My little ones are so creative.  We had so much fun making our spring flower projects

Look at what my little ones did today!  Beautiful art work!

This is the truth!

We are still "Exploring The Pond", we learned all about frogs.   The kids made frog puppets.  I encouraged them to hop around like a frog would.  They loved it.   Check out our frog puppets below.

I also read "At the Pond" to them.  There's a lot happening at the pond.  Who's lurking in the reeds? 




        Did you know?  

FROGS don't need to drink, they absorb water through their skin.

DRAGONFLIES need warmth to fly and will often land when the sun goes behind a cloud.

FISH don't have vocal cords but make a variety of low-pitched sounds with other parts of their bodies to communicate with one another.  

SNAILS are very strong and can lift up to 10 times their own body weight.

Baby TURTLES are called Sparkles.
(ok so these are not really baby turtles), but they are really cute.

Before I decided to teach preschool, I often asked myself what learning objectives and/or school subjects are age or grade appropriate (i.e. What in the heck should I teach?).   I had a lot of questions about this when I first started, so I'm going to share with you my experiences and opinions.  

Simple is best!
I can't stress this enough.  I'm think I'm better than anyone I know at making things way harder than they need to be, so I am coming to you as mom who has lived and learned (the hard way). 

Simplicity is important.  So is my time.  It is far quicker and easier for me to plan and prepare a few simple activities that only work on a few skills.  More importantly, it is far easier for my children to focus on just a couple things at a time.  It has taken me sometime to get this but the more simple I make it, the happier everyone will be. 

I know that makes sense so I won't go on any more and end up making it more complicated than it needs to be.  Yes, I tend to do that

                       Young Preschool (about age 2-3-ish)
I believe that all children learn best through play, but in this age range it is kind of a "MUST."  The primary objective for this age group is try to instill a love of learning by making learning fun.    I try to take the opportunity to expose my little ones to various skills while playing!  

Here are some concepts I aimed to familiarize my 2 year olds.  We approached them through games, puzzles, learning toys, crafts and sensory play:

                                                  Fine Motor Skills
We all want our children to someday form letters properly and use scissors correctly.   Fine motor "workouts" will give them a better ability to master these objectives later on.   Play dough, beading,  lacing,  squeezing clothespins, etc. all get those small muscles ready for the "big kid" stuff of writing and cutting.

                                                              Pre-Math
We count out loud, work on number identification, practice 1:1 correspondence (one object represents the number 1, etc),  learn basic shapes and colors, and sort objects by size, color or type.

                                                                  Letters
Letter identification, the alphabet song, and teaching the sound that each letter makes.

                                          Reading Comprehension
I know you've heard it said again and again, "if you want to raise a reader, read to your child daily."  I would like to also add that getting a child to interact with books is an equally important goal. I will ask my little ones questions (even if they can't answer yet), I encourage them to point to pictures too.  I will get them as involved as I can with the book that I am reading to them so they develop reading comprehension skills naturally-- not to mention a love of books and reading!

So for  my 2 to 3 year olds this is just a few of the things that I have found works good for me and them.  I have to admit that since I started using the Mother Goose Time curriculum my life has been so simple!  Yea Me :-)

I will post what I think works for my older kiddos in a few days.  

The pond comes to life in March as my children learn all about the animals, plants and activities that take place in this exciting environment.  We will be pretending to buy food for a picnic, make a tadpole turn into a frog, keep a pond notebook with a special writing tool, count the tails on the mayfly and much more! Boy what an exciting month this is going to be!
On Friday we learned about turtles and animal life around the pond. Take a look at the turtles we created.  We even raced our turtles to see who was the fastest.  That was a lot of fun for the kids

We will continue with the theme of "life around the pond" learning about snakes, tadpoles, frogs, alligators and lizards.  

I can't wait to post all of our exciting project that the kids made. Check back soon for more exciting pictures.

Yes, this is what I want for all my little ones!

Here are the concepts my little ones will be learning in March.   

Did you know that reading with young children promotes language development and literacy skills.  Reading can help children learn about the world around them, aid in language development, and boost literacy skills.  I love reading to children.  But I have also learned that it takes a little work from the adult to maximize these benefits, because not all children, even if they are close in age, like the same books.
  
How to Read with Kids to Promote Language Development!

Let the child lead! 
Children will be more interested in learning and talking about the items he/she is interested in.  So it’s important to observe, notice what the child is attending to, and then take the interaction from there.

Wait! 
This means stop talking, lean forward, and look at your child with interest.  By providing wait time, you are helping the child learn to initiate, develop turn-taking skills, and foster a sense that they are communicators with things to say.

Learn what type of communicator the child is!
When using books with children, it’s important to first consider at what stage they are at, what type of communicator are they?  I don't think it is too important to use ages on these stages,  I feel it’s most important to look at their abilities, and not age, when determining how to use books with your child.  

• Discoverers: earliest stage of communication, child responds to environment through crying, body movement, and facial expressions. For example, child may smile in response to seeing a familiar face.
• Communicators: communicate by looking at you, making gestures, pointing, and making sounds.
• First Words Users: imitate words they hear or begin to use words by themselves. Initially they say one word at a time using words that represent people, objects, and actions.
• Combiners: begins to use two-word combinations (i.e., “Want teddy.”)

Reading should be fun and relaxing for all children, let's keep it that way!  I know I will!