Letters

Today when I picked up Rachel from playschool, her teacher pulled me aside to show me her worksheet.  Her teacher was impressed. :)  So was I.  She is going to be reading and writing in less than a year. 

January 22 – 28, 2012: A Sick Day for Amos McGee

Opening notes 
I'm starting a bit late on the week (it is Wednesday), however, we read the book yesterday and again today.  We may spend two weeks on it.

I chose this book because it has wonderful artwork and deals with colds. You know, sort of a seasonal book. :)

Books:

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Erin Stead
Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
Why Do I Wash My Hands by Angela Royston
Germs by Judy Oetting
Keeping Clean by Liz Gogerly and Mike Gordon

Video Resources:

The Magic Schoolbus – Human Body

Dora The Explorer - "Dr. Dora"

Math:

1. She is now counting to 20 reliably, and given the starting increment of 20, 30, etc..) is starting to get the pattern of 21, 22, 23...31, 32, 33 We'll keep working on counting to 100.
2. We'll also count little things like Amos does. “1 for my oatmeal, 2 for my tea”
3. I've painted a magnetic chalkboard on one wall of the basement.  I'm going to put the clock up (it is magnetic) and take pictures of us at various times of the day.  Then, I'll print quick copies on our printer and we'll tape the photos up.  Hopefully this will help her associate various activities with different times of day.

Map Skills: 

1. She really loves making and playing with maps and will ask for it about once a week. I think perhaps this week I'll grab a copy of the Toronto Zoo map and we'll locate all the animals in the book on the map.

Language Arts:

1. I wonder if she would like to make up a story about her getting a cold?  Or maybe her doll?  We'll do some pretend play and maybe use that as a basis for a story.

Spelling:

1. She continues to work on her spelling both on my iPad and using the puzzles Grandma Betts bought her for Christmas. She can do several three letter words now.

Science: 

1. The obvious choice is animals. Perhaps revisiting the classifications of various animals would be fun.
2. Also, there is a red balloon in the book, so I may snag a red balloon with helium and then blow up one myself. We can talk about the difference.

Feelings: 

1. I had a friend die this week and have been very sad. Talking with Rachel about my friend's death was enough about feelings for this week. She is working things out in her head and will ask me periodically if I am sad. I think we will continue to talk about things we do when we are sad and that it is ok to be sad.  I may also do a small (ten minutes) "service" and have Rachel help me remember my friend.

Art: 

1. The artwork in the book is pencil and wood print. We can't do wood prints, but I think we can use foam, fruit, potatoes and other things to add some color to pictures we draw with pencil.  I'll demonstrate how the more water you add to the paint, the more you can see the pencil lines through it.

Fine Motor:

1. We'll get back to tracing letters this week. She hasn't wanted to sit and do much of that in the past few weeks, so I let it go. We'll also try a dot-to-dot this week. I'll have her use a pencil for this.