Monday, April 20

Happy Monday, everyone!

I hope that you had a wonderful weekend.  Did you do anything exciting?

Oil Beetle - a.k.a. Black Blister Beetle

This week is all about insects!  Mr. Dan and I were visiting (at an appropriate distance) our neighbors today (which actually is Easter Sunday), and I saw this really cool looking insect on the sidewalk.
And then Cooper D. was walking his dog, Sammy, in our neighborhood and he saw the same insect.  I'm pretty glad neither of us picked it up, because it's called a Black Blister Beetle or an Oil Beetle.  So if you see one, don't touch it!  It can hurt your hand.

a female Orange Orb Weaver spider

We get a lot of really neat insects at preschool too.  I've gotten some great pictures over the years of creepy-crawlies we've found around our building and playground.  I think the neatest are probably the many Luna Moths and the Orange Orb Weaver spider we found once.  (Spiders are not insects).

EVERYONE

Do you know that some bugs float?  Water striders have waxy hairs on their feet to help them stay on top of the water.

Do you know that some bugs sink?  There are even bugs that live under water.  The Giant Water Bug is pretty creepy looking and can even capture fish!

What else can sink or float?

Here's something we can do.  Get a deep pan or bowl of water.

Look around your house for things that you wonder 'Will it sink or will it float?'.  For example, I used a paper clip, a rubber band, a pencil, a baby carrot, a jellybean, a toy dinosaur, a sock, and a Lego guy.  Use your imagination!

You can print out the Sink or Float page from our website or just make a sheet with two columns - one that says 'Sink' at the top and the other says 'Float'.

Make your best guess.  Feel the object, weigh it in your hands, look at what it is made of.  Either write the word or draw a picture of it on the side you predict.

On my first try, I thought my toy dinosaur would float, so I wrote 'dinosaur' under the 'Float' column.  Guess what?  I was wrong!  The dinosaur sank.  So, I put an X through my word to show I made an incorrect guess.

Keep going with all of your items and see how you do.  You can ask your family to guess too!

2s: The Number 4 

1.  Watch this great video from Sesame Street about the Number 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ9WiuJPnNA

2.  What does four of something look like?  Print out the Sets of 4 page from our website.  Look at the pictures with your child.  If it's too much at once, cut the pictures apart.

Help your child point at one item at a time with their finger to count to four.  

3.  Have your child find four of something.  Have them show you, pointing one-to-one, that there are four items.

3s: Insects

1.  Watch as Ernie from Sesame Street introduces us to Insects in Your https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50Vm1Ssx2jY
Neighborhood: 

2.  What makes a creature an insect?

We can sing along with Dr. Jean about insect body parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pe_p5FXE2g

What did you learn?

What parts must a creature have to make it an insect?

3.  Let's make our own insect.  

In your bag, you'll find all the parts to make your insect - a head, a thorax, an abdomen, six legs, and antenna.  We'll even add wings to our insect.  You'll also need some glue.

First, find the part that is labeled 'head'.  Put the eyes on the head.

Next, glue the part labeled 'thorax' and the part labeled 'abdomen' to your head.

The six legs of an insect grow out from the thorax.  Glue the legs onto the thorax.

Your insect must have antenna.  Staple the pipe cleaner antenna onto the head.

Finally, glue the wings onto the thorax.

Tell one of your family members about your insect and all its different parts!

4s: The Letter Y and Insects

1.  Y, Y, what begins with Y?  Yodel, yellow, and yeti all begin with Y!

Y makes the /y/ sound - yuh.  Can you think of some words that begin with the letter Y?

Let's watch our AlphaTales book about the letter Y - The Yak Who Yelled Yuck.  Listen for the /y/ sound in the book.  Can you yell out when you hear it?

2.  Now that we know what the letter Y sounds like, lets see what it looks like.

Print your letter Y practice page from our website.  The uppercase letter Y is like a small v with a line down from the middle.  Two small lines that come together and then another small line down.  Lowercase letter Y is one small line down at an angle and another long line down the other way.

Can you fill your page with Ys?

Make sure you are also practicing your name every day too!

3.  Did you know that insects are the most common creature on the planet?  There are more insects living on the Earth than anything else.

Let's watch Bugs Are Insects.  It tells us about the characteristics that make a creature an insect.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nL7On2gBkw  

Afterward, think about these questions...

1. What did you learn from the book?  
2. What makes something an insect?  
3. How many legs must it have?
4. How many body parts and what are they called?
5. What is the difference between an insect and a bug?  Do you remember?

4.  Can you identify if something is an insect or not?

Print out the Insect or Not an Insect page from our website.

Cut out the pictures.  Look at each picture.  Do you remember what an insect must have?

Glue the pictures on the 'Insect' side that have 6 legs and three body parts.  They are insects.  The other pictures are not insects.  Glue those on the 'Not an Insect' side.

Explain to someone why you chose to put your pictures in those two columns.