Preschool Corner/Week Review

Every time we get to the end of the week, I think boy we really didn’t do anything this week. Then I start working on our Week Review to discover WOW we did all that!

Reading:

Selena continues to read through book 3 of her phonics, short vowel i. She posed a very good question to me though, “Why is the word “did” lower case in some sentences but Upper case in others?” Great observation! Well, I guess you know we took a little look at sentence structure. I wrote several sentences on the white board and we discussed how words in the center of the sentence or at the end are all lower case and if the word starts the sentence it is upper case. This brought her next question, “How about names?” We then talked about how names are always capitalized.

She also discovered the use of the question mark. She has been calling out question mark every time she sees it in her books, but this little sentence structure lesson, was a great opportunity to show her how a question mark is actually used. Especially since the word that was causing her so much grief was the word did, Did!

Selena is enjoying the white board more and more. I have been writing random sentences on it every day. She comes along at some point during the day, and reads them out loud. Every so often I throw a new word in that she has to either figure out on her own or ask about. She is really doing great with this exercise.

She did get to add a few new words to her phonics wall. I know she could have added more, but for some reason she just did not want to apply herself this week, with the phonics wall. She continues to enjoy Boggle Jr. and is wanting to flip the cards over to the 4 letter words. I am holding off on this though until we get more into letter blends in her phonics.

Math:

Selena has really taken off with her Chutes and Ladders game. When we are not actually playing the game she is counting the numbers on the board. She will play it by herself at times if I am busy. It is funny to watch her move her little person about the board. Sometimes she is very accurate on where to move the person and other times, well let’s just say it goes where she thinks she wants it.

By far though Candy Land is the game right now that she has mastered. She cracks me up though, as when she gets a card that advances her to the candy bar for instance, she reacts as if it has sent her back. She does understand though that when she gets these cards and does have to move back, she does with the same type of protest that any of us playing the game would do.

We’ve been looking at adding and taking away with her mega blocks, and other items. She is grasping this idea fairly well. This seems to come at a great time with her curriculum as it is beginning to introduce the basic math knowledge needed to begin simple addition and subtraction as well.

Selena’s interest in clocks is leaving me to realize we have to make or buy a play clock so that we can start working on time.

Science:

Selena had so much fun doing our light travel experiment as she calls it.

 

Geography/History:

Selena enjoyed adding onto her Geography/History scrapbook more details about Washington State. I believe we are done with Washington for now, and will move onto one of the other postcards we have received.

Writing:

Selena has really been toning the fine motor skills. She is loving the concept of being able to trace now. She can trace all the upper case letters, while the lower case letters still tend to be a little more of a challenge for her. We are still using the Kumon Workbooks which she loves, but she really just enjoys to have me print  the letters either on paper or her doodle pad so she can trace them. I like this, as it really is challenging her in those fine motor skills, concentration, while learning at the same time. She is able to tell me in complete directions how to make each letter, so I think she will make the break through and be writing before too long.

Art:

Selena hasn’t been asking for her art box or stART at all lately, instead while I am cooking dinner she just wants either plain paper or one of her coloring books and crayons. She has been very busy figuring out coloring within the lines and filling the entire picture in. She is discovering how much fun it is to sit down and just color away, no scissors, no paste, just to sit and draw and color. Along with this has come the discovery that she can write the letter S for her name all by herself.

Other:

She didn’t have dance this week, and really missed it. We are opting out of the recital, after being informed that she will need 3 different costumes. I am looking into a different dance school for next year, she might not be able to start it since her birthday lands in December, so I am still considering all our options. I am waiting to hear back on her birthday. She will however attend this new school for a 6 week workshop for three year olds this Spring.

We are still adjusting to Papa’s new work schedule. Selena is getting up way early in the mornings, which leads to such a long morning for her. Today we ate lunch early and took a very early nap. I hope this helps a bit for this new adjustment. We do love having Papa home with us at dinner time however.