Swish, Swing, Sway. Show Me What You Can Do.

 Transition Song: This Is The Way We Go To Bed by Super Simple Songs:

Vocabulary And Basic Concepts:  Red, yellow, blue, purple, pink, orange, green, light/dark, fast/slow, high/low, same/different, swish, sway, swing, throw, catch, look, I can do this.

This week Miss Carrie brought out her color scarves - always a favorite! Everyone chose their color and then showed the teachers what to do.  Teachers had to follow the students.  Miss Carrie played fast music (classical, bluegrass, Children show themes) and slow music (classical, new age).  She played loud music (Thank you, John Williams - Star Wars theme, Superman theme, Raiders Of The Lost Ark theme), and very quiet music (Tibetan bowls).  Everyone showed the teachers what to do. We drew circles, shook, swayed, thew scarves in the air to catch with our hands or our heads.  We traded scarves with friends.

DO THIS AT HOME:  No need for scarves.  Pick some favorite dance music and put your child in charge.  Copy what they do.  Get everyone in the family to participate.  This is perhaps the easiest of all activities.  

Where Did You Go? What Did You Do?

 Transition Song: Going To Bed by Super Simple Songs

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: Who/What/Where, outside/inside, hot/cold, vacation, home, Spring Break, brothers, sisters, family, farm, pool, sports, playground, ocean, hiking, mountains, water, like/don't like, same/different.

This week, Miss Carrie showed pictures our friends emailed to her of what they did for Spring Break.  We saw friends who went on vacation and friends who stayed home. Some friends went to a farm, a pool, or the aquarium.  Some friends went hiking, biking, or playing at the park.  Some friends ate at a restaurant and some friends had a picnic in the backyard.  One friend went RV shopping and took a very impressive RV that he made from Legos.  

Miss Carrie noticed that everyone wanted to tell her what they did when they weren't in school.  She brought out a big piece of paper so friends could draw a picture of what they did - or- what they would like to do.

Everyone had a chance to tell Where they went, What they did, and Who was there with them.  There was a lot of "I did that, too!" and "I haven't done that yet.", "I like that" or "I don't like that".  Everyone was asking and answering questions.  We talked about the colors we used, that the crayons were broken or not (BTW - broken crayons are excellent for working on proper pencil grip), and if the paper was smooth or where it ripped from emphatic coloring.

DO THIS AT HOME: go on an activity.  When you get home, talk about it and draw pictures.  Or make a similar recipe together.  Or look at pictures.  Talk about Who/What/Where, introduce new vocabulary, and talk about what you liked or didn't like.

Asking, Answering, and Problem Solving

 Transition Song:  This Is The Way We Go To Bed by Super Simple Songs

(Last month's song was all about the morning routine.  This month's song is all about the bedtime routine.  We've had so much language and conversations about how your child's bedtime routine is the same or different. )

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: Conflict, resolution, solution, problem, plan, agree, ask, answer, yes/no, worried, relieved, mad, happy, sad, scared, What/Where/Who, no/not.

This week, Miss Carrie read a book titled What Will Fat Cat Sit On by Jan Thomas.  

Fat Cat has a problem.  We identified the problem.  What could they do to solve the problem. We remembered that everyone had to agree to the solution.  We noticed that the animals looked worried.   What would the animals do? What would the animals not do?

Miss Carrie brought out puppets.  We know we can avoid a lot of conflict if we ask our friends if we can do something (have their toy, knock down the blocks, ask if they want to do a specific plan). Miss Carrie put on her puppet and explained that she was going to ask to do things.  Friends could answer yes or no.  Miss Carrie's puppet asked "May I have a hug?  May I sit on your head?"  Some friends said yes.  Some friends said no.  Miss Carrie put out puppets for everyone to choose one.  We practiced asking questions and answering yes or no.

DO THIS AT HOME: Ask silly questions to do silly things.  Practice waiting to hear the answer.  Practice yes or no.  May I tickle you?  Can I wear your shoes?  Can I play with your toy?  Make is silly and fun.  Again, get the entire family involved. Talk about solving problems and coming up with solutions until everyone agrees.

Pacifier use and sippy cups? How to get rid of them and why.

Pacifiers and sippy cups can really cause problems with speech the longer your child is using them.  The first is a great 10 minutes video from Melanie Potock, an SLP who specializes in feeding issues, talking about pacifier use and getting rid of them. She has a great website at My Munch Bug for parents looking for more information on feeding issues.  

The second video is 6 minutes of valuable information about sippy cups and why 

it is important to not use them.

Melanie Potock can be found on Instagram or Facebook as well.  She is constantly posting helpful information about feeding, picky eating, pacifiers, and sippy cup use.

 

Over, Under, Around, and Through - Even More Ways To Show What I Can Do

 Transition Song: Wake Up-Daily Routines by Dream English

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: over, under, around, through, circle, square, tunnel, tent, stretch, hop, jump, frog jump, crab walk, balance, skip, march, touch toes, tip toe, stairs, up/down, crawl, stop/go.

This week, Miss Carrie had SO MANY THINGS!  She made a big obstacle course.  She had tunnels, tents, big circles, little circles, a bike, stairs, and exercise mats.  The exercise mats had pictures on them so we would know what to do.  We could go anywhere in the room and try anything we wanted.  We talked about stepping or walking over, crawling under, crawling through.  There were so many places to go to show what we could do.

DO THIS AT HOME:  What do you have around the house or yard to make an obstacle course?  Or go to the park.  Use your announcer voice and narrate everything your child is doing.  Get the family involved.  Kids love it when adults participate.  Make a microphone out of crumpled up foil and give it to your child to announce what you are doing (helping them when needed).