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 an emoji 🙂) 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.
What did you do during Winter Break?
Play games inside/ Play games outside/ Bicycle 🚲/ Watch movies / Visit Family
Let’s start with Poor Peter Puppy from Letterland and listen to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuAraEZFaEM After listening to the song, have your child trace a capital P and a lower case p, starting at the top (song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJnZePnDo-U), go down and jump back up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBfJ31ZtsvY
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 P (paint, paper, parcel, park, party, pass, paw, pen, pencil, pet, picture, pig, pink, play, please, pond, pony, present, pretty, puddle, pull, puppy, purple, put.) You might want to add a picture of a dog, so that your child can say Dog that does not start with P! Here is a book of P word pictures: https://twistynoodle.com/my-letter-p-minibook/ https://www.first-school.ws/t.asp?t=http://www.first-school.ws/images/alpha/ap1/p.gif Also, you can add new objects/pictures starting with the letter P every day and let your child explore the container all through the week.
Science
In the classroom, preschoolers love to play with Instant Snow (Walmart/Michaels) which is a powder (sodium polyacrylate) to mix with water and expands to look like snow. For fun play, you need (1) instant snow, (2) water, (3) shallow tub, (3) cups and spoons, and (4) food coloring, if wanted.
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.
Language Arts
Winter Literature:
1. When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8j9HVF7esw
2. Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anByRvtTrDE
3. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzzWi-5IB7o.
4. The Night Before the Snow Day by Natasha Wing (advanced) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA76lTQIfrc
After viewing a book, help your child sequence the story: what happened first, next,… at the end. The major theme is snow. Brainstorm with your child what your family does as special activities inside and outside of your home.
Winter Song (“This Old Man” tune)
Feel the chill in the air!
It’s getting cold out there.
With a wintry wind,
The leaves are on the ground.
Soon, we’ll see snow coming down!
Winter Animals Poem and Free Movement
Winter is icy cold.
There are snowflakes in the sky.
The squirrels gather nuts.
And the wild geese fly.
The fluffy red fox
Has its fur to keep warm.
The bear’s it’s cave,
Sleeping all through the storms!
“Snow is falling All Around” Song (“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” tune) and Movement
Snow is falling all around,
Falling, falling to the ground. (Twirl around)
Let’s catch snowflakes on our tongues, (Stick out tongue)
Building snow balls flying around.
Snow is falling all around, (Twirl around)
Falling, falling to the ground.
Five Little Snow Balls Fingerplay
Five little snow balls standing in a row.
One little snow ball flew into the air,
And four little snow balls watching how it faired.
Four little snow balls standing in a row.
One little snow ball flew into the air,
And three little snow balls watching how it faired.
(Repeat changing number)
Zero little snow balls, not one to be found.
Five little snow balls had fallen to the ground.
Math
Let’s review the days of the week with a song:
Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
These are the days of the week! These are the days of the week!
Happy New Year! January just started. 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/january-calendar-set/january-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
For the Evergreen Snow Painting Art Project, you need (1)light blue construction paper, (2) white tempera paint, (3) branch of evergreen, (4) small paper plate, and (5) salt or glitter.
Directions:
1. Pour some white paint on paper plate.
2. Roll evergreen branch in white paint.
3. Take light blue construction paper and paint with evergreen branch.
4. Sprinkle with salt or glitter.
For Snow Globe Art Project, you need (1) baby food jar with lid or plastic container with lid, (2) foam star, (3) water, (4) glitter, and (5) hot glue gun (adult only).
Directions:
1. Hot glue foam star to jar/container lid on the inside.
2. Fill jar/container with water and glitter. Add any small waterproof if wanted.
3. Put hot glue on inside lid rim and close jar/container with lid.
Small Motor Skills
Letter P Activity Book https://twistynoodle.com/letter-p-activity-book-minibook/
I Love Winter Book https://twistynoodle.com/i-love-winter-2-minibook/
Winter Cutting Practice https://twistynoodle.com/winter-cutting-practice-coloring-page/
Gross Motor Skills
Outside time with climbing, jumping, bicycling, running, walking are great ways to develop the whole child.