September came and went

So I had a lot going on in September and even though I hate to admit it, I put my preschool teaching on the back burner. I have a lot of Mom guilt about it. I also, due to everything, put Z in preschool two days a week just mornings. I have a lot of Mommy guilt about that also. I just realized that sometimes it's hard to be you and be a Mom. I am finding my way the older I get. I have still been trying to do stuff with Z like books and songs and I Spy. I have planned a couple play dates in accordance to preschool themes - Apples, About Me. So I feel like I am still participating. I just feel like I failed at this for September. Maybe October will be better or maybe it will just bring more change. Only time will tell.

August: Sink or Float science game

Unfortunately my phone was dead so no pictures of the game but we took a lemonade pitcher and filled it with water halfway and then we gathered stuff outside and around the house and then went on the porch and Z made her prediction (ooh vocab word) and I marked it down and then we watched (even Daddy helped!) to see if they would sink or float. Z loved it because she could splash the water and got to throw rocks in it. And then after that we played with the Daisy and Minnie cars on the porch until the bugs came out. Here is the prediction paper typed out.

Name			Date
Object	Prediction	Sink	Float
Football	F		x
Duck	F		x
Zebra	F		x
Car	F		x
Block	F		x
Pom Pom	F	x
Z spoon	F		x
Spoon	S	x
Kid Spatula	F	x
Big rock	F	x
Little rock	F	x
Medium rock	F	x
Leaf	F		x
Acorn	S		x

August: School prep continued, math and science lesson plans

So I had my planning meeting with my other mommy resources and I took over math and science. They are in charge of reading/writing and fine motor/sensory. So lately I have been pinning up a storm based on math and science alone. I'm not a math or science person really so it's been helpful for me to expand my horizons.

I did a pictoral schedule with Z today to see if it helped her learn the schedule better. We drew it together. I also tried to draw it with environmental words (McDonalds, JC Penney, Post Office). I am still working on learning that.

One more week til school!

August game alphabet and gross motor

Way too hot to finish this but she did it for a little bit. Try again when it's cooler. I had to make circles so it wasn't overwhelming. Without them she was overwhelmed. But then she jumped on a j, flew to a f and galloped to a g. And then we talked about if it was uppercase or lowercase. 

Starting square

Jump to the J

Hang on I have to take my shoes off

Jumping on J

Fly to F

She flew to f

Gallop to g

August prep continued: Time for the Dreaded Lesson Plans

So I haven't done lesson plans since college and they weren't horrible just time consuming. However that was back before Pinterest existed sooooo I am hoping that will make my prep work minimize a lot. I downloaded a bunch of new apps for Z's leap pad 2 today so she can have more educational help and she loves the LP2.

She has Alphabet Stew (letters), Get Ready for Kindergarten: Counting at the Dragon Cafe (counting, numbers, writing numbers) and GRK: Ozzie and Mac's ABCs (letter recognition, uppercase, lowercase, writing letters), Scout and Friends e book (read along e book focusing on over, under, above, below), Peep and the Big Wide World volume 1 (its a science app), Sesame Street: Super Maria (numbers), a couple coloring apps for creativity. I didn't want to super overwhelm her or I could have got more.

Last night, I was reading one of the new books and realized that Z was not doing very well with number recognition so I made some last minute flashcards. I still have to laminate them. It's a match game I saw on Pinterest.

Alright off to Pinterest letter recogniton!

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/insects/mcaterpillar-letters.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/imageschanged/kindergarten/ib-book-g.gif

http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/vowels/lettera.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/abc/match/match3.asp

http://pinterest.com/source/kidzone.ws/

August: Getting ready for school: First week of September theme and books!

For books, I didn't want to do all books about back to school, so I found a list for books about ballet (since the bonus for week one is gross motor skills and Z loves dancing)

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2013/08/books-about-ballet.html

You could really just get any book about jumping, sports, dancing, walking, running, whatever the kid is into.

This is on my list (and from this list http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/category/board-books-for-babies) but I already own it so I don't need it from the library...
Chicka Chicka ABC by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault  is a fantastic board book and shorter version of the longer book. My son loves this book and it’s the perfect amount of text for a toddler, the illustrations by Lois Ehlert are so bright and bold that even very young babies will respond to it! A must have for all bookshelves.

Definitely taking books off this list since the first week theme is back to school! http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2012/07/31-books-to-read-about-school.html

And def check out this list now and in future (http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/book-reviews)

Okay so here is my first list (hopefully the library has the titles in)
Books about Gross Motor Skills (for Z - ballet)
Ballerino Nate - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Katy Duck is a caterpillar - Alyssa Satin Campbell
Ballet Kitty: Ballet Class - Bernadette Ford
Brontorina - James Howe
Bea at Ballet - Rachel Isadora
Ella Bella Ballerina + Cinderella - James Mayhew
Tallulah's Tutu - Marilyn Singer
Ballerina! - Peter Sis
Hilda Must Be Dancing - Karma Wilson
Dogs Don't Do Ballet - Anna Kemp

Books about Preschool/Back to School (appropriate for age 3)
Maisy Goes to Preschool - Lucy Cousins
Miss Mingo and the first day of school - Jamie Harper
Kindergarten Countdown - Anna Jane Hays
My Preschool - Anne Rockwell
What to expect at preschool - Heidi Murkoff
Starting School - Janet and Allen Ahlberg
Going to Nursery - Catherine and Laurence Anholt
Too Small for School - Lauren Childs
I love you all day long - Francesca Rusackas
DW Guide to preschool - Marc Brown
Llama Llama Misses Mama - Anna Dewdsey

Books about Alphabet Recognition, Number Recognition, Colors and Shapes
Chicka, Chicka ABC
Chicka, Chicka 123
My Many Colored Days - Dr. Seuss
The Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
10 Rubber Ducks - Eric Carle
Poky Puppy
10 Hungry Rabbits: Counting & Color Concepts - Anita Lobel
123 A childs first counting book - Alison Jay
123 to the zoo - Eric Carle
123 Yippie - Lisa Jahn-Clough
Counting Crocadiles - Judy Sierra
Big Fat Hen
Quack and Count - Keith Baker
Eggs and Legs - Michael Dahl
On the Launch Pad - Michael Dahl

Updated to add the books that were in at the library that I got. 
I also got a few board books. 

August: Lesson Planning for September/Year

So we have library books today and what we check out today won't be back until Sept. 13 which is the end of the first week of school! So I had to put together my calendar today with themes so I could start planning and getting books I need!

I don't think I can put a whole excel sheet in here and honestly I don't feel like dealing with format right now LOL so here is what I can copy/paste from Excel... the list I got from http://dbsenk.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/planning-time/ via Pinterest (of course). It is a kindergarten theme for the year from 2009-2010. I just had to change the dates and of course make up my own lesson plans based around the themes. And since Zoe is only 3... cater it to a 3-year-old and not a kindergarten. No problem!

I am also in a Mom's group so I tried to incorporate upcoming play dates into the themes. This is just what I came up with today...

Week	Dates	Theme	Play dates
Week 1	Sept. 9-13	School/Bears
Week 2	Sept. 16-20	Bears/Mexico	Mexican Independence Day, Cheeseburger Day
Week 3	Sept. 23-27	Apples	Superheroes, Johhny Appleseed
Week 4	Sept. 30-Oct. 4	Me/Senses

and for lesson plans (def. still more research needs done...) I came up with ...

Lesson plans
Letter recognition (LR), number recognition (NR), colors, shapes. Focus: gross and fine motor skills
LR, NR, colors, shapes, Focus: science project
LR, NR, Colors, Shapes, Focus: art and music
LR, NR, Colors, Shapes, Focus: reviewing This is what the Web site I got the themes from did but like I said it is for kindergarten level.... http://dbsenk.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/scope-and-sequence.jpg