Summer Schedule

It is hard to believe that Summer will be here soon!  I will be offering classes on Wednesday mornings at the Talega Club House in San Clemente.

Kindergarten Readiness: Move and Groove Through the Alphabet will focus on skills needed to prepare your child for school.  Letters, sounds, rhyme, and numbers are taught through music, games, and art.

Session One: July 7 - July 28  9:00-9:50 am
Session Two: August 4 - August 25 9:00-9:50 am

Mommy and Me:  Children 18 months to 3 years of age will sing, dance, play and explore the fun themes of summer with their parent.

Session One: July 7 - July 28 10:00-10:50 am
Session Two: August 4 - August 25 10:00-10:50 am

Cost: $60 per session or $105 for two 

Class Maximum is 10 students per class.  Reserve your spot today!

Registration forms can be picked up at the Talega Club House or emailed to you.
Email me your request at:
dcodaniels@gmail.com

Worm Wonders

It is always exciting when a child first discovers their first worm.  Some children might stand back and observe the tiny creature or others might get right in there and pick it up.  Hopefully after their first encounter, the worm will survive!

There are lots of fun things to do with worms.  

OBSERVE: They are best found where dirt is damp.  Have your child stir up some dirt and see if any worms appear.  It is important to teach your children to be gentle to the worms and not to hurt or squash them.  Magnifying glasses are fun to use to see them up close.

ART: I've never tried this, but you can put a small blog of non-toxic paint on a piece of paper and place a worm on the paint.  As the worms crawls, you can see their path.  Rinse off the worms with cool water before putting them back in the dirt!  OR you can put a strand of cooked spaghetti in some paint and put that on paper to create worm trails.  We will be doing this in class.  If you decide to try the paint on a real worm, please let me know what happens!

MUSIC AND MOVEMENT:  Put a piper cleaner around your child's finger to create a worm and use it to act out worm songs.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Little Wiggle Worm Song
Sung to: "I'm a Little Teapot"

I'm a little wiggle worm, watch me go!
I can wiggle fast, or very very slow.
I wiggle all around, then back I go
Down into the ground, to the home I know.

LITTLE WIGGLE WORM
 Tune:  "The Eensy-Weensy Spider"

 The little wiggle worm                      
 Went crawling underground.            
 Down came the rain;                       
 Soon mud was all around.                

 Rain filled the tunnels                       
 And pushed out the little worm.         
 So the puddles on the ground            
 Were the only place to squirm.            

Catching Bugs

Sung to: "Mary had a little lamb"

Catch some bugs, and look at them,
Look at them, look at them.
Catch some bugs and look at them,
Then PLEASE let them go.

PHONICS:  This is a great time to introduce the letter "w" and the sound.  Everytime you see a "W" you can wiggle like a worm and say the sound,   "/w/, /w/, /w/  as in worm."  The kids will never forget exploring worms.

Have fun playing with worms...your child will thank you!

 

Exceptions Made for Learning ABC's

As parents, it seems like we are always struggling with the amount of television and the quality of the programs our children watch. The other area of trouble is limiting the amount of sweet treats.  Well, here are two exceptions I have made with my son that are helping with the ABC's. 
1.  TELEVISION When I was teaching Kindergarten I would recommend to parents the movie, Letter Factory by Leap Frog if their child needed additional help learning their letters and sounds.  Well, I was at Costco the other day and saw the DVD.  I figured it was time to introduce my favorite kid movie to my two year old son.  Lets just say I wish I could say I taught him his letters and sounds, but I can't!!!!  For about two weeks he was obsessed.  (It was a refreshing break from the Thomas the Train movies.)   My husband and I agreed that if he is going to watch something, why not something educational. We were amazed by how many letters and sounds he has learned.  More importantly he has an interest in the ABC's!
2.  SWEET TREATS  In our house, strawberries and raisins are considered our "sweet treats".  However, Trader Joes has a container of Cinnamon School Book letter and number cookies that we eat as treats.  Occasionally after dinner I will take out a couple cookies and put them in front of my son.  I usually try to make one cookie a vowel, so I can model sounding out a word.  (Yes I realize he is too young, but it doesn't hurt - he'll get it one day!)  He tells me either the letter or the sound, if he knows it, and I say some familiar words to him that begin with the letter.   We have fun playing and eating the cookies!

Letter Factory™ DVD - Appropriate for Ages 24 Months to 5 Years

What are your exceptions?  I'd love to hear!