Let’s sing together our song “Rise and Shine – Welcome to School Today” by Dr. Jean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyAD2OoFuoY and our greeting song “Hello to all the children of the world”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nYjGy_ZUG8
My favorite Closing Song sung on “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” tune with movement:
Twinkle, twinkle little stars! Time is over and we say goodbye. (Open and close hands)
We had fun with all our friends. Let’s come back and do it again! (Arm moved up and back)
Twinkle, twinkle, little stars! What a wonderful bunch you are! (Blow kisses)
For the writing/reading process, have your child trace or copy (advanced skill) daily his/her name on paper/dry eraser board/ mini blackboard (kindergarten handwriting page) starting at the top of each letter (you could draw 🙂) either in all uppercase letters or just first letter in capital/uppercase and the rest in lowercase. If your child is starting to write on paper, you can write your child’s name with a highlighter and your child can use a crayon to trace it.
I realize that you might have to survey other members of your family for the question of the day so that your child have enough tally marks to count or have your child put more than one tally mark.
Have you seen a moose on the loose?
YES/ NO/ MAYBE
If you have My First School Book from Handwriting Without Tears methodology https://www.lwtears.com/hwt. Have your child complete page 42 and 43.
A whole week activity:
For the phonetic part, have a big yogurt container with a lid filled with small objects or pictures that start with the letter S (sad, sand, sandals, sausage, school, scissors, seaside, seesaw, sister, six, sky, sleep, small, snail, snake, soup, soap, socks, sound, snack, special, spider, star, start, summer, sun, sweets.) You might want to add a picture of an Goat, so that your child can say that Goat does not start with S! Here is a book of S word pictures: https://twistynoodle.com/the-s-book-2-minibook/ Also, you can add new objects/pictures starting with the letter S every day and let your child explore the container all through the week.
Science
Did you know that a moose (bull, cow and calf), or elk in Europe, is the largest member of the deer family? In North America, the name moose comes from moosh translated as “stripper and eater of bark” in Algonquian language of Native Americans. A moose can weight up to 1,300 lbs and measure up to 7 feet at the shoulder. For this measuring exercise, brainstorm with your child what you can use (blocks, pillows, toys, …) to build a structure 1 foot tall, 2 feet tall, 3 feet tall,…. Use a measuring tape to confirm the height. What did you find out? How many times is your child’s height for the moose’s height?
On the tune of “Oh, my Darling Clementine”, we can sing: what’s the weather, what’s the weather, what’s the weather like today? Is it cloudy, is it rainy, is it sunny, is it cold? (You can also change the weather words).
Let your child check the weather and tell you about it. You might want to ask your child to do a weather drawing that you can label. Some activities will be repetitive to create a routine that brings comfort to your child.
Kitchen Science
For Jiffy Simple Muffin Recipe, you need (1) Jiffy Muffin Mix – Blueberry 7 oz., (2) 1 egg, (3) 1/3 cup milk, (4) muffin pan, (5) bowl with spoon, and (6) oil or paper baking cups. The Jiffy mix is so quick and simple for little hands!
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Mix muffin mix, egg and milk.
3. Grease muffin pan or use 6-8 paper baking cups.
4. Fill 2/3 full muffin cups.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes (golden brown).
Other sites with muffin recipes are available like https://www.allrecipes.com/recipes/350/bread/quick-bread/muffins/
Language Arts
What about moose literature?
- If You Give A Moose A Muffin by Laura Numeroff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM6oQbbB3rM
- Morris the Moose by B. Wiseman (advanced) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CJ8wq8Kpn0
- Moose on the Loose by Kathy p-Jo Wargin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nXh9JfwoKM
- Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini (advanced) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfcVdBijDjY
After viewing a book, help your child to sequence the story: what happened first, next,… at the end. Here is an activity to go with If You Give a Moose aMuffin https://www.themailbox.com/magazines/share-with-me/share-with-me or help your child to recall the rhymes in Moose on the Loose.
Moose Song with children echo and movement
There was a great big moose.
He likes to drink a lot of juice.
There was a great big moose.
He likes to drink a lot of juice.
Singing way-o,
Way-o, way-o, way-o, way-o.
Way-o, way-o.
Way-o, way-o, way-o, way-o.
The moose’s name is Fred.
It likes to drink its juice in bed.
The moose’s name was Fred.
It likes to drink its juice in bed.
Singing way-o,
Way-o, way-o, way-o, way-o.
Way-o, way-o.
Way-o, way-o, way-o, way-o.
It drinks its juice with care.
But, it just spilled it everywhere.
It drinks its juice with care.
But, it just spilled it everywhere.
Singing way-o,
Way-o, way-o, way-o, way-o.
Way-o, way-o.
Way-o, way-o, way-o, way-o.
There is a moose on the loose full of juice!
Math
Let’s review shapes! Cut different shapes out of construction paper like square, rectangle, circle, triangle, oval, diamond (rhombus) and encourage your child to build shapes with legos, blocks, popsicle sticks, counters, rocks,…. next to the paper shapes. As an extension, ask your child to build with some or all paper shapes, describe the structure/animal built, and even transfer the building ideas to legos, blocks, popsicle sticks,…..
December is here now! The calendar is a daily activity to do with your child that develop number and pattern recognition. Here is the link to print a calendar to update daily with your child. The set has a weather component, if you like. https://www.themailbox.com/magazines/december-calendar-set/december-calendar-set-2
Daily counting of tally marks and show your child a number card or write the number down to show your child. The numbers of the tallies will be different every day. Extend the concept by comparing numbers: which has more? Which has fewer? Which are the same? How many more (count with fingers)?
Art
Today is free Watercolor Paint Day!
For Boot & Hand Mouse Art Project, you need (1) green, black and brown construction paper, (2) scissors, (3) glue, (4) brown tempera paint with brush, (5) 2 googly eyes, and (6) black marker.
Directions:
1. Trace and cut your child’s boot on brown construction paper for moose’s head.
2. Trace and cut an oval out of black construction paper for moose’s nose.
3. Glue head on green construction paper sheet with oval nose at the bottom of head.
4. Glue 2 googly eyes on the upper part of head.
5. Paint both your child’s hands with brown tempera paint and print them on each side of moose’s face.
6. Once dry, draw a moose’s mouth with black marker.
For Moose Antlers Headband Art Project, you need (1) brown construction paper, (2) scissors, (3) 2 big googly eyes or 2 small back/2 medium white paper circles, (4) stapler, (5) moose’s antlers template https://www.freekidscrafts.com/moose-paper-bag-puppet/paper-bag-moose-puppet-antler2/ (you can use it to make a Moose Paper Bag Puppet Art Project)
Directions:
1. Cut long band out of brown construction paper to wrap around your child’s head.
2. Glue 2 googly eyes or 2 white medium circles with 2 black small circles on top in the middle of headband.
3. Print template and cut 2 big antlers out of brown construction paper or used your child’s 2 handprints cut outs as antlers described above.
4. Staple both antlers on brown headband and adjust the headband to your child’ head.
Small Motor Skills
Moose Coloring Page http://www.getcoloringpages.com/moose-coloring-pages
Trace and Color the Shapes https://twistynoodle.com/trace-and-color-the-shapes-3-coloring-page/
Cake Dot Painting https://twistynoodle.com/cake-dot-painting-coloring-page/
Gross Motor Skills
Outside time with climbing, jumping, bicycling, running, walking are great ways to develop the whole child.
With a group of people, play a “Game of Duck, Duck, Moose.” All players are sitting in a circle and one player is standing outside the circle. The standing player walks around outside of the circle touching lightly each player’s head or shoulder and saying, “Duck” each time. When the standing player says, “Goose”, the sitting player touched gets up quickly and chases after the standing player around the circle until the standing player sits in the free spots in the circle. Then, the game starts again!