W week: W is for Windsock

Connor made this windsock on Friday, the day we do an art project. He loved putting stickers on and didn't want to stop. Of course the windsock is green, but we had to use two pink streamers too because we ran out of green crepe paper. Connor said, "The green streamers are cool and the pink ones are cute. Right, Mom?" We hung his windsock outside to decorate our house for spring.

W week: Water Play

Connor loves to play at the kitchen sink and will do so for an hour if I let him. Being a mom who always wants things clean, I rarely allow him to do this. But he's getting older and is more capable of keeping the water in or near the sink. I let him play once last week and he loved it, so I decided that in honor of W week we'd make an activity of it. Abby even joined in. I got out the funnels and the baster and the measuring cups and he went crazy. Abby couldn't reach quite as well, but still thought it was great to be standing by her big brother at the kitchen sink.

Letter Reinforcement Idea

Pardon the terrible photo, but I had a great idea last week. Rather than taping on the stars we'd been using (or failing to use because I didn't want to get out the tape), Connor wrote the letter V to mark off his chart last week. I thought it was brilliant. Connor thought it was great fun to use Sharpies. And we actually started using his chart again!

V week: Volcano (a little late)

Well, you never can predict precisely when a volcano will erupt. Right? I'm actually not sure about how well they can predict volcanic eruptions. But we didn't get a chance to make our volcano until Tuesday night, during W week.

But it was still fun! Connor and I made the mountain by coloring rocks and grass and dirt and trees and volcanic rock on paper that we had taped onto a water bottle. When Alan got home we prepared for the eruption. We just put some baking soda into the bottle. (Use a funnel; it makes it so much easier.) Then we poured in the vinegar and our eruption was immediate. We tried twice and both times Connor jumped back and smiled with excitement.

Fast forward 9 years or so and he'll be making a much cooler volcano for the science fair, right?

W week: plans

I'm a little late planning this week. Today was a "free" day. We'll start W week tomorrow.

Here are the plans for W week:

word cards: walk, window, wish, water, wind
poem:

Wee Willie Winkie

Wee Willie Winkie
running through the town,
upstairs and downstairs
in his nightgown,
rapping at the window
and crying through the lock,
are all the children in their beds,
it's past eight o'clock.

Monday (science or social studies): We walked up to our friends' house today to play. :)

Tuesday (math): days of the week. We know a song that talks about the number of days in the week being seven. We'll review the days of the week and what each day is memorable for in our schedules.

Wednesday (scriptures/Gospel): We've read the story of Jesus walking on the water before, but we'll review it and review the miracle that it is and the faith that Peter had to walk on the water like the Savior.

Thursday (movement/music): water play. Connor loves to play at the kitchen sink in the water. I'll find some fun new toys for him to play with and let him go Wild! I'll turn on some music for him to enjoy and we'll review hearing the violin from V week.

Friday (art project): wind sock. We'll make a wind sock from an oatmeal cylinder. Connor can decorate it with paper and stickers and then we'll hang streamers from it and hang it outside where we can watch it catch the wind.

V week: plans

We're back from our vacation. We had so much fun at Disneyland and in Utah with our family. Three weeks off of preschool! We're ready to jump back in. Along with preschool we need to get back in the habit of Connor doing his daily tasks and helping out around the house. If you've been keeping up with your own preschool with your toddler, let me know how it's going or share your success stories. I'd love to have some stories from readers to post.

Here are the plans for V week:

word cards: violin, vacuum, volcano, van, vegetable
poem:

The Letter V
by Katrina Lybbert

The letter V, the letter V,
How I love the letter V.
Violin, vegetable, volcano, van.
I can say V words,
Now see if you can!

Monday: vacuum. Monday is clean-the-house day, so I'll teach Connor how to vacuum. It's about time he started pulling his own weight around here!

Tuesday (math): vertical & horizontal. I'll teach Connor the difference between vertical and horizontal lines. We'll look around the house and yard for examples of each and spend some time drawing lines.

Wednesday (scriptures/Gospel): valiant. One of my favorite Primary songs is I Will Be Valiant. I'll teach Connor the song as well as the meaning of the word valiant. (Children's Songbook, p. 162)

Thursday (movement/music): violin. I'll share some classical music with Connor and help him pick out the sound of the violin. Abigail will really enjoy this as well.

Friday (art project): volcano. We'll tie in social studies and science today since we vacuumed on Monday. We'll design a volcano around a 2-liter bottle (just with construction paper) and then cause a chemical reaction inside to create the lava flowing out. I think Connor will love this and it'll be great to do it outside and keep the mess out of the house.

U week: plans

Here are the plans for U week:

word cards: up, under, umbrella, uncle, umpire
poem:

The Puffin
by Robert Williams Wood

Upon this cake of ice is perched
The paddle-footed Puffin;
To find his double we have searched,
But have discovered—Nuffin!

Monday (social studies/science): Uncles. How are uncles related to us? They're our mother or father's brothers. We'll talk about this relationship and Connor will draw or paint or stamp a picture or card for each of his uncles.

Tuesday (math): Up/down; Under/over. We'll review opposites

Wednesday (scriptures/Gospel): Unhappy. (This is a stretch.) We'll talk about how we are unhappy (which means not happy) when we don't choose the right. I need to get Connor a new CTR ring. He heard (and heard us repeat) that story from General Conference about the little boy whose excuse for teasing his sister (or something) was that he'd lost his CTR ring. Now when I talk about choosing the right or doing what Jesus wants us to do, he mentions that he needs to find his CTR ring.

Thursday (movement/music): Umbrella. Thursday is suppose to be very rainy. We'll take a walk in the rain with an umbrella. Connor will LOVE this.

Friday (art project): bUtton sort. I'll give Connor a handful of random buttons. He can sort them by size, color, shape, number of holes, or however he wants to. Then he'll glue them on his paper. cUtting. Connor needs practice cutting. I'll let him play with his scissors, cutting shapes from paper.

Books we'll be reading:
(I couldn't find many books with word beginning with U for this week. We'll be reading books with the /u/ sound in the titles. I'll work with Connor on hearing this sound in the middle of words. We'll sound words out and hear the middle sounds. This is an important step in learning to read.)
Gus the Bus by Olga Cossi
Bear Hunt adapted by Kathleen Savage & Margaret Siewert (this will be fun to act out)
Little Bunny Biddle Bunny by David Kirk
Lunch Bunnies by Kathryn Lasky