P is for patience

Today's preschool lesson was suppose to be about patience. We had a life lesson in patience instead of talking about the virtue. Connor has been sick for a few days. He woke up Saturday with a red, puffy eye (no goop, though) and by Sunday afternoon had a fever and wasn't feeling well. He did fine for a couple of days with Motrin, acting like nothing was wrong when it was working, and like he really didn't feel well when it wore off. Today I thought he'd wake up feeling better. He slept a little better last night than the previous two. But today he seemed to be sicker. His eyes were really hurting him and his fever was not breaking, even with the Motrin. So even though my gut told me that it was a virus and would pass on it's own, we bundled up and braved the cold and went to the doctor. It's a virus and will pass on it's own. Just as I thought. But I'm still glad I went. Better safe than sorry, right? And it's just good to know. Actually it's good to know that my motherly intuition (based on past experience) is right.

Here's where the lesson in patience comes in. We waited for 10 minutes at the doctor's office. Not too long. We handled that fine. Even Connor who was feeling awful. Then she checked him out, did a strep test, told us it was probably just a virus. But she still wanted us to go down the hall to a pediatric opthalmologist to have him look at Connor's eyes. She thought it was viral, but wondered if because his eyes hurt so badly that it might be something else. I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of going to another doctor's office, but she called and they said to send us over, so I thought they must have time to squeeze us in.

When we got there, there were a couple of little girls waiting, obviously ahead of us in line. One mom was talking to her daughter about how long they'd been waiting. I thought, Oh, great. We're going to be here forever! And we were there for quite a while. We waited there for almost an hour. But Connor was great. Abigail was great, so entertained by the toys. I felt fine. Sometimes in these situations it's easy to be bothered by how long you're waiting, to get restless, to be impatient. But the three of us were models of patience. I'm especially proud of Connor who was feeling awful and really just needed to get some rest, but sat on my lap and even played nicely with Abby for a while. What a patient little boy!

P is for patterns

Today we made patterns with our snacks. Connor wrote perfect Ps on his paper. Then we made patterns with the snacks and drew the patterns on the paper. Connor and I both really enjoyed this activity. And I remember from school that it's important for children to record their observations, to learn to draw and write about what they see. So we'll be doing this more often. Taking a clipboard outside and making observations, etc. It's great for kids and fun too!

P week: plans

Here are the plans for P week:

word cards: please, pajamas, parade, people, poem
poem:

Poemsicle
by Shel Silverstein

If you add sicle to your pop,
Would he become a Popsicle?
Would a mop become a mopsicle?
Would a cop become a copsicle?
Would a chop become a chopsicle?
Would a drop become a dropsicle?
Would a hop become a hopsicle?
I guess it’s time to stopsicle,
Or is it timesicle to stopsicle?
Heysicle, I can’t stopsicle.
Ohsicle mysicle willsicle Isicle
Havesicle tosicle talksicle
Likesicle thissicle foreversicle-–
Huhsicle?

Monday (social studies): President's Day. President's Day is just two weeks away. I'll teach him about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, whose birthdays are in February. I'll try to find a website with a fun lesson or activity about those two presidents.

Tuesday (math): patterns. Connor has been noticing patterns lately. We'll use snacks to make patterns (popcorn, raisins, marshmallows, pretzels).

Wednesday (scriptures/Gospel): patience. Patience is one virtue we all have to develop. Mommy is working on this daily. We'll talk about what patience means and how Connor can try to be patient when he's waiting for me to get him something or sharing with Abigail.

Thursday (movement/music): Pachelbel. We'll listen to Pachelbel's Canon in D. It's a famous song that it will be fun to introduce Connor to. We'll also talk a little bit about what a composer is because he's never been introduced to this concept.

Friday (art project): President Lincoln's log cabin. Abraham Lincoln (Papa Rich's favorite president, and hero) grew up in a log cabin. We'll make a picture of a log cabin.

Other P words that might come up or spark ideas for activities: popcorn, pajamas, pasta, pizza, peace, penguins, pets, picnic, post office.

A few books:
* The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey
* The Teddy Bear's Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy
* Barney Says, "Please and Thank You" by Stephen White
* Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
* Curious George at the Parade by Margret and H.A. Rey
* Blaze and the Grey Spotted Pony by C.W. Anderson