The children were introduced to the San Diego Zoo for Kids website today while studying the Giant Panda of China. There are videos, photos and animal cams that allows the students to watch some of the animals at the zoo live. Click the photo below to be directed to their website.
So what’s the deal with children using their finger to track the words while they read? Because our eyes naturally follow movement, placing a finger, on a page and strategically moving it down the text, a reader will naturally keep their place and be more focused. This helps readers concentrate and understand what they read making reading a more satisfying experience. We used our magic reading fingers today during our very first reading group. The kids did a wonderful job!
We started our adventure in reading today! We discovered that all of the letter sounds that the children worked so hard to master during preschool, when put together, make words! After reading the book, The Alphabet Tree by Leo Lionni, we began to build simple words in the -at family…C-A-T, H-A-T, B-A-T, R-A-T, then we sounded each of them out. The children then worked independently on building their own -at family word and an illustration (good writers always illustrate their work with a picture that matches!) For a fun way to practice sounding out words…visit Starfall and use their “Word Machine.” This is a website that you will need to purchase a membership for a minimal fee. This site is worth every penny. You will be able to use it through first and second grade. A fun, interactive way to practice essential skills. LET’S HAVE FUN LEARNING!
Letters by themselves are just letters
But when they are grouped together...Presto! It's a word!
Making art also helps children develop eye-hand coordination. As children decide how to make parts fit together into a whole, where to place objects, and what details to include, they learn to coordinate what they see with the movements of their hands and fingers. This eye-hand coordination is essential for many activities, including forming letters and spacing words in formal writing.
Mr. Tenny loves to eat numbers! We reviewed our numbers 1-12 this week as we strengthened our hand muscles in preparation for writer’s workshop that begins next week. Keep working on those name during homework!
Basic math and number concepts utilized in a preschool or kindergarten prep classroom set the foundation for learning more advanced math concepts. Early exposure to math and number activities will promote your child’s comfort with these skills. Also, additional opportunities to practice these skills will increase your child’s confidence when working with math and number concepts and will lead him to believe he is “good at math.” Click HERE for some fun activities to do with your child at home in all areas of math.
We made a beautiful rainbow collage on our journal covers today. Using our fine motor muscles we worked hard tearing small pieces of paper to create a circluar rainbow collage. Tearing paper is a wonderful way to strengthen your fine motor muscles in preperation to becoming strong writers. We will be using these journals all year for a variety of writing activities!
Creative Tots has specialized in the private education of both toddlers and preschool age children for over 15 years. We began in the heart of Madeira and now also have a new Mason location. We are specifically designed to focus on early childhood development for children ages 18 months to 5 years.
Click below to learn more about our program offerings:
