AUGUST

Songs/Finger plays  

Look Who Came to School Today
     (tune: Mary Had A Little Lamb)

   Look who came to school today
      School today, school today
      Look who came to school today,
      _____ (child's name) did.

Whose Child’s name Here Today
(Improvise a tune)

Child’s namehere today, Child’s name here today,
We'll all clap our hands and say,
Child’s name here today.
(Repeat with other children's names.  This is a nice welcoming song after a child has been absent)

WATERMELON CHANT

First you take a seed and you plant it, plant it.
Then, you see a sprout and you water it, water it.
Then, you see a vine and you watch it, watch it.
Then, you see a watermelon and you pick it, pick it.
Then, you slice it up and you eat it, eat it.
If you find a seed, then you plant it, plant it.
And start all over again!

Book selection

Clifford’s First Day of School by Norman Rockwell
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
David Goes To School by David Shannon
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Back to School Tips

Read to and with your children for 30 minutes every day.It is very important to read out loud to your children before they start school. Help your children to read with you. Ask them to find letters and words on the page and talk with your children about the story.

Talk with young children before they learn to read.Talk with your children all day long, using short, simple sentences. Talking with them even before they can speak will help them later when they learn to read and write.

Help your child to see that reading is important. Set a good example for your children by reading books.

Set up a reading area in your home.Keep books that interest your children in places where they can easily reach them.

Activities

Watermelon Outdoor Activity

Have a parent bring in a watermelon. Discuss the color,size,eat the watermelon and count the number of seeds. Find snacks with the letter “W” (waffles).

Watermelon Slices

Have children paint white paper plates green.

When the plates are dry, have them glue a red paper circle in their plates.

Let them use a black marker, crayon to make black (seeds) dots on the red paper

September

Songs/Finger plays  

Ten Little Firefighters

Ten little firefighters
Sleeping in their beds.
"Ding!" went the bell,
And down the pole they slid.
They raced to the fire
And put out all the flames.
Then the 10 little firefighters
Went back to bed again.

I Am A Fireman 

Sung to: "I'm A Little Teapot"

I am a fireman dressed in red.
With my fire hat on my head.
I can drive the fire truck, fight fire too,
And help make things safe for you.

Firefighter Finger Play

Five brave firefighters, Sleeping so, 
(hold up a hand with fingers flat across palm)
The fire bell rings, Down the pole they go, 
(open the hand and make a downward motion)
Jump in the fire truck, Hurry down the street. Climb up the ladder, 
(make the fingers climb)
Feel the fire's heat. (wipe sweat from your brow)
Five brave firefighters, (hold up five fingers)
Put the fire out. (make a wiping motion)
Hip! Hip! Hooray! All the people shout! (shout)

Book selection

It's Time to Call 911: What to Do in an Emergencyby: Inc. Penton Overseas
That's Dangerous! by: Francesco PittauBuy
Stranger safetyby: Pati Myers Gross
I Can Be Safe: A First Look at Safetyby: Pat Thomas

Safety Tips

Set up strict procedures with your child's school or child care center as to whom the child will be released other than yourself. Develop a secret password with your child as a backup safety strategy. Insist that the school notify you if the child does not show up on time if he/she walks or rides the bus.

Be involved in your child's activities. Know the places he or she goes and know the other adults who are involved.

If you find yourself in a position where a child appeals to you for help, be prepared to give it. Don't be afraid to send for a security guard or someone in authority. Keep an eye on the child and get help.

Be matter of fact and calm in discussing good and bad touch and personal safety with children. Don't teach fear; teach facts and strategies.

Your child should know his/her full name, address, phone number, 911 or emergency numbers, and know how to call you collect.

Take a good look at your child daily and know the clothes he/ she is wearing. Take at least a yearly photo of each child.

Activities

My Telephone Number and Emergency 911:
I Can Learn & Trace My Telephone Number and Emergency 911 

Alphabet Activity:  Alphabet Letter F is for Firefighter

Finger and Pencil Tracing

Trace letter F's in upper and lower case with your finger as you also sound out the letter.  Invite the children to do the same on their coloring page (first presentation) or handwriting practice worksheet.   
Encourage the children to trace the dotted letters with your choice of sharpened crayon, fine tip marker, coloring or regular pencil and demonstrate the direction of the arrows and numbers that help them trace the letter correctly.  During the demonstration, you may want to count out loud as you trace so children become aware of how the number order aids them in the writing process.

October 07

Dates to Remember

October 08, 2007  Columbus Day

October 7-13, 2007  Fire Prevention Week

National Apple Month

Songs/Finger Plays

Apples                                          Fall Colors

Apples in the attic,                        Red and yellow, green and brown.
Apples in the hall.                         count off colors on fingers
Apples in the summer,                   Leaves are falling to the ground.
Apples in the fall.                          simulate falling leaves with hands
Apples make you healthy.              We pile them up OH SO HIGH:
Apples make you tall.                    ‘pile’ leaves with hands
I will eat some apples.                   Then we JUMP in!
I will eat them all.                         pretend to jump in

Book Selection

The Big Leaf Pile by Norman Bridwell
Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins
How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro
Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro
Fireman Small To The Rescue by Herbert Yee Wong

Family Tips and Activities

• Take your child to the fire department to celebrate Fire Prevention Week (most fire departments expect field trips from schools so call in advance).
• Take a field trip to the grocery store and pick out different apples.  Return home and eat a sample of your apples.  Talk to your child about the taste, color, and shape. Ask your child to draw a picture of their favorite apple.
• Go on a nature walk and collect leaves, acorns, pine cones.  Cut the center out of a paper plate and let your child glue their leaves, acorns, and make a fall wreath for your house.
• Create an area in your home where you and your child can read together or have a quiet time to sit and talk about the day. 
• The fall season is a wonderful time to get outside and explore with your child.

November 2007

Songs and Fingerplays

Autumn

In autumn when the trees are brown,

The little leaves come tumbling down,

They do not make a sound,

But lie so quietly on the ground.

Gobble, Gobble

A turkey is a funny bird.

His head goes wobble, wobble.

He knows just one funny word.

Gobble, gobble, gobble.

Ring Around the Pumpkin

Sung to "Ring around the Rosie" - Put a picture of a pumpkin in the middle and sing:

Ring around the Pumpkin,
A pocket full of nuts,
Leaves, leaves,
They all fall down.

March around the pumpkin, Stomp around the pumpkin, Tip-toe around the pumpkin, Jump around the pumpkin.

Book Selection

The Big Leaf Pileby Norman Bridwell    
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims by B.G. Hennessy
Feast for 10 by Catherine Falwell   

It’s a Fruit, It’s a Vegetable, It’s a Pumpkinby Allan Fowler

Reading Tips

-Help your child see that reading is important.

Suggest reading as a free-time activity. Make sure your children have time in their day to read. Set a good example for your children by reading newspapers, magazines, and books.

-Set up a reading area in your home.

Keep books that interest your children in places where they can easily reach them. As your children become better readers, make sure that you add harder books to your collection.

Activities

Cooking & Math Fun

One Potato, Two Potatoes

• Making a grocery shopping list can be both enjoyable and an opportunity to reinforce young children's number sense.

What You Need:List of grocery items:

Color pictures of grocery items cut from magazines, catalogs or advertising flyers (for example, choose pictures of different kinds of vegetables, fruit, containers of milk or juice, cans of soup, boxes of cereal and crackers, loaves of bread)

      Index cards (or similar-sized cards cut from heavy paper. You can cut up cardboard cereal boxes and use as cards)

      Glue stick

      Small box (large enough to hold the cards)

What to Do

1. Help your child paste each picture onto a card.
2. Then have your child sit with you as you make up a grocery shopping list. Read the list aloud to her, item by item, saying, for example, "We need to buy milk. Find the picture of the milk." When the child finds the picture, have her put it in the box. Continue through the list, asking her to find pictures of such things as apples, potatoes, bread, soup and juice.
3. When you've finished, ask your child to tell you how many things you need to buy, then help her to count the pictures in the box.
4. Ask your child to put all the pictures of vegetables in one group, then all the pictures of fruit in another group. (You might continue with items that are in cans, items that are in boxes and so on.)
5. Point to one group of pictures, such as the fruit. Help her to count the number of pictures in that group. Have her do the same for other groups.

December 2007

Dates to remember

December 25th Happy Holidays

Safe Toys Month

Kwanzaa

ELM event?

Songs/Finger plays  

I'M A LITTLE SNOWMAN                              
Tune: "I'm A Little Teapot"

I'm a little snowman
Short and fat,
Here are my buttons,
Here is my hat.

When the sun comes out,
I run away
Before I slowly
Melt away!   Traditional

WINTER FINGERPLAY
Climb, climb, climb - up the hill of snow. (Let fingers walk up your arm or bent leg.)
Jump on our sleds - down we go. Weeee! (Let fingers slide down your arm or leg.)

Book selection

The Snowy Day by Jack Ezra Keats

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond

Wish Upon a StarBy Beth Gordon

Polar bear, Polar bear by Eric Carle

Tips

Music can excite or calm. Choose calming tapes or music on the radio for your child to listen to while playing during the holidays. Drawing or painting to soft peaceful music usually has a calming effect on children.

ReadingAs you read holiday or seasonal stories to your children this time of year, remember to incorporate some of the following learning opportunities.

RECALL– Ask your children the following day about a story that you read to them the day before.  What happened in the story? Etc.
PREDICTING – As you read a story, stop once in a while and ask your children what they think will happen next.  Later discuss if they were correct or not.
 ENDING CHANGES – After reading a story, ask your children if they could think of different ways the story could have ended

Activities

ART

Craft stick photo frame

Place holiday decorations on windows in classroom

How to make a SNOWFLAKE

Cut a snowflake shape out of contact paper or construction paper

Remove the backing and place the snowflake stick side up on a table

Let each child place cotton balls all over sticky side to make a fluffy snowflake.

WISHONA STAR
You can pre trace the star, let the children create their own star or make a sparkly star shape for each of your children. Put all the stars in a bag and have the children sit in a circle. Let one child take a star from the bag while everyone recites the rhyme below. Then ask the child to make a wish on his or her star. Continue until everyone has had a turn.

Starlight, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.

COTTON BALL PAINTING

Pour a small amount of paint on a plate.

Let the child use a cotton ball like a paintbrush, dipping it in the paint and then brushing it on a sheet of paper.

Use one color of paint or mix 2 colors.