Spark Preschool Learning Academy: The number 6

First things first… Cannon had Spark this last weekend. I think they had a great time together. (I feel real bad that I didn’t get a picture of Sayla and Spark when she had him last week, but it completely escaped my mind. She will have him again, so I will NOT forget next time). Some of the things they did together was…

Spark and Cannon played tag with his sister Ally.
They jumped on the trampoline.
They wrestled together.
They rode the 4-wheeler.

Sounds like you two had a great time together! Thanks for taking care of him, and making the weekend so fun for him!

If I had to describe today in one word it would be CRAZY!!! We had a great deal of fun, but man were the kiddos high strung. How do we get things done when they are like that you ask? Well, the most effective way for me to handle this many kids when they are all excited, is to count.

This is how I discipline my class, just so you know, and are aware of my policy. I will ask 2 times. Then on the 3rd time if they haven’t done what was asked of them, I start to count. 5…4…3…2…1. If I get to 1, then it is into time out for 3 minuets. They get removed from the situation, and a timer is set. If they get out of time out before the timer goes off, another minuet is added to the remaining time. At times when all 9 students are talking, laughing, yelling, playing or whatever is making the noise level high, I do have to raise my voice to be heard over the noise, I will talk loud, but I will never yell at my students. Just thought you might like to know how I handle it when it does get a little crazy, or out of control!

Today we did the number 6! Each student got to draw a name, and take their turn writing the number 6 on the board. This is an important time for me. It gives me the opportunity to really encourage obedience within the class, as well as really give positive feedback to the child writing on the board. Obviously every number is not written correctly every time, but if they do it even part of the way, I really let them know they are doing awesome! It makes them smile, and encourages them to continue to try the best they can. If they are struggling with a certain number, I will help them write it over and over again. Repetition is key. I have been really impressed with the 6’s today…

After everyone had taken a turn, I had out the worksheet! At this point, I walk around the room. Help each child write a few 6’s on the paper, and if they don’t know how to write their name yet, I help them do that as well.

Soon, we will be practicing names. I just didn’t feel like they were quite ready for that yet as a class. We need to get some of the basics down before we move on. And, we did just that today! “Trace the lines of the sunshine…” Being able to trace a shape, and hold a writing utensil correctly is something we work on everyday we are together. IF you want to work with them, here are some great worksheets. Just go here…http://kidslearningstation.com/tracing-lines/.

For our craft today we made Yellow Suns. Our color of the day was yellow!

I practiced some scissor skills again today. Some of them are doing awesome! Some still need a little encouragement, but I am seeing improvements daily! That makes me happy.

Then it was time to glue on the suns rays…

Look at the finished projects…

Please know that it isn’t just all busy work. They have a great deal of time to play and interact with each other! Look at these cute pictures.

They have a lot of fun together!

Evelyn had snack today. She has been anticipating her snack turn for weeks now! She was excited…

Thanks Evelyn for the Granola Bars, and String Cheese!

I found this fun idea for a Dice Game. I thought this would be the great review game. They roll the dice, count the dots and circle the number on the paper. My younger kiddos didn’t quite get this, but we still had fun counting dots together!