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

Because Little Dragon is in an outside preschool now I did not make a lesson plan for this year.  I have been trying to supplement the things he is learning there, here.  His teachers do not have a lesson plan or a syllabus that I can use as a reference so I am blind to what we will be learning until I see his teachers after school on Mondays. Some weeks what they are learning about is something we have gone over already at home or Little Dragon simply is not interested in learning more about.  On these weeks I ask him what he wants to learn about.  Together we pick a letter he is struggling with and assign a topic to it.  It been working out quiet nicely. This Week  Little Dragon has been learning about The 3 Bears so we got out the magnetic board and did some story telling. Little Dragon practiced his handwriting by writing the story title himself. He also practiced some art skills by drawing the house details for the Bears.   ...

Identifying emotions is important for preschoolers.  It helps them identify how they are feeling then they can learn to handle their feelings appropriately.   Some feelings were new to The Dragons, such as jealousy, annoyed, and grief.  They may have felt them before but didn't know what they were called. Bible  The Dragons acted out some different emotions then using the whiteboard together we drew some emotions Jesus may have felt after resurrecting from the grave, how his disciples may have felt. Using the felt board The Dragons retold the story of Jesus dying on the cross then resurrecting.  During the time we were focusing on E our church held a Passover meal.  We attended the meal, which was really neat, and The Dragons recognized some of the aspects of Jewish traditions from our bible readings.  Using our plastic Eggs we made an Easter anagram that us under crafts below along with a resurrection craft.  Crafts ...

This week and last week I have wished we had more time on a subject.  It's not because we are not finishing the lessons or that Little Dragon isn't understanding what we are doing.  It's because I have so many ideas once we get started for activities but we just don't have time to do everything.    Jerry tells me that it is okay, I do more then an 3 year old even needs.  If I continue to try to do everything I will drive myself crazy.  He is right, of course. Sensory My original plan for a sensory activity this week was an edible zoo.  My plan changed when Little Dragon showed up at almost 11 in the same clothes with his face still painted from Tuesday. I grabbed the zoo Lego's tied some ribbon from the shower rod and made a Zoo Tub! Little Dragon loved this!  He was in the tub for an hour and we played as he called it 'friends' with the animals together. I don't know why he is making this face but it was so adorable I had to pos...

Happy Tuesday to everyone!  I am feeling great today.  We had a great week last week and I am looking forward to another. I realized last week that posting every couple days is much easier on me then everyday.  By the time I get all my photo's edited and then write my blog is is early in the am.  I love to share everything we do, I tend to write a lot of detail instead of just a summery.  I leave a bunch out too.  I often find that I forget to write about things.  We are usually constantly doing an activity, talking about a preschool topic, or playing pretend.  If I did remember everything each time I blogged my blogs would be longer then they already are. Monday I introduced the letter z in circle time. Circle Time We practiced handwriting on the whiteboard.  There was also time for improve story telling. (More about this below under Bible) We reviewed letters from the last 3 weeks (x, g, and a).  I wrote them all on th...

Another Monday, another letter. This week brings the letter a, Adam and Eve, and circles. Spencer left early again Monday to go to a Steelers game (bleh) and today I spent an unexpected 7 hours at the grocery store.  Who spends 7 hours at the grocery store?!  Me and my mother-in-law to be.  We really enjoyed ourselves and took time to look at every item the store carried, literally.  There was more then groceries at the store too.   Bible Story We did not read the full story of Adam and Eve Monday.  The story is being split up over the week.  We will add a little bit at time to help remember the story. Monday morning it was the story of the Garden of Eden.  The Bible explained it's purpose and it's rules.  The end of the mini-story was God giving Adam a partner, Eve. I Googled Adam and Eve felt board pieces and found the Adam and Eve I am using on the board.  The other pieces I have had for other projects. Tuesday w...