Marvelous M

We started the new year off with a full week of m is for money, magnets, and maps! As nice as it was to be out of our normal routine for the last few weeks, it was certainly nice to be back into our old one! This week we had 4 days of preschool. The first day we used as a review of the letters and numbers we have worked on, school time expectations, and really just how to use our school materials and everything we have been away from for a while. It was time well spent and set us up for the coming days! On days 2,3, and 4 we focused on money, magnets, and maps. 

Day One- REVIEW!

Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom By Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

New month, new year, new calendar pattern! 

Ava and Dominic LOVE it when our letter monster comes out. Today he visited , but was hungry for numbers. In his monster voice he asked the kids to feed him specific numbers. Ava helped Dominic find the number when it was his turn. It was a fun review of numeral recognition. 

For an art project today we pulled out one of our several activity bags I created with a friend almost a year ago. They made collages out of pictures from magazines and stickers. A fun simple project on our first day back, but also a great little review (specifically for Dominic) on how we use the glue and art supplies. 

Ava has writing her name down well. However, she chooses to use all capital letters  even when reminded only the first letter should be caps. So, with the new year we are also making a new expectation. her name needs to be written in capital and lower case. I am also introducing  the spelling of her middle and last name. She practiced tracing her name. 

The counting wheel activity has made several appearances during our school time. Working with numbers is an area that provides Ava with a great challenge. We have been heavy on the letters over the last few months. She picks up on letters and sounds very quickly. Over the next few months, I will try to put more emphasis on working with numbers and helping Ava to see why math so important! 

We started a letter train to have a better visual of all the letters we have learned and where we are headed. She filled in the train through L. She will add a letter each time a new letter is introduced. The train was printed from First -School.ws

Day 2- M is for Money 

Today we brought back out our letter box and found it filled with lots of objects that started with m. We took time to discuss money- why we have it, what we use it for, what it looks like, feels like, what it is worth, etc... 

Book: Money, Money, Honey Bunny By Marilyn Sadler

We practiced counting pennies in the piggy bank. 

Ava was given  piggy banks with a number on each one. She needed to add the correct number of coins to each bank (The coin type didn't matter. We did take a close look at each type of coin and talk about what it was called, how much it was worth, and what president was found on each.) 

For our letter M project I taught Ava how to do coin rubbings on a cutout of the letter. She attempted a few and decided to draw her own coins on the M instead (hence the circles all over the M). I then gave her printouts of pennies to glue on the M as well. The rubbings were a good thought, but too challenging because the coins were slipping out from under the paper and crayon. 

Another math activity we did was coin sorting. I taped one coin under each cup so she could better compare the coins before sorting them. The penny and the dime were easy for her to separate out, but the nickle and quarter took extra concentration. 

Letter M writing practice.

Day 3- M is for Magnets (and money continued!)

Though the focus was on magnets, I brought back out the money activities from day 2. Another goal I have for our school time is to be more repetitive with activities throughout the week. The repetition is not only great for the kids, but a little less planning for me! 

We had fun with trying to figure out what objects attract magnets. I  had a container  of several objects. Ava, Dominic, and their friend took turns selecting an object, predicting if the magnet would attract it, and checking their predictions.

Once they determined if it would or wouldn't attract magnets, they put the object in either the yes side of our sorting tray (for items that attracted the magnet) or the no side of our tray (for items that didn't). 

Ava discovering that the magnet could pick up a paper clip! 

So the art activity for our magnet theme was a bit of a flop, but had a great outcome just the same. The plan was to move a metal washer through paint in the pizza box by placing a magnetic stick under the box. The idea worked great until the paint was in the box. The magnet wasn't strong enough to move the washer through the paint. But, we simply used a Magneto ball from our Magneto set, called it a marble (to keep with the letter m) and rolled the ball through the paint. The end results were really cool. I can't wait to hang them in the kids' room! 

Dominic had fun playing with the coins in his bear bank. He  wanted to know all the names of the faces on the coin. Ava joined in when she was finished with her school work. 

Day 4- M is for Maps 

Book: I Know About Maps By: Chris Jaeggi 

Our monster friend visited for a game of number eating! 

Today we looked at and discussed different types of maps such as the world map, the city bus map, an atlas, and even a treasure map!  

The art activity (taken from No Time for Flash Cards) provided  some practice with scissors. Ava cut the capital M out of an old map. 

Dominic was pretty excited about the fact he was allowed to practice with the scissors. He worked at snipping around the edges for a long time! 

Ava glued her M on construction paper and decorated it to be a treasure map. 

I let Ava pick her own math activity today. She chose an animal counting activity. 

We worked on writing numbers 8 and 9 in the Disney workbook. 

The highlight of the morning was the treasure hunt. I created a map of our kitchen and living room. We  studied the map by figuring out what the different pictures on the map symbolized and where they are located in the actual kitchen or living room. I hid 6 mega blocks around the two rooms. Each block was labeled with the clue number and a letter. The kids had to look at the map to determine where each clue was hidden. 

Clue number 2 was in the refrigerator. 

When all the clues were found, we stacked the clues in order from 1-6 to reveal where the treasure was hidden. As can be seen, the treasure could be found in or on the couch!

Excited to find the treasure- a special snack, new pencil, and a notebook for everyone!