It is August 1st & a few days ago I realized that I needed a new Calendar template for my “To Do” board but also a calendar template that my little man could explore with. So, I spent a good chunk of time developing calendar templates that I liked and that also had TRACEABLE month titles and also included the identical set in the printable with regular month titles.
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What can children learn from calendar exploration?
Patterns – The days of the week repeat their same order every week.
Vocabulary – Yesterday, today, tomorrow, weekend, days of the week, month, months of the year, holidays, etc.
Organization – Graphic organizers (like calendars) are so great for kids to be exposed to. They show order and give meaning to our everyday routines.
One-to-One Correspondence – We wrote one number in each square.
Weather Recording – Check out my weather tracking post with the September template attached for free!
Ordinal Numbers – When you say the days of the week in a sentence you would say “Today is August FIRST, tomorrow is August SECOND,” etc.
What did my calendar experience look like with my 3 year old?
I put our calendars on clipboards and we sat down at the playroom table and talked about them while we doodled on our calendars. I sang the days of the week song, the months of the year song, and then we counted how many days were in August. We “x’d” out the days that had already passed. We marked upcoming events with stickers. I prepared him in advance for days that mommy or daddy had something to do so that I can remind him by pointing to the calendar and he can visually see that the event will come and go.
Sean Patrick felt so “official” with his calendar on his clipboard. While I wrote the numbers and upcoming events on my calendar attached to the clipboard, he “wrote” what he wanted to do on his.
He made a lot of markings and said things like “I will go to Maya’s house on Friday, and MeMe will be 70 on Tuesday.” Haha I loved his made-up events. And his MeMe is only in her mid-50’s but one of her sisters told Sean Patrick that she was almost 70 haha.
He even asked me for another “August calendar” yesterday so that was my indicator that he actually had as much fun as I did with this activity.
Sean Patrick is obsessed with my husband’s bedtime stories… and now I am obsessed with them, because he let me in on his secret.
My husband, Patrick, has been weaving subliminal messages into the imaginative night-time stories he tells Sean Patrick.
His stories about animals in forests or athletes on the field all have hidden messages in them that encourage patience, perseverance, integrity, problem solving, etc. It’s genius! Books always have morals and lessons so why shouldn’t our bedtime stories right?
Sean Patrick likes to be the main character in the stories we tell him; So, Patrick might tell him a baseball story where Sean Patrick is up to bat and misses but he doesn’t get upset or give up, he just tries again.
Or, an alligator might have Sean Patrick’s fishing pole so he has to wait until the alligator falls asleep to get it back like waiting until a friend is done with a toy before taking it back.
I have started to weave subliminal messages into my teaching tips too…
My recent story was about a boy named Sean Patrick who had the strongest alligator chomp (his pencil grasp) that he could chomp down on a wild crayon but the crayon could never break free from his super strength. And when he would write letters they would come alive…. the letter S would slither off of the page like a snake and he would have to catch it with his alligator chomp before it could get away.
Can you tell we are letting our imaginations run wild over here?
We are so excited to welcome little one number three to our family….
Mckenzie Beth
Big brother and big sister are so excited!
As a Mommy Teacher, a lot has been going through my mind, and I wanted to share some of the teachable moments I have been purposing throughout the week with the NEWest addition:
1) I have set some clear boundaries for the older two siblings and I am trying to be as consistent as possible with the follow through for my expectations. They can touch her softly/gently but not on the face. They can hold her with mommy’s supervision, and I have set other similar physical boundaries. The kids also have to find something quietly to do while mommy feeds the new baby (typically, they each feed their own baby dolls during this time). We have also changed the baby dolls diapers EVERY time we have changed Kenzie haha.
2) They are learning so many great life lessons and teaching each other so many things… Sean Patrick is in charge of “reading” to Mckayla when she wants Mommy to hold her but I am rocking Kenzie to sleep.
Sean Patrick’s version of the story…”Oooh Ooh a tiger”
3) We cant get out much right now with a newborn so we are doing LOTS of music and movement (I will write about what we are doing this week) and we are playing in the backyard to get all our energy and wiggles out as well as swimming in the plastic pool, playing backyard sports, singing and dancing, jumping on the trampoline, etc.
4) We are learning about the differences between babies and ourselves (how they eat, sleep, what they can not to that big kids can do like walk, talk, etc.) and we have compared the letters in the kid’s names now that we have a new name to explore (With play dough letter stencils and bath foam letters mostly).
One activity for older kids that I think is SO GREAT and I had to share as an idea for you to keep in your memory bank (or pinterest board) for when someone in your family or a close friend has a new baby is a “Tips for having a new baby” LIST. My creative niece came up with some humorous tips that I should consider now that I have three young kids. Her mommy teacher, my sister, supported her in this writing process and they even re-wrote it to make it more presentable – GREAT handwriting practice. The night she came to visit us, she read it aloud (great presentation for reading, speaking clearly, and practicing “public speaking”). It was REALLY thoughtful and adorable….It is now on my fridge. Read the tips below and enjoy!
Here is her Rough Draft
Here is the re-written list of parenting tips … from a 7 year old’s point of view!
While a lot of students across the country are just kicking off their summer, Monday starts week 4 of our summer vacation! If you are just now joining our summer quest to never hear the phrase, “I’m bored,” please go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 of our summer learning curriculum and activity schedule.
WEEK 4: COMMUNITY
This week we are learning all about where we live and the people who keep our community safe and functioning.
Vocabulary: community, map, doctor, dentist, teacher, police officer, fire fighter, waiter, waitress, chef, mail person, garbage man/woman, plumber, electrician, cashier, construction worker, librarian (the list is endless)
Role Play/Dramatic Play:
“Dental Health” From the Hive Use Jumbo Legos, play dough and yarn to floss your patient’s teeth!
Role play different occupations so your little one can get a better understanding on what roles people play in our communities.Use an old purse as a doctor bag, head phones as a stethescope, ace bandages, bandaids, thermometer, medicine dispenser as a shot, etc.
Use a play tool set to pretend to be construction workers and discuss the different types of things that need to be fixed in a community: houses, buildings, roads, signs, etc.
Take turns being a chef/waiter/customer, cashier/shopper, teacher/student, doctor/patient, etc.
Here is a great resource for dramatic play as community helpers: Growing by Grace.
Reading:LMNO Peas by Keith Baker
Check it out on Amazon!
My kids absolutely love this book and I love this book because it talks about different community roles with each letter!
Visit your local library and you can find books on each different occupation.
Writing and Field Trip: Write letters and teach your older child how to address envelopes. Decorate a box to use as a mailbox to deliver the letters. Take it a step further and visit your local post office to learn how the post masters deliver mail.
Field Trip: Schedule a field trip with your local fire station!
Safety: Help your child memorize your address and phone number and Mommy and Daddy’s first and last name.
Teach your child how to dial 9-1-1 in an emergency (and also teach that we do NOT dial 9-1-1 if it is not an emergency).
“Dental Health” From the Hive
Math: Counting teeth. Roll the dice and add the correct number of marshmallow teeth.
Subtraction: “Sally lost 3 teeth. How many does she have now?” Use “pliers” to pull the teeth like a dentist.
Social Studies: Draw a map of your neighborhood/community and give it to your child as you walk around the neighborhood (or since we live out in the country, as we drive around our town).
Reading Craft for Social Studies: Make a book. Either draw simple pictures or use your camera (or Google clip art) to take pictures to illustrate your book. Each page builds on the bigger picture of where you live.
I live in a home. My home is on ________ Street. My street is in a neighborhood. My neighborhood is in a town/city. My town/city is in a state. My state is in country. My country is on the continent. My continent is on the planet Earth.
I will be posting our completed crafts and activities soon from the past few weeks, so please stay tuned!!! I also pinned BEAUCOUP activities and crafts for Community Helpers! Please visit The Mommy Teacher Pinterest Board for an overwhelming amount of incredible ideas! Comment below with any other ideas for activities to teach about our communities!
Yesterday I posted about SUMMER SCHOOL and how we will be bridging the summer gap between Kindergarten and 1st grade for my older son, with my 3-year old tagging along in our school adventures, too. However, yesterday’s post was mainly about desk work which will only be taking up no more than 20 minutes per day.
Each week we will have a different THEME which will allow us to EXPLORE in depth different things that kids already ask a bazillion questions about. The days will be filled with discussions, field trips, science experiments and art projects that go along with that week’s theme. Will you join us on our journey to have the best summer ever???
Below I have posted activity ideas for weeks 1-3! Enjoy and help me brainstorm more ideas and comment below!
ABCteach.com
WEEK 1: SEASONS (May 27-31)
Here are a few ways that we will be exploring seasons:
And Dr. Jean’s song Macarena Months. If you remember the Macarena, you can do those motions along with this song. Who doesn’t love Dr. Jean and the Macarena? Double bonus!
Art: 4 Seasons Art Project: We will be gathering lots of random items around the house to design landscapes for each season (ex. cotton balls for snow, green leaves outside for summer, Popsicle sticks for trees, etc.)
Math and Gross Motor Skills: Sorting Clothes and dressing for each season! We haven’t put away all of the winter wardrobe yet, so we will sort through clothes and create outfits for winter, spring, summer and fall.
Writing: “What is your favorite season?”
Vocabulary: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall/Autumn, temperature, months of the year
Science/Math: reading a thermometer, exploring the tilt of the Earth and how it affects the seasons
Math: Calendar – taking a look at the summer months and seeing what we have planned
Reading: We will be heading to our library each week to choose books to accompany our themes. This is where it’s great to get to know your local librarian because he or she can help you find the books you need – maybe even before you get there!
Science: making water tornadoes with 2 -liter bottles. Fill one 2-liter 3/4 of the way and duct tape the two openings to the bottles (leave the caps off) together, turn your bottles upside down and gently move the bottles in a circular pattern to make a water spout inside.
Science and Vocabulary: Discovering Outside Body Parts (arms, legs, hair, skin) and Inside Body Parts (heart, brain, lungs)
Art: Bones Project (creating a skeleton using Q-tips)
Chalk Outlines: we will trace our bodies with chalk in the driveway and will add hair, face, clothes, shoes, etc.
Hand puppets: we will make sock puppets to use on our hands using old socks, yarn, googly eyes, markers and more
Stick Figures: drawing specific objects is a learned skill so I will be teaching my kids how to draw stick figure people
Math: counting fingers, toes, eyes, nose, mouth… What do we have the most of? How many fingers do you and I have together?
Science: the 5 senses: Hear(listening for sounds), Taste (eating salty and sweet snacks), Touch (feeling different textures), Sight (turning off the lights and shining flashlights on different objects), Smell (flowers, different foods)
Reading: My Body by Angela Royston and Sally Hewitt
Gross Motor Skills: Exercise! Practice hopping, skipping, jumping jacks, bending, and moving your body in every way! Talk about how important it is to exercise and move your body to stay in shape!
ChooseMyPlate.gov has information on nutrition for families, eating healthy on a budget, daily food plans, sample menus and recipes and more! Amazing resource!
Field Trips: Bowling! Check your local bowling alley to see if they have the Kids Bowl Free summer program!
Find a local inflatable warehouse for your child to let loose and jump away (great for long naps later in the day)!
Playgrounds with equipment for climbing and balancing!
Please post below if you have any other activity ideas for our first 3 weeks of summer! I hope you will join us on our quest to have the Best Summer Ever!!! Stay tuned for updates on our activities, projects and ideas for the our other themed weeks!
