Lesson 11:The Big Green Pocket Book

For last few weeks, we been covering topics about animals and social. Pocketbook is a very different book, and it deals very much with the familiar city life that our children is so used to.

Social Science : Different Cities

After reading the book, I brought Ethan to various places that are mentioned in the book, eg, bank, jewelry shop, cheap neighbourhood shop, laundry, pharmacy, etc…

The background country of the story seemed to be an American or European city, which can be very different from us.  So as we went to each place, I prompted Ethan to notice the differences between the stores as seen in the book and the one in our country.  I also highlighted to him the different ways a store can be called in different countries. Eg, in Singapore, the cheap neighbourhood shops are simply called as such, but in the book, such shop are called “Five and ten” shops.  Another eg is pharmacy, in the book, they called it ‘drugstore’.

I hope by doing this simple comparison, Ethan will start to realised that different countries can do/call things differently.

Maths : Getting shapes out of a basic shape – A “magic” show

Lesson learnt : half, semi-circle, deriving shapes

Ethan is familiar with the basic shapes.  I tried to show him how we can get many other shapes from a basic square.  This can be done in a very silly and fun manner of a magic show.  In the midst of it, the term ‘half’ is also highlighted.

“Magic Show”

Prepare a paper withe the shape of a square.

Me : Ethan, teacher (which is what he calls me when I’m teaching) is going to show you some magic!

Ethan : (Excitedly, with 2 wide opened eyes) Wow…

(I showed him a square paper.)

Me : Ethan, what shape is this paper?

Ethan : Square

Me : Ok, I will show you this square will not remain as a square.

(with some own composed ‘music’ and dramatic action, quickly move my hands up and down while holding and folding the square into half.)

Me : Da ta… what shape do we have now?

Ethan : (excitedly) Rectangle!!!

Repeat the process by folding the paper into small squares, triangle, small triagles, etc… Finally, use a round object to draw a circle on the paper.  Repeat the ‘magic’ show with the circle to form semi-circle.

The next thing he wanted was to do his own ‘magic’ show… ha ha ha… I’m sure something did went into his brain in the midst…

Arts : Pictures from the shapes

Lesson learnt : Creativity, curve cutting skill (cut circle), shapes around us.

I continued the lesson by having Ethan cut the various shapes from the folded paper to make a picture.

 

Green Paper : my farm, Pink : Ethan’s house, tree, sun and mushroom

Ethan inherited the uncreative gene from his parents, so usually when doing creative craft, I need to show him an example by doing the craft with him, and in the midst, he will try to copy some idea from me.

The brown circle was his 1st circle, so can see the ‘amateur’ standard, but by the time he cut the green and orange ones, he improved tremedously…

“Good job Ethan!”

Maths : Count in 10s

This is actually the foundation before we learn to coin 10 cent coins. I will share this step by step

Step 1 – Group of 10 macaroni

Children loves to use things that we adult use.  So counting macaroni may sound boring, but because it is something he eats, and something I use, it became a fun thing to count.

(Picture speak a thousand words.)

 

10 macaronis in each circle

Got Ethan put 10 macaronis in each of the circles

Step 2 : Transfer to the number chart

Had Ethan to transfer 1 group of macaroni to the number chart.  Highlighted that now the chart has 10 maca.

Than had Ethan transfer the 2nd group of maca, highlighted that 10 maca plus another 10 maca equal 20.

Again, had Ethan transfer the 3rd group, highlighted that 20 plus another 10 equal 30

Repeat this till about 50 (stop earlier if child is going to be bored.)

Step 3 : Introduce the term “counting in 10s”

Tell Ethan that we were just counting in 10s, ie, adding 10 at 1 go.  Got him to count in 10s by reading from the chart till 100.

Step 4 : Game

Drew 100 macaroni in groups of 10. 

 

(1) Say “10, 20, 30 … till 100″

(2) Erase 10, say “10, 20, 30, … till 100″

(3) Erase 20, repeat. But Ethan and I take turn.  ie,

Ethan : 10

Me : 20

Ethan : 30

Me : 40 , etc

(4) Keep erasing till all the numbers are erased.  And by this time, he can count in 10s pretty comfortably.

For the lesson to appeal to the child, it has to be presented in a fun voice with excitements, introducing games in between. Else, can be boring for a nursery child.

Maths : Coins - Role play shopping

Lesson learnt : Count 10 cent coins, learn to pay for things.

Before this lesson can be done, the child has to be able to count in 10s.  For children who still doesn’t recognise the different coins and notes, instead of counting 10c coins, the lesson can be on recognising the coins and notes.

Told Ethan that long time ago, people in Singapore used to use 1c coins.  And when they had 10 1c coins, they had 10c.  Which was the 10c coin we now have.

With this as the background knowledge, we proceeded to practice counting in 10s using 10c coins.

We than have a ‘shop’ in the house where Ethan shopped for items using his 10c coins.  While ‘paying’ he had to count the coins.  Eg, a 20c pencil, 60c crayons, etc…

My thought

Every week when planning for schooling, I used to ensure I cover all the various subjects like languages, Maths, Science and Social Sciences, Arts, Physical, etc… Well, I’m still trying, but I realised that for certain books/theme, I tend to focus more on a particular subjects than others.  (But Language will always be the compulsory subject).

Eg, when we were covering Australia, focus was very much more on Science and Social Sciences.  I had a hard time trying to include Maths topic… while this week when we did “The Big Green Pocket Book”, I was able to flow into Maths topic pretty easily.

Conclusion:  Just let it flow

Lesson 10 : Australia

G-Day!!! Mate!

This is really a continuation from our previous B4FIAR book study on “Katy No-Pocket”.  I enjoyed teaching on Australia, and Ethan certainly enjoyed learning about Aussie.

I happened to come across a wonderful website with a full lesson plan on Australia.  Though I only used a few of their suggested ideas, the rest of the lessons are worth re-visiting when Ethan is older.

http://fga.freac.fsu.edu/academy/k1aust_removed.htm

There are really so much to cover, but so little time.  But for a 4yo, I thought we had done enough.

Australia on the map

1. Term : Down Under (Activity 2 of lesson plan above), Equator. Island
2. Flag (http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/maustraliamedal.html )
3. Where is it in the world (Activity 1)
4. Famous Aussie that the children can associate with : Hi 5!, Wriggles
5. Looked through my old photo album on my trip to Australia

Animals of Australia

1. Kookaburra, Platypus, Koala, Kangaroo, etc etc etc
2. Borrow some books from the library on these animals
3. Listen to Kookaburra http://ausinternet.com/ettamogah/kookaburrasong.htm 
4. Dot-to-Dot
5. Make jumping Kangaroo (http://ausinternet.com/ettamogah/jumpkanga.htm )
6. Famous Kangaroo – Kanga (Pooh)
7. Activity 14 – Jump like a Kangaroo
8. Intro the term “marsupials”
9. Go to Zoo

Art – Aboriginal Art

Introduced the Aboriginal People of Australia. Coincidentally, in the show, the Amazing Race, the contestants were at Darwin, Australia, and it happened to show the Aborigine who were playing the Didjeridu!(http://www.crystalinks.com/didjeridu.html).

Following pictures speak a thousand words.

  

 

We drew on each other like the way the Aboriginal People did (for me, only on my hands)

 

Use an old carton box, cut out a boomerang shape, and dot-paint it like the way the Aborigine does ( http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/australia/mdotart.htm )

We tried to fly our ‘boomerang’, but of course, it didn’t work… its alright, all for the fun of it…

Food – Lamington

These are Australian children’s treats.  Small sponge cakes covered with chocolate and shredded coconut 

  Ingredients: Purchased Kueh bulu, own made choc coating, plus the shredded coconut

 

Short-cut version, still yummy

Result: Simply yummy…

Everyone at home enjoyed it… but Ethan was happy to have it without the coconut.

Other websites

• http://fga.freac.fsu.edu/academy/k1aust_removed.htm
• http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson200.shtml
• http://ausinternet.com/ettamogah/kids.htm
• http://www.childfun.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=181
• http://www.theteacherscorner.net/thematicunits/puzzle.htm
• http://www.australianfauna.com/
• http://www.abcteach.com/Maps/australia.htm
• http://www.about-australia.com/maps.htm
• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/school/Australia/

  

  

Lesson 9: Katy No-Pocket

Here are the highlights from last week’s lesson:

Zoo we go… In search for Mummy and baby pair

Where else would be a good classroom for such a animal filled book right?!! So off to zoo we go… (yet again!)

Was hoping to spot some animal mother and baby pairs, esp Kangaroo and Joey… But all the kangaroos are so small!

But we were not disappointed, cos we found some monkey (can’t remember their actual name) mother and baby pair.  The monkey infant was riding on the mummy’s back while she moved around the branches swiftly to get food… Nice sight, and so inline with the story…

Can see the baby being piggy-backed by the mummy?

Kangaroo… The main character in the book

Counting in 2s…

With so many animals being introduced, from legless ones like snakes, to millipede, this is certainly a great chance to learn counting in 2s…

I first used simple props, like stones.  Placed it on the number mat, and always add 2, and you will find that the stones landed on the 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, etc…

That set the background… Once he had gotten the concept, we practiced counting in 2s on the animals mentioned in the book… which was quite a few…

Graph

To reinforce counting in 2s, and to introduce graphing, I have a graph drawn, with “number of animals” against “2, 4, 6, 8, 10, more than 10″

As we counted the number of legs on the animals, we added 1 count to the appropriate box… by the end, walla… we had a nice graph…

God can say “Wait, No, or Yes”

The kangaroo in the book was trying to find a solution to her problem… So for bible teaching, I used this opportunity to teach on how God helps us.  And why sometimes he may not say “Yes” immediately…

The fun part is this:

I got him to pray for a pack of cookie…

And I have a bag of folded papers written “wait”, “no” and “yes”… In between the lesson, Ethan would pick up a piece from the bag and see what’s “God’s answer” to his prayer…  If the answer is “wait” and “no”, he will have to pray for it again… It taught him on perseverance when praying in a very fun way…

Bible story : Hannah Prayed for a Baby

Source :

http://www.kidssundayschool.com/Preschool/Lessons/1prayer02.php (FOC for this lesson plan)

http://www.daniellesplace.com/rroom/html/hannawaitspre.cfm (subscription required)

Looking forward… Let’s find out about Down Under

Ethan seems to fell in love with kangaroo, and I did mention that many kangaroos are from Australia… That got him interested in Australia… So I have decided that the next lesson we gonna touch on will not be any B4FIAR book, but on Australia…

I have already found a cool website that have the full lesson plan… Saved me all the planning… Will share soon…

Lesson 8: Prayer For A Child

B4FIAR Book : “Prayer For A Child”

High Frequency Words : from, look, they

Alpha : ‘S s’

Numbers : 6 – Six

Maths : Similar and Differences

Chinese : Me and My Body

Bible : Creation – Easter

Thoughts

Finally went back to B4FIAR… Doing B4 means there are very very much lesser prep work on my end… but if I use only the suggested activities, there are really not enough ‘fun’ stuffs…  Well, I been really busy, so think for this and a few more weeks, I will do mainly whatever is suggested, and add 1 or 2 things that can ‘spice’ up the lesson.  Hopefully can later find a little time to add more fun stuffs to the lesson.

“Prayer For A Child” is a FANTASTIC book… 1 of my favorites in the B4 list of books… Love it so much that I will be buying a copy, but think I have to get it from Amazon, which means high shipping cost…

(For those of you who requested for my weekly lesson plan, sorry that now my lesson plan is mainly taken from curriculum, which is copyright. So I can’t email them out anymore…)

Let’s bake a bread!

The 1st page of the story wrote “Bless this milk and bless this bread”… well, let’s bake a bread than!!!

I stopped baking bread ever since my breadmachine broke down… This time, was my 1st attempt baking from scratch… Got the recipe from Allrecipes, simple to do and easy enough for Ethan to help.  Some of the things that he did:

Sifting flour (got the sift from Ikea, very child friendly)

 

Warming milk (adult supervision required PLEASE)

 

 

Kneading the dough – oh well, not really, more like ‘playing’ the dough!

Result:

A bit too dense, but generally, quite tasty.  Need to find out where did I go wrong… But will definitely try again, afterall, Ethan enjoyed doing it, especially watching and anticipating the dough rise!!!

RAZ

RAZ have activities that does a simple introduction to spelling… and 1 way I found that can make spelling fun is using fridge magnet alphabets… Ethan kept asking for more spelling when I use that!!!

Chinese

We finally serious about it… Did simple nursery song, “Liang3 Zhi1 Lao2 Hu3″, read some Chinese story books, and play Simon says in chinese… pretty good outcome, he had fun w/ the Simon says, and on and off, during leisure time, he will play that on his own… Good that he enjoyed…