Today was Pirate Day. We are focusing on explorers and boats this week with Columbus Day just around the corner. Lots of people sailed the ocean blue and today we talked about the bad guys...the Pirates. They are lots of fun to dress-up as though. We talked about how they stole treasures and buried them so that no one would steal it from them. We went on a little hunt in the room, looking for a black treasure chest that had pieces of gold for everyone. Zachary found the booty. Inside were gold coins and everyone got eight. Why eight, you ask? Well, matey--because I said so. Actually the counting coin booklets we used today needed 8 coins to count. We practiced counting the numbers randomly by placing the coins in our hands. I would call out "Put 3 coins in your hand" and see how many could count the correct amount from their loot into their hands. They got pretty good at listening for the directions and counting each coin. They can practice that at home.
Every good pirate has a parrot, you know. Last week we read a story called "Copycats" with Letter C. We talked about how birds learn to speak by "copying" what they hear from people. It is also known as "parroting". Everyone was very impressed with the treat Trevor brought--Pirate Booty (puffed cheesy snack). Eye patches,hats, and a red and white kerchief completed our costume as a pirate. We tried to make our best "Arrrr" faces--but some got lost in time ;)
Tomorrow we are following up by learning about boats and ships. Thursday's lesson will focus on Christopher Columbus and how he discovered a new land. There are so many fun things coming up in the next month. If you have a little one that gets sick or misses for any reason, just
call and leave a message on my voicemail in the morning. If you choose to, you are welcome to bring your little one to the Wednesday class as a make-up day for missed Tuesday/Thursday classes. It's a much smaller class, but we are doing different activities from our regular class.
(Missing: Lilly, Courtney)
We started letter D today. We had a great sing-along with the Five Little Ducks song. Just as with the last 3 letters of the alphabet, my primary focus is to introduce the letter, get them familiar with writing it, and do the letter craft to remind them of the sound/phonetics with the correct shape. The lower-case letters are briefly introduced, but are not my primary concern yet. So don't be alarmed when you see the lower case letters on some of the work sheets. We'll get to them, but are focusing on the big letters first. Tracing and ocean writing are a great way to learn how to write each letter. The more they write at home, the more they will remember. Erasable markers/dry erase boards are a great way to practice, practice, and repractice.
***Reminder--there's a schedule change next week. We are having Tuesday/Thursday class on MONDAY/Thursday and Wednesday class will still be the same. I've been invited to be a guest speaker for a Women's Seminar up in Sandpoint, ID on Tuesday morning. If you're interested in the details of saving loads of cash on your groceries, you can follow my Saving Spokane blog with tips and how-tos. http://savingspokane.blogspot.com/
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