A Structured Schedule

I keep a structured schedule.  I think it 's important for kids to know what to expect.  I can be flexible when necessary but for the most part, we keep to our routine.  We say the Pledge every morning. I think it's really important for kids to know the Pledge of Allegiance and learn respect for our flag early on.  I was truly surprised by how quickly these guys caught on.  They went from not knowing it, to reciting it by themselves within a week.   Every morning we also talk about the weather and season and sing fun songs to help them learn the months of the year and days of the week.  We learn how to tell time on an analog clock.  We also work on rhyming and writing skills everyday.

We have three classroom friends who help us remember our manners.  I remind the kids of these phrases often:  "Quiet as a mouse" is for times when the kids need to be listening.  "Curious as a cat" means if they have a question or comment they need to raise their hand.  "Playful as a puppy" reminds us there are certain times we can chat and be playful like when a puppy wags his tail, but not like a crazy puppy jumping and running all over the place!

We do one of these rhyming mats each day.  The kids have to match 4 cards to each picture

Rhyming Robots

We also do a writing activity each day using worksheets.  The kids practice writing their name along with whatever letters, numbers or shapes we're learning about.  We also practice cutting and pasting during this time.

We love to read!

I'll admit it, I have a bit of an addiction to children's books.  I started collecting them when I was in college and after I got married and had kids, it grew from there!!  Now with Amazon Prime, it's hard to stop myself!!  We do A LOT of reading in Preschool and I try to do some fun hands on activities to help the kids with comprehension.  I love having the kids go home and re-tell the story by themselves using whatever props we made to go along.  Here are just a few examples of some of the stories we've read this year.

Sensory activities

Frogs catching flies

Little hands LOVE playing in beans, rice, sand, water, water beads - whatever!

 Hands on learning works best

Making the letters out of snacks

Learning about American Indians

Once a month we learn about a different Community Helper.

Breaking up Styrofoam was a big hit!

Playing in the mud while learning about taking care of our earth was also a hit!

I also had them convinced the cookies and pudding was dirt and mud, they did not want to eat dirt and mud!

Bugs were another fun lesson

Volcano!

Hands on activities with numbers and letters

Phonics Tree

Our Phonics Tree changes with the seasons.  It started out with apples, then changed to leaves, pine cones, Christmas ornaments, snowflakes and now we are on hearts.  Next I think we'll have some birds chirping in that tree!  This is a favorite for the kids and an activity we do each day. 

Alphabet Art Projects

The kids love to paint and we do an art project every day which usually corresponds with whatever letter, animal, community helper or other related subject we're learning about that day.

Alphabet Notebook

Throughout the year we work on an Alphabet Notebook the kids will take home at the end of the year.  The letters usually correspond with lessons about the same subject.  These are a few examples: