Big Energy-Little Learners...Can I do it all?

b vs d is imperative to learn.  They look similar, their names sound kind of similar, and their letter sounds are even similar. I tried teaching this awhile ago and it didn't seem to stick.  I assumed it was just going to take a lot of practice.  That is until this year.  I found something that stuck!  It is a little different but Little Dragon has not struggled at all since we identified b and d separately using this method.  It all started when Little Dragon would always tell me butt began with b during our b week.  This gave me an idea.  I drew a lowercase b and a lowercase d on our white board. Little Dragon went back and fourth on which was which unable to decide with confidence.  Then I asked him when we read a book, do we start with the left or the right?  He answered left and pointed to the left side of each letter .  I drew eyes at the top left of each letter.  Then I said now look at the letters. ...

The end of our desert unit got a bit messy!  Little Dragon played in the sensory bin for 2 days.  This took up some time for our other activities that we had to push into early the next week.  But there is learning done through play, plus he played very well independently. Bible John the Baptist is an easy story to remember and Little Dragon was bored listening to it by day 3.  So instead of reading it to him I found a YouTube short movie that he could watch. Animated Story from the New Testament Little Dragon enjoyed watching this and watched the end a couple times. Friday we used the You Version Kids Bible App to explore the life of Jesus.  I was hoping there would be one about John the Baptist but after focusing on him all week it seemed Little Dragon was ready to move one. Alphabet The week 13 folder was full of fun letter D activities.   Inside was a letter D maze (I think I made it too easy), food flashcard...

D is a letter with so many words.  The themes for d are endless.  I definitely could have overwhelmed myself with this letter.  But I stuck to my lesson plan and had a pretty stress free week. Bible This week we move into the New Testament.  We read a bit about Jesus' childhood but the main focus was on John the Baptist. Bible Verse:    Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near.  -Matthew 3:2 Repent is a word that my dragons were not familiar with.  To help explain this I had the kids stand up.  I explained that repentance was asking God for forgiveness and changing your life to follow Him or turning your life around.  When I said this I turned 180 degrees.  Then I had the kids do it.  I said you are walking God's path when you turn your life around.  Turn to Gods path. Doll Dragon said she wanted to turn the whole way around (360 degrees).  I explained that this was saying you're sorry but not living like you ...

Letter D Dragosaur We used:  White paper with the capital D written on it  Colored triangles for spikes Googly eyes Markers Glue Scissors Crate paper (optional) Give the children the capital D picture and encourage them to color it.  Then glue on the spikes and eye(s).  Cut it out.  Add some crate paper for fire breathing if desired.  This was my little dragons favorite.   To read the blog post on this craft click  here .

Dragon Snack I made dragon snacks on Tuesday to incorporate the letter D with food.  We had donuts last week and I didn't -or couldn't think of-another food that started with D so I made this. The kids were really excited when they sat down to the dragon.  I will have to think about doing this more often. We started our day off with a review on Adam and Eve and I gave each of the kids a card with Adam, Eve, or the Snake on it so they could act out the story. The role playing was fun! Stations:  Reading station- again today this station had a lot of attention.  I don't know if it the dinosaur and dragon books or they just like reading right now.  Discovery bottle- the kids all liked looking in the bottle.  I did not sit and encourage searching for specific items but it was our first discovery bottle and wanted the kids to have a chance to look first.  Dice sensory station- I put a tub of dice on the table with some small metal cups and a...

Life settled into normal routine today. *sigh* After a long weekend with Jerry home and the kids with their other parents I started my day off feeling relaxed and prepared.  I woke up early (yay!) to get some bible reading in and had the house cleaned up before the kids were finished with breakfast!   The kids watched The Land Before Time and then it was time for school.    Stations The reading station : nothing new there but the kids visited it a lot today...? Dinosaur Dig: The Discovery pack from the library provided skeleton dinosaurs which I buried in rice and gave the kids shovels to dig with.   Dinosaurs with blocks: the goal was to make homes for the dinosaurs.  This turned into one person building...  the other tearing down the city with the T-Rex.  All About Me: Athena completed the next page in her book, what is your favorite toy?  Preschool We read two books, Time ...