Thursday, April 30

Hello everyone,

I hope that today finds you and your family all well!

I just want to say that I understand that all this hasn't been easy for you staying at home all day with your entire family.  Being all things to everyone is tiring.

As I've said many times in the past, I truly think that a key component to maintaining your sanity will be to maintain a schedule.  If you haven't done so already, you are free to use the routine cards that are on our website.

Here is a good article of suggestions of what to include in your day.  A Schedule to Help Your Child Thrive

Most of all, be easy on yourself!

Link to Preschool Private Page CLICK HERE

EVERYONE

Mud Pie, anyone?

When you listen to today's book, you'll know why I'm encouraging your child to play in the mud.

If you can't do this outside, which I highly recommend, you can use a plastic container to play inside.

Aside from dirt and water, you can gather cups, toy cars, dinosaurs, spoons, forks, sticks, leaves, whatever else strikes your fancy.

Let you child have at it.  Let them experiment with adding water, what they choose to put in, the clean up.  It's a great quiet-time activity that will keep them busy!

2s: Little Blue Truck

1.  Story Time

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle is a sweet story about helping others.  Watch this book reading with your child: Little Blue Truck

2.  Sorting by Size

Sorting skills help build the foundations for more complex problem solving.  It teaches your preschooler similarities and differences, categorizing, and develops early literacy and numeracy skills.

You can use items you have on hand like measuring cups and spoons, glasses or cups, plates, your family's shoes, Legos, etc.

You can print the Little Blue Truck Size Sorting page from our website.  Cut out the picture squares for your child.

There are five different objects in three sizes.  You can have your child sort by object and then by size or sort all of the similar sized objects together.  Give them different tasks - biggest to smallest, smallest to largest, all the largest together, etc.

3s:  Little Blue Truck and Sheep

1.  Story Time

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle is a sweet story about helping others.  Watch this book reading with your child: Little Blue Truck

2.  Animal or Not an Animal

Sorting skills help build the foundations for more complex problem solving.  It teaches your preschooler similarities and differences, categorizing, and develops early literacy and numeracy skills.

Print the Little Blue Truck Sorting page.  This page has sixteen objects on it.  Eight are animals from the story and eight are not animals, but objects from the story.


Have your child cut out the squares.  Look at each item and help them decide if it is an animal or not.  Show them which side of the sheet is for animals and which is for other things.

3.  Sheep

One of the animals that helps Little Blue Truck in the story is a sheep.  We're going to make our own sheep.

Did you know that sheep with pink skin produce white wool, and darker wool comes from black/white or brown/white piebald sheep.  Piebald is mottled colors.

We're going to make a sheep with white 'wool'.  So what color will its body be?  Pink!

From your bag, you'll need the two pink circles, the sheet of page reinforcers, the sticker eyes, and the black rectangle.

Use the black rectangle to cut legs for the sheep.  How many legs does a sheep have?

Take the larger of the pink circles and glue the legs onto your sheep body.  Turn it over.

Carefully peel the little white circle stickers from your sheet and put them on the large pink circle.  This will be your sheep's 'wool'.

Once you've used all the white circles, get the small pink circle that we're going to use for a face.

Put the sticker eyes on your sheep face and draw a nose and mouth.  Now glue the head to your sheep's body.

Well done!

4.  Pre-writing Practice

From our website, print out the Little Blue Truck Writing practice sheet.

Point out to your child the pictures on the left of the page, where we always start writing - left to right.  There is a line connecting it to a picture on the right.

Using a crayon, pencil or marker, have your child trace the dotted lines, left to right, top to bottom.

4s:  Little Blue Truck and the Letter Z

1.  Story Time

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle is a sweet story about helping others.  Watch this book reading with your child: Little Blue Truck

2.  Think of a time when you helped someone.

Did you help a friend at school get their coat or build something?  Did you help a sibling set the table for dinner?  Did you help the mail carrier put the mail in the mailbox?

I know that our 4s are very kind.  It should be easy for you to think of a time you were helpful.

Draw a picture of the time you're thinking of and share it with your family.  Encourage them to think of ways that they've been helpful too.

3.  Fill It, Poke It, Print It

Let's practice the letter of the week some more.

From our website, print out the Fill It, Poke It, Print It page.

You can fill the letter at the top of the page with anything you like.  Stickers, your fingerprint, make a colored pattern or simply color it in.

On the lower left, do some writing practice.  On the lower right, you'll need a toothpick or something similar to poke holes to create a letter Z.

4.  Barnyard Alphabet

From our website, print out the Barn Alphabet Upper- and Lowercase sets.

Cut them out or have your child cut them apart.

Separate the uppercase from the lowercase.  Shuffle each of the sets.

Spread them out into two piles.  Have your child draw a card from the uppercase pile and find its lowercase mate.

Have them complete the alphabet.

Tomorrow is Z Show & Tell!  Start thinking...

Wednesday, April 29

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Do you ever wonder why I keep writing at the end of activities to have your child retell the information or explain it to someone else?

When you are able to teach or explain something successfully to someone else, it means you've really grasped the subject.

By having your child do this, it really reinforces what they've learned.

Link to Preschool Private Page CLICK HERE

2s: Shaggy Sheep

1. Listen to the read-aloud, nonfiction book about sheep: Sheep by Quinn M. Arnold

Have you ever seen any real sheep?  Where did you see them? What color were they?  Did you touch it?

2.  Let's make a sheep!

Surely, this sheep, Chris, needs a shave

In your bag there is a small white paper plate, some cotton balls, a black circle 'head', two black 'legs', and some sticker eyes.  You'll also need glue.

Have your child put the eyes on the 'head'.

Turn the plate over to the back and glue the legs to the edge of the plate, on one side.  Have your child turn the plate over and put glue all over the plate then stick on the cotton balls.

Turn the 'head' over and put a good amount of glue on the back.  Place the head in the center of the sheep's plate body and give it a good pat so that it sticks to the 'wool'.

3.  Animal Shadows

From our website, print out the Animal Shadows page.

Look at the pictures with your child.  Have your child name the animals.  Can they make the sound that the animals make?

Point out the shadows to your child.  A shadow is what we see when the light is behind an object.  If you have a flashlight handy, use this to show them their own shadow!

Point to each shadow and see if your child knows which animal it belongs to.  If they are able, have them draw a line between the two pictures.

3s:  Cows

Right about now, we would have been going to the Smith's dairy farm in New Windsor.  They have over 500 head of cattle!  That is a lot of milking to be done!

1.  You can share this video with your child of two boys going to visit a dairy farm.  It's much like the trip we would have had.   Where Does Milk Come From?

2.  Cow Puppet

In your bag of supplies is a white paper bag, a cut-out of a cow head, some sticker eyes and a tongue.  You'll need glue and some black or brown paint or markers.

Have your child decorate the bag to look like cow spots.  You can draw spots and have them color the areas in or if you have paint, have them paint spots on the bag.

Have your child stick the eyes on the cow's face and then put the tongue near the cow's mouth.

Have the bag's bottom facing you, with the opening nearest you.  Have your child glue the cow head onto the bag's bottom rectangle.

When it dries, show your child how they can put their hand in the bag to make a puppet!

3.  Farm Scene

In your child's bag is a sticker scene that they can create.

Look at the sticker sheet with your child and have them identify the animals and objects from the farm.

Let them create their own farm scene with the stickers.

It's a lot of stickers, you may need more than one sheet of paper.

Yes, cows may live on the roof of the barn and horses in the clouds.  It's their creation.

4.  Just for Fun

Click, Clack, Moo - Cows That Type

Who doesn't love this book?  Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type

4s: Letter Z and Typing Cows

1.  Letter Z Card

Let's work on our fine motor skills.  You'll need the Letter Z Card printed from our website, something to write with and a hole punch.

Look at the letter Z card.  It has upper- and lowercase letter Zs around the edge of the page.  They both look the same except for the size.  You can color the zebra in the center of the page.

Use a pencil, crayon or marker to circle all of the Zs.  Now use the hole punch to punch out all the Zs.

2.   Story Time

Do you have the book Click, Clack, Moo - Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin?


If you do, read it with your child.  If you do not, you can watch the story being read here:  Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type

3.  Comprehension

From our website, print out the Click, Clack, Moo Story Comprehension page.

Remind your child that in early March, we talked about the parts of a story.  These included the author, illustrator, setting, characters, and plot (beginning, middle and end).

Before you ask the question, go over all the answer options.  What are the possible answers available?  What do they think the question might be?  (Like Jeopardy)

Read the question and have them recall the story then circle the correct answer.  Have them explain how they know that is the correct answer.

4.  Patterns

From the website, print out the Click, Clack, Moo Patterns page.

We find it works best when trying to figure out a pattern to say it out loud.

Have your child cut out the pictures at the bottom of the page.  Not all the pictures will be used.

Have your child say each pattern and determine what the missing piece may be.  Glue the missing piece in the correct spot.  Say the pattern again to make sure you are correct.

'See' you tomorrow!  

Tuesday, April 28

Today, April 28, is National Superhero Day!

EVERYONE

Who is your favorite superhero and why?

If I had to choose a movie superhero, I'd choose Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy.  Why?  I mean, come on, Chris Pratt.  Plus, he's funny, he can dance, he knows every 80's song and he's slightly nerdy.  He can save me any day of the week.

Link to Preschool Private Page CLICK HERE

2s: Old Mac Donald

1.  E-I-E-I-O

We often sing Old MacDonald in the classroom.  You're child will know it.  Can't remember it?  No worries - here's a refresher video to watch with your child: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

You can make a lift-the-flap game for your child with Old MacDonald's barn.

From our website, print out the Old MacDonald pages.  Cut out the animals and the barn door flap on page 2.   Glue the flap onto the barn on page 1, covering the loft.

You can do the first round, but your child will enjoy being in charge.

Choose an animal cut-out and hide it behind the flap.  When you get to the part of the song where you name the animal, reveal what's behind the flap and continue the song.

If you've run out of animals and still wish to sing, have your child think of animals that are not pictured and may live on a farm.

2.  Corn Fine Motor Skills

From our website, you'll need to print out the 2s Corn Stickers sheet.  You'll also need from your bag the strip of yellow circle stickers.

Don't have the stickers?  Use a yellow marker or have your child dip their finger in yellow paint or use a Qtip to paint the circle.

Point out the missing kernels on the corn cob.  You're child can fill those in.  Let your child peel the yellow circle stickers and apply them the cob until all the missing circles are filled in.

3s: Farm Animals and Corn

1.  Story Time

Listen to the funny story of the rebel animals at Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm by Joy Cowley: Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm

From our website, print out the Mrs. Wishy-Washy Questions page.  Ask your child each question and have them circle the correct answer in each block.

Have your child retell the story.

2.  Hidden Pictures

You'll need to print out the Farm Animal Hidden Pictures from our website.

Look at the top of the page with your child.  Help your child identify the animals that they will be looking for - a rabbit, a chicken, a mouse, a horse and a duck.

Can they find the animals in the picture?  Have them color the animals.

There is one more that is not shown.  Can they find it?  What is it?  Does it live on a farm?

3.  Corn Counting

You'll need the 3s Corn Counting page from our website.  You'll also need the yellow stickers from
your supplies bag and a six-sided die.

Look at the corn cob with your child.  Help them identify the numbers in the circles.

Have them roll the die and identify the number of dots on it.  What does that numeral look like?

Have your child find a circle with that numeral in it.  Let them peel a yellow circle sticker off the strip and cover the numeral.

If you roll and there are no numbers left, just roll again until all the circles are filled!

4s: Farms

1.  Story Time

Listen to the funny story of rebel animals at Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm by Joy Cowley: Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm

2.  Wishy-Washy Graphing

From our website, print out the Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Graphing.

Look at the pictures and the graph with your child.  Explain that they should count and then graph the proper number of each object.

There are two ways to do this.
     1)  Read left to right beginning with the first line.  As you see a picture, mark it on the graph.  Go to the next picture and mark that one on the graph.
If you do it this way, you should have marked one cow and one goose on your graph.
Go across each line until you have graphed each picture.
     2)  The first column on the graph is a cow.  Look at all four rows of pictures and count all the cows.  Mark the correct blocks for that column on the graph.
Move on to the next column - the goose.  Complete each column at a time.

3.  Hidden Picture Puzzle

From our website, print out the Hidden Eggs picture.

There are ten eggs in the picture.  Can your child find and circle all the eggs?

How many hens are hiding in the picture?

Have your child color the picture.

4.  Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are the words we use to describe an object's position in relation to others.

From our website, print out the Ordinal Numbers Farm Animals.  Your child will also need crayons or makers.

Look at the line of animals with your child.  Have them name all the animals.

Read the directions, one at a time, to your child.  You might explain it "The fifth animal is the one that is in the number five spot.  Let's count from the start of the line" if needed.

Have your child color the appropriate animals according to the directions.

Monday, April 27

Growing up at the beach, farms were something of a mystery to me when we moved here, even though New Jersey is the 'Garden State'.  After being in Carroll County for over twenty years, I can say that I've learned a lot, but still have a long way to go.

Playtime Pastures, Granite (a former preschool family)

I love our unit on farming.  I like that each class gets to experience a different aspect of the agricultural process.  The twos see a family farm (Playtime Pastures, Granite).  The threes see a working dairy farm in New Windsor with over 500 head of cattle.  The fours get to see how the planting process grows the food that we eat every day.

Parents, you know how challenging it can be to get kids to eat enough fruits and vegetables, but did you know that gardening may help?  An expanding body of research shows that when kids help grow fruits and vegetables, they are more likely to eat more produce and try different kinds, too.

The benefits of gardening don't end there. Gardening helps kids engage their curiosity, learn to be resourceful and gain self-confidence. It also is a great way to get the entire family outside for fresh air and physical activity. (from EatRight.org)
For more information: Eat Right Suggestions

Link to Preschool Private Page CLICK HERE

EVERYONE

This is some creative
gardening!

It's nearly time that we can safely plant our gardens.  Ms. Donna always told me never to plant anything outside until Mother's Day.

Sit down with your family and plan a garden.  It may be pots, you may have some land you can use or you may be in between.  Plenty of things can be grown in pots on your porch or patio!

Let your child help in the planning.  Look at seeds and planting instructions online.  Let them help measure and plot.  Mark on a calendar when you will do each step of your project.  Remember, if they participate your child gets so much more out of the process.

If you can't actually plant produce, try herbs in a pot on the windowsill!

2s: The Big Red Barn 

1.  Story Time

Listen to the story Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown with your child:  Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

2.  My Barn

There are a few options for this activity today, depending if you picked up your packet and if you did, which one you got (there were two different kinds).

You'll need your foam animal stickers from your supplies bag and the red barn cut-out.  If you received the sticker scene page, you'll need that.  If you did not pick these up, you can print the 2s Farm Scene from our website for this activity.

You'll also need some glue and a sheet of paper.

Look at the stickers or pictures with your child.  Have them identify as many of the objects as they can.  As you do, you'll want to expand and make comments such as "Most barns are red.  Who lives in a barn?" or "Sheep make the 'baaa' sound.  They're often white, like this one.  Can you sound like sheep?".

Have your child make a farm scene and then tell you or someone else about it.

3s: The Big Red Barn and Mom & Baby Animals

1.  Story Time

Listen to the story Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown with your child:  Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

2. Moms and Babies

In the story Big Red Barn, there were many mommy and daddy animals with their babies.


Can you match the mommy animals with the correct baby animal?  Do you know what each kind of animal baby is called?

From our website, print out the Mom and Baby Matchup Game.  Cut out the cards.

First go over each of the pairs with your child and explain what each baby animal is called.  You can do two activities with the cards.  You can have your child simply match the mommy and baby cards or you can play a memory game.  Start with a limited number of pairs and build up to the whole set.

3.  How Many Babies?

I'm sure it feels like this some days...

From our website, print out the How Many Baby Animals sheet.  Look at the sheet with your child, noting that next to each mommy animal there are a group of babies and that each mommy has a numeral written on it.

Have your child identify the numeral on the adult.  Have them show you with their fingers what that number looks like.  If they're unsure of the number, give them a hand.

Have them point to the group of babies and count out the correct number.  They can circle or color the correct number of babies.

Want to expand?  Ask them to count how many babies are left.

4.  You can watch this cute song about animal moms and baby names: The Baby Animals Song

4s: Letter Z and Farms

1.  Letter Z

Letter Z makes the buzzing /zzzz/ sound, like a mosquito.  Listen along as we read the AlphaTales book about the letter Z: AlphaTales - Zack the Lazy Zebra

What are all the Z words you hear in the story?
Do we have any friends who have a Z in their first or last name?  (The answer is yes.  Shout out to Killian whose last name has a Z, but you do not hear it.  Pawelczyk (Pah-vell-check).

2.  Writing practice

Let's practice writing the letter Z.

Z has a little line across (left to right), a big line down and then a little line across again - all without picking up your pencil.

Print out your Letter Z Practice Page from our website and practice writing Zs.

**Don't forget to continue to practice writing your name every day!

3.  Story Time

Watch the reading of All Kinds of Farms by Jeanne Schulte: All Kinds of Farms

4.  Farm Shopping at Home

At the end of the book All Kinds of Farms, the reader asks us 'What did you use today that came from farms?'.

Ask Mom or Dad for a shopping bag and start looking for things in your house that came from a farm.  Once you've gathered ten things, draw a picture that shows your items.

Do you know what kind of farm they came from?

Friday, April 24

And finally... It's Friday!

Why, hello there!

Our last day of bugs.  Those of you who are creeped out by insects should be happy!

I happen to be an insect lover, as long as they are outside of my home.  I pay good money to have the inside of the house pest free!

EVERYONE

Today, we're all going to go on a Bug Hunt!  Let's see if we can find some of the creatures we talked about this week as well as some others.

You'll need the Bug Hunt print out from our website and something to write with while you're exploring.  Hopefully some of the little crawlie beasts will be out this week!

Let me know what you found!

Link to Preschool Private Page CLICK HERE

2s: Insects

1.  From our website, print out the 2s Insect Puzzles.  If you have card stock, that will make them more durable.

Look at the pictures with your child and help them identify the insects.  

Cut the cards out.  Start by giving your child the two-piece puzzles, one insect at a time and work up to mixing the two-piece puzzles together and seeing if they can complete the task.

When they have successfully completed the two-piece puzzles, have them do the same with the four-piece pictures.

2.  Break out the play dough

In addition to the play dough, supply your child with pipe cleaners for legs and buttons or beads for eyes.  Gather any other supplies that they can use as body parts.

Let your child make insects using their imagination!  

3.  Get Moving

Use the cards from our website Move Like an Insect.

Print them out and cut them apart.

Have your child choose a card from the pile and show how they can move like that insect.  You can take turns or have your child do all the movements.

Which insect would they like to be?

3s: Pets

You don't need to have a pet to do these activities!  If you don't have pets at home, have your child choose an animal that they would someday like to have as a pet.  

1.  Watch the reading of the Dr. Seuss book What Pet Should I Get: What Pet Should I Get by Dr. Seuss

2.  My Pet

Print out the My Pet page from our website.  

Help your child fill out the sections of the page by asking them questions.  If you don't have a pet, ask your child where you could find the information about that animal and help them do the research.

Have your child draw pictures or cut pictures out of a newspaper circular or magazine to fill in the blocks.

Here's my sample of my dog Bubba.  You can see he spends a lot of time on his plush, queen-sized bed...

3.  Goldfish

Fish are an easy first pet for children.  Yes, they're easy to kill, but their easy to replace as well!

You'll need the Goldfish Graphing page from our website and a cup full of Goldfish Crackers.  No goldfish?  Just use cereal or some other small objects.  

Show your child the graph and how there are numerals across the bottom from 1-10.  Point to each numeral as you say the name.

Have your child show you what ONE looks like, using the goldfish.  Have them place the cracker in the column in the first space.  Now ask them what TWO goldfish look like and place those on the correct column, one fish in each space.

Have them complete the graph going up to ten.

Now eat the goldfish!

4s:  Letter Y and Insects

1.  Watch this compilation of Sesame Street videos about the letter Y:  Sesame Street Letter Y

2.  Letter Y Show & Tell

Have each of your family members find something that begins with the letter Y.  Take turns telling each other about your finds.  Have Mom or Dad write the word down for each person.  Remember, if it is someone or something's name, it has an uppercase letter at the beginning.


3.  Yertle the Turtle used to be a favorite of my son.  You can watch this turtle whose name begins with Y here:  Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss

4.  Cootie Game

You'll need the Cootie Game page from our website, something to write with and a six-sided die.

Explain to your child, using the information at the bottom of the page, that each number on the die will represent what they'll get to draw for their cootie insect.

Take turns rolling the dice and drawing your insects.  The first person to complete their insect wins!

Have a great weekend!!  :)

Thursday, April 23

Today is World Book Day!

I love books, and UNESCO agrees. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization proposed World Book Day as a day of celebrating the joy of reading for enjoyment.

One hundred countries observe World Book Day, and why not?

Children who regularly read for enjoyment have higher test scores, develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures than their non-reading counterparts. Whether you read traditional paper bound books or turn to your Kindle/iPad/whatever, reading’s a passport to this and many other worlds.  (from www.nationalday.com)

Link to Preschool Private Page CLICK HERE

2s: The Number 4 and Ladybugs

1.  Review the Number 4 with your child.

See if while they help you set the table or make dinner they can count out to the number 4.  'Can you get me 4 napkins?' or 'Can you count out 4 carrots for me?'.

2.  Let's read a story!

If you have the book The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle, break it out.  Your child can follow along with this video or simply watch the story.

Watch the story with your child at: The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

3.  Let's make our own ladybug!

In your bag, you'll find a spot-less lady bug, antenna, 6 legs, and 8 'spots' (4 for each wing since we're counting to four!).  You'll also need some glue.

Have your child glue the legs onto the ladybug body and use the sticker eyes on the head.  You can use a stapler to attach the antenna to the head.

Show your child how each strip of spots has 4.  (What a coincidence!)

Have your child peel the stickers one at a time and put 4 on each wing of the beetle.

Will their ladybug be grouchy or happy?

3s: Lovely Little Ladybugs

1.  Ladybug Crown

In your bag, you'll find a long 3" strip of red paper, a strip of large black dots and a long pipe cleaner.

Have your child peel the black dots and apply them to the red band.  Staple the antenna to the center point of the red strip.

Adjust the band to fit your child's head!

2.  Let's read a story!

If you have the book The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle, break it out.  Your child can follow along with this video or simply watch the story.

Watch the story with your child at: The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle 

3.  Ladybug Numbers

From our website, print out the sheet titled 3s Ladybug Numbers.  You'll also need the strip of ladybug stickers from your bag.

Look at the sheet with your child.  Each square has a numeral and some ladybugs already.  Encourage your child to name the numeral and count, one at a time, the ladybugs in the first square.

Have them add stickers, counting as they put each new sticker down, until they have the correct amount of stickers in the square.  Have them go back and check by counting out loud and pointing to each ladybug.

4s:  Letter Hide & Seek and Ants

1.  Letter Hide & Seek

For this first activity, you'll need to write the alphabet on post-it notes or cards, one letter on each.

Don't feel like doing that?  Print out the alphabet cards from the website.  They can also be used as flash cards!

While your child is not aware, place the letter cards around the house in places they would normally see.

Explain to your child that when they find a card, they need to tell you:

1. What letter it is
2. What sound it makes
3. Something that begins with that letter

As they find the letters, have them line them up on the floor, table or counter top in alphabetical order.

Bonus, if you printed them in color, do they notice a pattern?

2.  Listen to the reading of The World of Ants by Melvin Berger.  The World of Ants by Melvin Berger

What did they learn about ants?

3.  Ants are A-maze-ing

Print out the Ant Maze from our website.

Show your child that the beginning is on top of the mound at the entrance to the tunnels.  They need to reach the center of the tunnels where the strawberry is located.

I suggest using a pencil because some children get frustrated when they go the 'wrong' way.  No worries - just erase it!

4.  The Ants Go Marching...

Remember that song?  You can relive it with your child complete with lyrics (and have it roll around your head for the rest of the day): The Ants Go Marching song

4.  Let's build an ant!

In your bag you'll find black paper with 'ant parts' on it, white paper with wings, stick-on eyes, and a pipe cleaner antenna.  

Have your child cut out the body parts for the ant.

There is also a rectangle of black paper that they can use to cut legs.  Glue the legs to the thorax of the ant (that's the middle section).

Put eyes and antenna on your ant.

Have your child explain each of the body parts for the ant and what type of ant it will be - a nurse, a soldier, a worker or a queen?

Wednesday, April 22

Today is Earth Day!

At preschool, we try to teach your child about being respectful - not just to people, but to all God's living things.

EVERYONE

Are you familiar with Dr. Seuss' The Lorax?

You can watch this cautionary tale of abusing the environment with your child here: The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

While you're on your walk today, take a bag and some gloves with you.  Explain to your child that if they see litter, that you should pick it up and dispose of it properly.

I hope that you recycle at home.  Having two millennials in my home, we're strict recyclers.

Here's what's recyclable in Carroll County: Carroll County Recycling

Here's what's recyclable in Baltimore County: Baltimore County Recycling

You'd be surprised that what you thought may be recyclable is not.  And vice-versa.

Be informed and help our planet!

And now, I'll get off my soapbox...

2s: Buzz, Buzz Goes the Bee

1.  How do we know something is an insect?  We can learn it from a song!

Watch, listen and sing along with Dr. Jean about insect body parts: Insect Body by Dr. Jean
It's one of my personal favorites - if we were at school, I'd sing it live for you!

2.  Watch the reading of Eric Carle's The Honeybee and the Robber:
The Honeybee and the Robber by Eric Carle

3.  Let's make our own bumblebee!

In your bag were a set of circles - two yellow, two white and one black.  There are also some eyes and an antenna.  You'll also need some glue.

Help your child overlap the circles yellow, black, yellow.  Now glue the two white circles on the sides so that they look like wings.

Have your child put two eyes on one of the yellow circles and staple the antenna on.

3s: Bumblebees

1.  Listen to a book  

Watch the reading of the book The Honeybee and the Robber by Eric Carle: The Honeybee and the Robber by Eric Carle

2.  Let's make our own bumblebee!  

In your bag you'll find a yellow oval, a rectangle with lines drawn on it, two white heart wings, and stick-on eyes.   You'll need scissors and glue, too.

Have your child cut the black rectangle into four strips.  Now, glue the strips onto the yellow oval.  Next glue the two heart wings onto the sides of the bee.  Put on the eyes.

Tada!

3.  Bee Patterns


From our website, print out the sheet titled Bumblebee Patterns.
You'll also need scissors and glue.

Have your child cut out the extra pieces at the bottom of the page.

Look at the first row of patterns with your child.  Have your child point to each object and say the pattern out loud.

Now have them decide what should go next in the pattern.  Find that picture and glue it down in the box.

Go over each line with your child, saying each aloud and having them complete the pattern.

4s:  Letter Y and Insects

1.  Letter Y card

From our website print out the Letter Y card.  If you have card stock, use that.  You'll also need something to write with and a hole puncher.

First, have you child circle all the upper- and lowercase Ys.  

Using the hole puncher, punch out all the the letter Ys that they've circled.  

2.  Ladybug Math

Print the 4s Ladybug Numbers page from our website.  You'll also need something to write with.

Look at each pair of ladybugs.  In each pair, can you circle the one that has the MOST spots.  Remember, the MOST means is has more or that the number of spots on that ladybug is greater than the other.

Looking at all your circled ladybugs, can you figure out which one has the most of all?

3.  Backyard Insects

Go to the My Big World Scholastic site here: My Big World at Scholastic

Click on the Backyard Insects issue and either read it with your child or click at the top of the page to have it read.

You can print out the last page for your child to complete as well.


4.  Watch the reading of About Insects by Cathryn Still:  About Insects

Answer these questions:

1. What do insects use to smell?
2. Which insect is great at camouflage?  
3. Do all insects come out during the day?
4. Which insect was helpful?

More bugs tomorrow...