Tag: early childhood

Fun Friday: Jelly Bean Math, a Jan Brett Book Study and Animals in Our Backyard..Day 9 Activities

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Today was FUN FRIDAY but before I explain the fun activities l wanted to share some age appropriate explanations about COVID-19. We had a virtual meeting with our Parents As Teacher home educator the other day and she sent us files of two age appropriate books to help young children better understand what is happening. One explains, in a child friendly way, what Contraviris is and the other offers young children support on why they are having school with their teachers from home. Click on the links below to read on line or print them out and make them into a book to read with your child.

What Is the Contravirus

My New Home School

Jelly Bean Math– My daughter really enjoyed doing math with jelly beans! We each got a baggie of jelly beans and used the free templates created by Simply Kinder on line to sort the jelly beans by color. Then we used the tally mark sheet and made tally marks next to each color indicating how many of each color we had. Our last step was creating a bar graph showing how many jelly beans of each color we had in our bag. We practiced math vocabulary by commenting on which color we had more or less of and which colors were equal. Since my daughter struggles with writing numbers I had her write the total number of each color on the sorting page. This was a great exercise in sorting, counting,  comparing numbers, number recognition and number writing and the best part was eating the jelly beans at the end! 

Holes in the Jelly Beans?– We cut out our jelly bean shapes and punched holes in the jelly beans by using a hole punch to punch the correct number of holes on each jelly bean. Then we strung them together and made a necklace. My daughter needs to work on hand strength and this activity suggested by her teacher really challenged her. Jan Brett– One of my favorite authors is Jan Brett so I pulled out all of my Jan Brett books and shared them with my daughter. We had read some of the books previously but some were new to her. After I took the picture I discovered even more Jan Brett books in my daughters closet! Her intricate illustrations are simply captivating and the fact that she loves animals and incorporates animals from around the world in her stories is one of the reasons why she is one of my favorite authors. Her creative spin on classic fairy tales is another reason why I love her so! In 1994 I had the privilege of meeting Jan Brett and her husband Joe (a double base player for the Boston Pops) at an early childhood conference in southern Illinois. This was decades before smart phones so I don’t think I got a picture of our meeting but she did sign and date one of my favorite books, Berlioz the Bear. My daughter’s favorite book is Comet’s Nine Lives and we adore the Gingerbread Baby books and of course her most famous book, The Mitten.  A family friend presented us with a copy of The Easter Egg a few years ago and my daughter has been requesting it be read every night now that we are nearing Easter. We went to Jan Brett’s website where we played games, watched a video of Jan reading one of her newest books (Cozy, a delightful story of a helpful musk ox from Alaska) and printed out some coloring pages of Hegie the Hedgehog. We also wrote her a letter and are anxiously anticipating a response. Backyard Animal Discovery– My daughter’s teacher shared the brilliant idea of watching for animals (in our backyard and on our daily walks) and graphing how many of each animal we found. We watched for ducks, cardinals, sparrows, robins, rabbits and squirrels and after printing out pictures of each animal my daughter helped me create a chart that we hung on the wall. We enjoyed looking out the window to see if another duck took a swim in the pond or if we could spot a robin on our daily walks around the neighborhood. My daughter loved adding tally marks on our graph and sharing the final count with her teacher. The activity was such a hit we are going to do it again next week!

Spreading SONshine Project– Yesterday was virtual sunglasses day at school and it reminded me to spread SONshine. So spread some SONshine this weekend by calling a friend or family member you haven’t talked to in awhile, mailing a letter or sending a text of encouragement to someone or posting an encouraging bible verse on social media. #spreadingSONshine project

Letter Writing, Hop Scotch, Engineering and Gary the Puppet.. Day 8 Activities

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Today was hat day and we enjoyed searching the house for the wildest and.craziest hat to wear! We defiantly get the award for the biggest hat!

Calendar- We are keeping a daily calendar where my daughter draws a picture and writes something about our day. Chapel With Gary the Puppet– Our senior pastor and Gary the Puppet occasionally lead chapel at my daughter’s school. They recorded a special message and the huge smile on my daughter’s face was proof that their efforts were a huge success. Click Here to view the video. Letters to Loved Ones- Like her momma my little one loves to write. We have been writing letters everyday. Today she chose to write a letter to her teacher and to my parents. Through the letter writing she is learning how to address a letter, add a stamp and put the letter in the mailbox for the mail carrier to pick up. Building With Daddy- My husband and daughter created structures out of toothpicks and marshmallows. Daddy taught her how to build a strong foundation and they enjoyed building together.

Hop Scotch– Daily physical activity along with “brain breaks” are imperative for learning and growing. My daughter got this Melissa and Doug hopscotch set for her birthday and we have been using it as an option for our daily movement.

Today was a peak weather day. With the sun and warm temperatures we took advantage of this gift and played outside enjoying the SONshine!

Recyclable Art, Searching for Signs of Spring and Letting the SONshine In…Day 7 Activities

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Today was crazy sock day. These virtual spirit days has been a wonderful way for us to feel connected to my daughter’s school. A personal FaceTime conversation with her teacher and a surprise book sent in the mail from a family friend made for a pretty perfect day!
Recyclable Art– My daughter asked if she could use this paper tube to make a butterfly for our neighborhood art walk. Without any direction from me she planned and created this work of art completely on her own! It was a reminder that sometimes the unplanned activities, led by our children, are the most successful! I encourage you and your family to make works of art out of recyclable materials you have lying around the house. Signs of Spring– After completing the Scholastic Learn From Home lesson on spring we took a walk around our neighborhood looking for signs of spring. My daughter recalled many of the things she learned from our on line reading and pointed them out as we walked. I documented the signs she found and tomorrow we will print out the pictures and make our own book.
Spreading SONshine Project- A few days ago I began the Spreading SONshine Project where I encouraged others to share the love of Jesus by drawing a sun with a cross and or sharing a bible verse on social media with #spreadingSONshineproject The movement hasn’t caught on but my dad, who is an artist, began drawing daily SONshine crosses. If you are interested in seeing more please follow Spreading SONahine Project on Facebook or Instagram. Connecting Virtually- We connected with my daughter’s teacher, Mrs. Stanglein, this morning via a FaceTime chat and after dinner had a Talley family meeting on Zoom. My daughter enjoyed seeing Maw Maw and Paw Paw Talley (who live nearby) along with my sister in law and her family who live in Georgia. As virtual meet ups become our norm, seeing familiar faces brings comfort.
As the news indicates that isolation will be extended through April 24, I pray you and your family create some special memories together. Make a personal or a family goal to try something new. While practicing social distancing, reach out to friends and family you haven’t talked to in months or even years. And in the darkest of days, remember the SONshine.

The Weather, Shaving Cream, Trail Mix and Friends!…Day 6 Activities

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Today was a good day. In fact it was a GREAT day! We have finally settled into a routine that included a lot of learning and fun! We begin each day with a family meeting where we go over our schedule. Creating a visual schedule for the early childhood age group is a must!

What is the Weather?– This week we began a weather chart. When I was a kindergarten teacher we sang about the weather every day and graphed the weather each week. Singing the weather song signals the beginning of our “school” day. And using weather cards (sunny, windy, rainy, snowy, foggy, rainy) builds vocabulary and graphing builds math skills.

Writing Letters to Friends– My daughter LOVES to write so we are incorporating some writing everyday. Today she wrote letters to her two best friends and a letter to Pete the Cat! She helped me address the letters, add the stamps and then we went outside and placed the letters in the mailbox. Receiving a response back will be exciting and something to look forward to. If you would like to write to Pete the Cat, here is his address…Crazy Hair Day– My daughter’s school is having a virtual spirit week and today was Crazy Hair Day! We read the books Stephanie’s Ponytail by Robert Munsch and Crazy Hair Day by Barney Saltzberg . My little one decided she wanted to wear her hair in a side ponytail! Having a dress up week or day is a lot of fun!

Try Some Math With Your Trail Mix– We made our own trail mix for snack! The activity began with my daughter deciding what five ingredients she wanted to include. Then she scooped each ingredient into a bowl and we mixed it together. After she got her portion she sorted the individual pieces and we created a graph that showed how many pieces of each item she had. My daughter wrote the numbers and I realized she needs more practice on writing numbers as she was a bit unsure how some of the numbers were formed. We worked on the following math vocabulary by asking.. which had more, which had less and were there any that were equal?Friend, Friends, Friends– My daughter misses her friends terribly so I set up a Zoom play date with her two besties from school. The girls loved seeing and talking to each other and the virtual play date went on for an hour! One friend showed us her bunnies, my daughter shared some drawings and another friend showed us her favorite book.

We had a GREAT day but I know not every day will go as well as today. When I was a classroom teacher it was the same way so why would I think schooling from home would be any different?

A Science Lesson, Dances Around the World, Mary and Martha and Extra Snuggles… Surviving Day 5

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Dances Around the World– My daughter’s dance studio, the Performing Arts Centre, put together virtual dance classes via Zoom. We had our first class today and for the preschool program they are using is Dances Around the World. Prior to class we were sent instructions on how to make props. Today’s lesson was on Italy and I helped my daughter create a plate of spaghetti, gold coins and a wishing well. She was also instructed to bring a stuffed dog to class. (and if you know my daughter that wasn’t a difficult request). The dancers used the props during class and my daughter had a blast! It was the happiest I have seen her in days. Dressed in her normal pink leotard, tights and ballet shoes, she took the class seriously and enthusiastically followed along with the instructor.

Scratch Garden– We watched an animated song about the sun by Scratch Garden. My daughter loved the song and requested to watch the animation several times. Scratch Garden has an extensive catalog of learning videos that teach the preschool set concepts through visuals. We will watch more Scratch Garden videos in the future.

Books, Books and More Books– After reading about the moon last week we learned about the sun. We began by reading the book Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons. I found someone reading the book on YouTube. We read the book Wake Up, Sun! by David L. Harrison, a fun fictional selection about a group of farm animals who think the sun has forgotten to rise. This is a book I digitally checked out of our local library and we read it through Libby.

Sun Science– We used three different sized balls to represent the sun, Earth and the moon and daddy helped us act out how our Earth rotates around the sun while turning on its axis and how the moon orbits Earth while turning on its axis. Daddy was the sun and he stood still in the middle. It is a difficult concept for a five year old to fully grasp but the activity required movement and daddy enjoyed participating.

Sun Art– Our neighborhood is having a sunshine hunt tomorrow so we drew suns to put in our windows for neighbors to find. The idea inspired me to create the Spreading SONshine Project, a way to spread sunshine and Jesus’s love to others during this time of isolation. Spread the SONshine by drawing a sun with a cross and placing it in your window for neighbors to see. Or spread some SONshine by sharing a comforting bible verse via social media or email. Don’t forget to share #spreadingSONshineproject and follow the Spreading SONshine Project page on facebook and Instagram.

Mary and Martha and The Beginner’s Bible– Our church uses The Beginner’s Bible Curriculum for early childhood children. Go to The Beginner’s Bible website for free downloadable material. I also discovered there is an App and I can’t wait to get that for my daughter. We were sent the weekly lesson plan and did the lesson as a family. We read the following stories (“Mary and Martha,” “Lazarus Lives Again,” and “A Gift for Jesus”) in our daughter’s The Beginner’s Bible and after some discussion she colored the accompanying coloring page. Our amazing early childhood preschool director recorded herself reading the book Sit Down (Marty and Martha) by Mary Manz Simon and it fit perfectly with the Jesus Time we had planned for today.. Click here to listen to this engaging story. My daughter watched it three times and loved joining in on the repetitive parts.

Comfort Comes When We Connect… The Power of Technology During This Time of Uncertainty

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The first few days of being isolated at home were fun; perhaps a bit of a novelty if you will. But over the weekend reality set in and this time of uncertainty and worry manifested itself into two sleepless nights for our preschooler. If your children are struggling with the changes we are currently facing please take comfort knowing you are not alone.

We turned to technology for comfort. How extremely fortunate we are to have it as technology helped us connect with grandparents, friends and our church family over the weekend. Our daughter was comforted after seeing the smiling faces of loved ones on FaceTime and basked in the familiar as we participated in our church’s Sunday worship service streaming through the TV. Watching her preschool teacher read a favorite book on Instagram made settling into bed a tad bit easier. Bedtime continued to be a struggle but she fell asleep quicker than the night before and I pray she stays in a sweet slumber for the rest of the night.

Our use of technology as a way to connect with others will become our new normal when her dance studio holds a virtual class through Zoom and we video conference with our Parents As Teachers home educator and her speech therapist. A FaceTime chat with her preschool teacher and then a virtual play date with a classmate will round out our virtual social calendar.

After all of this is over I predict our relationships will be stronger and spending time with others in person is something we will no longer take for granted. I hope we continue to use technology as a way to connect with others and that we continue to use it to help those in need.

A FaceTime play date with a family friend and her cats.

Bows and Buttons, Buttons, Buttons… Day 4 Activities

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We began day 4 with a bow and a smile! Today was supposed to be spirit day at school and a group of moms suggested we have a virtual school spirit day by dressing in school colors and sharing pictures online. Seeing familiar faces brought some normalcy to our day.
Buttons, Buttons, Buttons- We read the book The Button Box by Margarette S. Reid, a fabulous book about a boy who enjoys exploring a box of buttons with his grandmother. Although I had the book from my teaching days, you can find the book on YouTube. We got out a box of buttons hidden away in our art cabinet and after reading we sorted the buttons in various ways…by color, by size, by number of holes. We made some patterns with the buttons and then we did some math fact practice. If you have 3 blue buttons and 3 purple buttons how many do you have in all? Our button box contained a baseball button and a flower button. We had one shank button as well.

Puppy Pictures– Lillian’s preschool teacher communicates with us daily and yesterday she posted a picture of her three dogs: Dobby, Leo and Spartacus. My little dog lover requested to draw a picture of Mrs. Stanglein’s pups and then she wrote their names. Notice Dobby’s growling teeth and the speech bubbles with the word woof above each pup? (creative ideas from my girl) She wrote the word love without asking how the word was spelled and was extremely proud of her accomplishments.

Story Time– Technology continues to connect us to others. We enjoyed story time with Lillian’s teacher and with Santa Claus. Search for Santa Frank (our favorite local Santa) on Facebook and enjoy his daily story time.

Starfall-When I taught kindergarten sixteen years ago Starfall was a popular on-line program to share with my students. It continues to be a useful tool as it allows young children to practice the foundations of reading. If you contact Starfall via their website at www.starfall.com they will send you a code to gain full access to their material for thirty days. No personal information is shared as they are donating their services for free during this time of isolation.

The Greatest Gift… Emmanuel, God With Us

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On this Christmas morning Noteworthy Mommy wishes you and your family a very Merry Christmas and love, joy and happiness in the new year.

As I pass on family traditions like reading Santa Mouse, hiding a pickle in the Christmas tree and watching The Snowman, I also enjoy starting new traditions like Angel on Assignment. I hope you are enjoying Christmas as much as we are.

But in twelve short days Christmas will come to an end. The tree will be taken down and the ornaments will safely be packed away for another year. The stores will discount anything associated with Christmas to make way for chocolate and Valentines. After all of the gifts have been opened, some may be exchanged and many will be long forgotten. There is one gift, however, that is constant. That remarkable gift is Jesus and His love is forgiving and everlasting.

In church last night I was reminded how God can use us to show Jesus’s love to others. He shines through when we perform a good deed, share a kind gesture or tell others about God’s greatest gift. By sharing God’s love we remind others that the gift of Jesus is always there for us even when the sparkling lights and nativity scenes are packed away. Jesus loves us through those dark times too. Even when it seems impossible to see the light, He is there.

The lyrics from a favorite Christmas song by Point of Grace, “Emmanuel, God With Us/O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” reminds me how the Holy Spirit can work in us, not only during the Christmas season but each and every day.

“Oh Emmanuel, God with us
Spirit revealed in us
That we may be your hope to the world
Oh Emmanuel, God with us
With a light to break the darkness
That we may show your hope to the world
Emmanuel, God with us
Be God in us”

So on this Christmas Day and every day after…”Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”

2 Corinthians 9:15

Angel on Assignment…An Angelic Tradition

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Angels are the highlight of our Advent celebrations this year. From the angels that adorned the tables at the Advent By Candlelight events I participated in to the messages from the angels that changed everything to the lovely book and plush angel doll that showed up in our mailbox.

The book “Angel on Assignment, An Angelic Tradition,” beautifully written by Wanda Carter Roush has instantly become a family favorite! Written in rhyme, the book shares the heavenly messages delivered by angels to Mary and Joseph, to the shepherds and to the wise men regarding the birth of a baby who would change the world! The book teaches children that angels were present from the birth to the grave to the resurrection…”From a poor simple stable and a bed made of hay, To the cross on a hill, in a borrowed tomb He lay. Angels were there from the star to the stone, When the greatest gift to the world was made known.”

“Angles on Assignment, An Angelic Tradition”, has another message. The book teaches boys and girls that angels are sent from Heaven above and show God’s love by performing special missions. From sending comfort when we are scared to guarding and protecting, angels are all around us. The delightful illustrations by Mike Motz and Alicia Young engage the reader. Angels are hiding on every page and my daughter loved studying the book, shouting with excitement when she located an angel!

An Angelic Tradition– As an “Elf on a Shelf” alternative, our book came with a sweet plush doll that mirrors the little angel hiding in the book. The book explains that angels do much more than just sit on a shelf and suggests starting a new Christmas tradition with your family by assigning an angel to your house. Give your angel a name and use your angel to remind your family of God’s love. While other Christmas traditions center around receiving instead of giving. I like how the book encourages children to be “angels on assignment” looking for people in need and lending a helping hand by giving unto others and sharing kind words. This year our “Angel on Assignment” projects included purchasing gifts off of the angel tree at our church, packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, donating outgrown dance shoes to Traveling Tutus and purchasing cat beds and toys for Five Acres Animal Shelter, a no kill shelter in our community.

The angel my daughter and I made together.

Creating an Angel- You can purchase an angel or make one of your own. Just look in the back of the book, “Angels on Assignment, An Angelic Tradition,” and you will find pages filled with ideas on how to make an angel. There are many creative ideas like making the body out of an old paperback book or using coffee filters for wings. The possibilities are endless.! I look forward to starting a new tradition of making an angel with my daughter every Christmas. As she gets older I envision the angels will get more intricate. There are patterns in the book if you want to make an angel out of paper. My daughter and I chose that option this year, tracing her little hands to use as the angel’s wings. We placed our angel by her Advent calendar to remind us of God’s love. We made a few additional angels to gift to others so they too can be reminded of God’s love and the message of showing kindness. The author, Wanda Carter Roush, encourages individuals to post pictures of their angels on the “Angels on Assignment, An Angelic Tradition” Facebook page.

I shared “Angels on Assignment, An Angelic Tradition” with the students in my daughter’s preschool class at their Christmas party and helped the boys and girls make angels so they can start this angelic tradition with their families. Through kind words or doing a good deed, sometimes it’s the little things that remind us of angel’s wings.

You can purchase this beautiful book on the author’s website at http://wandacarterroush.com or on Amazon. Amazon also has a digital version available. Make sure to check out other books and journals by Wanda Carter Roush. They make perfect gifts!

 

 

An Apple Picking Adventure…A Difficult Lesson for Mommy

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There are many fantastic fall activities to engage in during this time of year and one of my favorites is apple picking! I documented the fun apple activities we participated in last year. Click here to read all about them!

Although we enjoyed many of these apple filled activities again this year, it was our trip to the apple orchard that I unfortunately will never forget.

Our Apple Adventure– My daughter had a huge smile on her face as the tractor drove us far into the apple orchard. But it’s when we stepped onto the ground that everything changed. She began crying because she couldn’t find any apples to pick. Although most of the apples were hidden in far away branches, making it impossible for a little one to reach without assistance, when I offered help she refused. Then she experienced a huge melt down when the tall grass brushed against her little legs, showing her discontent by letting out blood curdling screams while I attempted to document our apple outing by snapping a few pictures. She yelled that she wanted to go home and that’s when it hit me. Mommy’s Lesson- My daughter’s life had recently been turned upside down when I accepted an assignment to train teachers for an entire week at a local school district. This was a change for our family of three because I normally work a few days out of each month (rarely back to back days) and am blessed to spend the majority of the time as a stay at home mommy. I knew working for an entire week was going to challenge us but the work was local, guaranteeing I would be home every night and the generous pay would help our family financially.

So in the middle of the apple orchard on that humid day I realized all my daughter wanted was me! Instead of ending the week going apple picking or out to eat or here or there, all she wanted was her mommy. A good book and some cuddles on the couch was what she really needed. Too young to verbalize these feelings she had enthusiastically said “yes” to apple picking when I made the suggestion. After all I was excited about the trip so she should be too.

As parents we try too hard to do it all: continuing fall traditions, working to provide for our families and trying to be successful at parenting. Would the world come to an end if we missed apple picking this year? Life is a balance and what our children need more than “over the top” experiences is quality time with their loved ones. This precious time can be spent in the backyard on the swing set, inside the house with a favorite book, making a yummy snack in the kitchen or building a tower out of blocks. We can’t do all of the fun activities we see on Pinterest or take our little ones to every fall event on the city calendar. It’s ok. In fact it’s more than ok.

Spending quality time doesn’t have to cost us anything but gives us the biggest reward. This is time where we are 100% focused on our children and they have our full attention. Time where we erase the thoughts of our never ending “to do lists,” turn off the technology and have some uninterrupted quality time together. I recently heard if we don’t take the time to listen to our children while they are young we won’t be the ones they come and talk to when they are older. Listen to your children for these are the moments that will become the memories that our children will forever cherish. The memories of a happy childhood filled with love.

After pleading with my daughter I was able to get some pleasant apple picking pictures right before we left the apple orchard. I debated sharing these pictures on Facebook instead of the one where she is crying. I ended up “keeping it real” and sharing the crying photo because that depicted what truly happened.