Calendar Routine

 I have been working on this for a while now.  I knew I wanted to set up a calendar area this year for N's preschool.  But I didn't know where I would put it.  Saved by the grandparents I was blessed with a wonderful set of bookshelves!  And so my calendar area found its home on the backside of one of the bookshelves. 

 I created the space using duct tape, posterboard, paint chips, and some cheap supplies all found at my local Dollar General. Well, the paint chips were from a home improvement store.  My laminator also came in handy!

Days of the week squares were created using FREE paint chips!  They are attached with blue sticky tack (the yellow doesn't work very well IMO!)

My apples were created with a free template from Teachers Pay Teachers.  I then created a PDF document with 6 apples.  I opened this in Photoshop and added the numbers or letters, printed the pages off, and then laminated them with my Scotch laminator.  You could easily use contact paper as well.  This took the most time and you could easily create something similar with post-it notes or paint chips.  Or if you are really crafty you could use a cute paper punch and make some adorable letter/number cards!

 Here is our rourine:

1.  We sing a good morning song followed by the months of the year song and a days of the week song.

2. Next we talk about what day yesterday was, what day today is, and what day tomorrow will be. I will throw in some color activities here, too.  I am working on new color cards with the color words on them.  Those will be added soon.

3.  We find the number of the date and add the apple, then count all the days of the month. I would like to work on making another set of numbers, either another color set or a completely new set.  In the classroom setting this is where teachers work on patterns.  All of the odd numbers would be one type of card (apples for example) and the even numbers would be another type of card (oranges for example).  So students would repeat the pattern after they have counted the days.  Plus my apples don't really go with the zebra duct tape (but I love it!).

4.  Add one more number to our # of days in school.

We count each day we do our calendar time as a day of school.  Some days there is not enough time to do other seat work or activities.   But N is still learning from the calendar activities that we do.  We are beginning the process of place value with tens and ones.
(source: homeschoolcreations.com)

5.  We add one tally mark to our days of school in each month.  N is beginning to learn a little about tally marks.  Eventually we will practice counting by 5's.
(source:  homeschoolcreations.com)

6.  We also use sticks to count our days.  The tub is an icing tub wrapped in duct tape (thanks to my oldest daughter for buying some!)  Once we reach 10 sticks I bundle them with a rubber band and then we will start our counting from 10 (ex.  10, 11 12... instead of starting with one).  Counting up starting with a random number builds sequencing skills.  As we get more bundles of 10 we will begin counting by 10's. 

7.  Each day N decides what the weather is and chooses on or two weather cards to describe it.  We talk about the temperature, but we are not graphing it yet.  That will come soon.

8.  N adds a sticker to her chart for each day she is in school.  We do some counting activities each day for that number (clap 19 times, hop 19 times, do 19 jumping jacks, etc.).  I will be writing numbers by 10's down the right side eventually working up to counting by 10's.

9.  Each day I remove the apples (made the same as our number apples) and ask N to build her name.  Eventually I plan on making apples to build sibling names, parent names, pet names, color words, and later on sight words.

10.  One last calendar activity we do is our Alphabet Clap.  I am teaching the alphabet in order so we started with A.  Alternate clapping once and slapping your knees once and repeat the following:

A (name), short A sound, alligator
B (name), B sound, butterfly
C (name), hard C sound (ck), caterpillar

We say it as many times as N would like to.  Sometimes she says it with me, other times she repeats it.  I am thinking of adding the long A sound and the soft C sound eventually.  Right now the focus is on the most common uses of each letter sound.  We also talk a little about consonants and vowels.  Mostly I just state that A is a vowel and B is a consonant. 

Side Notes:

We are taking our time getting through the alphabet, focusing on each letter.  As she learns all the routines and knows what to expect we will speed things up a bit.

One of the most important things you can do for your child is to go at their pace-especially while they are young.  I don't allow N to be lazy, but I also don't push her.  I want this to be a fun learning experience for her so that when she does start school she will be ready.  

Is a calendar really necessary for your child?  Not at all!  You do what works for you!  I taught my older two children without a calendar routine at home and they are doing fine!  I just wanted to create one at home for my next two.  Maybe I'm getting the itch to go back to work!  Maybe I'm considering teaching preschool when I do!  Who knows!  Teaching N and K at home fills that desire for me to teach right now. 

There are so many ways to create a calendar space for your child!  Get on pinterest and start looking around!  You can purchase pre-made ones or order the fabric ones!  You may even be crafty enough to make your own with fabric! I wanted to try and create mine with as little cost as I could to show readers you can create things while being frugal.  There is a plethora of resources out there and they are free!  All you have to do is look for them!

Letter B Activities

Letter Bb Activities

N completed a variety of activities to establish knowledge of the letter B.  Repetition is very important for memorization.  N repeated the name of the letter B and the sound of the letter B several times during each activity.  It is also important to include upper and lower case letters together when working with individual letters.

Standards

Common Core Standard:  
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.1a Print many upper- and lowercase letters.

Kansas Early Learning Standard:  

CL Standard 4:  Demonstrates emergent writing skills

Resource:  ABC printables @ www.3dinosaurs.com
                  Large B @ preschoolpalace.org
                  Do-a-Dot @ www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com

Pre Writing Practice tracing B to b

Stamping B's

B is for Bandaid

Do-a-Dot Paint Bb

Counting Beads

Additional Bead Activities:

1) roll a dice and string the number of beads
2) string the number of beads according to the date
3) string a pattern
4) string according to the number of letters in your name (family members' names)
5) string according to the number of family members you have

B is for Butterfly Color Book

Each box contained a butterfly to color a specific color.  N worked on this throughout the week.  It seemed to be a lot to color in one setting.

Do-a-Dot B

N decided to use each color once and then repeat them.

Tracing Bb

N is still learning correct writing skills.

Letter Bb Hunt with Do-a-Dot paints

N had to distinguish between Bb's and other letters including Dd's. 

Miss K using Do-a-Dot

K loves to do schoolwork with her big sister. 

Finger Print Apple Tree

Draw a tree and have your child stamp their fingerprint as the apples.  We used the dot painters for the paint, but you could also use an ink pad or paint.  We used red, but you could also use green and yellow, too.

N loves using the dot paints!

Prewriting Practice

Prewriting practice is very important for little ones.  These type of activities are the building blocks for handwriting.

N is learning to:

1) hold her writing utensil correctly (she mostly uses her right hand, but still wants to try her left-don't discourage this!  It is important to let your child figure out what is most comfortable for him/her.)
2) hold her paper correctly
3) start her marks on the left side of the paper
4) trace straight lines to the end point
5) stop her marks at the ending point

Standards:

Kansas Early Learning Standard

CL Standard 4: Demonstrates emergent writing skills

using a highlighter to trace the line

tracing the dotted lines

 DIY Prewriting Practice Pages

use stamps and a highlighter

using a pencil to trace over the highlighted line

 using curved lines and angled lines

 using stickers and maze lines

>>>If your child struggles with holding a writing utensil correctly there are several sources out there you can check out.  Simply Google "correct handwriting grip", "correct pencil grip" or something similar.  You can use a rubberband to help hold the pencil in place (I've seen this on Pinterest), or there are grips you can buy.  One method that works well is to have your child place the pencil on the table with the eraser at the top.  Next have them pinch the pencil near the bottom by the point with their thumb and index finger and then swing the pencil (without letting go!) back towards their hand.<<<

Number 1 Activities

Number 1 Activities

N began learning the attributes of the number 1.
She will learn to:

1) Recognize the number 1 is different places, sizes, and scripts.
2) Write the number 1.
3) Understand the value of the number 1.
4) Count 1 object.

Standards

Common Core Standard:
CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).

Kansas Early Learning Standard

MK Standard 1:  Demonstrates an understanding of number concepts and numerical operations

Resource: Number Pages @ www.1plus1plus1equals1.com

N went on a number hunt in the neighborhood. 

Recognizing and tracing the number 1.  N also stamped one time in the circle.

Letter A Activities

Letter A Activities

N completed a variety of activities to establish knowledge of the letter A.  Repetition is very important for memorization.  N repeated the name of the letter A and the short sound of the letter A several times during each activity.  It is also important to include upper and lower case letters together when working with individual letters. 

Standards

Common Core Standard:  
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.1a Print many upper- and lowercase letters.

 

Kansas Early Learning Standard:  

CL Standard 4:  Demonstrates emergent writing skills

Resource:  ABC printables @ www.3dinosaurs.com

A is for Apple

N is practicing proper position of the crayon and staying in the lines.

Using the letter A stamp to fill up the apple.

Proud of her work

Outlining the letter A with Apple Jacks

We went on a letter hunt in our neighborhood.  N found letter A's on trash cans, for sale signs, street signs, and company names stamped in the sidewalk.

Writing the letter A with chalk.

Apple Painting

Ladybug Math

Ladybug Math

 I found an activity on Pinterest recently that looked a little like this, (found here: http://www.love-and-lollipops.blogspot.com/2010/09/colour-fun-6-bottle-top-ladybugs.html) but I have added my own twist to it.  Reusing milk bottle caps and a peanut butter jar I now have one activity that all 4 of my kiddos can play with.

K, my one year old, is fascinated with putting things into a container and taking them out.  The jar is large enough that her hands aren't going to get stuck.  Oh, and she also enjoys dumping them out!

K likes to put the ladybugs into the jar...

...and take them out...

...and put the lid on.

L, my 5 year old/soon to be kindergartner, can match the dots to the correct number, and put them in numerical order.

L is matching ladybug dots to the correct number.

 N, my 2/almost 3 year old works on naming the numbers and counting the dots.

N likes to mix them up!

All lined up!

Such a simple, FREE activity you can make at home!  Just save those bottle caps and jars!

Activities for my almost 7 year old and older students:
~ make one bottle cap with a plus sign, one with a minus sign, and one with an equal sign, and create number problems. (extra:  have them write them out on paper or in their workbook!)
~ make one bottle cap (slightly larger) with a greater than sign (>) or a less than sign (<) and have him draw bottle caps out of the jar and compare the numbers

Other Pre-K to Kindergarten activities:
~ draw out a bottle cap and use another object (little erasers, pom-poms, straws, popcicle sticks, etc.) to count out that number