1st Week of Preschool - Letter A

This was our first week of Preschool (and Tot School), so I was well aware that things would not be perfect. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the boys did with the majority of the activities.  They were engaged, they were challenged, and they had fun!  I had a lesson plan created for each day of the week, but I definitely switched things up as I went along and took note so I could create an "ideal" lesson plan format for next week.

Curriculum/Printables:
      -Preschool: Confessions of a Homeschooler  (each activity must be downloaded separately on www.4shared.com.  This looks confusing, but if you have a free account, which I did, you just click on the gray Download button in the middle left of the page, and then the gray FREE DOWNLOAD button on the next page.)
      -Tot School: 1plus1plus1equals1 (each letter has one document to print off everything for the week) and Totally Tots

MONDAY

I planned to start right at 8:30 am, but of course we were late. Oh well. The boys sat on the car rug for "Calendar Time" and we began.  We added a day to our large calendar, reviewed today's date, what was yesterday/what is tomorrow, and sang the "How's the Weather?" song before picking the weather card for the day. I finally finished my LDS A-Z Scripture Verses for the boys to memorize, so we started with "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25, The Book of Mormon).

The boys then moved to their tables to start their Daily Learning Notebooks (Preschool and Tot Time). I also found some fun coloring pages on the Crayola website that I printed out and included in Alex's notebook.  Jackson traced the words for today's date, colored in what clothes to wear for the weather (we didn't even bother with the time and temperature on that page), filled in a square for the weather of the day, and filled in a square on the "100 Days of School" page.  I also let him choose one page from the numbers, letter, and shapes pages to trace or color.  All of Alex's pages are in page protectors, so he just had fun coloring the pictures and wiping them off.

I would like to say that I did an elaborate introduction for the letter of the week, but I didn't. However, I have decided to put together a "scavenger box" of stuff that starts with the letter of the week to go through with the boys to introduce at the beginning of the week.  

The first activity for Jack used the large A lacing card and a manipulative to create a pattern on top.  Alex played with the Tot School lacing card and my pom-pom magnets during this time.  We then transitioned to the coloring pages for Aa/Apple.

Here the boys are coloring:

After coloring, we used the Apple Large Floor Numbers as a floor game. We set the cards down around the room, I called out a number, and we all ran around to find that number card first. I knew the boys were wiggly, so we also started jumping along with the numbers, as well. ;)

The next activity was supposed to be watching the Leapfrog Letter Factory DVD, which I did not have, but we found a clip on youtube going over the letter A sound.  

We then read Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss for our themed reading time.  I found a cute felt-board activity to go along with this a few days later, but we haven't had a chance to do it. It still looks fun, though.  I also found other books at the library to go along with A or Apple for this week:

1. Apples by Gail Gibbons

2. Ten Red Apples by Virginia Miller
3. Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett (our read-along book)
4. Animal Safari: Anteaters (A Blastoff! Readers book)
5. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day  by Judith Viorst

I had scheduled for the boys to decorate their ABC binder cover for the end of the school day, but they were ready to be done, so we skipped it for now.

TUESDAY

 After Calendar Time, we started off with Jack's apple cutting practice page and Alex "cutting" scraps of construction paper.

Then it was magnet time! Jack did his apple magnet page with the pom-pom magnets, and Alex did his vocabulary page (with me) using magnets I made from the glass rocks we had left over from our wedding reception.  

And the boys, of course, wanted to switch activities after they were done. I had Jack do the apple 6-piece puzzle at this point, while Alex did his Tot School 3-piece puzzle. I didn't get a picture of this activity.

Then I pulled out the tracing pages in page protectors. I showed how to form the letters correctly, then helped Jack trace it with his finger. I pulled out the colored gel bag I made and let him trace it again with his finger, then we used a dry-erase marker.

Jack got to use a Bingo marker (from Dollar Tree) on his letter hunt worksheet, which he loved. I had Alex color another A page, but I found a better worksheet in the Tot School packet that matches up better (the apple with upper and lower-case As inside it), which I will use next time.

We ended the day with our Movement/Exercise Time. I found this exercise lapbook online, and if you download the whole file and click further in (around page 52, I think) you will find Exercise ABC cards. The boys loved just going through the different letters and doing the movements with some music playing, but I'm sure we can find more creative uses for it, later on.

WEDNESDAY

 After Calendar Time, Jack did his apple pattern activity while Alex did his 3-part sequencing activity. For some reason, I don't have a picture of this, either.

Next, Jack worked on this apple file folder game I found to color match apples, and Alex did his shadow matching game.  I'm pretty sure they switched these activities, too.

Jack did his 2-part color puzzles while Alex (and I) colored all his apple cards and matched corresponding Lego bricks to them.  As you can see, Jackson didn't want to do his puzzles a second time and waited (somewhat) patiently for his turn with the Legos.

Do-a-Dot time!  I'm too cheap right now to buy actual Do-a-Dot markers, but I found 5-6 different colored Bingo markers at Dollar Tree and we use those, instead. They loved these markers!

Next we used our black Bingo marker to make ants all over our A collage page for our ABC notebook.  I helped during this activity, so I didn't get a chance to take a picture.

We ended the day doing our apple letter match worksheet with the wooden letters I made last week. I let them do this together, knowing full well that they would just end up playing with all the letters, but they still matched up to the card! 

THURSDAY

After Calendar/Notebook time, I decided to do a new activity to review the A sounds. I found this ABC Find It activity on the 1plus1plus1equals1 website, and hid the cards (in plain sight) for the boys to find and match to the card on the floor. They had a lot of fun.

After we found and discussed the Find It cards, we did the apple cut and paste.  I knew Jack would not be able to cut out the tree and apples, so I cut them out before-hand and let him glue them onto a piece of construction paper.  The Tot School packet had this empty apple worksheet that I used to just let Alex glue scrap pieces of foam onto, which he enjoyed greatly. 

We moved onto the floor with our A poke page, using toothpicks to poke through the letters. Alex just used a piece of scrap paper I had to do the same. 

The apple lacing cards were next, but (as I suspected) the boys really struggled with this. Alex used the apple card we used with the pom-pom magnets on Monday.  I changed tactics...

...and pulled out our beads. This was a pack of large ABC beads I found at Hobby Lobby for $3 (at 50% off), plus a pack of colored beads from Dollar Tree.  They do well with the ABC block beads, but the cheap beads were a little too small to work with.  As you can see, they made a huge mess.  Next time, I will give them each a small bowl of beads, instead of all the beads dumped in a bowl to "share." Lesson learned!

Jack did his apple shape matching puzzles, while Alex and I put the large rock magnets on his shape page. And then they switched. ;)

Our last activity of the day was a little rough. Jack needed a lot of prompting with the apple counting activity, but he eventually understood what he needed to do.  Alex and I tried to place ABC beads onto each apple number card, corresponding to the number on the card.  He just like putting a bead on each number.  That works. 

FRIDAY

Last day for A!

After Calendar/Notebook time, we started on our Aa sorting page. Alex's dot page I think would be better paired with the Letter Hunt exercise from earlier in the week, so that will be fixed for next week.  Even though we are focusing mostly on upper-case letters, there is still a lot of lower-case a's in the activities, which I like.  

The pre-writing pages were next. I have been too cheap to buy laminating pages, yet, so I just left them in page protectors and Jack did just fine.  Alex practiced his line-drawing page. 

The boys then did the apple size sort together.  I had to help them understand the purpose of the game, but Jack finally started to understand.  I'm pretty sure this is an activity that carries over to other letters, which I'm happy about.

We did our letter craft for the week afterwards. I pre-cut all the pieces and just had the boys help me glue. It's an alligator A!

And lastly, we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and put our letter A on the coconut tree. 

At the end of school today, Jack surprised me by reciting our LDS Scripture Verse of the week.  I was one proud mama!

I like how Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler also incorporates a Family Fun Night at the end of each week. I borrowed the movie "Annie" from the library in case we decide to watch it together tonight. And I might make a little apple crisp to go with it. :)

WEEKLY LESSON PLAN

 If you are curious, here is the daily/weekly lesson plan I created. I used a template provided on the Confessions of a Homeschooler website, which you can find on this page.  This does not reflect this week's activities, but what I have created as the best schedule for what we are doing. Some activities or Tot School pages might not match up exactly the same, but I am pretty flexible.

Preschool at Home - Exploration and Setup

  For some reason, I could never get Jack excited about going to preschool. He seemed very apprehensive anytime I brought it up and would say "I'm too little for school, Mommy." I definitely was feeling the cultural pressure to get him in preschool as soon as possible, but I finally had to realize that he is a special little boy and I don't need to rush him out of the home. I began to explore the possibility of doing preschool at home, and felt really good about that decision. Jack will be challenged, I will be able to use my teaching credentials to benefit my own child/children, and it will give us more structure to our day (which we also needed).

      Thankfully, Jack is really excited to do school "with Mommy, at home." I gave myself a few weeks to pull together a curriculum and materials as well as setup our schoolroom/playroom. There are so many great resources online, and I am so excited to start on Monday!  Here is what I found and have been preparing for the boys:

Curriculum

Confessions of a Homeschooler - Letter of the Week (<---click on the individual letters to see the activities for each week and the links to download them for FREE)

    - This awesome homeschool Mama put together a Letter of the Week curriculum for preschool and provided all the printables for free! Downloading each file can be tedious, so she put everything together in a Letter of the Week downloadable program that includes all the printables as well as lesson plans and other extras, for a small fee.  She suggests going through the vowels first and consonants second (which corresponds with what I learned in school), upper-case letters the first time and lower-case letters the second time.  I also found these playdough mats that I like better than Erica's traceable mats, so I'll purchase these, soon.

    - Calendar Time activities and printables

    - Daily Learning Notebook for J to fill out during Calendar Time

Tot School

    - Knowing that Alex would have a hard time leaving Jack's stuff alone, I found this website that has a letter of the week focus for toddlers.  I prepared the A's, and matched them up to activities that Jack would be doing. My weekly lesson plan shows the activities the boys will work on together, as well as corresponding, individual activities.
    - She also includes a Tot Time Notebook for toddlers to do while older kids are using their Daily Learning Notebooks.

    - I also love her Tot Tray ideas for toddlers!  

We Choose Virtues
    - This program helps children to learn and apply 12 different virtues, such as being attentive, forgiving, diligent, etc...  I kind of want to just order the kids Virtue Clues cards and hang a different one up each week to focus on, but I haven't ordered them, yet.

Lots of homeschooling blogs are written by Christian families with short biblical verses to memorize each week.  This seemed weird to me at first, but then I realized that they memorize books all the time.  Why not have them memorize scripture verses? I have started to put together an LDS list of scriptures for each letter of the week, but I'm not quite done with it.  This will probably be practiced during Calendar Time.

These blogs have their favorite cds for music and movement. We love Super Simple Songs on Youtube for educational videos, especially since they don't use tons of flashing lights and quick movements, which are bad for people with seizures (i.e. Jack).

Other Resources

On Becoming Preschool Wise

    - I got this from the library recently and decided to work on a regular daily schedule this week in preparation for school to start.  The boys love knowing what is expected and our days have really improved! Here is our basic schedule:

7:00 am - Wake up, eat breakfast

7:30 - Make beds, get dressed for the day

7:45 - Free Playtime

8:30 - School Time (M-F) 

9:45 - Morning Snack

10 - Outdoor Time (usually at a park)

12 pm- Lunch

12:30 - Nap (They still nap at the same time)

2:30 - Wake up, together reading time

2:45 - Afternoon snack

3 - Structured Play with Sibling (A specific activity I have them do together)

3:30 - Free Playtime

4:15 - Quick cleanup

4:30 - TV time/Dinner Prep

5:30 - Dinner

6 - Family Time/Daddy Time

6:45 - Mommy and Daddy Time/Roomtime*

7 - Get ready for bed (bath, pajamas, brush teeth)

7:30 - Bedtime (scriptures, prayers, 30 minutes to fall asleep)

*Roomtime is also known as Quiet Time or All By Myself Time. I have a box of activities set aside each day for Jack to take into his room and play with by himself. This helps him learn to focus for increasing periods of time, and gives him a break from Alex trying to take all his toys). And Mommy and Daddy Time (AKA Couch Time) is time for the hubby and I to sit together and chat about our days without interruption.

    - A few other suggestions in the book that I am working on are helping the boys develop self-control and "three-candy speed." When I notice the boys start to get wiggly when I need them to be still and quiet.  I say "fold your hands and get some self-control," which buys me some time to redirect their attention to something else.  Michelle Duggar also describes her method of teaching self-control on their blog. And "three-candy speed" is showing them how fast they clean up if 3 pieces of candy are at stake, then using that phrase to guide them in cleaning up quickly when the occasion calls for it. 

Setting Up

The basic chevron calendar and date cards were purchased at Utah Idaho Supply for $7.

I found the chevron month labels for free on Teachers Pay Teachers.

The other big posters were purchased from the Dollar Tree, and there are a few of the Calendar Time printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

These boys are silly.

I set up a few tables and kids chairs from IKEA, as well as the hanging pouch from IKEA for basic art supplies.  I created that coconut tree from construction paper to correspond with the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom activities in the Letter of the Week curriculum.

Our car rug is from IKEA, and we have a few IKEA boxes labeled with pictures of books and blocks so the kids know where to put things away.

Our TV/Wii area also includes a basket with papers for drawing, special books, puzzles, our "treasure chest," and a few labeled buckets for toys (the left is for cars and trains, the right is for people and animals).  Jack is allowed to play the Wii only on Saturdays for a limited time, so he really looks forward to Saturdays.  :)

Jack in the reading corner. That wall has our big clock, a changeable weather poster from the Dollar Tree, and the seasons poster from Calendar Time.

Other Supplies

    I have also been stocking up on basic supplies like cardstock and multi-purpose paper for printing, a laminator, glue, scissors, a pack of alphabet beads from Hobby Lobby, folders and sheet protectors to organize the Daily Learning Notebook and curriculum, random stuff from Dollar Tree (lacing cards, pipe cleaners, foam sheets, Bingo markers for Do-a-Dot pages, flash cards for Quiet Time boxes, etc...) I have also gathered materials for Jack's Quiet Time boxes.  

I have no idea how next week is going to go, but we are all excited!

Norwex and E-cloth

Being my hippie self, when I first started hearing about Norwex cleaning cloths (and all their products in general), I was intrigued.  High-quality microfiber cloths that remove dirt, grime, and bacteria using only water? And they clean themselves? It seemed too good to be true.  I had multiple friends on Facebook invite me to their Norwex parties, which I declined because…well…I hate when friends try to sell me stuff.  I’m not a fan of MLMs.  Like...ever.  Eventually, though, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to purchase a few cloths to try out.  At the same time, while extensively researching Norwex and reading reviews (because that's what I do with every single decision I make), I came across information about another company with similar products called E-cloth.  I went online and purchased a few of them to try out at the same time.  I have been using both types of cloths for a few months, now, and here is a general overview of them in case you are also interested.

Norwex

-Click on the link above to get full information, but this is a company started in 1994, based on the idea that we use way too many toxic chemicals. High-quality microfibers were created to clean, using only water, to the same efficiency that chemical household-cleaners were (99% effective).  Because cleaning can all be done with a few cloths and water, you save money (from less cleaning supplies) and you save time. There are MANY products for your home, car, personal care, children, etc... Here is a Norwex consultant reviewing a few products and explaining what they are all about:

*Watch at the 5-minute mark for the bacteria test*

These products seem VERY expensive, compared to normal cloths, but I decided to order 2 Envirocloths ($16.50 each) and 1 Window/Polishing Cloth ($18.50) to try out.  Norwex has more basic microfiber cloths, but I decided to try these because of the "Antibac" features. I was a little confused on what this meant or how the Envirocloths worked, but after reading more online I found out that it's the MICROFIBER in the cloths, tightly woven, that actually picks up all of the dirt and germs and bacteria.  You then rinse out the cloths to remove the majority of all the gross stuff, and then the silver woven into the fibers actually cleans and sanitizes the CLOTH (after fully drying for 18-24 hours). So...the microfiber does the cleaning that chemical products used to.  The Antibac just helps to keep the cloths clean so you can use them multiple times before a wash.  These cloths must be washed using a laundry detergent without fillers (like my Molly's Suds) and dried without drier sheets (I used wool dryer balls and a ball of foil for static).  You can throw them in with any load as long as you don't have a lot of other linty items, like towels, in it.  

 

These are my three Norwex cloths.  I designated my pink Envirocloth for my bathroom cleaning (minus the sinks) and my blue Envirocloth for the kitchen and bathroom sinks.  So far, I really have loved cleaning with these cloths!  They are great at removing everything, and it takes SO MUCH LESS TIME to do cleaning than it did before! When I clean my bathrooms (all 3 of them), I use the purple polishing cloth for my mirrors (using a spray bottle of water to wet the surface), my blue cloth for the sinks and any spots on the walls, and the pink cloth for the toilets, potty seats, stools, etc...  I still use a (safe) toilet bowl cleaner from The Honest Company or Seventh Generation, but that's the only "chemical" I use.  I use my Swiffer for the floors because the Norwex mops are hecka expensive, but I have also considered putting one of my cloths in the Swiffer and mopping it that way. The cloths are pretty big but thin.  And if you can't stand the "sticky" feel of microfiber cloths, you are going to have a problem using them dry.  Other than that, I've really enjoyed using these in my home!

E-Cloth

-Again, click on the link to go to the company website. This company was started in 1995 and has the same overall purpose - to reduce chemicals in our homes and environment. These also claim to be 99% effective in removing bacteria and other contaminants. I found this video explaining the cloths on their website:

First of all, E-Cloths can be purchased directly from the company, so there is no consultant to work through.  These cloth also are cheaper than Norwex, making them more affordable for those looking to switch to high-quality microfiber cloths for cleaning.  As I perused the website the first time, I discovered a sale going on where I could purchase 2 General Purpose cloths for $8!  I ordered two sets, so I received four cloths for $16!  Click here to see that deal currently. These cloths are also cheaper than the Norwex Envirocloths because they do not contain the silver woven into them, so the cloths don't clean themselves.  Part of me, however, is okay with having to wash them more frequently because it makes me feel less anxious about using a dirty cloth!  

The E-cloths are thicker than the Norwex cloths and do not have the "sticky microfiber" feel to them.  I use both sets of cloth interchangeably and love having so many cloths to keep around the house for multiple purposes.  Obviously I use them wet for cleaning surfaces like counters and toilets and stovetops and refrigerator shelves and walls, but I also use them dry for dusting.  Both companies have tons of other products available for more specific uses, and both companies offer warranties on their cloths.  Overall, I am loving having these cloths for chemical-free cleaning!

Here's a few comparison pictures of the two types of cloths:

E-cloth on left, Norwex on right

The e-cloths are thicker

The Norwex cloths are slightly bigger

E-cloth on left, Norwex on right.

I put up these 3M hooks throughout the house so I always have a cloth nearby for quick wipe-ups.  Both cloths have loops sewn onto them for easy hanging.

Well, that's a VERY general overview of Norwex and E-cloth.  I hope that answers any questions you have if you are interested in removing more chemicals from your home.  If you currently use either of these cloths, let me know what you think!