August/September Week 1: Germs and Movement

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: washing, hands, fingers, thumbs, elbows, head, arms, legs, feet, shoulders, nose, eyebrows, bounce, high/low, fast/slow, jumping, move, your turn/my turn.

In September we will start with a letter sound and specific instruction.  This week we learned all about Large Group.

In both classrooms, we started by singing Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy by Rachel Arntson.  It is a very simple song, easy to join in if you don't get there when we start singing.  The children pick which body part to bounce (arms, legs, feet, elbows, shoulders, head, nose, eyebrows, knees) and we bounce.  In between we wait (great for anticipation and looking to teachers and peers for direction) and then prep with "ready, set, GO!" to start bouncing again.

In Miss Jeana's classrooms we learned about germs aka "Please don't get Miss Carrie sick!"  Germs are little bugs that we can't see.  They get on our hands if we sneeze or cough in them.  We learned that if we touch anything else after sneezing or coughing into our hands, that the germs will get all over everything!  Miss Carrie used red glitter, pretending that the glitter was germs to show that touching her hands can get everyone''s hands messy.

Oh, no! Miss Carrie's hands are so messy!

We learned to cough and sneeze into our elbows so we wouldn't get germs on our hands.  We learned we could use tissue to wipe our noses.  If our fingers get into our noses or mouths, Miss Carrie and Miss Jeana will ask us to wash our hands because Miss Carrie and Miss Jeana DO NOT want to get sick!

We also learned a song to help us remember how to wash our hands:

First, get soap on your hands.  Don't put them under the water yet!  Now we sing as we wash our hands:
(to the tune of Frere Jacques)
Tops and Bottoms (wash tops and bottoms of hands)
Tops and Bottoms
In between
In between (wash between fingers)
Wash your thumbs
Wash your thumbs
(NOW put your hands under the water)
Now they're clean!
Now they're clean!

Everyone lined up to wash their hands.  We also wash hands before Snack Time.

In Miss Jen's class, we talked about moving our bodies.  We played Silly Dance Contest by Jim Gill (one of Miss Carrie's favorite preschool song singers and followed the directions in the song.  WE jumped, danced fast/slow, and (everyone's favorite) froze with a silly face. 

(Here is the song performed by Jim Gill to try at home)

Then we danced to Rock and Roll Preschool by The Wiggles and everyone showed Miss Carrie what they could do and she tried to copy them.  We ended with music from the album Calm Piano by Paul Cardall and tried moving slow and blowing air out of our bodies as we prepared to move to Small Group.

DO THIS AT HOME:  You can talk about washing your hands, when to wash your hands, and practice it together.  Ask your child to show you how if they remember.  Also, have a dance party and let your child lead.  Do what they do.  This is a fantastic activity for the entire family.

Week 3: Large Group - Washing Hands and Blowing Noses

Phoneme: /b/

Gathering song:  Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy (hands, feet, shoulders)

Concepts:  On/Off, Top/Bottom, In Between, Body Parts (Elbows, Hands, Noses, Mouths)

Pre-Literacy:  Trace letter B with your pointer fingers.  "Put your finger on the top and draw down.  Go back to the top and bounce Around".

We're learning how to wash hands and blow noses!  We don't want to get sick.  Germs are so little that we can't see them, but they can make us very sick.  We learned how to cough into our elbows and to sneeze into our elbows instead of our hands. Miss Julie and Miss Jeana passed out tissue and we learned to wipe our noses by pinching our noses instead of wiping across.  Always use tissue, never our hands or sleeves.  We rubbed lotion on our hands, then Miss Carrie put glitter on hers and high-fived everyone.  We saw how the glitter spread onto everyones hands just like germs.  Then we learned how to wash our hands to get the germs off.  Miss Carrie taught this song:

(to the tune of Frere Jaques)

Tops and Bottoms! (back of hands and palms of hands)
Tops and Bottoms!
In Between!  In Between! (interlace your fingers to get in between)
Wash your thumbs.
Wash your thumbs.
Now you're clean.
Now you're clean.

Singing and washing with soap makes sure you wash long enough.  Don't turn on the water until the song is over or you might wash the soap off too soon.