Hi Friend

This week for Large Group, we talked about the "H" or panting dog sound.  We looked at different objects that start with the "H" sound and practiced saying the names of them.  We practiced saying the word hippo, horse, house, hat, helmet, hanger and hi.

We sand the Hi Song where we sang about saying "hi" to different objects.

We went around the circle and said our names and when we did, our friends said "hi" to us.  

We played a game where we said the name of a classmate and then rolled a ball to them and then they said the name of someone else and rolled the ball to them.  Everyone got a chance to catch and roll the ball.

We sang and danced to the song, Hello Neighbor.  When we were singing this song, we turned to our neighbor, or the person NEXT TO us and greeted them, gave them a fist bump and then turned around.  We learned that the word neighbor can mean someone next to you.  We pointed to who was next to us and said their name.  

You can practice this at home by saying "hi" to things or people you see.  You can also work on the concept next to by having your child put things next to them or identify what is next to them.

"H" The Panting Dog Sound

 

For the month of May, we are going to be talking about, singing about and practicing saying the "H" or panting dog sound.

 In order to produce this sound, you just have to open your mouth and breathe!!  This sound is unvoiced, which means what you hear comes from the movement of air through your throat and mouth.

To practice this sound at home, you can do any of the activities listed below:

-Go on a walk and say "hi" to objects, people and animals you see.

-Pretend to be bunnies and hop across a room or the yard. Say "hop" each time you hop.

-Pretend to cook something with your child and talk about the food being "hot".

-During a game or activity where your child needs assistance, model using the word "help".

Pete the Cat and His Shoes

This week in Large Group, we met Pete the Cat.  We read and talked about the story, Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin.  In the story, Pete loves his white shoes, but as he walks along, he steps in different things like strawberries and blueberries that turn his shoes different colors.  

When we saw the things that Pete stepped in, we made a prediction about what color we thought his shoes would be.  We also used our words to help sing Pete's song about how much he loved his shoes.  

We talked about our shoes.  We talked about how some of us had on boots, some had on sandals and some had on tennis shoes.  We talked about what colors we saw in our shoes too.

We played a game where Pete the Cat told us to do different things.  We got to take turns holding Pete while he whispered to us what we should do.  We practiced saying, "SHHH listen to Pete the Cat.  Turn around, 3 times just like that."  Pete had us turn around, fly like birds, do jumping jacks, touch our toes, clap our hands, jump and march.  

You can read Pete the Cat at home and sing Pete's song about his shoes too.  Click below for a reading of Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes.

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes

Little Kitties Tucked in Tight

Last week for Large Group, we reviewed the "k" sound and practiced saying it while sining the song, Happy Birthday Cake and Cookies.  We then played a game where someone was the Mama Cat and we were all baby kitties.  We counted how many kitties we had and then we pretended to sleep and the Mama Cat would wake us up.

We would say together "12 little kitties tucked in so tight.  Sleeping so soundly all through the night.  Til the Mama Cat says wake up right now and up jumped the kitties with a big MEOW."

We played the game where we all jumped up and said "MEOW" and then we changed some things and the Mama Cat got to choose what action the babies were going to do when they woke up.  The little kitties said hooray, stomped, jumped, turned around, waved their arms and touched their toes.  

This activity helped us work on counting skills, using words in phrases, following commands and making choices.

Little Cat

This week for Large Group, we continued to practice saying the /k/ sound by talking about things that start with the /k/ sound.  We also sang the Happy Birthday Cake and Cookies Song.  We are getting really good at saying happy birthday and hooray with our hands.  

We also met my friend Pete the Cat.  We talked about some of the things that Pete likes to do.  One of the things he likes to do is hide. 

We played a game called "Little Cat" where we hid our eyes while Teacher Heidi hid a cat under one of the colored hats on the floor.  When we opened our eyes, we took turns guessing which hat we thought the cat might be under.  We used our words to guess which color hat and we also used our words to ask Little Cat if he was under that hat.  We tapped our knees while we said, "Little Cat, Little Cat are you under the yellow hat?"

Teacher Heidi then moved the hat and we answered "yes" he's under the hat or "no", he's "NOT" under the hat.  This activity helped us use our color words.  It also helped us work on asking and answering questions and following directions. 

The Stomping Dinosaur Sound

                                  

This month we will be working on the "k" or the stomping dinosaur sound.  We make this sound in the back of our mouths with our tongue down in the front, but up in the back.  As we say the /k/ sound, we tap our palms on our knees like our hands are dinosaur feet stomping across the ground.  

During large group, we practiced saying the stomping dinosaur sound.  We looked at objects that started with the /k/ sound and practiced saying them.  We also tried to think if we could think of anything that started with the /k/ sound.  

We sang a song that gave us a lot of opportunities to practice saying /k/ in words and syllables.  The song we sang was Happy Birthday Cake and Cookies.  We learned how to say happy birthday using our hands, in sign language.  Ask your child to show you how they can say happy birthday with their hands.  

To work on the /k/ sound at home,  you can do the following activities:

-Play with a farm set that includes a cow, a cat and a rooster.  Have your child say "cow", "cat" or "cock-a doodle-do" each time they play with the  cow, cat or rooster. 

-Let your child play with various keys in various locks.  Have your child say "key" with each one that they try.

-Play cars on the floor.  Model using the word car as you are playing.  Encourage your child to use the word car as they play too.

-Play ball and have your child say "catch" each time they catch the ball or "kick" each time they kick it.

-Have cookies for a snack and have your child request using the word "cookie".

-Play house and pretend to "cook" a meal.  Model the word cook and encourage your child to use the word too.  You can also do this with the words "cup", "cut", "can" and "cake".