Preschool Graduation and Rain Gutter Regatta

I never know what to call it, is it a graduation, or a promotion ceremony, or just an end of year award assembly?  I don't know.  But I do know that the Little Dude was there.  I really like the way that they do it at his preschool.  Each student gets a moment to shine in front of all the parents.  The teacher says some nice things about each student and they get a certificate of completion and a book that they worked on all year.  The book is the kind of thing that makes mom cry and goes into the keepsake box.  The whole thing is really low key. 

 Then there is a yummy meal and the Rain Gutter Regatta.  The kids race a breath powered boat down a rain gutter.  (There were lots of really proud dads with the boats.) Fun is had by everyone, well mostly.  Some tears were shed when the more competitive did not win.  

And here are some random kid pictures:

God's World News {A Review}

A monthly news magazine with a Biblical world view for kids.

God's World News

The Essentials - What you need to know

• Publisher: God's World News 
• Product: God's Big World
• Age Range: Pre K - Kindergarten
• A thin magazine that comes in the mail monthly.  God's Big World shares short news stories with simple words that little ones can understand easily along with maps, photos and ties to the Bible. Along side the magazine is a large collection of searchable articles online. 
• $28 for a years subscription for home use.  (To look at other subscription rates please see their website.)

The Review

God's World News publishes six different monthly news magazines for children.  Each is aimed at a different age group.  The magazine that we reviewed was God's Big World aimed at children pre-k to kindergarten.  Over the review period we received three magazines: the August, September and October 2013 editions.  We also received a bonus wall map of the world.  

Each magazine was 24 pages and contained about 15 stories.   Some stories are very, very short, sometimes only a sentence or two. They use simple words and there are lots of lovely, color pictures, maps and illustrations.  Some stories, labeled read to me, are a bit longer, in smaller print and use longer words.  My son does not read yet, but the super short stories could be read by early readers. Almost all the articles also have teaching tips at the bottom of the page in really small print.  The tips expand on the topics and give the adult reader a little more information.  The articles cover a variety of science and social studies topics.

The name of the publication is God's World News, so it is not a surprise that scripture is frequently used. Sprinkled through each issue is a section called Bible2Life where the editors draw lines from the article to scripture.  An example that I especially enjoyed was an article on animal conservation.  The Bible2Life made the point that people who are helping endangered animals are being obedient to God's command for humans to have dominion over the animals given in Genesis 1:28.  

Throughout the magazine there are puzzles that tie into the topic just explored.   The magazine does not have glossy magazine pages, rather the pages are thick paper which makes writing with a pencil or coloring with crayons or colored pencils easy.  The puzzles were a little hard for my four year old son.  Some we did together or I modified.  An example of this was a puzzle about the seasons.  There were four pictures each depicting a different season and the words winter, spring, summer and fall above each pictures.  The child was supposed to circle the correct word for each picture.  My son and I looked at the pictures together and he said which season was correct for each picture.  

I used the magazines as part of our preschool at home.  I read one story per day and did the accompanying puzzle if there was one.  I think that the articles were well chosen for their audience.  So many had topics that would really interest young children like transportation, dinosaurs, animals and weather.  Some of the articles were clearly tied to the season.  One article that we liked  was in the September issue.  It was about how Georgia, which is called the peach state, is producing blueberries.  There were pictures of blueberries and peaches. The Little Dude's favorite foods are juicy fruits.  We had been eating fresh peaches from the grocery for several weeks and he asks for blueberries whenever he gets a chance.  Blueberries are also one of the biggest crops in Michigan.  There was  a photo of children picking peaches.  We recently went on a field trip to pick apples, so he was familiar with the concept.  Because of the season, all of these events were fresh in his mind and it was easy to talk about the peaches and blueberries and where where came from.  There was also a map of the United States and a question:  "Which state do you live in?  What is your state famous for."  It proved a wonderful opportunity to talk about where we live and where our food comes from.  

This thin monthly publication is a treasure trove of information that can help a young child see into God's wider world.  I would recommend this magazine.

Preschool Round Up with the Letter T and Autumn

I do a blended preschool the the Little Dude with him at a preschool 2 days a week and at home 3 days a week.

Each day we have a letter, math and fine motor activity, as well as story time.  Sometimes we do gross motor skills, science, music, art or a field trip.

*There are some affiliate links in this post for your convenience.*

This week really got me in the mood for apple cider, crisp weather, leaf raking and all things autumn.  Sadly this week was a little short because Thursday I had a bout of food poisoning.

Book List

Click on the book image for more info...

10 Fat Turkeys, a fun book that counts with rhyme the antics of ten fat turkeys.  

Fall Leaves Change Colors is a non-fiction book that explains how leaves change color in the fall.  

I love all these counting and alphabet books by Sleeping Bear Press.  Not autumn centered but about our state Michigan, it counts up using Michigan-y things.  It does mention maple syrup and voyagers, which for some reason put me in mind of fall.  

This beautifully illustrated counting book counts down from 10 to 1 with each page a different tree and animal as it moves through the autumn season. 

Letter T Activities

• We added to our alphabet wall using the template letters from Kinder - Craze.  This week we tore a magazine page and glued it to the letter.
  
  
  

• The Little Dude played with our newly made Harvest Play Dough.  He used stamps to make impressions in the dough. 

Math Activities

• Counting Turkey:  I used an applique pattern to cut out a turkey from construction paper.  I number the feathers 1 - 10.  Little Dude put the feathers in order and glued them down.  He also drew the beak and put the little google eyes on dot of glue that I put on the face.

• Puffball counting with autumnal colored puffballs. 

Fine Motor Activities

• Hand Turkey - trace a hand put an eye, a beak and waddle, cut it out, color it turkey colors and viola you have a turkey.  I used this exercise to work on color recognition saying color this finger red and he would have to choose the correct color.  

What did you do this week?  I'd love to know.  Link up with your preschool post from this week using the linky below.

Harvest Play Dough

This week I made some seasonal play dough.  It smells like autumn, especially when cooking it on the stove.  So good.

I looked high and low for a pumpkin pie/harvest smelling play dough that I could just copy.  (I am trying so hard this year to not reinvent the wheel.) All of the recipes I found used pumpkin pie spice.  The two times a year I actually make pumpkin pie I use cinnamon, clove and ginger.  So I played with the spice mix until I came up with a great smelling combo. It smells like pumpkin pie and cider mill doughnuts, a warm, wonderful, cozy harvest time smell.  Of course you can play with your own spice blend to find something that smells nice to you.

Harvest Play Dough Recipe 

1 cup water
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
1 Tbs cream of tarter
1 Tbs cinnamon
1/2 Tbs nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 cup all purpose flour

Combine water, vegetable oil, salt, cream of tarter, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves in a saucepan.  Heat over medium low heat until warm. Remove from heat.  Add flour.  Stir until combined.  Knead until completely combined and smooth.  Keep in an airtight container or bag.

This play dough is a very doughy texture, not salty.  It stills has a great elasticity and the Little Dude had a great time with it.

Preschool Round Up with the Letter L and Llamas

This is our very first preschool round up, the collection of all the great things we are doing at our preschool at home this week.  Each week we have a theme, a focus letter and a book.  Sometimes the activities go with, sometimes they don't.  I like having something to structure our days.

I do a blended preschool with the Little Dude with him at a preschool 2 days a week and at home 3 days a week.

Each day we have a letter, math and fine motor activity, as well as story time.  Sometimes we do gross motor, science, music, art or a field trip as well.


There are some affiliate links in this post, just wanted you to know...

Book List:

Many, many of my activities come from other fabulously talented people out there in the interwebs.  I do try to give credit where credit is do.  I find many ideas on Pinterest.  Follow me if you want some great ideas too.

Letter L Activities:

• Letter L Play Dough Mats from Homeschool Creations

• Used stickers to fill in the Letter L from Quality Kids Crafts.com (I use these a lot) 


• We also started our very own alphabet wall using the template letters from Kinder-Craze.  Ours is not nearly as nice, but I want the Little Dude to recognize letters out of order, so ours is just where he decides to put the letters on our stair well wall.  I'll get a picture up when we have a few more letters.  

Math Activities:

• We made craft stick puzzle with a picture of a llama. 
• We played a matching game with the Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See printables from the 1+1+1=1 blog.  I used Mod Podge to glue the printables onto an old cereal box then cut out the cards.  That way they are super duper sturdy.  

• The Little Dude colored a lion by numbers again from the 1+1+1=1 Blog

Fine Motor Activities:

• I filled a shallow try with a layer of baking soda.  Then I added food coloring to small cups of white vinegar.  Little Dude then squeezed the vinegar onto the baking soda that fizzed and bubbled to everyone's delight. Sister was diligently working on her work but the baking soda was just too much fun to not get involved in. So we had some fun family times as well.  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• I made some scissor strips from colored paper to help the Little Dude practice his cutting skills.  Then he glued them onto a piece of white paper to make a beautiful collage.  Here is one of those funny things.  I obviously take pictures while my children are working.  The Little Dude picked up on this and now he has to take pictures of his finished work with the iPod. 

• He also had some great fun with his Fundanoodle Mats (there will be a review later). 

Field Trip:

We also went to the Detroit Zoo to try out my new zoo scavenger hunt sheet.  It was a great success and both of the kids had a great time. 

That was our week.  What did you do this week with your preschool aged child/children?  Let me know in the comments.  I love comments.  Starting next week we will also have a linky right here on Saturday, so check back.