Home Preschool (Ages 2.5-4) Week Four: Letter D and Number 4

Something to remember about these lesson plans is that the printable version has the printouts that go with it. For example, the "Fasts about The Desert" sheet for this week and the letter and number pages for each week. These are not included in the text on this post.

Here is the printable version of this week's lesson plans: Week Four: Letter D and Number 4

Links found in the lesson plans:
"Hey Diddle Diddle" You Tube Video
Letter D Worksheets
Number 4 Worksheets
"Clair de Lune" You Tube Video
Dolphin Images
Dolphin Coloring Pages
Desert Images

Home Preschool

Age 3: Letter and Number of the Week

Week 4: Lesson Plans for the Letter D and the Number 4

Preparation:

·         Print out large letter and number sheets (included) and post them somewhere the child can see them all week.

·         Create theme word flash cards with the theme word on one side and a picture depicting the word on the other.

·         Print out the poem of the week (included).

·         Create a flashcard with the name of the composer of the week on it.

·         Print out animal/plant word sheet (included), “facts about” page (included), coloring page, and image of the animal/plant of the week.

·         Print out social studies fact sheet (included) and an image of the subject of the week.

·         Collect supplies for art project.

·         Optional: Plan a day for an outing in keep with the theme (ideas included) and buy ingredients for snacks, baking, or cooking in keeping with the theme (ideas included).

Glow in the Dark Bath Paint

You know those glow in the dark stars that every kid growing up in the 80's and 90's had?  I remember wanting them so much that I asked for them for my birthday and was so excited to get them!  I put them up all over my walls and ceiling and would rearrange them into different shapes or the initials of my latest crush.  Now that I have kids of my own, they are just as fascinated by things that glow in the dark.  So when I found a "recipe" for glow in the dark bath paint, I was excited to try it out with them.

I looked in a few places online to find out what kind of glow in the dark paint would work best.  I wanted this to be an affordable activity so that my kids could do it often without breaking the bank.  I finally found a good solution at Michaels using their Craft Smart brand.  I bought one bottle of regular glow in the dark paint and then a bottle each of pink, orange, green and blue neon paint of the same brand.  When I was at the local dollar store, I picked up a can of shaving cream.  I also bought a blacklight lightbulb (not pictured) for $3 from Walmart since I plan on doing more glow in the dark activities in the future.  That's all you need!

Teaching Your Preschooler Time

Kadie: "Mom, what's for lunch?"

Me: "It's not lunch time, it's breakfast."

Kadie: "Mom, last year I went to Aunt Dani's house."

Me: "Sweetheart, we were there yesterday."

Kadie: "Mom, what's today?"

Me: "It's (insert day of the week)."

Kadie: "Does that mean it's splash pad day?"

If you've ever tried to help a young child understand how many days it is until a certain event or activity, you've probably been met with confusion and frustration that it's not happening right now.  This is because small children live in the present and they have a hard time thinking abstractly.   Time is a very abstract and intangible concept, which is why it is difficult to grasp until they get closer to age 6 or 7 and their brain starts to develop in a way that they are able to begin to understand things such as time.

My daughter, like many children her age, ask a lot of questions.  Some are pretty easy to answer--"Can I have a cookie?" and others...not so much--"Where do babies come from?"  While these seemingly non-stop questions can be frustrating, especially when the same one has been asked 10 times in the last half hour, it's helpful to realize that they are asking because they are trying to understand their world better.  As parents, it's our job to help them.  But how can we help them understand something they can't see?