As a former Pre-Kindergarten teacher and now stay-at-home mommy of 2 boys and a sweet baby girl, many people ask me how they can be implementing educational concepts in the lives of their young children at home before they enter school. Instead of trying to come up with a quick list of ideas off the top of my head to answer these questions, I have decided to put all of my lessons into this blog. I, along with so many other parents, want to be purposeful at home with my children and make the most of the time I have with them.
I hope that this blog can help, encourage, and inspire you to work with your kiddos and
get involved in the learning process! The benefits will be endless,
and the moments you share together will be priceless! As Dr. Seuss once said,
"The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go!"

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Thinking Theme: Autumn

Letter of the Week: Vv

Number of the Week: 11

Bible Verse of the Week: "Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life." John 6:47

Books:













Songs:
* Fun songs and poems here from DLTK.
_________________________________________

Lesson 1: Autumn Collage
Objectives:
* To understand the season of autumn and the changes that occur during this season
* To learn characteristics/colors of autumn
* To collect leaves, acorns, etc. from outside to create a collage

Materials:
* white construction paper
* tape/glue
* crayons/markers
* cup to gather items from outside











Procedure:
1. Go outside and help your child collect different leaves, grass, acorns, etc. that represent the fall.  Talk about the changes that happen during the autumn season like leaves changing colors and falling off the trees, the air getting cooler, etc.












2. Back inside, write at the top of your paper "Autumn Collage".  Explain that a collage is a collection of things that go together and represent something.  In this case, autumn.











3. Have your child glue or tape the items to the paper randomly.












4. Have your child use red, orange, brown, yellow, and green crayons/markers to draw on their picture.  Talk about how these colors relate to the season.











Lesson 2: Fall Tree (A pinterest find!)
Objectives:
* To understand what happens to the leaves on trees during the fall
* To recognize the colors that the leaves change to during the fall
* To create a picture representing a tree from this season

Materials:
* orange, red, yellow, and brown paint
* 4 Q-tips
* glue
* brown and white construction paper
* 4 paper plates or bowls











Procedure:
1. Put a little bit of each color paint onto a plate/bowl.











2. Cut out a rectangle shape with the brown construction paper and glue it to the white paper.  This will represent the trunk of the tree.











3. Have your child dip the end of a q-tip into the paint and then back onto the white paper.  Do this multiple times with each color.  These dots will represent the leaves.  Make sure to put some dots on the "ground" since the leaves are falling down.












4. A masterpiece!  You might have to help your child create the shape of a tree with the dots as they are painting!











Lesson 3: Which is Different? from 2 Teaching Mommies
Objectives:
* To recognize which picture is different in a row of similar pictures and to state why it is different
* To use the fine motor skills involved with drawing circles

Materials:
* printable #1
* printable #2
* pencil











Procedure:
1. Explain to your child that you will be looking at pictures of things from autumn (scarecrows, crows, and leaves).  Tell them that three of the pictures in a line will be the same, and one will be different.  They will be circling the different one.
* Hint: only show the line that you will be doing, cover the rest as seen here below.*











2. As your child recognizes the picture that is different, have them tell you why it's different (a different color, turned a different way, a different shape, etc.)












Lesson 4: Scarecrow Craft (another pinterest find!)
Objectives:
* To learn what a scarecrow is and the purpose of a scarecrow
* To create a craft representing what a scarecrow looks like
* To use the fine motor skills involved with cutting, gluing, and tracing

Materials:
* orange, yellow, and pink construction paper
* paper plate
* scissors
* glue
* pencil/crayon/marker
* 2 googly eyes











Procedure:
1. Draw a hat shape like this onto orange construction paper and cut it out.











2. Cut 4 small rectangle shapes out of yellow construction paper.  This will be the straw hair.












3. Help your child trace both hands on yellow construction paper and cut them out, as well.












4. Cut out a small yellow triangle for the nose and 2 small pink circles for the cheeks.  











5. Glue 2 rectangles onto one side of the hat and 2 rectangles on the other.











6. Turn the hat and hair over and glue them to the paper plate like this.











7. Turn the plate over and glue each hand to the bottom of the plate like so.











8. Create the face of the scarecrow.











9. Finished product!  So cute!











Lesson 5: Acorn Addition (I love pinterest!)
Objectives:
* To understand the concept of addition in putting 2 or more numbers together to create another number.
* To add certain numbers of acorns together
* To write an addition number sentence to see the written form of addition
* To understand the terms plus and equals

Materials:
* plastic plate with three divided sections (most children's plates have these divisions)
* dry erase marker
* towel
* cup to collect acorns











Procedure:
1. Collect multiple acorns outside and place them in a cup.  If you do not have these in your yard, you can use leaves instead.











2. Have your child place a small amount of acorns in one section of the plate and a small amount in the other.  Let them count the number of acorns in each section.











3. Write the numbers on the lower section of the plate.  Say the number sentence, "3 plus 2 equals..." then have them count the acorns all together to figure out the answer.  Write this number on the plate.











4. Erase the number sentence and repeat the steps with different amounts of acorns.












* This is a great way to visually see how addition works!  I will definitely be doing this again with different objects!











Extra Thinking:
* Letter Vv - make vegetable prints on the letter Vv or these crafts from Totally Tots

* Leaf Rubbings - collect different types of leaves, place them under a piece of white paper, and rub crayons over them to see the shapes and lines of the leaves

* Fall File Folder Games from File Folder Fun

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