Desert Blossoms Preschool: "Rrrrrrr" matey!

Letter: Rr is for raccoon and ribbon
Sound Action: Pretend to be a puppy holding a rag and shaking your head from side to side saying 'rrrrr' (Jolly Phonics)
Number: 0
Theme: Color wrap up

We introduced the letter Rr this week. The students are given both the capital and lower case letter as well as what sound the letter makes.

Parent questions worth sharing:

"Why do you teach letters out of order?"
In my kindergarten class we used the reading program Jolly Phonics as well as the Harcourt program. I like both of these programs because they use the phonemic approach that combines a mixture of introducing consonants and vowels that are common in three letter words.
For example the letters 'm, s, r, t, p' (Harcourt order) combined with the vowel 'a' will make the 'at' word family:
mat, sat, rat, pat,
In the Jolly Phonics they introduce 's, a, t, i, p, n' first. Which would make up the 'it' and 'in' word families. This program also teaches an action for the sound that is easy for most kids to remember. Such as the letter 'm': Rub tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm

I feel that by using a combination of these methods as well as teaching alphabet songs the preschoolers will truly learn the letter's name, sound and recognize where it belongs among the other letters.

*You will also notice that when I test the kids it is based on what order I have introduced the letters. *

One of the kids favorite letter introduction activities is using the dot-to-dot paint marker.

Making Rainbows:

Skills being used include color identification by both color squares and color words. Fine motor skills of being able to pick up the small square and squeeze the glue to place on their rainbow. Children also had to listen for directions as to what step would be next. At the end of this activity each child had to use their own words to describe their rainbow. They used their verb in the blank: " My rainbow is _______"

Sight word this week:

Sensory bin full of shapes, colors and textures. The boys in this picture are sorting the objects based on their color. They are using the plastic tweezers: )

Ellie reading an ABC book. She loved the colors in this one!

Abby is practicing both her first and last names. Evey child at DBP has their own wipe off practice name plate. Once they have mastered their first name using correct upper/ lower case letters they graduate to practicing both their names. Kinder Prep student's goal for the month of September is to be able to say their full name!