Structured Play

Sorry for the lack of posts this month! I am moving and have been too busy to post lately! More post coming soon! Sorry!

Today we read Dr. Seuss' One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. After enjoying the story we did a little number practice. I printed an activity from Living Life Intentionally . They have some great theme units over there and I picked and chose a couple activities this month. You can find their Seuss Packs here . For Jacob, I traced over the numbers and used Touch Math dots to help with the number recognition. I discussed Touch Math on this post- click to read more .   I asked Jacob to count the dots then to put the same number of goldfish into the bowl. The activity only goes to 6 which is perfect for attention span and interest. Jake did this without difficulty and enjoyed the process. It is a fun way to practice number recognition a number sense. 

One of my favorite blogs, All for the Boys , does Fort Friday . She showcases forts that different people have made in their homes. Yesterday was not Friday but it was a Fort day! It was a rainy, miserable type of day. My little man was a bit grouchy for no apparent reason. I thought what a perfect time to do something different! We put together a small fort and hung out inside reading, playing trucks, and doing "work" on the fort with tools. We enjoyed it so much that the fort stayed up and we think it will be up at least through the weekend! Have you made a fort lately?    

This month I decided to print a couple new Pattern Block Boards from PreKinders . We have been using these boards for a few months now and Jacob loves them! I had the blocks from my teaching days so we use them but if you do not have them you could easily print some and use paper blocks! Jake uses great concentration and focus. He becomes slightly frustrated when the pieces slide around but I think it is good for him to learn control. He sits stands and finishes the boards completely. He does like puzzles too so I guess it is along the same lines. I love watching him focus. This provides great opportunity to talk about shapes and colors as well.  We used the fish and the cat for this month. You can find these printables  here on prekinders . 

C is for crab Today we made letter Cs with play-doh and a cookie cutter. This helps with motor skills and, of course, letter recognition. Next, we read At the Beach with the Snappy Little Crab. We looked for letter Cs as we read. Then we made a crab at the beach on paper with paint. Jacob loves handprint art. I had him paint the water as a free paint with a brush. I drew a line and told him to paint the water under the line. He did a great job following directions. Then I painted his hands and he placed them on the paper. He asked where the crab was because he couldn't 'see' the crab until we glued the eyes on the thumbs.  Lastly, we did our I-Spy Box. I do this as an informal assessment of the Letter of the Week. I place items in shoebox. We open the box and look for items that start with the letter C. Many of the items are examples of things we have discussed during the week so they are more of a reminder. There are also items that do not start with the l...

Today we read The Cat in the Hat! This is a favorite of mine, as a child I used to dream of the Cat coming to my house on a rainy day! There is nothing better than sharing a favorite book with your child! Jake enjoyed the story! He always laughs for Dr. Seuss books! Next, we made our own Cat in the Hat- hat. I cut strips of white and red paper and had Jake glue them on a black paper cut out in the shape of a hat. This is a great way to practice patterning as well as motor skills. Jake had to glue the hat then place the correct color strip on the hat. He did a great job patterning without any problems!  So proud of his hat. "Me Cat in Hat!" For a copy of this month's plans click here.

C is for Caterpillar Today we started with The Caterpillow Fight by Sam McBratney. This is a fun little story with many, many Cs in it! It was a great way to practice C is for Caterpillar.  Next, Jacob practiced making circles using a caterpillar to trace from. He is not great at following lines, fine motor skill, which is a skill that will come with development. He becomes slightly frustrated but I just tell him to take his time and do his best. I do not try to correct him at all or tell him what to do after the initial directions are given. He does the best he can and a good attitude goes along way! His focus and concentration are evident. He loves making circles! I don't know why but he loves circles! We use the dry erase crayons. These are the best! I laminate the paper and Jake can use these crayons over and over on the laminated sheet.  Lastly, he used a bingo dotter to make the upper and lower case Cs. This is a great way to practice letter recogni...

This month I chose to focus on Dr. Seuss. March second is Theodore Geisel's (Dr. Seuss) birthday. Dr. Seuss books are wonderful early reader books and provide amazing fun! We will continue to use the Letter of the Week  activities for about 1/2 hour a day and Seuss activities a 1/2 hour.     I want to reiterate a few points before the download: 1. My plans are not meant to be completed in any specific order. Each day is different and Structured Play time should be a fun learning experience. Pick an activity or activities that fit the mood of your child for that day. 2. Practice activities more than once because repetition is key to gaining new skills. 3. READ, READ, READ- Read everyday and reread stories to allows your child to 'read' the books themselves. This is the first step in literacy. 4. Walk Away- Try to keep Structured Play time FUN. If things get frustrating to you or your child, walk away and pick up where you left off the...