Transition Song: Wake Up Daily Routines by Dream English
(FYI: this is one of my favorite preschool songs I use!)
Materials: Laminated letter D, exercise music
Vocabulary and basic concepts: up/down, fast, slow, exercise, Did you/Do you questions, Who questions, squat, jump, run, push, sit, stand.
Pre-literacy: Let's draw the letter D. Start at the top and draw down. Go back to the top and draw around. Who has a /d/ sound in their name? What other words have the /d/ sound? Draw, dream, dinner, dessert, around, dog, down, dad.
First, Miss Carrie showed us how to beat a pattern: slap knees and then clap hands. Knees, clap, knees, clap, knees, clap. Whenever the chorus of our transition song came on, we would beat a pattern while we sang. This was a song where Miss Carrie sang first and then everyone sang the same thing. (Miss Carrie's actions are different than the video.)
When the song was over, Miss Carrie asked "Did you....." questions. Did you wake up this morning? Did you wash your face this morning? Did you brush your teeth this morning? Did you comb your hair this morning? Did you eat breakfast this morning? DID YOU COME TO SCHOOL TODAY? YES! Everyone was excited to tell what they did today. Then Miss Carrie asked a different question:
Did you exercise this morning?
No one had exercised this morning, although we found out that many moms and dads did.
Miss Carrie tries to exercise 4 days a week. She showed us her favorite exercise: the squat. We stood with our feet apart and bent our knees to squat down-down-down and then back up. Down, up, down, up, down up. Then every friend got to show an exercise for the class to do. We did push ups, crunches, leg raises, arm circles, running in place, jumping jacks, jump twists, downward dog, touching toes, and stretching side to side. It was fun to try it all.
At the end, Miss Carrie led the class through stretching and breathing to cool down.
(Miss Carrie discovered it was much easier to do all of this in her gym shoes rather than the usual professional work clothes she usually wears.)
DO THIS AT HOME: Exercise together and talk about your actions. Later, at the dinner table, ask "Did you....." questions. Prompt your child with a choice of two options if they need help. EX: "Did you play outside or did you read a book?"
