Tis the season of Christmas and New Years, at home as well as at school you can create so many art projects with the little ones. The materials you would need to make a christmas tree would be green construction paper, and different colored papers shaped out in circles, glue, scissors. You can cut out a triangle shape using green construction paper. Also, as you are doing this you are also teaching your students the shapes of a circle and triangle. You will cut out different color circles and glue them onto the triangle which represents a Christmas tree. You can also cut out small squares that represent presents under a tree with different construction colored paper. You can also make the tree white doesn't have to be green too or any color you want to make your tree, pink, blue, green or white.

 Also something that always is done too in schools are snowmen out of 2 or 3 white circles. This is another way of learning shapes. You cut out white circles, carrot nose, a hat, belly buttons, shoes to paste on the snowman and you have a beautiful snowman. Even a Santa Claus can be made similar with white and red construction paper, using the shape of circles, rectangles, and squares.

 Another art activity, would be creating a Christmas village with homes and snow, you can cut out the homes out of colored construction paper shapes rectangles and squares. With cotton you can paste the snow above the homes, creating a winter home setting picture. 

Math Manipulative Activities

   One great idea many parents can you in building up math ideas at home or at the daycare. A child enjoys using math puzzles counting shapes, primary colors, number concepts. Also, in the classroom you can count beans, beads, crayons, markers as a way of learning math for preschoolers. The use of math books, reading short math stories to a child will not only help literacy but their math skills. Lakeshore Learning store sells coins, colored chips, and blocks you can use at home or during center time. When using manipulative at home or school you are building a lot of math skills so they child will be ready for pre-k or kindergarten. By having a child read signs while in the passing by stores, roads or even grocery shopping will help them build math skills as well. Using beans as a math activity is great too, you can draw a circle on construction paper and past 1 bead for number 1 and so on. This will help them gain math knowledge of learning 1-10.

Preschool education the seed that makes a Childs learning grow endlessly!!!!

The child that begins their education with literacy is on the right road to language development and pre-readiness skills. By reading to your child every night you can help your child develop language at home and school. Reading to your child every night will help them develop new words daily. You can also make simple sight word cards for your child. They will be able to go through leveled reading easier at school. You can download many sight words online. You can take your child to the closest library one a week and have them look at books according to their age, grade level, reading level. 

Math Ideas!!!

Math ideas that I usually begin with is having them learn to count 1-5 first and learning about each number first. With the number one you have them trace it with a yellow highlighter and paste one dot on the picture and so on with the rest of the numbers. I enjoy using lots of flashcards with them as well. Also, practicing to use matching number concepts with them. This great website called childcareland.com has excellent number matching pictures you can cut out and laminate. Children love and enjoy this easy number matching task. You can buy number blocks and number puzzles they love playing with puzzles too.

Preschoolers!!

Dear Parents,
Here are some ideas you can use with your child in learning about zoo animals. Here are some materials you can use to begin this thene unit; colorful construction paper, white paper plates, google eyes, crayons, scissors, and glue. Before beginning the art activity you can label different animals that live in the zoo. You can pick a short story related to zoo animals; for example, by the famous author Eric Carle. Once your ready to make the art activity its very easy. You can make the ears and pick the color for a hippo, flamingo, bears, etc. Children enjoy making different types of animals in general. There is a great website called orientaltrading.com that has different related theses from seasons, eating healthy, transportation, colors, shapes, and letters of the alphabet.

Nourishing the minds of our little ones!

STAY AT HOME MOMS:
You can begin nourishing the minds of your little ones, each day during the week with basic cognitive skills such as the letters of the alphabet. For example, you can start on a Monday, with the letter Aa and continue the rest of the weeks till you reach letter Zz. Simple materials needed for this activity at home are using glue, scissors, and colored construction paper, thats about it and maybe some tape if you choose to hang them up in the house or their room. I use this all the time when starting with a new student. They can be used either for a learning disability student toddler or regular toddler. Begin each week or day depending on their learning capability, a new letter of the alphabet of the day or week, for example: Aa, apple. I cut out the letter and have them paste it onto the paper. Also, making tiny pieces of marche and having them paste it on top is good too. In addition, you make an apple and having them color it and paste it onto the paper, writing the word next to it is important as well.

I love this activity, where children use playdough to make the letters of the alphabet. Its very easy and they follow along very well. Singing to them the letters of the alphabet also adds to the activity. The playdough prices are very cheap and convenient to buy anywhere, don't miss out and use it. Its a great activity. Another idea, is using simple small cups of paint and a paint brush have them paint over a yellow letter with paint. Make a yellow alphabet on paper using a highlighted marker and have them follow it. Playdough and paint can also be used for other concepts such as shapes and numbers. I recommend having all the concepts on separate posters hung somewhere in the home, being the refrigerator or their own room. Children always go back and take a look, you will be surprised how some toddlers recall and repeat it later on at home or school. This promotes memory skills for toddlers and pre-k students.

I would buy alphabet blocks and books Dr.Suess, ABC, A family Alphabet book, Alphabet City, there are many writers and related themes to the alphabet and reading to your child over and over again helps also. You can go to the 99 cent stores they have small letter and number sponges that you soak into paint and kids place it on white paper its an awesome way to learn the concepts too.

You can also make a short schedule for those kids that don't go to preschool yet. For example set a routine for your child so by the time they get to the preschool they might have an idea of what to expect. Write it on white poster paper. Put the days of the week and month, full date is better, the time and picture activity next to it. Monday, January 05, 2009. 10am- Painting, 11am- Playdough, etc. The child will look at the schedule each day and become surprised of what activity will come next, don't forget to add nap time. LOL. Most of all, adding literacy to a child's activity day is very important books books and more books is the best way to educate and blossom our child's literacy and language development each day.

Websites to Visit

These are excellent websites to visit and print out:

www.enchantedlearning.com

www.preschoolactivitybox.com

www.kindercare.com

www.kinderkorner.com

www.kinderthemes.com