Magnets & the letter H

Today was a million and one times better than my first week. We still had some wandering bottoms and arms, but for the most part I can tell such a difference! Hallelujah! :)

-This week's theme is magnets. I had them find things that would stick to their little magnets on a stick (which they'll be taking home on Wed). First I passed out items to try their magnets on and then I had them go around the room. In my opinion I think the kids really loved finding things around the room. Their faces lit up when they realized things stuck to their magnets! Figuring out on their own was really, really fun for them. We also went fishing (they'll take their fishing poles home with them on Wed) and I mixed in a little sorting with it as well (pick up only blue shapes, now a circle, then we did a little review on the letters we've learned and had them pick up fishes with letters on them) since sorting is so good for this age. There were quite a few kinks that I'll try to prep for on Wed when we do it again.

-Today we focused on the letter H. We made the shape with our bodies, identified H's from cut outs of titles on boxes and magazines, and we made those awesome H's you all took home. And by awesome, I mean that activity was crazy! This was totally one of those ideas that went way better in my head. It's all about hindsight. I thought it would be fun for them to feel the textures of the pom poms and the feathers after what a hit the foam stickers were for Rachel and Samara. I guess it went pretty good. Messy, but good.

-Other than that we sang songs, read a lot of Dr. Seuss books, and ate snacks. We ended almost at 11:30, which is a far shot from where I ended my first week (um, 10:50 or something?). Things I would do differently: Bring my schedule. Forgot that completely vital piece of paper on my way out the door. Which is why I skipped the coloring part. Oh well. Also, put all the pom poms and feathers in individual containers for them rather than just out on the table. Individual containers for each kid always work better I'm finding out. And I forgot to tell them at the beginning what I expected of them and how I wanted them to be quiet, stay in their seats, etc. I'm kind of a big believer in that. So instead we spent maybe more time telling kids to sit down, etc. than maybe we would have if I would have started out with that.

-Also, I copied Samara's idea and taped their letters on their seats (and we've done ideas like this already with Jen's material squares) but I think it makes a WORLD of difference. They knew right where to sit, and like Rachel said, it helps with their letter recognition. (Julia said, "That's a J. For Julia. juh, juh, juh! J!) Today Samara even put the letters on the table for craft time - even better. But the thing with the paper letters is they're only one time use. I was thinking maybe we could make those chair covers like they have in primary and put their letter on it. I think this idea was tossed around before, and I can't tell you how brilliant I think it is! Maybe we could even make some for the semi-circle/storytime and another set for the craft table. I don't have any material here, but I could go and get some. I just don't sew. So, um, if anyone wants take that one on, let me know.

Kay, signing out till Wed. It was fun today! And thanks to Samara for being such a big help - I loved having you there! You were fantastic!