Mother's Day Card

I don't know if I told you or not-

I threw my back out- during spring break and I am still in a lot of pain.

I found out I have scoliosis in my lower back and it is making walking and bending, lifting and moving in general difficult.

I am working with a physical therapist and chiropractor and recovery has been s-l-o-w.

 

The reason I tell you this?

Life happens

The unexpected HAPPENS

I feel like this year I have been thrown so many zingers

Unpredictable ailments.

 

Yet

Preschool must go on!

 

I planned and expected to modify and add so many fun activities this year of preschool.

I really wasn't planning on depending on my Funshine Express monthly curriculum kit like a life-line.

 

 

 

Yet a life line- it has been!

Funshine Express has so many cute activities leading up to mother's day.

Here are pictures of one.

 

 

The kids had fun personalizing these mother's day cards. Today in circle time- everyone got to share what they did- to celebrate mother's day. The kids were so excited to share.

Parachute fun

 

Parachute fun! Funshine Express.com often offers ideas of games and activities to play with a parachute. We often used just a sheet or blanket.

 

 You can imagine my preschoolers delight when Funshine Express sent a real parachute!
We have used it a handful of times inside- today was the first day we played with it outside.

I am still recovering-- slowly from throwing out my back.
Blah!
You would think I was 100 years old! I'm not.
But I feel like this year I have been riddled with injury and illness.
I am so grateful for my monthly Funshine Express curriculum monthly kit. Funshine also has supplementary supplies... like parachutes, puzzles and other educational supplies .

MONDAY- ugh

Normally I love Mondays.
I wake up- happy for a new week.
Today was no exception.

I woke up happy.
Made lunches for my four boys.
Cooked an egg sandwich for my oldest.
re-heated French toast for the other boys. (we had French toast yesterday.)
Packed lunches...
Ironed a shirt for my hubby...
drove junior high son off to school...

I was ahead of the game! While the elementary school kids dug into the French toast- I was motivated to quickly "clean out" (toss out the moldy stuff.) the refrigerator and started to sweep our eternally crumbly kitchen floor.... life was good.

I felt so productive!
---
Then my second grader mumbles with his mouth full, "Mom.. isn't my Animal Report due today?"

MY HEART DROPPED- mid sweep~.
UGH... yes it is!

I have learned the value of having extra poster-boards handy.
So with 10 minutes...
It was all hands on deck!

I am so proud of my 11 year old and 8 year old. They quickly jumped into action!
My 11 year old- quickly volunteered to "take care of preschool". He ran downstairs to set up our preschool space.

My 8 year old and I quickly printed off the facts he had been collecting.
We drew a HUGE Japanese Spider Crab on our poster board. (Their bodies are 15 inches wide!)
We took yarn and measured out 12 feet worth... to represent the crab's legs....
cut- and pasted the facts to the poster... and called it good!

By this time, my 11 year old was back upstairs and he said- "Mom, I can entertain the preschool kids for you, while you get your lesson together."

And- ya know what?- preschool lesson wasn't even a concern!
I mean, normally I like to prepare, gather my supplies, read over the plan for today.

But today- when we were in a rush- I wasn't panicked.
I knew... whatever Funshine Express had planned...would be great.
My craft supplies would be all included- if NOT they would be easy to get from around the house.
WHAT A LIFE SAVER!
Today I was truly THANKING MY STARS I have my Funshine Express monthly curriculum kit and lesson plans.

We did a really cute April Fools Day joke/craft- suggested by Funshine Express.

 

Color on white paper with white crayons. I had each child make 4 different drawings. (I wrote their names on the side- their picture was on... because it is really hard to identify that there is a picture drawn on the paper!)

I told the kids, "Tomorrow hand one of these papers to your mom, or dad, or big brother, etc.. and tell them this is your best drawing ever!"  (naturally they will think it is just a blank piece of paper) When you paint over it... the drawing appears!

I let the children paint two (of their 4) drawings. So they could practice and see the joke themselves.

Whew! Such a life saver today- I can't say it enough! Bad mommy moment - averted, thanks to my Funshine Express monthly curriculum kit!

Laura

(Disclaimer: This year I contacted Funshine Express and asked to blog about their amazing curriculum. I have used/paid their program for years and LOVE it! My kids are grown, we moved (from Hawaii to Utah). As you can imagine- it was expensive to move so not much made the move.  I thought I was done teaching preschool... so I sold/gave away all my preschool things, along with all my children's toys they out-grew etc.  So we set up life in Utah, having to re-buy much of our household items. I tried to get different jobs to fill my days- and realized I miss this age group! So I decided to teach preschool again. But starting over is pricey- and this time I didn't have the benefit of having TONS of toys already... I had to start from scratch! So I was trying to think how I could cut some costs... and I thought free curriculum would help out a lot! So that is the long story.)

Weather : In like a Lion out with a Lamb

This month, one of our themes is Weather. Funshine Express suggested introducing the old saying, "March comes in like a Lion and out like a lamb".  We have been having wacky weather here! Yesterday it snowed in the morning- then the sun came out, melted all the snow and felt like a great spring day!

What a perfect theme! We made this cute craft Funshine Express provided. (One side is a lion... and the other... you get the idea.) It was a cute craft.


And then- a game that I modified from Funshine Express... we played again. Except not with partners this time.

I love how simple the ideas and suggestions Funshine Express offers in their monthly curriculum guide. They are so clever and fun. I love that often - they suggest ideas with common things I have around the house! It is easy to add and introduce new elements into our preschool day.

Weather Theme: Clouds

We have been talking about weather - and specifically the water cycle.

(*It might be a bit complex for the gang- but we did some large movement activities to understand it.)

Here is a great diagram from the U.S Gov 

I simplified it a-lot.

 

It's one thing to "talk" about it. Another- to actually see-it-happen!

 

I know I usually share a craft that Funshine Express supplied in their monthly curriculum kit- but today, I was so impressed with their simple-fun Science suggestion!

Create a cloud in a jar.
How cool is that? It is hard to see... but this really works! (Hot water in the jar-- trapping the steam by having ice on top.)

 

 

We painted also- with cotton balls... clouds.

But by far... the science experiment stole the show today!

 

 

 

Here is a good image- from Enchanted learning website-

 

*I just focused on the idea of : Evaporation- Condensation- precipitation (rain/snow) Accumulation.
We started sitting- with our arms out... pretending we were water in the ocean.
Then we evaporated... (standing up)
then we  "condensed" (got close together)
then we rained or represented Precipiation... by wiggling our fingers as we "rained" and we sat down.

I am always amazed at how brilliant and smart these little ones are!
Will they remember the words? maybe not... but do they understand the concept- YOU BET!

Forgot to POST!

I forgot to post about this really cute, fun activity Funshine Express suggested playing last month. This literally was a crowd pleaser! They wanted to play this again , and again, and again... etc..

I cut big heart shapes out- and then cut them in half... using unique design. (zig-zag, wavy, etc.)
I then separated the sides on either side of our preschool room.
I had one person pick one 1/2 heart.... their partner had to look and then find the match!

You can bet- I am going to use this idea/game again!
Since we are talking about weather this month.. maybe I will cut out "cloud" shapes, or "raindrops". Such a fun, creative, easy idea!

Finishing up :Opposite Theme

 

I know I share a lot of craft projects.

One of my little guys at preschool today said-

"Ya know- I only come for the crafts!"

 

He was a little out -of-sorts today. Lol

But you better believe- I was thankful that Funshine Express has such great art & craft projects!

 

Each craft is so thoughtful.

Today we were weaving black and white paper together.

I pulled out my punches- and let them punch out shapes to place on their woven mats.

(all the paper provided by Funshine- naturally and the shape idea suggested by them too.)

 

 

THEN

For the opposite theme: Funshine also provided a matching game. I love how they always include a station/game idea in each monthly curriculum box. It helps keep my stations fresh and in line with the monthly theme.

Fizzle Paint Project

Is it a Science Project... or is it an Art Project?
A little bit of both- my kids really enjoyed this project suggested by Funshine Express today!

Funshine Express- suggested adding baking soda to our normal preschool paint. (This makes the paint a tad bit thicker- but kids didn't notice.)
Once they were done painting- I brought over cups with vinegar in them. Funshine Express supplied the droppers. The kids were thrilled- dropping vinegar on their pictures and seeing them bubble up!

One boy had painted a dragon- he was over the moon to see the fire from his dragons mouth- really boil up!

Who thinks this stuff up at Funshine Express? What a great idea, and so simple!

I love the many exploration projects, activities and crafts Funshine Express offers and suggests.
I mean, I love Pinterest- but I waste a lot of time getting lost on searches.

I love my Funshine Express Monthly Curriculum kit. It comes with all these simple- fail proof ideas!
I can't count how many times I have tried something seen on Pinterest- only to have it fail. So disappointing. I know I can count on the activities suggested in my monthly kit!

No plan B needed!

Olympics Added Theme

How could we NOT sneak in a

Winter Olympic Unit at Preschool?

 

This past week was so much fun!

(except for the day- I got hit with the 24 hr stomach flu.)

Here are some helpful handouts I used during our Winter Olympic Unit this pass week.

Cute handout on this site: For Olympic Flag/ Olympic Rings

 

Like I've said- I love how my Funshine Express Monthly Curriculum is so easy to modify!

For our writing activity- I just cut the letter R off the top of my Funshine worksheet. (They had "R- for Radio".) I replaced the color portion with an Olympic Flag worksheet. (R- for Olympic RINGS!) Simple! And soooo helpful!

I don't have to create everything... I just have to tweak what Funshine Express sends me in my monthly kit!

Cute winter FREE- Olympic print-ables (for preschoolers) on this site here

 

This was a really cute workbook to introduce the different Olympic sports.

Here is our Olympic torch.
We used it for a fun relay race: Passing the Olympic Torch!
(They were all on the same team. I timed them, and then we ran it again to see if they could beat their own team time.) Everyone felt like a winner!

 

We painted rings- using small cups.

 

And naturally-  today we made gold metals!
They cut out yellow circles. We stapled yarn for the necklace and then taped gold coins in the center.

 

It was such a fun week!

GO TEAM USA!

Oppostie Theme

This month's themes for preschool are Hearts & Hugs

and Opposites.

 

I added "magnets" to the unit.

(I thought this was clever of me- because the opposite poles of a magnet "attract".)

I bought this kit. It is so great- it has 22 experiments to do with magnets!

 

 

 

This was a simple station to set up.

I had a magnet - and different items for the kids to experiment with ...

what is attracted by the magnet. (hint: things with iron, not metals)

 

We've been talking about opposites.

Funshine Express has different activities/crafts, etc..

Here is one we did today.

The kids (and I ) thought these were so clever! I like that Funshine Express offers a variety of crafts. Most the crafts offered by Funshine Express are pretty open ended. About 1/4 of the projects are like this one, exact in how the end result should look like. I still like the variety. And as you can see, there is room for creativity, with how they decorated their light bulb.

Heart Games

Funshine Express included some really cute activities for this month's  hugs & heart theme!

 

 

The monthly tracing heart shape

A number page- where you connect the dots to create a heart

A matching game

 

(the kids really enjoyed this simple matching game)

I was surprised! I played this game during our stations/rotations. With some children I was able to play the game 3-4 times and with others, we struggled to find matches and finish one game

in the allotted time! A simple game- but so important to help build memory skills!

 

Also included was this "Heart Breaker" game.

You cut them out to make puzzles that they put together.

 

Love my Funshine Express monthly kit!

I love that they have such thoughtful supplies in their kits.

 

 



Shape Manipulatives

Stations- I love using stations in my preschool. I think the kids enjoy it just as much. The challenge is rotating the items in stations so that preschool is refreshing and doesn't become stale.

I so appreciate the little activities that Funshine Express includes in their monthly curriculum kit. Some of them are predictable- we get a shape to trace every month- but it is a new/different shape! The kids look forward to this.

And no-- it's not complicated or fancy- these stencils are just on stiff cardboard type paper... and I punch the shapes out. It's a simple station to set up- but the kids are always excited to trace and draw using the new shape for the month!

It is so nice to have a few  (new) stations provided every month. It takes a little pressure off my mind knowing I don't have to think of a dozen new things to introduce each month... just a handful, because Funshine Express has got my back. lol

Disclaimer: I receive free monthly kits from Funshine Express in exchange for blogging about their curriculum. BUT- I contacted them for this opportunity, they did not contact me. I used Funshine Express for years, buying the monthly kits to use in my home base preschool while my sons were growing up and I truly love their product! The reviews are my true feelings for this product and not bought or paid for by the company.

Ice Science Experiment

I know I usually post the cute crafts and hand-outs from Funshine Express- but today I want to share a simple- yet educational experiment.

I love that many of the supplies and activities suggested by Funshine Express are things I already have on hand!

Today they suggested putting ice in containers. (They suggested for this experiment three containers- all three with ice, one with salt added, one with sand added and one with only ice.)

We explored the idea of : Why do snow plows lay down sand on the roads or salt, and why people put salt on icy sidewalks.? Then kept an eye on the jars to see what would happen!

Very clever experiment!
I love all the thoughtful activities that Funshine Express includes in their monthly curriculum guide.

Okay- okay... I have to share a cute craft Funshine Express provided. It  was such a thoughtful ice burg craft.

 

I Googled and found pictures of Ice burgs.

The kids were able to see that often we only see the tip of the ice burg!

Painting with a mixture of karo syrup and glue- makes a cool texture on paper.

 

(The blue tissue paper represents the ocean water.)

Worksheets

As you know, I cut the tops off my Funshine Express worksheets as a habit- so that the kids will focus on the writing portion of the worksheet and then be rewarded with the color portion.

Today we were focusing on the letter M. The picture that was on the bottom of the M page- was a mechanic with gears. (This follows the Funshine Express theme this month of : How Things Work.) Since I added a Snow/Snowman theme this month,  Mechanics and gears don't really follow our new theme, but... this was not a problem.

I cut the M practice sheet off the top...
This mitten color page was attached to writing the number 12 writing practice, that I had already cut off... so I just paired the M writing practice with the mitten color activity!

See how amazingly simple it is to modify the supplies that are provided by Funshine Express monthly curriculum kit? Simple!

Penguin Pun

 

(Sorry for the pun on fun/pun- couldn't help myself.)

 

This is a fun game/station provided in Funshine Express monthly curriculum kit.
It's a counting- math manipulative game.
I love that Funshine Express includes a few of these each month that fit our themes.

Little ones need so much practice counting, adding, subtracting, etc.. yet get bored if it is the same every day... day-to-day, month-to month. They are excited to see what the new math station holds as it relates to our new themes.

Here are some of the crafts/projects that we made during the week of our Penguin theme.

 

Penguin puppets

(I love how unique each turned out!)

 

 

These are Rock Hopper penguins.

One of our books had pictures of different kinds of penguins around the world.

Matching Game

Every month Funshine Express  includes a shape and color picture to add to our bulliten board.
We've got a collection now. We took a few minutes today naming/reviewing shapes and colors and then matching them... to shape to the same color.

 

(We had a bunch of kiddo's sick today- so we flew through my normal lesson plans.)

I love how versatile and sturdy Funshine Express supplies are!

Every Day Games- Preschool style

This game SPOT IT- comes in a bunch of different themes. We are a hockey family- so naturally our SPOT IT game is NHL themes.


Another game we play from time to time- (you can see in the picture) is Domino's. Again, these come with dots, or pictures/characters, that the children match. For preschoolers- I think the character domino's are more engaging.


I really like playing games with my preschoolers, one-on-one, during our station rotation.
It is a time, I can touch base with each child individually. We work on a skill- matching, patterns, sequencing, etc... (depends on the game we play). As well as teach skills like, turn taking and being a good sport.  Today I played GUESS WHO

  This is a "travel" game- and I love to play those modified games in my house too. I love how all the pieces are CONTAINED! No more - finding lost game pieces- around the house. If you have little ones, you might want to look for these modified games- for travel.