Preschool Weekly Lesson #1

Weekly Theme (Start Monday, continue with the theme all week)
This week's theme is A.
The vocabulary word are ant, and, arm, apple ,ape.

Books to read aloud that support the theme:
(You can choose one book to read all week, or a new book for each day. These are just suggestions, you may find others related to the theme in your library.)
Books to read aloud:
Ten Apples up on Top! by Dr. Seuss
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
Alligator Shoes by Arthur Dorros
Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett

Poems that support the theme:
A Little Red Apple
A little red apple
Hung high in a tre.
I looked up at it,
And it looked down at me.
"Come down, please," I called.
And what do you suppose?
That little red apple
Dropped right on my nose!


The Apple Tree
Way up high in the apple tree,
Four little apples hung over me.
I shook the tree as hard as I could.
Down came the apples and mmmmm!
Were they good!

Way up high in the apple tree,
Three little apples hung over me.
I shook the tree as hard as I could.
Down came the apples and mmmmm!
Were they good!

Way up high in the apple tree,
Two little apples hung over me.
I shook the tree as hard as I could.
Down came the apples and mmmmm!
Were they good!

Way up high in the apple tree,
One little apple hung over me.
I shook the tree as hard as I could.
Down came the apple and mmmmm!
Was it good! Apples
Apples, apples, one, two, three,
Apples for you,
Apples for me.
Apples for big,
Apples small,
Apple trees tiny,
Apple trees tall.
Apples sour,
Apples sweet,
Apples, apples, are nice to eat.

I Like Apples Red apples,
Big apples,
Good apples,
Yummy apples,
Any kind of apples,
I like apples!

An apple on the tree,
An apple in the basket,
An apple in a fridge,
An apple in a store,
I like apples! A squiggly little worm into my apple bit.
He chomped and chomped until the core he hit.
I asked him why he did it,
And thought it sopunds absurd,
He said, "I love apples."
Now that is what I heard.

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Apple (to the tune of BINGO)
I know a fruit that grows on trees,
An apple is its name, oh!

(Chorus)
A. P. P. L. E.
A. P. P. L. E.
A. P. P. L. E.
An apple is its name, oh!

In summer and in early fall
It's time to pick an apple!

Chorus

It amy be sweet or may be tart,
It's red, or green, or yellow!

Chorus

A McIntosh or Granny Smith,
A Winesap or Delicious!

Chorus

Make applesauce or apple juice
Or apple pie with apples!

Chorus

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Applesauce  (to the tune of "Yankee Doodle")
Peel an apple,
cut it up,
cook it in a pot.
When you taste it
you will find
it's applesauce you've got.
Gross Motor Skills Activity: (Monday)
Let's Pretend
Have the kids stand up tall with their arms up and say "be as tall as an apple tree". Then say "be as small as an ant". Repeat this slowly and then get faster and the kids don't even know they are touching their toes!

Have the kids pretend to be an Ape, they can walk around with their arms touching the ground and making ape noises. 

Fine Motor Skills Activity: (Friday)
Addition on an abacus - If you have an abacus this could be fun. If not you can use animal crackers or some other manipulatives and teach simple addition such as 1 + 1 = 2, 2 + 1 = 3, 3 + 1 = 4, 4 + 1 = 5, 2 + 2 = 4, 2 + 3 = 5. ( If your child is ready you could add up to 10 or more)

Shape/Color (Tuesday)
This week you will teach the shape of a square.

• Collect 3 - 5 everyday objects in the shape of a square... i.e.: blocks, pot holder, CD jewel case, etc... to share with your child and discuss.
• Walk through your home looking for squares.
• Cut squares out of playdough.
• Put a drawing of a square on your learning poster.

This week you will teach the color of a red.

• Find Something Red - Have the children find something in the room that is red and have each child bring it to circle time. Have each child tell the class what they have found.
• Red Chat - Have the children name as many things they can that are red. Write down their list.
• Kool Aid Art - Sprinkle a little dry red kool aid mix onto a piece of paper. Have your child spray water from a spray bottle onto the paper. For added adventure, you may choose to take your children out into the rain with a piece of paper that has kool-aid on it.
• Red Tracks - In a pie tin, place 3 to 5 teaspoon sized portions of different shades of red tempera paint evenly spaced about the area. Supply the children with washable toy cars that have wheels that roll. Have the children dip the wheels in the paint and roll across the paper.

Letter (Wednesday)
The letter this week is the letter A.

• Give your child a printout of the (capital) letter A to color. ~Letter Printouts~
• Teach your child to trace the shape of the letter A using his finger. You can trace in pudding, finger paint, a shallow tray (cookie sheet) filled with rice or beans, etc.
• Point out the letter A in signs, cereal boxes, etc.
• Post the letter A on your learning poster.

Number (Thursday)
The number this week is the number 1.

• Show your child 1 object to count, or eat 1 cracker, 1 cheerio, etc.
• Show your child the written symbol (numeral) for 1 and put on your learning poster.
• Add 1 sticker to your counting book.
• Show your matching index cards for the number 1 to your child.
• Draw 1 square on a piece of paper and count it with your child.
• Walk around your home counting 1 of many different objects.

Song / Nursery Rhyme / Fable (Friday)
The song this week is The Ants Go Marching. Recite often!

The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The  fable this week is The Ant and the Dove. Recite often!

A Dove saw an Ant fall into a brook. The Ant struggled in vain to reach the bank, and in pity, the Dove dropped a blade of straw close beside it. Clinging to the straw like a shipwrecked sailor to a broken spar, the Ant floated safely to shore.

Soon after, the Ant saw a man getting ready to kill the Dove with a stone. But just as he cast the stone, the Ant stung him in the heel, so that the pain made him miss his aim, and the startled Dove flew to safety in a distant wood.
A kindness is never wasted.
 

For this Week's Lesson in PDF Format - Click Here!

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Reader Question: What's Harder?? (Part II - The Answer)

Reader Question: 

What's Harder....

Trying to Conceive and Fertility Treatments

OR

Foster Care?

It was great to see all of your responses.

 For me both are emotionally draining and anxiety ridden.  And with both you can never seem to anticipate anything because once you think you have it figured out.. it changes, for better or worse... it changes.

With TTC and FT's time ticks by at the pace of a cycle.. everything is defined in terms of your ovulation.  You have the fertile time leading up to ovulation, and then the dreaded Two Week Wait to find out if you conceived.. only in our case that TWW never gave us the desired and hoped for BFP.  In the beginning the signs of AF weren't so depressing.. it was "oh well there's next month, we are still young" outlook and adage.  Then you start realizing.. SH*T this just isn't working.. and you seek medical help.. you take medication and are told that "it wont be a problem for you to conceive".. only there is still a problem.. you still aren't conceiving.  So you move further into the treatment process and continue to struggle with conception.. until there is a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.  A time when decide to grieve the loss of your biological child and either live a child-free life or pursue other means create a family.

Then we have the Foster Care side of the equation... time ticks by at the pace of a court date (every 3 months).  And information isn't freely passed between parties.  Foster Parents can "see" how the case is going by their foster children's behaviour, but that can be misleading.  We aren't even always told what circumstances brought the children into care... we can surmise based on comments or attending court hearings (which I never attended.. working in the legal field, I never wanted the court to ask me a question without having been fully prepped on how to answer it -- the big thing with courts is that everything has to be facts not opinions and so mixing your feelings into the fold, won't always bring about your desired outcome).  And I can tell you, this past case was emotionally exhausting for me.  I always felt as thought I couldn't truly determine whether or not I was being selfish or if I was truly thinking of the children's best interest.  Sadly, there are times (in parenting not just foster parenting) where being selfish and having the child's best interest at are are one in the same... and yet you feel guilty because of that simple truth.

So for me.. although they were both riddled with anxiety and heartache, being a Foster Parent was much harder.  Solely because there are lives at stake.  With TTC & FT's YES I grieved, and yes there are days when I still continue to grieve, but it was in the abstract.  Whereas with Foster Parenting, I see .. daily .. the toll it takes on the children and on their families.

For me.. being a Foster Parent is much harder than TTC'ing or injecting myself with needles and being jabbed by the U/S tech every other day to see if things are "ripening" properly.

How to Teach your Preschooler at Home

It sounds like I know what I am talking about.. but I don't I am learning and not really teaching, because we have a childcare provider who will be doing that.

But I wanted to help her teach the children, so I ordered some workbooks and "The Busy Preschooler Book" its full of crafting/science/art projects.

And I am going to start a section on this blog, for all my readers to share, that I'll update weekly with a lesson plan and weekly theme.  And as always if you have any suggestions and/or comments PLEASE share them!!

Here's a hint to the upcoming week's Lesson: A & 1 (yup we are going to in order!).

Reader Question: What's Harder Trying to Conceive and Fertility Treatments OR Foster Care? (Part I)

Reader Question: 

What's Harder....

Trying to Conceive and Fertility Treatments

OR

Foster Care?

Well, that is a tough one to answer.

So let me open this up to my Readers... What are your thoughts, questions, answers?  And then I will share mine.

The Big Reveal!

MOVE THAT BUS!!!!

** This post will only last a few days **

Show Some Support....

A wonderful friend and mommy I know is starting a small business.  She makes some super cute hats and headbands and is going to be doing a GIVE-AWAY!!  

So, show your support and "Like" her page on Facebook!!

Super Cute Boutique

Well Ladies and Gents (if there are any who read this)...

I guess I should announce the reason for redoing our paperwork...

Am I Showing...

the answer is on my face, not my belly.

"A"arron has been adopted and we have started the process of adopting "B"ella & "C"indy.  We are actually quite shocked at how quick it was to finalize on "A"arron (and yes I will still be calling him by that name on the blog.. just for privacy reasons).    The girls are currently placed as a "Legal Risk Adoptive Placement" - meanning that there are some paperwork and legal things to clear up before we can finalize their adoption (this could take 6-9 months or longer), but they will stay with us .. which is good.

When we started the process of foster parenting.. I would not have guessed that this is where we'd be two years later.  Had you asked me then .. I would have told you "Oh we'll probably have 3-4 placements before we adopt."  I never would've imagined that we'd be adopting our first foster child.. or that that first placement would've been an infant.

And for those of you that are curious.. this is what a Paper Pregnancy looks like:

Letters from the Heart

I've been struggling to write.. to write on my blog and to write a letter to the children's birth family.  Last year we got each birth parent a gift for Christmas.  This year I am sending a letter to update them on things that are going on with the children and to include some professional pictures we had taken.  But boy is letter writting harder than sending a small token. 

Even picking out pictures of the children is difficult, do they look happy enough in this one, does this show an adequate portrayal of their life with us, am I sharing too much, am I not sharing enough? 

The anxiety.. the agony over something a seemingly simple as a letter or a blog for that matter.  The same questions go through my mind when I attempt to post here.  There are so many privacy concerns that go into foster care, and so much of our daily revolves around those private matters.  But what I can do is tell you about our milestones...  Yup we have LOTS of milestones between "C"indy, "B"ella, and "A"arron.

"A"arron is walking and talking... he jabbers soo much.  Recently he started walking around the house putting on his sunglasses and say "toot" I am not sure if he saying "Cool" or "Cute".  He is soo funny.. he'll also run over and growl at people.. apparently you are supposed to act scared and then he laughs hysterically and repeats it.. over and over and over and over.

"C"indy is in kindergarten.. she absolutely LOVES it and is doing so well.  She had almost all 4's (basically to the older generation all A's).. the only she is struggling with is her gross motor skills.  They have this weird test that the kids have to stand on one foot for 6 seconds.. here is the glitch.. they have to have their eyes closed.  Apparently not many can actually do this till the end of the school year, they fall over at about the 3 second mark.  Go ahead and try it.. its a totally different feeling from doing it with your eyes open.

Then we have sweet "B"ella... the middle child, she can be sometimes difficult and at other times a comedian and sweet as pie.  We've worked through our potty training issues and dinner issues for the most part.  Recently she started hitting other chidlren at school, but we are working with her on it and so is daycare.  In fact I get a daily update on how her day was (they put a smiley face, frowny face, or straight line face on a white board.. I am sure you can figure out which one means which).  When she gets a frowny face she doesnt get to watch cartoons that night.. and then we get almost a full week of smiley faces!!

History Repeats Itself?

So last year we had to jump over all sorts of hurdles to get licensed for foster care.  And now we have to do it again...   I feel as though I am some sorted version of Groundhog Day.

"Didn't I just do this?"

So, here we go again with Physicals, Fingerprinting, References, Home Studies, and Paperwork... all of which is to be completed by the 2nd week in September.  I guess I better start making my phone calls now and schedule it all in.

Remind me why I am running around to this again?  Oh yah.. "A"arron, "B"ella & "C"indy.

A Page out of Someone Else's Book

I read this blog every so often.. not so much anymore, not because I don't remember what infertility feels like, but because I am busy.  I barely take the time to blog regularly myself, nevermind catch up on everyone elses. But this title caught my eye... Living with Infertility: Take Two .. so I journeyed over younder and read it. And I agree with it.  I know I am still greiving.. I know I am still living with infertility, but I know that I am going to live and I am going to live a happy life, with a biological child or not.

So now onto Kieko's task... I am going to step back to a few previous posts.. one in the early stages of our Clammer to Conception.. and one at the Final Curtain Call of Fertility Treatments.

Clammer to Conception: We tried, well not tried, we just didn't prevent pregnancy for the first few years of our marriage.  And when we started trying.. it wasn't happening.  Finally they ordered some tests, bloodwork, exams, semen analysis.. yada, yada.. and we were diagnosed and prescribed fertility treatments. The reason we couldn't conceiven naturally we were known as being SUBFERTILE -- what's that mean? Well all the plumbing works correctly.. there are just "minor" factors inhibiting our ability to conceive.  We were told IUI will definitely work, but we could try this magic pill in the meantime (aka clomid.. the thought was the more eggs = more targets).  We had hope that we'd conceive and insurance that covered it.. I remember that excitement at a chance.

Final Curtain: I felt like I was on that journey forever, but in reality it was only a year between an official diagnosis and our last treatment cycle (it probably feels longer because I have short cycles.. the "average" woman has 13 cycles a year -- that is basing it on a 28 day cycle; I have 15-16 cycles in a year).  Anyway, this particular post, isn't from our LAST Treatment Cycle, but it was one of the final treatments we endured.  And those feelings from that morning are forever burned into my heart.. the tears must have been acid tears.. because it is litterally burned into my memory... the grief, the loss is still there when I think about it.

So what's your journey?  What can you recall with the realness of today? And if you don't have a journey, remember that 1 in 8 couples do.. because even the Birds and the Bees have trouble conceiving.  So on a lighter note, I leave you with this music video ... see even us infertiles can laugh at our state: