Learning our Letters

One of my biggest claims to fame is that I am great at having fun! I like to make everything fun! Sometimes when I have to act like an adult and sit in a meeting or do something adulty, I still find myself making jokes or playing a game in my head. Sadly, I can't help it and I'm still waiting to grow up.  When it comes to teaching letters, I have a bunch of games up my sleeve to help my little friends learn them.  I get especially excited when I find a new letter game in my big yellow school box from Mother Goose time! This month there were two great ones for us to play with!

 One this particular day, our time was coming to an end. The class had been especially great that day so as a reward I asked them if they wanted to have free play time or play a new letter game. We took a vote and it was unanimous! We were all in favor for a letter game!

This was easy to explain and easy for them to understand. We got into four groups, took turns, and raced through the orchard full of letters. When a team landed on a letter they had to think of a word that started with that letter. I have pictures up under each letter so they were able to have some help if needed.

I was impressed with how they were able to cheer each other on and not get sad if their team was behind. One thing I like to add to games is my own game show sound effects. So, when they rolled "go back" I make the ol' wa wa waaaaa sound (you know, the sound when you land on a whammy). Before long they were all doing it. When a team made it to the end they were encouraged to do a victory dance. Some were shy but most were cool to do a jig with me.

We made it two rounds before it was time to go home and it was a great way to practice our letters.

I love giving my class every opportunity to learn through play. Young children must play to learn cognitive skills and actual facts. Unlike adults who learn by reading or being lectured to, children need to learn thinking skills and information by experiment and actually doing it. 

The second learning game that MGT included in our lesson plan this month was such a hit that I pulled it out after dinner for my kindergartener to play with. Spin the spinner and choose the picture that starts with that letter to put on your tree. He's pretty confident with his letters but it doesn't hurt for him to practice practice. Especially when a spinner is involved! Next time we play I plan to have him try and write the words down before he can put them on the tree. 

I guess it looked too fun for just Henry to play so Lu had to join in the fun and boss him around a bit. I don't think he minded. He kind of loves to play with his sisters even if they boss him around. 

 Happy gaming friends
xoxo- Miss Mandy

St Patricks Day Fun

I like to start off each day with a morning self starter. Anything is game. Blocks, worksheets, play dough, counting games, pretty much anything they can do while we wait of our friends to get here and where they can socialize with each other. 

Our morning starter for this St. Patricks day celebration was making bracelets out of green and white pony beads and pipe cleaners.  They were a instructed to make a pattern with the beads  {ABA AABB ABBA}. By this time of the year most of the class is able to grasps this concept fairly easily. This is also a great fine motor activity. Look how she has to use her thumb and pointer finger to grab each bead. 

During our Circle time today I introduced the letter R and we talked about rainbows. Of course I had to write a song about rainbows. I'm kind of a rock star that way. It's to the tune of Muffin Man and goes a little something like this…

If I saw a rainbow, a rainbow, a rainbow

if I saw a rainbow, this is what i'd see

Red, orange, and yellow

Green, blue, and purple

Red, orange, and yellow

Green, blue, and purple

I know i know! Pretty amazing. Just call me maestro. But seriously, it gets the job done. So much of my teaching is done through songs. It is the best way to teach and the best way to learn. The kids love it and so do I. 

We painted rainbows by number.  They are leaning the order of the rainbow and reviewing color names and numbers all at the same time. I'm sneaky like that. Always finding ways for them to learn without knowing they are learning. I found this rainbow printable at Just is a four letter word . 

I wanted the kids to have a funny hat to take home and I debated on having them make their own or if I just wanted to hurry and make them for them. I chose to do it. I wanted to have enough time for stories, songs, snacks, and an irish dance lesson. I printed these off from Just is a four letter word as well. 

Watching preschooler do some irish dance is great!  I have some Irish jig music and taught them to put their hand on their hip and one above their head and tap one foot at a time. Heal toe heal toe... This lasted a a few minutes and then it was just a big ol' crazy dance party. I had one little boy suggest to the class that each boy find a partner and so they could all dance like "man and lady". I die! 

I spent the weekend procrastibaking and made some special treats for everyone to take home. These days I use any and ever excuse to make a batch of royal icing sugar cookies. I had a few of the mustache cookies break and so I didn't have enough for each of the kids to take one home but they all got a cute polka dot shamrock to gobble up. 

Happy St. Patricks Day

Letter Z

What is it about the letter Z that kids love so much? It's such a random letter. Buzz and fuzz are funny words, zebras and zoos are pretty awesome, and zippers are totally fun to play with so I guess it makes sense.  I think they love this letter so much because it sounds so silly.  Teaching the sound z-z-z- was even making me laugh. 

One of my favorite z activities is letting the kids pretend to go to sleep and snore (whaaa zzzzzz…. whaaa zzzzz…. whaaa zzzz). They think it's hilarious and I get to hear some pretty original snores. 

A few years ago my daughter was afraid to go to sleep. She said,  "Those zzzzz's are out to get me! They freak me out!"   She was pretty convinced they floated around her head at night just like in cartoons.  On my long list of children's books to write, this is at the top. Wouldn't it make a really great story?  Anyway...

The plan for today was to quickly color the Z print as our morning starter. Just something to occupy the group while we waited for all our friend to show up. The kids took charge and decided to turn them into zebras. They know where all the supplies are and got to work. I love when plans change and creativity sets in. And I'm no dummy. I know who really runs the show here. I just show up and provide the goods and let them do the rest. 

One of my new favorite finds for printable worksheets is at Preschoolmom.com • I recently started having my class use her letter of the week printable. I love that they focus on both upper and lowercase. I'm always on the lookout for new and improved and this sight has a lot of great materials. 

I can see so much improvement with everyone. Especially fine motor skills. Just look at Henry hold his crayon! I've been working with him all year and without me even helping him, he is doing it by himself. SUCCESS! This just made my week.
xoxo-