H week: Monday through Thursday

Can you tell what kind of week it's been around here? B-U-S-Y!

Monday we sent Uncle "Chihuahua" Scott an e-card and called him to sing Happy Birthday. We also did our computer and chart time and read Who Hops? by Katie Davis. It's a really cute book that has a surprising twist to it. I recommend it!

Tuesday we learned about habitats (not what I had planned). Since it didn't look like we'd have time to sit down and do preschool, and since I wanted to keep Connor awake on the way to Target and he was looking drowsy, I did an impromptu preschool lesson. We started talking about habitats and homes and the different animal homes there are. I was surprised at first that Connor kept referring to the zoo (or a fence) as a habitat. But really, that's where he sees animals. So I tried to teach him about animals in the wild, but that's pretty abstract to him. We had a good conversation for about 15 minutes about different animal habitats. It was fun.

Wednesday we did our computer and chart time as usual. We read two H books that we got from the library. We also traced our hands and colored them to look like Turkeys. Then I gave Connor the lesson I wanted to teach last week about The Golden Rule and he was pretty into it. More than I thought he'd be. To turn it into an H week thing (and make it simpler to explain, I think) I taught him that he should Help others be Happy. That made sense to him. If he's going to help Abby be happy, should he pull her down? Probably not. Should he smile and sing her a song. Sure! I tried using this phrase after our lesson and it's a good way to encourage good behavior rather than focusing on the negative behaviors.

Today we practiced hopping on one foot. It's hard for him. He's getting a little better. He also had fun exploring Starfall for a while. While his friend Annika was here he showed her how he does his calendar and the letter of the week on Starfall. It was cute to hear him "being the teacher."

H week: plans

Here are the plans for H week:

word cards: happy, hat, hair, hiccup, home
poem:

HUG O' WAR
By Shel Silverstein

I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

Monday (social studies): Happy Birthday. We'll celebrate Uncle "Chihuahua" Scott's birthday by sending him an email and calling to sing to him.

Tuesday (nutrition): healthy foods. Alan and I have been trying to eat healthy lately and it's rubbing off on Connor. He talks about whether foods are healthy or not. We'll review this concept so that I can assess his understanding of it. We'll cut pictures of food from a magazine and sort them and glue them on paper.

Wednesday (scriptures/gospel): The Golden Rule. Doesn't start with H, but we didn't do it last week, so we'll try again this week. We can help make others happy!

Thursday (movement/activity): hopping. The doctor asked Connor to hop on one foot at his 3 year old well visit. He couldn't really do it without holding on to me. We'll practice hopping and doing other movements to some fun music. Maybe music by Hayden or something. And wearing different hats.

Friday: Happy Birthday again! We'll go to Porter's birthday party and have fun celebrating with him. (Can you tell I didn't really plan well for this week if we're doing Happy Birthday two days and Happy another day? I need to get back in preschool gear!)

Other H words that might come up or spark ideas for activities: handwashing (work on doing this really well; we sing Happy Birthday, dear clean hands while washing), homes (different kinds of homes people live in or animal homes/habitats), harvest, hippopotomus, hiccups

Weirdly, this post is not working correctly. Here's the second poem we're doing this week since it won't post at the top.

HICCUP CURE
by: Shel Silverstein

Hic…
Hic…
Hic…
Hic…
Want to cure your hiccups quick?
Stick out your tongue and bite your lip.
Hold your breath and shake one hip,
Pull back your left foot and kick up.
Now, you see, we’ve cured your hiccup.
Nothing much to it—don’t you feel swell?
Hic…
Oh well…