Here's what we learn:
- Hooray for PreK!
- The Way I See It!
- Family Scrapbook
- The Nutcracker Suite
- Digging Up the Past
- Hoe-down
- Nursery Rhymes
- Pre-K Olympics
- Splash
Hooray for PreK!
In Hooray for Pre-K, we learn about our classroom. We create rules to
follow in the classroom and on the playground. The children practice being
a good listener and take turns talking during group time. In order to
prepare to learn, we follow a routine by writing our name, signing in, and
picking our center. Also, we learn about the centers in our room. We
practice using the centers and put the toys away in the proper areas.
1. I am the Teacher - Encourage your child to teach you to be a good
listener. Being a good listener means that the child looks at the
teacher, listens, has quiet lips, and thinks about what is being said.
2. Write Your Name - Encourage your child to write his/her name.
3. Newspaper Letters - Look through the newspaper with your child and
help your child to look for letters in his/her name. Cut the letters
out and ask your child to put the letters in order on a piece of paper
to spell his/her name.
4. Simon Says - The parent is Simon. Simon tells the child two steps
to follow. Give your child two jobs to do to see if the child can
follow a list of directions. Tell your child to hang up his/her jacket
and pick up a toy. Tell your child to get a book and to put the book in
his/her book bag. Challenge your child by giving three directions to
complete a task.
The Way I See It!
During this theme, the children learn about scientists and artists.
The children learn that scientists and artists observe matter (things we see
and touch) and record by drawing what they see. A scientist observes and
collects data. Also, scientists collect matter and look at the shape, size,
and color. An artist observes and draws pictures. The children will be
involved in drawing a still life. A still life is a drawing of an object or
group of objects that does not move.
1. I Can Sort - Ask your child to collect items (leaves, acorns, flowers,
rocks, etc.) from your backyard, park, or an area near trees. Show your
child how to sort the items by putting all the leaves in one pile. Ask
your child to put all the acorns in a different pile. Continue sorting
the other items that were collected.
2. I Can Observe - Tell your child to pick several objects from the �I Can
Sort� activity and put them together. Encourage your child to draw a
picture of the object using paint, crayons, or colored pencils.
Family Scrapbook
Family is the main concept during this theme. As a class, we discuss
how a family is a group of people that may include adults and/or children.
We also talk about how families are different: how many people are in their
family and what are the types of members in their family are discussed. The
children will know that each person in a family has a job to do. Families
also have rules to help the family members behave. Also, the class will
participate in different traditions (a celebration or an event that is done
each year by family members) such as Hanukah or Thanksgiving.
1. Who Is in Your Family? - Your child will draw a picture of his/her
family. Ask your child to count the adults and the children in his/her
family.
2. Tell Me About My Family - Look at pictures of your family. Talk about
the pictures by describing what happened during the picture and who was
at the event. You and your child can work together to recall the events
or people present.
3. Tradition! - Talk to your child about different traditions that your
family does. What makes the tradition special? What do you need for
the tradition? Who helps in the tradition?
The Nutcracker Suite
The Nutcracker Suite helps the children to understand the concept of a
story. The class talks about how a story involves events that happen to a
person or a thing. The class discusses the characters (person or thing) in
the story. Also, the children tell where the story takes place (setting).
By discussing the characters and the setting, the children use these items
to help tell the events (the things that happen) in The Nutcracker Suite.
1. Read! Read! Read!-Read The Nutcracker Suite.
2. What Happened? - Ask your child to look at the pictures in the book to
tell the story of The Nutcracker Suite.
3. Who and Where? �Your child will be asked to name the characters and the
setting of The Nutcracker Suite.
4. Character Time! - Ask your child to draw a picture of one of the
characters from The Nutcracker Suite.
Digging Up the Past
In Digging Up the Past, the concept is focused on dinosaurs. During
the theme, the students become paleontologists. A paleontologist is a
scientist who studies fossils (bones, eggs, footprints, teeth, etc.) to
learn about dinosaurs. As a class, we look at different features on the
dinosaurs. We look at the dinosaur�s teeth to see if the dinosaurs eat meat
(sharp teeth) or leaves and trees (dull teeth). The students talk about how
the dinosaurs defend themselves from other dinosaurs by using the spikes,
plates, or their tail.
1. Tell Me About It - Look at different pictures of dinosaurs. Look at the
dinosaur�s teeth. What does the dinosaur eat? What does the dinosaur
use to defend itself?
2. Draw a Dinosaur - Your child will draw a picture of a dinosaur.
3. I am a Dinosaur � Your child will walk like a dinosaur either on two or
four legs.
4. I am a Paleontologist - Encourage your child to draw him/herself as a
paleontologist looking for fossils.
Hoe-down
Hoedown is focused on music and farm. Students will learn about
animals on a farm and the purpose for the animals on the farm. While
learning about life on a farm, children are also learning about music. As a
class, we look at different instruments and decide how to play each
instrument either by blowing on the instrument, using a bow, using our
finger, or by hitting or shaking the instrument. During the theme, children
are encouraged to experiment with the instruments and make music.
1. Moo, Moo, Quack Quack - Name animals on a farm. Ask your child to make
the sound that the animal makes. What does the farmer use the animal
for?
2. Who Lives on the Farm? - Ask your child to draw an animal that lives on
the farm.
3. Make Music! - Encourage your child to play instruments or sing and to
make music. Encourage your child to perform in a concert for the family.
4. Blow Your Horn - Get a paper towel roll and make five finger size holes
along one side in a row. Cut out a three to four inch square of wax
paper and tape it to one opening of the paper towel roll in order to
cover the opening or you can use a rubber band to hold the wax paper in
place. Your child can make noises into the opening while putting their
fingers over the holes to make music.
Nursery Rhymes
While learning and reciting the Nursery Rhymes, children will be
learning about making a wise decision. A wise decision makes people around
you happy. As a class, we will discuss how to make wise decisions when we
see a stranger, how to be safe in the car, eating healthy, being healthy,
calling 911 when we see fire, and being safe on our bicycles.
1. Action! - Encourage your child to act out the nursery rhymes.
2. Character Time - Ask your child to draw a picture of a nursery rhyme
character.
3. What Would You Do? - Discuss if the nursery rhyme characters made a wise
decision or what wise decision the characters should make. What should
Little Miss Muffet do when she sees the spider (stranger)? Should
Humpty Dumpty sit on a wall? Where should Humpty Dumpty sit?
4. What Should You Do? - Ask your child to make a wise decision when:
a. Your child gets into a car.
b. Sees a stranger.
c. Rides his/her bicycle.
d. Eating healthy foods.
e. Being healthy (exercise, brushing his/her teeth, keeping clean).
Here is a List of Nursery Rhymes:
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep, and
can�t tell where to find them. Leave
them alone and they�ll come home, and
bring their tails behind them.
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner
eating his Christmas pie. He put in his
thumb and pulled out a plum, and said
�What a good boy am I!�
Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey,
Along came a spider and sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king�s horses and all the king�s men,
Couldn�t put Humpty together again.
Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean,
And so between them both you see,
They licked the platter clean.
Hey Diddle Diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such a sight and
The dish ran away with the spoon.
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker.
And they all rolled out to sea.
Little Boy Blue come blow your horn,
The sheep is in the meadow,
The cow is in the corn,
Where�s the little boy that tends to the sheep?
He�s under the haystack fast asleep.
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,
She had so many children she knew just what to do.
She gave them some broth and some homemade bread.
She kissed them all soundly and tucked them into bed.
Pre-K Olympics
In the Olympics, we discuss how athletes are physically fit and compete
in different athletic events. Each athlete plays for their own country.
Athletes train and work hard to win medals. As a class, we work together by
showing good sportsmanship when on the playground, during centers, and when
playing games. The class also discusses the parts of our body and the
function of each part. The children are also aware of different physical
abilities that other children have and that children may have body parts
that are different then our own.
1. 1 And 2 - Exercise. Instruct your child to run in place, do jumping
jacks, hop, or march while counting to ten. Make it more challenging by
having your child count to twenty while doing the exercises.
Splash
Drip! Drop! is a theme based on the concept of water. During the
theme, the class describes water as being colorless, tasteless, and
odorless. We learn that water is a liquid (something you can pour). We
experiment with water by turning it into a solid (ice). The students learn
that objects such as sponges absorb water and other objects, like a rain
coat, repel water. Also, we learn that all living things, such as people,
animals, and plants need water.
1. Your child will put water in a bathroom cup. Ask your child to tell you
how the water looks, feels, tastes, and smells. Put the cup with the
water in the freezer. After a day, take the cup out. Ask your child to
tell you what happened to the water.
2. Help your child plant a flower. Encourage your child to water the
flower. Remind your child that all living things need water.
3. Give your child several big and small plastic containers. Tell your
child to pour water from the small container into a big container.
Encourage the child to continue to fill the big container with the small
container. Tell your child to count how many small containers fill the
big container. The activity could be done while your child is taking a
bath or it could be done in the sink.