On Tuesday we read "The Grasshopper and the Ants" with our friend during school and did some more of the activities. They were both very good at hopping. We modified the counting/comparing activity a little, using popped popcorn instead of the unpopped kernels since Littlest was wandering about and still sticks things in her mouth from time to time. I gave the Ant card to Miss M and the grasshopper to her friend, then they took turns take a number card and putting that the many pieces of popcorn on their card. It was a little hard getting them to wait long enough to see who had more before they ate the popcorn but I think we got a good introduction of the concept into their heads.
On Wednesday it was "The Tortoise and the Hare". The girls ran around fast and then walked slowly as I read the story a couple of times. We played the folder game that came in our day bag and filled out our journals for the day. They both wanted to go ahead and do more in the journals but I managed to persuade them to wait. Since we had a little extra time, I also read "The Dog and His Reflection" and we made the dog masks, which they used later as they each pretended to be puppies.Friday morning we only had a few minutes so we read "The Crow and the Pitcher" and talked about the /p/ sound. We found the /p/ card in one of our alphabet sets and I held it up every time I said a word that started with that letter. When I was a speech therapist, we would do a hand motion that corresponded to a particular sound that we were working on to help the child develop more awareness. For the /p/ sound, put your hand close to your face, close it and then open it quickly like it is popping open (corresponds to the way your lips "pop" open to make the sound). We had really good success with the method in children with articulation disorders. For phonemic awareness, I'd display the letter and use the hand signals while reading the story. It's a variation of the Lindamood-Bell LiPS system, if you're interested in doing more research.
After breakfast today we re-read "The Crow and the Pitcher". I found a recording of crows online and Miss M flew around the kitchen cawing like one for several minutes before we settled down for the science experiment. We used the "pebbles" included in our theme materials to show how the water level rises when you add things to the container. Since it was just me and I wanted to take pictures as well be there to catch Littlest (she's in a climbing/standing on the chair phase), I modified the lesson by using a 2-cup measure with the lines printed on it rather than a glass and a ruler. Both girls enjoyed putting the pebbles in the cup and we will be able to refer back to it when they take their bath tonight. After the experiment they made these super cute crow musical shakers that I am sure will get a lot of use (although the wings may not last very long).
Also this morning we read "The Boys and The Frogs". Miss M and Littlest had fun pretending to be frogs, finding green objects around our living room. We also used our "Five Little Speckled Frog" book that I got on clearance at a local bookstore several years ago to sing and practice counting and number recognition. The game board that came in our day bag looked like lots of fun but Miss M wasn't able to make the frogs hop like they were supposed to so instead of getting frustrated, she got creative. She turned it into a color matching game where she got to be the teacher and tell me what to do ("Take a card, Mama. Oh, you got blue! Put it here!"). I loved letting her take the lead.
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