Popcorn Science

Cynthia(Nanny): 

Today we incorporated sound into cooking by using an air popper to make popcorn. We started out gathering ingredients and tools we needed. Then, I explained the quick process of what we would be doing and asked them to pay attention to the sounds they'd hear. Next I let the girls scoop out the kernels into the cap. 

They were a little afraid of the noise but once they could start to hear the popping sound and see the popcorn, they were very excited! We talked about the sounds, they imitated the popcorn popping up and snacked on popcorn before lunch.

Science: Animal Sound Pattern

Cynthia (nanny): 

We are continuing to learn about sound this week. For math, we used some farm animal toys that make animal sounds when you squeeze them to create a pattern. We started with two animals in the pattern which they got easily. 

When we added a third animal they girls were challenged with knowing what comes next. The challenge was good so that I was able to tell what they knew and what they needed my guidance in. 

To help them with understanding order, I split up the three groups of animals and had us all take turns putting our animal into the pattern line. 

Guru moment: 

This way of dividing the items into groups to create the pattern seemed easier for them to grasp, but I know I need to give them more practice with 3 item patterns (ABC patterns).

Fitness with Little Ones

Arielle (mommy):  I had not intended to do a post about finding time to exercise as a mom but it is something I struggle to fit into my schedule and I know it is even more difficult for working moms.

Yesterday my friend/ health and fitness "guru" Veronica came over (during naptime) to try out some of her new Pound routines with me.  Pound is a high energy workout that combines cardio interval training and drumming.  Though Pound is a worldwide sensation, Veronica (of VBanks) is the only "Pound Pro" here is San Antonio.

(Photo from http://www.poundfit.com/)

As Veronica and I were working out, O woke up (of course) walked in, stared at us for about 10 minutes, then when we got on the floor to work on abs, O took it as the perfect opportunity to join me.  After Lil got up (I'm not even sure she napped) she also joined in as she copied our moves.  

Naptime doesnt always pan out the way I hope.  This gave me the idea to post some tips on how to find time for fitness as a mom who doesn't have a lot of free time.

(If you are in the San Antonio area and are interested in Pound you can contact VBanks at 210-445-2929.)

My top 10 mom fitness tips:

1. Wake up before the kids and do a quick workout.  (I usually fail at this one)

2. Do short bursts of activity when you can (maybe 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes during nap time, and another 10 minutes after the kids go to bed.)

3. Play outside with your kids and run around with them, chase them, kick balls, etc (this also has the added bonus of tiring THEM out.)

4.  Have dance parties throughout the day.  (Turn up the music and dance with the kids for a few songs, getting your cardio in and again getting some of the kids' energy out too.)

5.  Work out with the kids.  This is great gross motor fun, helps build locomotor skills, and practice with crossing the midline (You can do stretches, jumping jacks, lunges, squats, and other calisthenics.  My husband does push-ups and Lil loves to do them along with him.)

6.  Use the kids as resistance (lift them, play airplane, let them sit on you to make your workout more challenging.). This is great fun for little ones.

7.  If you have a baby or toddler who likes to be carried in a baby carrier, you can wear them to do Yoga or other low impact workouts.  (Baby may even fall asleep)

8. Load up the stroller and go for a walk or run.

9.  Get a child's bike seat or trailer for your bike and take the kids for a ride.

10.  Do things like squats and calf raises when you are cooking, watching tv, or brushing your teeth (moms are excellent mulitaskers.)

One of the best things about incorporating kids into your exercise routine is that it teaches them that working out is fun and just a part of daily life.  This will help them stay active throughout their lives as well.

Now I just need to take my own advice. :)

Math: Patterns

Cynthia(Nanny):

 This week we began exploring patterns. We live in a world of patterns. You can find patterns in clothing, weather, pictures, everyday items, etc. 

Today we're using foam shapes to create and extend a pattern. I wasn't sure the twins were going to grasp this concept, but they surprised me! We started with three shapes laid out on the table and practiced touching and saying the shape names. (The more touching and moving items, the better children will learn.) At first I demonstrated how to make a pattern and then how to add on to it or extend it. When it was the girls' turn I laid out the first five shapes and had them tell me what came next and they did it! The practice before hand made them more comfortable with trying it on their own. 

For the independent work, I gave them a pre made strip of paper with shapes glued on. Their job was to find the next shape. Great job girls! :)

Arielle (mommy):

Our sorting activity was very simple.  We have some pompoms I hot glued magnets to, Lil used them on a small magnetic dry erase board to make patterns.  She made the patterns and then she decided to underline each pompom with a dry erase marker, which was a good idea since it's great for practicing one to one correspondence.

Printables

1.Feed the Frog Game (used for letter recognition, could be used for number recognition or sight words too)

Insects (print multiple BW copies, cut, laminate)

Frog (print one COLOR copy, cut, laminate, tape to fly swatter)

Story Tub: Musical Instruments

Arielle (mommy):

Last week, Lil and O really enjoyed exploring with story tubs and acting out the stories.  I intend to create a story tub each week for them to use during independent play.

This week for our study of sound and instruments we read the story Farmer Joe and the Music Show, it's a rhyming story about animals playing music on a farm.  We also read a nonfiction book all about music and musical instruments: How Does a Piano Make Music.  

For our story tub we included this fiction and nonfiction book, several different musical instruments, and our pattern cards from our sound pattern activity.

Guru moment: If you don't have these books it really doesn't matter!  When I set out to make a story bin for this week all I knew was that I was looking for books about music as I sifted through the books in our home library.  

Letter J

Arielle (mommy): 

Introduction: After introducing J and its sound, I laid out cards with photos of objects that begin with j as well as some that do not begin with j.  After we named all the objects we went through and sorted out the ones that begin with j from the ones that do not.

Writing practice: I wrote j and J several times on Lil's chalk table and had her trace them using a paintbrush with water (here's another way to use chalk and water).

Craft:  Lil made a J shaped jellyfish using construction paper, ribbons, and google eyes.

Cynthia (nanny):

Today we created our letter J page for our ABC book. Then we used one of Arielle's tips she showed previously and made gel baggies to work on our letter identification and formation. 

We used regular hair gel to fill the bags. Then I taped the bag and a card with the letter j on it to the table so that the bag would lay over the card and the girls would be able to trace with their finger. 

After a few minutes of practice Little sister said she wanted to trace a B. So, I grabbed some flash cards and had the girls practice tracing the letters we've worked on so far. :) 

Guru Moment: I love how the girls turned this activity into a review activity all on their own. Remember, the best and most meaningful lessons are those that are centered on the students and have the flexibility to change to meet their needs.

Math: Instrumental Sound Pattern

Arielle (mommy):

Since we are learning about the sense of hearing, patterns, and the letter i,  making a sound pattern with instruments was a logical choice.  

We made a visual pattern as well as a pattern we could hear.  I had the kids hold instruments, took pictures of them, and then printed 4 copies of each pattern.

After reviewing patterns, we collected the instruments in the pattern, and laid out the cards in a pattern.  Then we had fun playing the instruments in the order that was dictated by the pattern (hit the triangle, shake the tambourine, hit the triangle, shake the tambourine for example).

These are the pictures we used to make our pattern cards:

Lil ended up making an AA BB CC pattern, she enjoyed playing the instruments im the pattern when she was finished.  

O had fun dancing and walking through the cards while she was trying to play...she didn't get too upset.

Cynthia (nanny): 

For today's sound activity we talked about different instruments that make sound or music. This also tied in well with our letter I activities. 

They were unsure of the picture of the tambourine, so luckily we had one nearby that they've been playing with. (It's always a plus to have real objects to match pictures.) We started with a simple AB pattern which they were pretty successful with in finding the next object in the pattern. After that quick review, I introduced an AAB pattern (see pic). 

They had a little trouble catching on to this one but I repeated it multiple times and sort of made it sound like a song. When we were almost singing the pattern, they were more successful with being able to tell what came next. Some kids, like the twins, learn better when music is attached to their learning.

Letter I

Arielle (mommy):  

Introduction:  After looking at letter and picture cards with Lil and O, and saying the I sound, I decided to integrate math into our lesson and get them excited about learning the letter at the same time.  We read the book/sang the song Five Green And Speckled Frogs, then we discussed that frogs eat 

i-i-insects.  

During nap time I printed these  flies, laminated them, and cut them out.  I wrote all the letters we have learned on the insects, and wrote I and i on many of them.  Then I got a frog pointer and put tape under its mouth so the flies would stick (If you don't have one of these from the dollar tree, draw or print a frog and tape it to a fly swatter).  

I showed the kids how to play the game, I told Lil to only eat the insects that had an I or an i for insect, and had her say the i sound as she swatted them.  After she collected an insect I had her put them in her insect jar.  She loved this game, O also loved swatting at the insects, though he got carried away and started swatting Lil so he had to sit out.

Guru moment: next time I will laminate the blank flies and then write the letters on them so we can change the game easily with a dry erase marker.  Also next time I will remember to vacuum my floors before taking pictures of it!

Writing practice:  we did rainbow writing.  I wrote I and i using bubble letters, then I gave Lil many different colored crayons and she wrote the letters with every color.

Craft:  I shaped iguana.  We dressed the I as an iguana, I cut the shapes, had Lil dot paint the I, and then glue on all the pieces.

Cynthia (nanny):

Today after we created our letter I page for our ABC book, we used one of Arielle's ideas and tried using dot painters to practice letter identification and formation. This time, I remembered to give them some free exploration time before we started the activity. 

The girls were very curious about what kind of print and designs they could make. It really helped them focus when we moved into tracing the letters. I really like this idea and it was also great to test their ability to paint directly on the lines.

Science: Sense of Hearing

Arielle (mommy):

To begin learning about our sense of hearing, I gave Lil and O a variety of instruments to play with so they could hear all the different types of sounds during and unstructured time.

For our next activity I found a sound bingo game (with printable cards and sounds to download).  Before we played the game, I had Lil name all the objects on her card and try to make the sounds they make.  I told her to listen for those sounds.  She had fun deciding whether or not she had each sound on her card.  

Cynthia (Nanny): 

To start our sense of sound week, we took a sound walk around the house looking for things that made sound. As we walked, I explained that our ears help us hear all different kinds of sounds. We  heard a few sounds downstairs like the washing machine and air conditioner but headed upstairs to explore their room. The girls quickly ran to their play drum and tambourine and began to tap them. I asked what else they could find to make sound or music and they were able to locate other toys that made noise. Today, was more of an exploratory time to get them thinking about sound. Tomorrow we will apply what we learned about sound.

Even more sound:

Cynthia (nanny):

This idea came to me as we were putting three animals away. I got the idea to use the animal toys to play a sound guessing game. 

I placed the animals in a brown paper bag and modeled how to to reach in and squeeze the toy without pulling out completely out of the bag so that we could hear the sound and guess which animal we were holding. The girls enjoyed this game and played twice.

Letter H

Arielle (mommy):

Introduction: Since we are learning about our sense of hearing, I decided to use an app called ABC music to introduce the letter H to Lil and O.  This app has pictures, videos, and interactive games for instruments for all the letters of the alphabet.  We were able to hear the sounds of a harp, harpsichord, and harmonica today.  

Writing: After looking at H cards, Lily practiced writing H and h in colored rice.

Craft:  We made an H dressed up like a horse.  Lil is really enjoys watching her disguised letter collection grow!

Letter A, Letter B, Letter C, Letter D, Letter E, Letter F, Letter G

 Cynthia(Nanny): Today to celebrate the letter H, we did a few activities. First I showed a picture card and named the letter, gave the sound, and an example of a word that starts with the h. Then, we sang "Who let the H out" so they could hear the sound again. Next, we discussed the pictures I printed for them to use on their letter H page and they glued them on.

While I was looking for sound books this weekend, I found the book titled, Hand, hand, fingers, thumb that showcased not only the h (hand) but also sound and instruments. Perfect for science this week! So we read the book and discussed both the H sound and sound words the book used.

To tie in an art activity, the girls painted their hand and created a capital letter H using their handprints.

Letter G

Arielle (mommy):

Introduction:  I introduced Lil to the letter G by reading my G book to her, we identified all of the G words in the book, and practiced saying the sound.

Writing practice:  I filled a ziplock bag with hair gel, wrote G and g on a peice of paper to put under it, and had Lil trace the letters through the gel.  She really enjoyed the sensory aspect of it.

Craft:  For our letter G animal I really struggled because I didn't like the goat or gorilla I found online and the giraffe was no good because it is the wrong sound.  I decided I wanted Lil to make a Goldfish so I looked online for a G shaped goldfish and I didn't find anything good.  I had to make up my own but it was easy because I just had to disguise the letter as a goldfish.  I cut out all the pieces and gave them to Lil to glue.  I have really been working with her on lifting paper and gluing things under so it looks better.  She really seems to be catching on.

Cynthia (Nanny): 

For our letter G practice we talked about the g sound and glued pictures onto the next page of our ABC book.

Then, in an effort to make up some lost time, I combined math and science together with phonics. We talked about gardens and how some have flowers that you can smell. After our talk and smelling a flower in a plant, we created an AB pattern. This time I wanted them to start it off. It was interesting to see them pick different pictures to start with. They did an amazing job starting off the pattern. Towards the end, little sister wanted to end with two yellows because she said "I like yellow." It was a great time to review patterns and what needed to be in between the two. She did well and was able to put the rose in the correct spot. Big sister needed help towards the end also but I think at that point it could have been a little too overwhelming.

Guru moment: Next time I won't have as many pictures for them to work with. Having extras may have confused them.

Fun Friday: Colorful Scented Bubbles

Cynthia(Nanny):

We were very excited to try a scented homemade bubble paint recipe that I found for Fun Friday and smell. 

Things were going well and we had a lot of fun blowing into the cups with a straw, but when we tried to paint our paper it didn't come out like it was supposed to. After trying to add in more ingredients it still didn't work. 

We decided making a huge bubble mountain that smelled like vanilla was still fun. 

Then we got out bubble wands and blew bubbles. So even though things didn't turn out the way we planned we had fun improvising. ;) 

Recipe from: http://www.thechocolatemuffintree.com

Math: Ten Apples Up On Top

Arielle (mommy): 

Since food is the theme this week I couldn't resist reading the kids Ten Apples Up On Top.  

As usual I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a book.  I took pictures of the kids, inserted them into a word document, wrote the text, and printed it (on resume paper which was the only paper I could find).  I found some clip art apples and printed lots of tiny apples.  I cut everything out beforehand. 

After reading the story, I had Lil count out the apples and glue the correct number on each page.  

The pages read: "One apple up on top", so then Lil glued one apple on the picture of O's head, then "Two apples up on top", then she glued two apples on her head, etc.

She got the actual book and used it for "help."  We did numbers one-five one day and six-ten the next. When she was done glueing the apples, I laminated the pages and used book rings to hold it together.  Owen really enjoyed looking at the book too.

 

Guru moment:  If you don't won't to go to all the trouble of printing a book, just have the kids draw themselves and use red dot painters as apples.  This is how we used to do this activity when I taught Kindergarten.  

Science: Sense of Smell

Arielle (mommy):

To open our discussion of the five senses, we read the book My Five Senses by Alikai.  I decided we would smell different foods and make a book about the foods we smelled and whether or not we liked the smell.  

To prepare for this activity I did a google search for clip art of the foods I knew we'd be smelling:  lemon, chocolate, coffee, bananas, cheese, and milk.   Them I printed the pictures, cut them out, and folded some paper for our book. 

After we smelled a food (or drink) we made a page in our book ("I can smell bananas.  I like the smell." Or "I can smell milk.  I do not like the smell.")

We will add this book to our collection of pattern books that we made together.  I put all of these books in a box for Lil to read on her own (in kinder we called them browsing boxes).  

Browsing boxes include books that are just at the child's reading level.  For pre readers like Lil that includes books with a predictable pattern that she's familiar with, books with no words, books with just a few words, and books she has memorized.

Letter F

Arielle (mommy):

Introduction: For the letter F I introduced the letter with cards, we practiced making the F sound. Next I gave Lil a box of things; fan, dog, fish, fork, cat, cup, ball, and toy french fries.  I had her graph the F objects and not F objects.  O enjoyed helping take the objects out of the basket as well. 

Writing practice: We covered Lil's chalk table (just a regular table we painted with chalk paint) in chalk and I gave her some water and a paintbrush to paint the letter F in the chalk.  She love it!

Letter craft:  For our letter animal we chose to make an F shaped fox.  

Cynthia(Nanny): For our letter F activity we created our page for the ABC book and talked about the sound we heard at the beginning of each picture card. 

Fishing for letters: 

I drew, cut out, and laminated paper fish. I just used clear contact paper to cover them. Then, using white mailing labels I  wrote letters a-f on the fish bodies. I could have just used Fs but wanted to use all the letters we've learned so far. I attached a paper clip and a chenille stem loop tio act as the hook. Using toy fishing rods I got at a dollar store, the girls fished for letters in our make believe pond. It was great practice for their hand eye coordination as well as letter id. 

What's in the diaper bag/backpack?

Arielle(mommy):

Today has been a crazy busy day!  I told Cynthia I wasn't sure I could post today because we have been out of the house all day!  Cynthia usually has great ideas and this was no exception as she suggested I post something about keeping kids busy on the go.

For me keeping kids busy and keeping their needs met is what keeps them happy.  It all comes down to what's in the diaper bag, or in Lil's case her backpack.  

In O's diaper bag:

Book

Pencil bag (with cars)

Pencil bag (with Popsicle stick puzzles)

Ziplock bag (with change of clothes)

Sunscreen

Two diapers

Wipes

Roll of disposable diaper trash bags

Toy phone

Snack cup 

Juice pouch

In Lil's backpack:

Book

Pad of paper

Pencil box (with stickers, paper, pencils)

Snacks (in a formula dispenser with 4 sections)

Juice pouch

Pencil bag (with CVC clothespin game)

Ziplock bag (with change of clothes, comb, hair ties, chap stick, and sunscreen)

Wipes

Guru moment:  What are some things you or your child can't live without when you are on the go?

Learning/Play Spaces

Our classroom/playroom is a work in progress but here are a few pictures of what it looks like so far: 

Direct teach area: This is where I teach morning meeting, story time, or lessons where I want to display something on the easel. The calendar and pattern chart are cornered off from the rest of the room. To me, by creating nooks, it helps focus attention on different activities. 

Bookshelf: The girls have a great collection of books. Their parents really value reading and learning and it definitely has rubbed off on the girls. They love reading! It's never too late to start collecting books. Try half price stores our even garage sales to start of your collection. 

Dramatic play: They have a play kitchen and two pretend vanity tables. With twins, you really do need two of everything! 

Posters: I found these 5 posters on shapes, colors, letters, numbers, and opposites for about $5 at a teacher supply store. 

Display wall: I strung a clothesline from one corner to the other to make displaying the girls work easy and visible.

There are still other things I need to add in the room. I'd love to get ideas from your child's play room.  

Arielle (mommy):

One of my favorite places for the kids to work is at lap desks on the floor (you can buys these at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, and many other places).  

I love that they have three compartments.  We use one for markers/crayons/scissors, one for trash, and one for finished work.  They really love having their own work space (O really loves to share Lil's also).

Some of our other work spaces are our easel (where we make graphs and do group projects), our play kitchen, our learning tub shelf, and our library area.

Science: Sense of Taste

Cynthia (nanny): Today we created our own easy to read book on taste. I wrote in the text " I can taste _____" and explained to the girls that their job would be to glue on pictures of food items they have tasted or like to eat. 

We went through the choices of pictures before we started. On the last page I wrote "My favorite food to taste is_____" so I had them choose their favorite first and then went back to the beginning to glue the rest of the pictures on. 

After the pictures were in place I modeled reading the book to each girl and then challenged then to read it to me. 

Little sister was so excited to try it! She did very well with the predictable text pattern. (I can taste...) 

Big sister was a little hesitant to read on her own but was able to name the food picture after I read the text. With more practice and listening to me read her book to her, she will gain confidence as a reader. 

I can't wait to make more books with them. 

Math: Food patterns

Cynthia(Nanny): 

To integrate our five senses unit into math, we used pictures of fruit to create and extend a pattern (AB pattern). 

Patterns will be a concept we will review daily as they are a fundamental math concept all children need to master. 

I started out reviewing the shape pattern we made previously. Then I modeled where to glue on the first picture of the grapes. I glued on the strawberry and had the girls follow. 

I reviewed what we had so far and explained that I needed to glue the grapes picture next. After that, I let them glue the rest of the of the pictures by themselves. 

The only redirecting they needed was to make sure the pictures were right side up. 

To review we said the picture names together then I let them try by themselves. 

Guru moment: Next time I want to only do the first two pictures and see if they can create the pattern. Eventually we will lead into 3 picture patterns as well as AAB, AABB, etc. 

Arielle (mommy):  For our food patterns I bought some stickers from Targer.  We sorted them into divided plates.  I wrote lines on the paper and told Lil to create any pattern she wanted using all the stickers.  I helped a bit at first and then she took off.  

When she finished I talked to her about the different names we give patterns.  I told her that since her pattern had three parts it was an ABC pattern, I wrote ABC on her paper for her to copy.

After she was all done, she grabbed a slip of paper, drew her own lines, and created another pattern with the stickers.  This gave me the idea of learning trays! Much like the learning tubs filled wil manipulatives for independent play, learning trays will have consumable materials used for practice of a previously learned concept.