Preschool Calendar Fun

Have you tossed that 2012 calendar yet? Don't!

Like many of you, I switched over to a brand new calendar earlier this month. What to do with the old one? Turn it into a teaching tool/pretend play prop!

My four-year-old is really interested in numbers, counting, and "grown-up" writing lately; so some calendar fun is a great way to reinforce those skills.

When I handed over my calendar to my son, I told him do whatever he wanted with it. I figured he would just flip through and randomly draw in the squares but instead, he spent a long time looking through it, noticing the numbers and the way they were arranged and asking me what I wrote in each square. He noticed that some boxes didn't have numbers and on some pages the numbers went up to 30 and on others they went to 31. It presented a perfect opportunity to talk more about weeks, months and years, and to teach him about one way we use writing in the real world.

My son ended up drawing his plans for the day and pictures to show upcoming events: Going to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Saturday, his snack day at school on Tuesday, etc. My calendar comes with stickers to denote special days, so he stuck a LOT of stickers. :) (After all, every day is special, especially when you're 4!) 

Between pretend play opportunities like this one, mapping out the week like this strategy we did at the beginning of the year, and his calendar time at preschool, I can see that the concept is starting to become more clear for my son.

If you're teaching, "Calendar Time" is probably already one of your most important routines. Parents can also incorporate some kind of brief calendar exploration each day as a great way for children to begin to understand how time passes and how we record it. Here are a few calendar activities for school or home:

• Before, After, Later, and Next: Using a Calendar in a Preschool Classroom from Teaching Strategies Blog 
• EHow Mom: Activity Ideas for Preschool Calendars
• Bright Hub Education: How to Make a Preschool Calendar as a Gift
• Calendar Time Printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler

 

While using my calendar for occasional pretend play is fun for my son, obviously expecting a preschooler to draw and write in small calendar squares every day is not age-appropriate. Instead, I created this Preschool Calendar Journal to use more regularly at home. I wanted something he could use to draw about his day. I have a hard time getting him to tell me about his day at school, but asking him to draw a picture of something that happened seems to work better.  I think he'll enjoy re-reading old "journal entries" as a way to review and reflect on the previous weeks. I included space for me to write what he says as he draws, and since I want to reinforce colors, weather and number concepts, I added the crayons to represent each number and weather pictures to circle. You can easily make your own version at home, or purchase mine right here in the new Early Education Emporium!      

What are your favorite ways to reinforce calendar concepts?

Erin Wing writes about creating a print-rich home at www.smalltypes.com.

Reuse and Sort!

If you're one of the many teachers and parents who can't stand to throw away a cardboard box, a paper towel tube, a jar or any other useful doo-dad, because you just know you'll need it someday for project time; here are a few new ideas to help you put your collection to good use.

It's time to reuse and sort!

Why? Well, the "reuse" part is obvious. Every day is Earth Day! And sorting is an important skill for young children. As they learn to recognize and classify items into groups, they learn to see items in sets, which is an essential beginning math skill. Learning to sort helps kids develop logic and analytical thinking skills, not to mention the fact that it's just a practical life skill.

Box Sorter:

1. Collect tiny boxes. I started with some particularly solid boxes of the same size and shape as a base. I think this helped the whole structure say upright. This is only important if you plan to stand the structure upright like a shadow box.
2. Trim boxes so they are all approximately the same depth.
3. Attach boxes in any fun arrangement using masking tape or duct tape. I also wrapped duct tape around the entire outside edge.
4. Decide what you want to sort, and decorate or label the inside of your boxes. With 26 boxes, you could make a section for each letter of the alphabet, or you could do sections for each number, color or any other sorting characteristics. (In my example above, I used paper cut to fit the inside of the boxes, and I secured loosely with tape so I could change the labels to sort something else later.)
5. Have kids go on a hunt to find tiny items to fit in each category. Discuss and display for a while, then sort a new way! We sorted Lego pieces that started with each alphabet letter.

Jar Sorters:

We've also used baby food jars for the same kind of sorting activity. We labeled each one with a different letter of the alphabet, and collected items to go in each jar. You could obviously use jars of any size, but my kids enjoyed the challenge of finding TINY little items to fit in the tiny jars. Again, I labeled with removable stickers so it would be easy to change the sorting categories.

Here are some ways to sorting: (Really, the possibilities are endless!)

• Alphabet letters
• Numbers
• Textures
• Colors
• Shapes

Word Rollers:

 If your kids are a little older, and starting to read and learn spelling rules, you might also like to try Word Rollers. This activity is a great way to use up old paper towel rolls, and practice combining letters to make words. You can make your own, or use my free Word Rollers printable. (Download here.) Just print, attach to tubes, cut and you're ready to roll. This printable includes color words, CVC and CVCe words, plus a blank template to customize with words of your choice.

If you'd like more ideas for using the Box Sorters for playtime, visit my blog, www.smalltypes.com to read about our Toy Apartments!

Ok, go gather your materials. Oh, that's right. They're already stashed in your garage, closets and cupboards!  :)

A "Lovely" Bookmaking Project

Ooh, it’s almost February and I’m making some heart-filled plans. I love Valentine’s Day!  Maybe because my husband brings me Chocolate Cheesecake every year, or maybe because it’s the only time I get to fill my house with pink, or get my kids to use the pink crayon for craft projects. (I’m the lone princess in a house full of blue-loving boys.) Anyway, in honor of the lovely upcoming holiday, I bring you a sweet and simple valentine literacy craft...

The "I Love" Book

  

Materials:

• Cardstock or heavy paper
• Stamp ink for heart making. (I recommend a pale color since you’re going to write on top of it. The red I used here is just a little too dark. Pink would be perfect.)
• A fine tip Sharpie marker
• Something to bind paper together to make a book. I just used a binder ring, but you could attach pages to a construction paper booklet, or use a blank book like these.

This is a flexible activity that works for many age groups and developmental levels.

Here’s the plan:

1. For each blank page, have the child name something he or she loves. Single words work best. (Mom, Dad, Lego…) Using two fingerprints, stamp a heart for each letter in the word.
2. Write the letters of the word on top of the heart using Sharpie. For my three year old, I asked what he loves and helped him stamp the correct number of hearts, then I wrote the letters for him. After I wrote a few, he was ready to make lots of his own pages, complete with his own “letters” written in each heart. Older preschoolers and kindergartners might need a little help figuring out how many hearts they need, but could handle the stamping and writing on their own. For those kids, I recommend brainstorming together and writing the words on a piece of scrap paper first, so they can count the number of hearts needed before stamping.
3. Make a cover using the same technique. We chose “Jack Loves” as our straightforward, (yet slightly unoriginal) title.
4. Bind it, and you’re done!
5. Read your book lots of times in February, and then save it forever as an adorable keepsake.

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Want more ideas to gear up for February 14? Today on Small Types you’ll find links to more Valentine’s Day project ideas, books and printable valentines. Or visit my Valentine’s Day board over on Pinterest. 

We'd love to hear from you! What's your favorite Valentine's Day project?

Erin Wing writes about creating a print-rich home at www.smalltypes.com.

Literacy Routines in the New Year

It’s almost a new year which means it’s time for fresh starts. For many parents that means getting organized and renewing those helpful family routines that keep the home running smoothly. I don’t know about you, but I tend to let things slide during the crazy holiday season.

We all know that establishing literacy routines at home is just as important as an early bedtime or regular teeth brushing. (And kids will agree that playful, family literacy activities are WAY more fun than going to bed early or brushing teeth.) Reading, writing and playing with words at home is key to supporting skill development, and of course, lots of family bonding happens when we snuggle up to read a bedtime story or play word games during family game night. So this January, consider all you’re already doing to build literacy into your home routine, and maybe even add something new to your line up. Here are our family favorites… 

• Bedtime Reading: I’m guessing that's a favorite for you too. We try to save the last hour before bed for some kind of reading. Sometimes we all sit together and read our own books, sometimes we listen to an audiobook, but most of the time we read aloud to the kids. It’s the perfect way to help everyone wind down for sleep, and daily read aloud time benefits children in so many ways. It helps improve attention span, problem solving, vocabulary, imagination and self esteem and tons more. It's the best, most important literacy routine on our list.
• Reading, Reading and More Reading: We often read during lunchtime because it keeps everyone at the table long enough to eat a whole PB&J. And a bucket of books in the bathroom is key to potty training success.
• Storytelling: As we tuck our boys in at night, we often tell stories. Our favorites are the “Brave Stories.” The main characters, named after my sons, use their brains and talents to get out of tricky situations. We use these to help our kids visualize themselves solving problems, but the kids just think they're fun adventure stories. My husband also tells the best scary and gross stories, and he does the most hilarious version of The Three Little Pigs. (At least it's hilarious if you're 2, 4 and 7.)
• Daily Writing: I have a goal to find little opportunities to write to or with my kids at least once a day. It can be as short and simple as a note in the lunchbox, scribbling with my three year old, or showing my kindergartener a way to remember the difference between lower case d and b. We write in nightstand letter notebooks and our family list notebook. We compile sports stats, create new books in the Harry Potter series, and write about anything and everything else my kids are into at the moment.
• Little Literacy Surprises: Last year at this time, I used a water soluble marker to write the morning schedule on the bathroom mirror to help my kids get back into the school routine after Winter break. The kids were pretty shocked to see that I would actually write in marker on the mirror! (It didn’t occur to them that it was washable.) Before school started in September, I got out a little chalkboard and wrote messages before school each day. When one of our kids does something especially wonderful like cleaning up without being asked, we sometimes surprise him with a little note of thanks. Jokes in the lunchbox and an extra book after bedtime are other fun ways to surprise kids with literacy fun.
• Play with Words: We have magnetic letters on the wall, foam letters in the bath, and letter and word blocks in the toy bin, so the kids can make words and messages as they play.
• Read and Write in the Car: Sometimes you need an activity to pass the miles. This free printable is full of quick and simple games and activities that support literacy and keep the passengers happy on the way to ballet lessons or grandma’s house. These are also handy while you’re waiting for food to come at a restaurant or waiting for big brother at soccer practice.

We definitely don’t do every activity on this list every day, but by including them in the lineup on a fairly regular basis, we’re able to squeeze in a little fun reading, writing and word play into even the craziest days.

What are your best tricks for making literacy routines part of your family’s busy schedule?


Erin Wing writes about creating a print-rich home at www.smalltypes.com.

Erin Wing: Creating a Print-Rich Home

Hello to the PreK + K Sharing community! I’m so honored and excited to be a part of this fabulous new blog collaboration!

I’m Erin Wing, a mom of three boys, (ages 3, 5 and 8), and a former teacher with ten years of experience in the elementary grades. I blog at www.smalltypes.com, where I share simple ideas to help parents create literacy rich homes. I began blogging as a way to exercise my "teacher brain" while home with my own kids; by finding new ways to instill in my children a love for literacy learning, and by collaborating and sharing those ideas with other parents.

I’m passionate about...

• Playful, child-centered literacy activities which are easy to implement and fun for everyone
• Parent and teacher resources that inspire me to try something new with my children
• Homes and kid-spaces set up with reading and writing in mind
• Household literacy routines 
• Books! Reading them and making them

I’ll chime in here at PreK + K on those topics, and I look forward to hanging out with this amazing community of early childhood fans!

See you next month!  In the meantime, you can always find me on Pinterest.  (And sometimes on Facebook and Twitter too.)