September Week 4: Will It Bounce?

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts:  experiment, bounce + ing/ed, roll +ing/ed, yes/no, does/doesn't, high/low, fast/slow, Me/Mine/My, He/She, Hers/His, Who/What/Where, my turn, drop, roll, float, flop, soft, squishy, round.

This week in Large Group we learned the word experiment. We clapped it out ex-per-i-ment.  An experiment is what we do when we see what will happen to something.  Our experiment was to see if certain items would bounce.

First we tried feathers.  We held them up high and said "Ready....Set.....GO!" Did they bounce?  No!  They floated.  They fell to the ground slowly. We tried it again.  No bouncing.

Next we tried beanbag frogs and turtles and ladybugs.  We held them up high and said "Ready....Set...GO!" and let them go.  did they bounce?  No!  They flopped.  They rolled.  They did not bounce. We tried it again.  No bouncing.

Then Miss Carrie brought out a bag.  We tried to guess what was in the bag.  It was balls!  Red balls and green balls and blue balls.  So many balls!  Everyone picked a ball.  We held them up high and said "Ready....Set.....GO!" Did they bounce?  YES!  They bounced!  We practiced bouncing and catching.  We discovered the balls could also roll.  Some of us rolled to friends or played catch with teachers and friends. We discovered that these balls were squishy.  We could squish them flat and then they would go back to a round shape.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Have your own experiment.  Will it bounce?  Will it roll?  Will it float or flop?  Gather some common items around your house.  Talk about the results.  Try again to make sure. 

September Week 1-3: Let's Catch Up!

 I don't know about you but this school year has taken me a little bit to catch up.  So here is a quick run down of what has happened in Large Group..

Week 1:  We talked about wearing masks (mainly how teachers are wearing masks and what we looked like under them).  We practiced putting bubbly soap on our hands and washing them before putting them under the water to rinse.  We practiced a special song to sing to make sure we are washing our hands long enough.

We also practiced coughing and sneezing into our elbows, and how to wipe or blow our nose with tissue, throw the tissue away (don't hand it to a teacher!) and then wash our hands.  We want to make sure Miss Jeana, Miss Kazia, and Miss Carrie don't get sick.  If they get sick, they can't come to school!

DO THIS AT HOME:  please practice washing your hands, coughing/sneezing into your elbows, and wiping noses.  Be sure to review the district exclusionary guidelines for illness.  Thanks for helping the teachers to stay healthy.

Week 2:  Miss Carrie brought a box to class.  Inside there was something small, but it would grow bigger.  The box was full of balloons?  What did we need to do to make them bigger?  Miss Carrie could't blow them up with her mouth, but she had a yoga ball pump to blow them up.  Everyone got a balloon to play with.  We bounced them high and watched them fall.  We played catch. We talked about different colors and which ones were bigger or smaller.

DO THIS AT HOME:  use balloons or balls and start playing together.  Get down on your child's level.  Compare and contrast your balloons or bouncy balls.  What can you do with them?  Use your 'announcer voice' and narrate all of your child's actions.  Let your child lead in what to do.

Week 3:  

Picture from last year

I have a special quilt one of my student families made for me my second year as a school SLP.  One side is all bugs, the other side is a "I Spy" game.  I like to play a game called "Who's Behind The Blanket". We sing "Who's behind the blanket..." 3/x and then count 1-2-3-4-5!  When I drop the blanket, we see which friend is there.  We practice saying that friend's name and clap the syllables in their name.

You'd think a simple game like this would lose it's charm after a few times.  Absolutely not!  Everyone wanted multiple opportunities to hide behind the blanket.  We were able to practice who, behind, counting, and peer names.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Play this game with family members.  Use a blanket or a door in your house.  Emphasize WHO, BEHIND, and counting to 5. You'll be surprised how many times your child wants to play.