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).

March Week 3: Pick A Number

 Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: He/She/We, high/low, fast/slow, go/stop, arm/s, leg/s, squat, push up, plank, stretch, jump, sit up, arm circles, What questions, Who questions, how many, 1, 5, 10, counting.

Transition Song: Wake Up Daily Routines by Dream English

Remember two weeks ago when Miss Carrie forgot to exercise?  We made a plan of what to do First, Next, and Last.  Then, last week, we planned different poses for yoga.  We followed picture directions and verbal directions.  Then we planned our own poses.  This week,  Miss Carrie suggested that we plan how many or how long to do an exercise.  We could choose 1, 5, or 10.  Everyone had suggestions of what do do.  Push ups? 10! (Oy.)  Sit ups? 5! Jumping jacks? 10.  We could hold our foot up and balance for 10.  We tried planking with one arm up and the opposite leg up for 10.  Everyone counted together 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10!  We had to remember to NOT climb on Miss Carrie or crawl underneath her while she was planking.

DO THIS AT HOME:  It's a family group exercise class and your child is in charge!  What are they going to chose to do?  How many? 1, 5, or 10?  If your child has difficulty with choosing, or needs picture supports, draw some ideas on cards and have them choose.  Or draw them out together.  Ask questions so you know which body part to move and for how long.

January Week 3: Do What I'm Doing

Transition Song: Colors by The Learning Station

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: colors, body parts, look, watch, move, swing, sway, stomp reach, throw, blow, up/down, forward/backward, high/low, fast/slow, big/little, present progressive -ing, past tense-ed, Pronouns I/He/She/We + is/am/are, What questions, Who questions.

This week Miss Carrie brought her scarves.  There were lots of different colors.  If we didn't get the color we wanted, we could ask our friends to trade.  Then we danced and moved with our scarves.  Our teachers had to watch us and copy what we did.  We ha so much fun showing what we could do.  Scarves waved high and low.  We threw scarves in the air and caught them.  Then we threw them at our friends.We jumped, stepped, swayed, and swung our arms.  We sat on the floor to see what other ways we could move with just our upper bodies. Miss Carrie played fast music and slow music.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Pull out scarves or not.  But do put on some music an dance!  Follow your child's lead.  "What are you doing?  Oh, look, I see that you are stomping your feet.  I wonder if I can do that?  Stomp!Stomp!Stomp!"  "You are shaking your arms fast!  I can shake them fast, too!" Use your best sports broadcaster voice and give a play-by-play.  Have your child tell you what they are doing and let them correct you if you do it wrong.  Or, use single word narration to talk about what your child is doing to hep them label: "Stomp! Swing! Arms! Legs! Head! Shake! Fast!"

August/September Week 5: Bounce Your Body

Given that it is a short week, we used Large Group to move our bodies.  I introduced Wave Your Hands Up High from Preschool Action Songs:

This is a great song to reinforce basic concepts (high/low, front/back) and action words (jump, hop, swim, shake, wave).  Gross motor movement and fun music!

Miss Jen introduced us to Cosmic Kids Yoga Betsy The Banana:

This was FULL of /b/ words: Betsy, banana, breakfast, bicycle, bus, birthday, behind, bunch, ballerina, ballet, bing, bouncing, bounce house, boing, balloon, bird, birthday cake, birthday party, blow, breathe, back.  The teachers got a big kick out of the kids British accent pronunciation of banana. 

Do this at home:  dance together!  Talk about your movements and concepts (high/low, fast/slow, stop/go).