  I woke feeling much better and the remaining lessons went better.  I think I just needed some sleep. I woke up this morning sweaty from nightmares. 

While the kids went down for dramatic play I put on some Hillsong.  I was feeling better.  

Thanks to the big man upstairs. :)