Fall

Fall, Autumn -- either word brings cool days and relief to summer heat! Fall is one of the most visual of seasons; there are just so many different colors to work with! There has always been something magical about this season that really allows people to get creative. Take a look below for the corresponding activities for the week.

Tweezing Corn Fine Motor Activity

Using tweezers is one of our favorite ways to strengthen the fingers and hands, getting them ready for writing. This week our sensory bin is filled with fall items that include corn on the cob! Because the kernels are hard, and there is some space between them, they make an excellent fine motor tweezing activity for preschoolers.

Leaf Collage

Collage art is one of the best first art experiences for preschoolers. It is particularly good for little hands as it involves picking, sticking, tearing, ripping, snipping and glueing, all of which are vital fine motor development tasks to strengthen and refine small hand muscles. Simply put, the better the motor skills, the more confidence your child will have to be able to draw and write when the time comes, and their body will be able to keep up with that quickly developing mind!

Reading - CVC Words

The Pre-K kids are beginning to read! During our literacy lessons we are beginning to take the leap from basic phonics and practicing the sounds of individual letters to putting the pieces together to sound out words. The easiest way to start literacy and spelling is with CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. They’re easy to sound out because they don’t include any of the diphthongs or other complications of the English language. These words also all use the “short” vowel sound associated with each of the five vowels. CVC words are about as simple as it gets, which makes them the perfect place to start our reading lessons!

Fall Texture Collage

Making collages helps develop fine motor skills. It is also a great hands-eye activity. Collages are also open-ended so even the youngest children can express their creativity!

Ten Frame Math Activity

One of the best tools for teaching number sense is a ten frame. Using ten frames is an amazingly effective and simple way to learn about numbers. A ten frame is a rectangle, separated into two rows with 10 equal spaces, hence the name "ten frame." Ten frames help kids learn about number sense. Ten frames help make counting values simpler and help form the basis for understanding place value in the future (example: numbers like 12 are a ten and two ones). This week we introduced addition using: a ten frame, green and yellow counting bears and a three-dice. I asked the kids to roll the dice, count the dots and add the corresponding number of bears into the ten frame. Then I asked the kids to roll the dice again and add the corresponding number of yellow bears. We then added the bears together while using one-to-one correspondence. 3 green bears + 2 yellow bears = 5 bears

Handwriting Without Tears

The Pre-K kids continue to work hard on letter formation and tripod grip.

Next week we will continue our Fall Unit.