Preschool Weekly Wrap Up- Letter P

Back in October Hunter learned all about the letter P and pumpkins.  Since it’s almost Valentine’s Day I thought it was the perfect time to finally get it posted haha

He painted a plate and then added some shapes to make a pumpkin face.  Apparently his pumpkin in sad.

This little cutie loves to be a part of our homeschool day 🙂  She likes to sit on the table to make sure she is the center of attention.

We worked on a pumpkin life cycle activity.

Hunter’s finished pumpkin life cycle.

We sang a fun song about 5 little pumpkins sitting on the fence.

As we sang the song Hunter took the pumpkins off and counted to see how many were left.

Hunter glued pennies onto the letter P.

I had some pumpkin number cards and I called the numbers while Hunter jumped off the couch onto the number I called.

Another pumpkin activity

Adding some pieces to show what is inside the pumpkin.

Hunter’s finished pumpkin to show the different parts of the pumpkin.

(Printables from Pumpkin Patch Palooza)

It was another fun week of preschool!

Early American History

Continuing along in our studies of American history we talked about the first English settlement in North America.

Hailey learned it was on Roanoke Island (in 1587), which is off of the coast of what is now North Carolina.  A group of colonists built forts and houses.  The Croatan were a friendly Native American tribe about 50 miles from where the colonists settled.  After they were there for about a month their leader, John White, left to go back to England for supplies.  He left everyone behind, including his family.

John White was not able to return until 1590.  When he got back all of the colonists and their houses were gone.  There was one clue, the word “Croatan” carved on a tree.  No one has ever figured out what happened to the colonists.

In this activity, Hailey made a mini-scroll book, from the Colonial America Easy Make and Learn Projects.  The first 3 pictures on her scroll depict what happened when the colonists arrived and when John White left.  The fourth and fifth pictures Hailey drew and wrote about what she thought could have happened to the colonists.  The last picture shows what happened when John White returned and found everything gone.

Jumping ahead, we also talked about how different it was for the pilgrims when they arrived here in America.

Using printables from The Pilgrims, the Mayflower and More Easy Make and Learn Projects, we learned that in the Old World (Holland) the pilgrims had houses to live in, shops to go to, roads, cities, and towns.

When the arrived in the New World (America) what they found was very different.  We talked about how hard it must have been, and if people would have made different choices had they known how hard it was going to be.

The hands on activities like these are what Hailey really enjoys doing!  I find that she remember the material better when she has created something to go along with what we are learning about.

Preschool Weekly Wrap Up- Letter B

Last fall we concentrated on the letter B one week during preschool.  Since it was fall we studied all about bats.

We did a fun bat painting.  I put some bat shapes on a piece of paper and then Hunter stamped white paint all over.

Harper made one too.  And also ate some of the paint, of course.

The completed bats- they were fun and easy, and turned out cute.

Hailey wanted to make one too, but she did hers a little differently.  She mixed some paint to create a sunset.

Then she glued some black bats onto the sunset.

I teach pre-k art at our homeschool co-op and we made this really fun bat.

Hunter glued beads onto the letter B.  It took a lot of glue to make them stick!

Another fun week of preschool!

Native American Study

As we work along in our study of US history, we spent a lot of time learning about the Native Americans.

We learned about some of the main tribes that were here in the US and where they were located.  Hailey made different representations of the tribes and placed them on the map where they lived.  Then we did a more in depth study of each of the different groups of Native Americans.

When we studied the Northwest Indians, Hailey made a Totem Pole.  Hunter decided he needed make one too, so he had fun joining us for this activity.  It was very interesting to learn how the totem poles told a story and showed the family’s lineage.  They were a way to document a family history.  (Totem Pole Printable)

When we studied the Southwest Indians, Hailey weaved a basket.  She decorated the basket after she finished weaving it, but apparently I didn’t take a picture of that.  We learned how they weaved the baskets so tightly that they could even carry water in them.

Hailey learned about how the Plains Indians hunted buffalo and then used every part of the buffalo for something, being sure not to waste anything.  She made a “buffalo skin” and then drew pictures on it of the different things they used the parts of buffalo for.

Next she learned about the Northeast and the Southeast Indians.  She made a wigwam and we learned about who lived in the wigwams.

The Indians who lived in the wigwams would build a frame and cover it with bark and hides.  When they moved, sometimes the wigwam would stay and sometimes they would roll up the covering and take it to the new location.

Another thing the Native Americans lived in was long houses, so Hailey made a representation of a long house.

She learned how several families lived together in the long house.

Hailey’s finished long house.  (From Northeast Indians Easy Make and Learn Projects)

We both learned a lot and had fun too!