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.
Do you use mittens to:
Warm your hands / Walk a dog / Carry a hot pot / Jump high
Make Letter B Shape:
- 1 big line, 2 little curves for capital B/1 big line and 1 little curve for Lowercase b. Your child use a finger to trace the letter starting at the top, going down, jump back up, and go around down. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1MfdgzzdHo) In order to start learning letters, your child will need a set of big curves, little curves, big lines and little lines in wood. You can purchase them at https://www.lwtears.com or make them your self. Here is a picture: http://cdn.lwtears.com/images/uploads/1_787_large.png)
- Wet-Dry-Try on small chalkboard (Handwriting Without Tears) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6p4LUEGbwM
- Play dough with small chalkboard (recipe: https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/playdough-recipe/) or you can purchase the Roll-A-Dough Set from Handwriting without Tears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spjVLDXDixI
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 B (baby, bad, balance, ball, bar, beautiful, bed, bee, big, bird, birthday,biscuit, blue, boat, bounce, bread, breakfast, bridge, brown, bubble, bun, bus, butter, butterfly.) You might want to add a picture of a pig, so that your child can say Dog that does not start with B! Here is a book of B word pictures: https://www.first-school.ws/t.asp?t=http://www.first-school.ws/images/alpha/ap1/b.gif Also, you can add new objects/pictures starting with the letter B every day and let your child explore the container all through the week.
Science
What happens to water when it freezes? For the Water Freezing Science Experiment, you need (1) glass, (2) water, and (3) a rubber band. You can use food coloring to color the water. Pour water in glass 3/4 full and put a rubber band on the water line around the glass. Put the glass in the freezer for 12 hours. What happens to the water? Is the water line still at the rubber band? Did the water expand or shrink when it is frozen?
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.
Language Arts
Mitten Literature:
1. The Mitten by Jan Brett https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tZ3D2Vw944
2. One Mitten by Kristine O’Connell George https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1mjtoKT4DY
3. Missing Mittens by Stuart J. Murphy (advanced) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NDmrz8xMiQ
After viewing a book, help your child sequence the story: what happened first, next,… at the end. The major theme is mitten. Brainstorm with your child what are mittens for and what other uses they can have.
Here is one activity for The Mitten by Jan Brett on her website: https://www.janbrett.com/mitten_masks_main.htm Print either the masks or a the small images of each animal the hedgehog met. The images can work as props to help your child sequence the story. Your child will create a pocket as an art project to put the small images in.
Mittens Song (“The Wheels on the Bus” tune)
The mittens on my hands are snuggly and warm, snuggly and warm, snuggly and warm.
The mittens on my hands are snuggly and warm all winter long.
“Winter Clothes” Song (“Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” tune)
Hat, coats, snow pants and boots, snow pants and boots. (2x)
Scarf, socks, mittens or gloves.
Hat, coats, snow pants and boots, snow pants and boots.
10 Little Mittens Fingerplay
10 little mittens hanging on a line.
One flew away and then there were nine.
9 little mittens with one without a mate.
A hedgehog takes one and then there were eight.
8 little mittens, with one named Kevin.
A rabbit takes one and then there is seven.
7 little mittens, which one would you pick?
An owl takes one and then there were six.
Six little mittens, swinging quite high.
A badger takes one and then there were five.
Five little mittens, “we had ten before!”
A mole takes one and then there were four.
Four little mittens, two pairs, you see.
A Fox takes one and then there were three.
Three little mittens as clean as new.
A bear takes one and then there were two.
Two little mittens missing everyone.
A mouse takes one and then there was one.
One little mitten hanging in the air.
I took one to make it fair.
Not one mitten hanging on the line!
Math
Independent Math Activities:
1. Mitten Matching https://twistynoodle.com/mitten-matching-coloring-page/.
2. Mitten Sort by Size https://twistynoodle.com/mitten-sort-by-size-coloring-page/.
3. Mitten Pattern https://twistynoodle.com/mitten-patterns-2-coloring-page/
For the Math Activity, you need 1 pair of mittens and 10-20 colorful bottle caps or pompoms. Show your child that a set of mittens has 2 mittens, Ask your child to help you make groups of 2 caps/pompoms just like the pair of mittens (advanced – talk about even and odd numbers.)
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 Mirror Image Mitten Art Project, you need (1) mitten template, (2) scissors, (3) construction paper, (4) yarn, (5) paint, and (6) hole puncher.
Directions:
1. Cut 2 mittens out of construction paper with template https://twistynoodle.com/mitten-coloring-page/.
2. Punch hole at the wrist section of the paper mittens.
3. Cut a long piece of yarn to attach both mitten together at each yarn end.
4. Drop paint on 1 mitten and press the other mitten on top.
5. Separate both mittens and see the paint mirror image. Let dry!
Another simple art project could be painting a paper mitten with pieces of yarn.
For the Jan Brett The Mitten Pocket Art Project, you need (1) construction paper, (2) hole puncher, (3) scissors, (4) yarn, (5) black marker, and (6) tape.
Directions:
1. Cut 2 mittens out of construction paper with template above.
2. Hole punch 10-20 holes in paper mittens on top of each other.
3. Cut a long piece of yarn. One end is attached to paper mittens and the other end wrapped in tape to sew.
4. Sew in and out around the mittens leaving the wrist part open.
Small Motor Skills
Trace the Mitten Coloring Page https://twistynoodle.com/trace-the-mitten-coloring-page/
Mitten Dot Painting https://twistynoodle.com/mitten-dot-painting-coloring-page/.
Mitten Dot to Dot https://twistynoodle.com/mitten-dot-to-dot-coloring-page/
Letter B Puzzle https://twistynoodle.com/letter-b-puzzle-coloring-page/
Gross Motor Skills
Outside time with climbing, jumping, bicycling, running, walking are great ways to develop the whole child.