Experimenting With Eggs

Lately, we have been learning all about seeds.  We are switching now to exploring how different animals grow.  With Easter coming, we decided to start with eggs.  I began by reading Guess What is Growing Inside This Egg by Mia Posada.

Preschool Books on Community Helpers

Last week, we learned all about the people in our community and the services they provide.  Here is a list of the books that I had available for the kids and parents….

20 Ocean-Themed Books For Preschoolers

I know that I said that I was going to do the theme of Community Helpers next week, but I left my folder at the school so I am moving on to the next theme which is-UNDER THE SEA! I hope no one is too disappointed.  Don’t worry, I will get to Community Helpers the following week.

While preparing for our “Under The Sea” adventure, I gathered up an awesome collection of books on the theme and decided to share them with you.  I will have the following books available for my students and parents this week…

Preschool Theme: Favorite Children’s Books

I was so excited to start my summer session of class!! It is an abbreviated six-week series that started this week.  I loved meeting all of the kids and parents!  Since I absolutely love children’s books, I thought that having some of my favorites, as our first theme, was a great place to start!  Here is what we did…

Book Review: “Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink” by Victoria Kann

A couple of weeks ago we visited another independent book store.  I have said that I always purchase something every time I go to one and this time was no different.  I let my three-year-old pick out something and she chose “Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink.”  Now, I am unfamiliar with the Pinkalicious book series.  I know that there are several because I have seen them around, but I always thought they were a bit gimmicky for a book (I tend to be a bit judgmental about books).  However, it was what my daughter wanted and the price was right, so there you go.  I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.  Here is my review…

Eight Books to introduce Art to Preschoolers

 

Last week we had a really fun class involving art!  I love introducing new concepts and themes to kids!  I think that it challenges them in a different way and encourages other interests.  I needed books on the topic, so here is a list of a couple that I picked up with a brief description.  I was pleasantly surprised how many books there were about art that were geared toward preschoolers!!!

Getting Read For: A Ride on an Airplane!

Every year, we travel from Michigan to Arizona by plane.  Some of the flights have been almost fine and some have been terrible (including my daughter getting sick with no barf bag in sight!!).  This year, I am going to do whatever I can to better prepare my kids, especially my three-year old.  I don’t think that she remembers getting sick, however, this year she is so much more aware of what is going on around her and curious about EVERYTHING that she sees.

I hit the local library to look for non-fiction books that can help teach my kids the ins and outs of flying on an airplane.  I was looking for non-fiction because it is very important to read both fiction and non-fiction text with your kids.  It is easier to keep their interest in non-fiction text when they are reading about something that connects to their lives.

Six Preschool Rainbow-Themed Books

Although it doesn’t look like it around here, it is apparently spring!  Last week, we did a rainbow theme in order to celebrate the upcoming season (see post here).  Here are some of the books that we used…

President’s Day with Preschoolers!

We were invited to a play-date with two other kids just about the same ages as mine (two and three).  I wanted to think of something that we could do that would be fun, crafty, and have a President’s Day Theme.  We had four kids altogether so combining that fact with the theme of presidents, I knew that I wanted to do something with Mount Rushmore.  I figured out that we could make our own Mount Rushmore with masks! Yeah!  Here is what we did….

I needed 4 paper plates, four popsicle sticks, glue, a book about Presidents, cotton balls, and construction paper to cut out the facial features

I cut out the middle of the plates and attached a stick to each one.

After finding pictures of the different presidents, I started to cut-out the different facial features to add to the masks. Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt anyone??

The four Presidents before the glue and cotton balls. Yes, I had trouble making Thomas Jefferson, but that is ok, it still worked.

All packed up and ready for our play-date!!

When we started our activity, I read my copy of “So You Want to Be President?” By Judith St. George. In case you are unfamiliar with this book, it is a book about different facts about past presidents and the requirements of becoming a President of the United States in the future.  I think that the book is perfect as a whole for upper elementary-age students, however, younger children can enjoy parts of it.  I put sticky notes on all of the pages featuring the presidents from Mount Rushmore, George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson.  I also included the page on the pets that have lived in the White House and the beginning and end of the book.  When I read the book the older two kids seemed really interested, the one and two year-olds, not so much.  After reading the sticky-note sections, we looked at a picture of Mount Rushmore on the internet.

Then we picked which kid was going to create which president’s mask.  We decided that the tallest person would Abraham Lincoln and then just randomly choose the others.  Then we got to work…

Teddy Roosevelt!

The finished masks. They looked so cute!

The real Mount Rushmore

Our Mount Rushmore! (Apparently, George Washington doesn’t like to get his picture taken.)

Overall, I thought that the project went really well!  The kids learned about Mount Rushmore (Field Trip!), what it takes to become President of the United States, different facts about past President’s, and familiarized themselves with the names of four of them.  I think that it pretty good for four kids under four! Enjoy!

Book Recommendation: “A House is a House for Me” By Mary Ann Hoberman Illustrated By Betty Fraser

A while back I signed my kids up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Station (see below) and it is AWESOME! Every month, each child receives a free book in the mail. I highly recommend that you look into signing your children up for this program!  Most of the books are books that I have never heard of, which is great.  A couple months ago, we received “A House is a House for Me” By Mary Ann Hoberman and I was pleasantly surprised.  I know that you aren’t supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, but I did.  The book looked out of date and had pictures of clowns on the cover (not ok with me).  I found out that the book was published in 1978, which would explain the illustrations, not the clowns.

Upon opening the book, however, I grew to really appreciate and love the charm of the text and illustrations.  The cover page has the title drawn completely out of different houses that are listed later in the text, such as shoes for our feet.

Quickly after starting to read the book, I found that I enjoyed the rhythm and rhyme of the text.  My kids love it too.  The book plays on the idea of different “houses” for different creatures and so much more.  Here is an example:

“A book is a house for a story. A rose is a house for a smell. My head is a house for a secret.  A secret I never will tell. “

Although the book is fun to read, there is also the idea that we all have our own individual homes and all of our homes are on Earth.  “A House is a House for Me” is a great way to introduce vocabulary that your child may not be familiar with such as sty, fold, hutches, and hangar.  There are also several Native American tribes mentioned in the book and their different “houses.”

Overall, I was really surprised how much my children and I enjoyed this book!  I am sure that we will enjoy it for quite awhile! Enjoy!

The first page of the book.

More about “A House is a House for Me:

• Here is link to the website
• It is a National Book Award Winner
• Scholastic rates the interest level at grades 3-5, but I think that children younger than this would really enjoy this book!  (My kids did and they are 1 and 3 years old)

Here is some information on Dolly Parton’s Imagination Station:

• Dolly Parton started the Library in 1996.  At the time of this post, just about 667,000 children are registered!
• Every month, a child in the program receives an age-appropriate book
• Children under the age of 5 qualify
• From what I understand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library works with local organizations to get to books to you and your family for free.  Local organization accepts donations and is listed on every address label.
• Here is the website with more information.  You can register your child(ren) for the program or donate to the cause.