Week 4 Day 3

Reese can't seem to get well--first a 3-week cold, then a fever that lasted a couple of days. So our schooling was limited this week. However, we did complete our Letter D and Number 3 worksheets. (Mostly verbal education as opposed to hands-on, as Reese didn't have much energy.)

We also talked about the color green this week.

Besides that, we reviewed Africa on his map, read Corduroy an obscene amount of times (babies need their familiar comforts when sick I suppose), and played outside a bit. I am ready to get into the full swing of our schedule--this sickness needs to be finished! Hopefully we can tackle more next week (crossing my fingers).

Week 4 Day 2

On Tuesday, we did more with the Letter D and the Number 3. I got serious with Reese about cooperating with hand over hand tracing. I want to strike a good balance between allowing his interests to lead our preschool efforts, and making him understand there are certain things he needs to learn. He was rewarded for his good listening with another firetruck coloring page. :)

We had fun making spaghetti and meatballs with his play dough. I taught him the Meatball Song, which cracked him up. We have a tickle fest at the end, at "nothing but mush." 

On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese,

I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table, and onto the floor,

And then my poor meatball rolled right out the door. 

It rolled into the garden, and under a bush.

And then my poor meatball was nothing but MUSH!

We looked at Europe on his map, and did lots of reading. He is fascinated by the book Corduroy, by Don Freeman (an oldie but a goodie). There are dozens of new words for him to learn in this book!

Vocab words:

Lost

Shelf

Escalator (!)

Watchman

Flashlight

Dashing

Exclaim

Rocking chair

Knob

Week 4 Day 1

On Monday Reese and I started the Letter D and the Number 3. We also talked about the parts of a daffodil--the petals, stem, and leaves. We discussed how daffodils grow in the springtime, and how they're growing right now in other parts of the country.

Then we started our new Continent of the Week, Europe. There were lots of new things to discover--the clock tower in London, the Eiffel Tower in France, and many other points of interest. Reese enjoyed looking at the towers, since that's one of his favorite things to build.

Most of our vocab words today stemmed from our map. Then we listened to one of his educational CDs, played with bubbles on the porch, and did some reading.

Vocab words:

Europe

Taj Mahal

England

Clock tower

France

Eiffel Tower

Spain

Windmill

Pretzel

Germany

Switzerland

Saddle

Week 3 Day 4

Reese has been having a rough time lately--he's been pretty stubborn and unhappy, between teething and having a cold. So, we did his firetruck coloring page, and I helped him with finishing his last Color of the Week page.

We also checked out Africa on his map, and reviewed Asia and Australia one more time. Then we did Music Time, played outside, and read lots of books. 

Vocab words:

Perfect

Dreadful

Beautiful

Wilt

Chrysanthemum

Petals

Bloom

Teacher

Meatloaf

Crumbs

Week 3, Day 2 & 3

We didn't get to do school on Day 2, because Reese was having a really weepy day. (I think the antibiotics were making him feel weird).

But today was Day 3, and we worked some more on the letter C and the number 2. Reese was having an ornery morning, so I did more teaching through coloring, as opposed to him participating. We started our Color of the Week, Yellow. He was interested in the idea of yellow daffodils (a  previous vocab word). yellow corn, and yellow pencils.

He is also really enjoying a Bible story coloring book his Auntie gave him. He has taken a liking to coloring the pictures of donkeys...but ONLY the donkey's feet...! It makes me laugh. However, I want him to grasp the concept of coloring a whole picture, and seeing how it can look. So we did this one together. Interestingly, he is a huge fan of the color gray right now.

We also reviewed Africa on his map, as well as Asia and Australia. 

His daddy is working with him on counting numbers. They started on our wall clock and counted to 12. Now, they've moved to the calendar, and they are doing 1-20. They also look at a map of the U.S. and talk about the names of the states. I am so proud of hubby for helping out! 

Vocabulary words:

Island

Signals

Horn

Florida

Tennessee

Nebraska

Colorado

Week 3 Day 1

Today we started our Letter of the Week, C, and our Number of the Week, 2. Reese really enjoyed hand-over-hand tracing with our Number 2 sheet. I think he likes learning numbers better than the alphabet! Hopefully he will understand the concept of the letters soon and enjoy them more too. We also did our seasonal page, illustrating "April showers." :) Reese liked the concept of the rain and the umbrellas.

For our Continent of the Week, we are studying Africa. Reese was very intrigued by the lion, of course, and the island Madagascar. :)

We are in a Green Eggs and Ham rut with his reading--it is all he wants to read. But I don't really mind it much, because he is learning how to recite parts of it that he remembers. However, it limits our vocabulary...most of the words we focused on were from the map today.

Vocabulary words:

Africa

Pyramids

camel

hippo

Madagascar

lemur

ocean

We did some imaginary play out on the porch, and since we're still under the weather, called it a day after that. It will take some time to get in the full swing of things. Happy Monday!

Week 2 Day 4

On Friday, we focused on our Color of the Week, Orange. This was not new information to Reese, though...it's his favorite color EVER. Haha! Still, it was good to focus on objects that are orange--basketballs, carrots, etc.

We also played outside, and then did Music Time. We spent some time shaking his jingle bells and playing piano, and then listened to his KinderMusic CD. It's a great series of preschool songs that help children learn about their world--vehicles, food in the kitchen, and various other subjects. 

For his vocabulary words today, Reese was fascinated by a picture of bugs in one of his books. Vocabulary words:

Praying mantis

Grasshopper 

Cricket

Wasp

Ladybug

Week 2 Day 3

On Thursday we did more with the Letter B and Number 1, and started our Seasons coloring series. (A is for April--how appropriate! Haha.)

Then we spent some time outside on the porch and blew bubbles.

Reading vocabulary:

Daffodil

Spring 

Lily pad

Pond

Toadstool

Mushroom

Dandelion

Seed

Hibernate

Fir tree

Pine tree

Pine cone

Curriculum Changes

Making some adjustments to our curriculum. I'm expanding it to five days a week, since Reese has shown interest in doing more school than I'd anticipated.

I'm also adding a coloring page series that will teach him about the seasons. We're starting on spring, to match what's going on outside. I am also going to try to coordinate our reading vocabulary with the seasons and nature, when possible. Another goal is to keep working on prepositions, such as under, out, or through.

Because Reese is only two, his attention span is very short. Every activity lasts between 5 and 15 minutes, which is to be expected at this age. While a particular day's curriculum may seem to be a heavy load, the total time spent on school is never more than 1-2 hours.

After school, we do lots of play, goof around, take care of household chores, and read/play some more before I go to work.

Example of a typical week with our updated curriculum:

• Day 1
• Letter of the Week
• Number of the Week
• Color or Shape of the Week
• Map--Continent of the Week
• Outdoor activity--park, blow bubbles, wading pool
• Reading, with vocabulary emphasis (e.g. "Look, there's a dafffodil! That's a yellow flower that grows in the springtime.")

• Day 2
• Therapy (replaces Letter/Number of the Week)
• Outdoor activity OR Music Time
• Reading with vocab emphasis

• Day 3
• Letter of the Week
• Number of the Week
• Seasonal page
• Map--objects on Continent of the Week
• Outdoor activity
• Reading with vocab emphasis

• Day 4
• Letter of the Week
• Number of the Week
• Toddler group at library
• Reading with vocab emphasis

• Day 5--"fun day"
• Color or Shape of the Week
• Extra coloring pages (airplanes, firetrucks, etc.)
• Music Time
• Outdoor activity
• Reading with vocab emphasis

Week 2, Day 2

Reese was not feelin' it today, so we just did two coloring pages (more Letter B and Number 1), with some help from mommy. :)

Then we did Music Time with piano and drums, and read some books. That did it for us today...next school day we'll look at our color of the week. 

I am finding out that in general, Reese wants to do more coloring pages than I planned for. I figured we would do the coloring pages three days a week, then do school activities at therapy one day a week, and toddler group at the library one day a week. But I will need to find enough resources to do our activity pages 4-5 days a week I think. Time to get creative and do some research!

Week 2, Day 1

Still sick this week, so no trips to the park yet. :( But, we had fun exploring our new Letter and Number of the Week, the letter B and the number 1. Reese enjoyed practicing writing lots of one's. :) He also asked for a firetruck and paid special attention to the tires...anything with wheels is fascinating to him of course!

Our continent this week is Australia. Reese was interested in the animals, and the windsurfer on the map!

Some of Reese's favorite books lately are Green Eggs and Ham, I Am a Bunny by Ole Risom (super cute depiction of the seasons, with illustrations by Richard Scarry), and the story of Noah in his children's Bible.

Vocabulary words today:

Australia 

Windsurfing 

Sydney

Kangaroo 

Koala

Bumblebee

The concept of "just one" (as opposed to general ideas like a few)

Mountain 

Tunnel

Hollow

Empty

Another fun day with my little man!

Week 1, Day 3

Today we finished our last Number of the week page.

Reese asked for another fire truck to color, so we talked about our Color of the week, Red, some more. 

We started Music Time this week too! Here are the instruments we used:

Reese loved shaking his jingle bell to the beat of Wheels on the Bus on the piano. After Music Time, we took a peek at the continent of Asia on his animal map again. He zeroed in on the babushka dolls and wanted to talk and talk about them!

Our first week is completed. I am excited to see how next week goes, with our trips to the park and our experimenting with sidewalk chalk! Have a blessed weekend!