Tot School- September 2016 (2 Years, 10 Months)
I am SO excited to be starting Tot School this year! I can't believe that this is my last year with Aly at home, and that next year our little girl will be starting Pre-K! Wow!! So I am going to soak up this year with her! These plans are geared towards children ages 3-4. If you are interested in younger activities, you can check out this September post for around a year old, and this post for around age 2! I'm sure I'll be pulling old ideas from those posts for Fynn to join us some too!
So with my plans this year, I've made a couple of big changes. First, I am doing a weekly theme instead of monthly. It has meant a bit more planning work on my end, but I am excited to engage an array of topics with her! Second, we are going to start doing more with our morning Bible Study. I found this 25 week series of Play Through the Bible that we will incorporate. I've outlined it in my lessons which study we are doing, but I have left all of the details on her site, as we will be pulling directly from her. Finally, I purchased math and literacy curriculum bundles from here. We will be following these directly as well, so I have not outlined any of the details in my plans, just noted which lesson we're doing or which concept we're focusing on.
I made my weekly Tot School plans to contain enough activities for 2-3 days/week. We will probably aim for twice a week for longer stints, and then play catch up at the end of the week. But you could certainly space the activities out daily and fill up the week that way too. Most of all, I am just happy to share my plans and hope you find a thing or two you and your child can do while having fun learning!
Supplies Needed:
Dot markers
Crayons
Markers
Math counters
Construction paper
Felt
Cotton balls
Apples
Oats
Red pom poms
Paper towel roll
Paper plates
Recycled plastic container
Animal stickers or stamps
Paper sack or cardboard box
Color: Red
Color: Rojo
Shape: Circle
Forma: Circulo
Number: 1
Numero: 1
Letter: M, S, R
Letra: M, S, R
Verse: Psalm 17:8
Themes:
Wk 1: All About Me
Wk 2: Apples
Wk 3: Farm
Wk 4: Family
Bible Stories:
Wk 1: Creation
Wk 2: Adam & Eve
Wk 3: Noah
Wk 4: Abraham & Sarah
Week 1:
Bible Story:
Catechism:
#21
Theme:
All About Me
Letter:
M
Library Book List:
The Shape of Me and Other Things
Mouse Shapes
I Like Myself
God Made You Special
I Lost My Name
My Book About Me
All By Myself
Chrysanthemum
Incredible Me
I Like Me
I Can Be Anything
Marvelous Me
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
ABC, I Like Me
We're Different, We’re the Same
My Feet
My Hands
I’m Growing
Music/Chants
Songs/Chants from Phonological Awareness Preschool Pack
Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
My hands are for clapping
My arms can hug tight
My fingers can snap
Or turn on a light.
My legs are for jumping
My eyes help me see
This is my body,
And I love all of me!
Worksheets:
Create an All About Me book
Color face worksheet
M Dot Art
Use dots or stickers to decorate printout
M letter recognition
Use dot marker to identify the letter M
Activities:
Use magnet letters (or cut out letters) and scramble the letters of her name to have her put in the correct order.
Trace body on butcher paper. Color the body and talk about the different body parts and how God made each of us unique and special!
Create emotions flashcards and review during Circle Time
Use these mats to create playdough faces.
Literacy:
Phonics Unit- Letter M
Oral Language Skill- Develop Listening Habits
Phonological Awareness- Develop listening habits
Math:
Shapes (unit week 1)
Centers 1-1, 1-2
Week 2:
Bible Story:
Theme:
Apples
Catechism:
#22
Letter:
S
Library Book List:
One Duck Stuck
Elmer’s First Counting Book
Apple Farmer Annie
Apple Pie ABC
Apples A-Z
Max’s Apples
Ten Apples Up on Top
Dappled Apples
The Apple Pie That Papa Baked
A Tree is a Plant
Fancy Nancy Apples Galore
Music/Chants:
Songs/Chants from Phonological Awareness Preschool Pack
10 Little Apples
One little, two little, three little apples
Four little, five little, six little apples,
Seven little, eight little, nine little apples
Ten little apples for you and me!
Apple Action Rhyme
Way up high in the apple tree (Point up.)
Two little apples smiled at me. (Make the shape of an apple with your hand.)
I shook that tree as hard as I could. (Pretend to shake tree.)
Down fell the apples—(Raise hands and let them fall.)
Mmmmmm, were they good! (Rub tummy.)
Worksheets:
S Dot Art
Use dots or stickers to decorate printout
S letter recognition
Use dot marker to identify the letter S
Apple coloring sheet
Activities:
Apple prints
Cut apples in half. Dip apples in paint and stamp on paper. Try making prints in yellow, red, and green paint! Once dry, draw on stems and leaves. Source
Apple tree craft
Trace your child's hand and forearm on brown construction paper. Cut it out. Cut out a fluffy cloud shape on green construction paper. Glue all of these down onto manilla/plain paper into the shape of a tree. Use your child's thumb to paint down "apples" with red paint. Describe the parts of a tree/plant and introduce the vocabulary terms: tree, leaves, branches, and trunk. Ask the child if they can verbally identify each part of the tree ("Can you point to the trunk?") Source
Go apple picking around the apartment
Hide red, yellow, and green apples around the apartment to find. When finished, sort colors and count.
Apple felt play
Create a large felt tree with felt apples to take on and off
Apple Pie Sensory Bin
Fill with oats, cinnamon, red pom poms, and scoops
Literacy:
Phonics Unit- Letter S
Oral Language Skill- Participate in discussion
Phonological Awareness- Develop listening habits
Math:
Counting 0-5 (unit 2 week 1)
Centers 2-1, 2-2
Apple Tree math
Print the apple trees out. Cut apart and laminate if desired. Set out apple trees with a basket of red pom poms or buttons. Help child to count out pompoms/buttons to match the numerals on the apple trees.
Apple stamping game
Use the apple stamping record sheet. Help child to use a marker to cover the numeral on that apple.
Week 3:
Bible Story:
Catechism:
#23
Theme:
Farm
Letter:
R
Library Book List:
The Button Box
A House for Birdie
Where Do Chicks Come From
Barnyard Dance
Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Farm
Milk From Cow to Carton
The Farmer in the Dell
Sheep Go to Sleep
This is my Tractor
The Little Red Hen
No Sleep for the Sheep
Small Pig
Minerva Louise
Cock-a-doodle Dance
Serious Farm
Kiss the Cow
Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type
Millie Waits for the Mail
Down on the Funny Farm
Old McDonald Had an Apartment House
Busy Tractors, Busy Days
Music/Chants:
Songs/Chants from Phonological Awareness Preschool Pack
Old McDonald Had a Farm
Worksheets:
R Letter Recognition
Use dot marker to identify the letter R
R Dot Art
Use dots or stickers to decorate printout
Farm color sheet
Farm tracing sheets
Activities:
Animal Command Cards
Print out these cards. Draw one from the pile and have the child act out the farm animal action on the card.
Pig Tails Color Sorting
Cut out pig bottoms in various colors. Next, cut out coordinating pipe cleaners and twist into little pig tails. Fill a bin with brown rice and bury the pig tails. Have the child use tweezers to dig the tails out and match with its owner!
Hopping Corn
Create a science experiment in a jar! Help child measure all ingredients and watch the kernels start hopping!
Sheep Masks
Cut a hole in the middle of a paper plate for your child’s face. Attach ears and glue cotton balls to the face.
Literacy:
Phonics Unit- Letter R
Oral Language Skill- Take turns in a discussion
Phonological Awareness- Develop listening habits
Math:
Sorting (unit 3 week 1)
Centers 3-1, 3-2
Week 4:
Bible Story:
Catechism:
Review
Theme:
Family
Letter:
Review
Library Book List:
One Chicky, Two Chicky, A Counting Book
Mama Cat Has Three Kittens
All Kinds of Families
The Relatives Came
Bear’s Busy Family
What’s in Baby’s Morning?
The Fathers are Coming Home
Who’s In My Family? All About Our Families
My Family & I, Mi Familia y Yo
Daddy Kisses
Mommy Hugs
My Dad
Mama, Do You Love Me?
Picture Me as Mom’s Little Helper
Back in My Arms
If You Were My Bunny
I’m a Big Sister
Guess How Much I Love You
I Love You Through and Through
Eres Mi Mama?
Thank You God for Daddy
Thank Yo God for Mommy
Music/Chants:
Songs/Chants from Phonological Awareness Preschool Pack
I Love You, You Love Me
Fine Motor/Worksheets:
1 Dot Art
Use dots or stickers to decorate printout
Circle coloring sheet
Decorate with torn up red paper
House coloring sheet
Activities:
Family Tree
Use construction paper to draw and cut out a tree. Glue apples to the tree, writing each family member on the apples.
Build a House
Use popsicle sticks to build a house. You can also draw a picture of your family to put inside the house frame!
Literacy:
Phonics Unit- Review
Oral Language Skill- Make up new verses
Phonological Awareness- Listen for words
Math:
Counting 0-5 (unit 2 week 2)
Centers 2-3, 2-4
We had such a fun time being back to a regular routine of Tot School this month! Aly has really enjoyed having new library books to read each week, and learning about more topics! She is grasping letter sounds and recognition really well. She is also starting to trace very well. Her favorite activity this month was probably the popcorn kernel popping science experiment! Aly loves when we get to do experiments!
We also loved having Fynn join us for a few activities here and there! He has particularly enjoyed our felt apple tree, and he loved the sensory bin! It's a good thing it was edible since he ate quite a few oats and cinnamon haha!
