Well Its been almost a year since my last post. I knew I would have trouble sticking to it (I've never been good at journaling or diaries long term) but I thought I would do better then only getting three posts in, lol. Actually if this was pen and paper I would have done better, there have been several times that I thought of posts to do, and even outlined or written out long posts and just never transferred them to the computer, grrrr. So now its a new school year. Fiona and I have started up again, once again starting at the letter "A". We've finished the first week, and I've decided to start up the blog again to post on our progress. This will also help give me a place to list all the resources I've used :)
So beginning at the beginning once again. I decided we will do several topics for each letter, so "A" is for apple, ant and alligator. I took out quite a few books from the library for these topics, my reviews of these books (on a scale of 1 -10) are as follows;
- The Apple-Pip Princess - overall 9 - Fiona really likes this book. The art is pretty good, and the moral is pretty much the norm for a prince/princess story. I've read this book to Fiona 5 times this week and would still willingly read it again, LOL.
- Apple Cider Making Days - 5 - Fiona was slightly bored (unusual, she'll normally sit through any book, and as many as i'll read in a sitting.) I think it was a bit old for her. This informative story follows a family as they harvest their apples, and prepares them to be made into cider. It might be more interesting to her in a year or two.
- Apples to Oregon - 2 - I finished reading the book, but just, and with editing it as I went. Throughout the book the father is much more worried about his trees then his children. (On one page he has his children take off their cloths to hold over the trees to protect them from hail!) Others might find it funny or amusing, I however found it in poor taste.
- Apple Farmer Annie - 7 - another informative story (a story which teaches on a subject, using a fictional character to relay the info - think magic school bus :) ). This one was more on Fiona's level, and has easy recipes in the back.
- The Apple Pie Tree - 9 - Informative story - Shows the changes that happen to the apple tree as the seasons change. Fiona and I both enjoyed it. I can see taking it out for several years to come!
- Two Bad Ants - 5 - Fiona was bored by the book. It was an ok story, might give it another chance at a later date.
- The Ant and The Grasshopper (An Aesop's Fable) - 3 - The version in our Treasury of Children's Literature was very short. It didn't cover the ant working all summer while the grasshopper played. It began with the grasshopper starving and cold, begging for food and has the ant saying no and slamming the door in his face. Fiona was very upset that the ant wouldn't share and left the grasshopper to die. Because the story was so abrupt she didn't get the moral that you should work hard even when you don't want to. I'll need to find a better version to share with her at a later date.
- There's an Alligator Under My Bed - 6 - Fiona liked it, however its not getting read again for a good long while. She's suddenly worried about alligators, and has left a trail of food in the house. She's much to suggestible for this type of book right now!
- Apples, Apples Everywhere! - 3 - OK I guess, but again Fiona is to suggestible, so the big double page spread about worms in the apples, not so good. Luckily I flipped the page before she got to upset. She did talk about how she didn't like worms and didn't want them in her food for a few days but that seems to have faded. Also the fun of bobbing for apples has kept her from deciding she wont eat them for fear of worms.
- Ten Apples Up On Top -6 - another classic :)
We also read two ABC books;
- Dr. Suess's ABC - 7 - I don't like this book that much, and dread having to read it every day, LOL. But its a classic and Fiona likes it.
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - 10 - I almost didn't get this book out! I don't think I've ever read it before, and I didn't think it looked that interesting, the pictures are pretty much all the same and it just seemed boring. But for my musically inclined daughter I found it sung by Fred Penner and she LOVES it! I found the video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QdN-HYp46c ) several days before we got the book from the library, and when she saw the book she started hugging it and begging to sing the song! I'd buy the book if it wasn't for the fact that there are around 100 copies in the library system, so I can get one out anytime, and we always have access to youtube :)
Charlie and Lola - But I'm an Alligator - Fiona LOVED this British cartoon. I liked it a lot as well. This episode is about Lola getting and wearing an alligator costume everywhere.
The Ants Go Marching - A great counting song.
High Hopes - Frank Sinatra singing with a large group of children :)
One Hundred Hungry Ants - This is a video of someone reading the book.
Andy & Elmer's Apple Dumpling Adventure - a christian story about two neighbors beginning a business together. Fiona enjoyed it, but hasn't asked to see it again. Guess we'd rate it as a 6.
Johnny Appleseed - Disney's version of the tale.
Educational videos - we ADORE leapfrog videos. We own Letter Factory, and I swear by this dvd. If you only get one leapfrog dvd get this one! Fiona learned all her letter sounds from this dvd with just a few viewings. If you have netflix you will find four titles for streaming, they are Numbers Ahoy, The Amazing Alphabet Amusement Park, NumberlandPhonics Farm. Out of these I think phonics farm is the best. Fiona's favorite is numbers ahoy. I'm currently looking at buying talking words factory and maybe a few others for Christmas :)
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And It wouldn't be a fun week of pre-k without crafts, games and experiments. So here are some of the fun things we did (though my strange toddler thinks work sheets are fun, so its all in the eye of the beholder I guess) ;
Egg carton ant -
Bobbing for apples
Fiona LOVED bobbing for apples! We all had fun :) I got my apple early on (without cheating), and after several turns I coached Fiona on how to cheat by grabbing a stem with her teeth. It still took her several tries but she was so pleased when she finally got her apple. Daddy waved the white flag after taking another couple turns after Fiona.
Letter "A" Collage - we cut out A words from our massive collection of magazines (I bought a couple groups of 20-40 magazines from the library for $1/bundle!)
Letter "A" art - look at the blogs listed at the bottom for examples, I didn't take pictures.
Ant Picnic
She waited patiently for 8 minutes for ants to show up, if your reading this you know that's quite a feat for a 3 year old!
She was very upset when I mentioned that we should leave the plate out and come back tomorrow.
Yea ants!!!
They loved the sugar of course, but jelly, peanut butter and butterscotch peanut butter rice crispy treats all were favorites. There were also several at the chips, grapes and corn bread. The ketchup dried up and didn't attract any nor did the raisins, bread, salt, pretzels or nectarines.
She suddenly remembered her ant and had to go get her to show her little ant friends.
Apple Picking - hopefully we will go this weekend, photos will be added then :)
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These are some blogs that I've found very helpful -
Preschool Alphabet by Lindsy - She gives lots of great ideas for themes and activities.
