Preschool at Home - Week 6

First of all, I can't believe we've been doing our preschool activities for 6 weeks. Time is passing entirely too quickly these days. I can remember my parents discussing how quickly the days go by and thinking it was funny; now I completely understand where they were coming from. I'm hoping they're wrong when they tell me it was just yesterday that I was Riley's age. I'm hoping it seems like 50 years before I have a daughter who's married with kids.

This week's topic was plants. Our letter was P, color was green, and shape was a rectangle. As I type that, I now realize that we didn't do any shape activities; we might just have to stick with the same theme for another week. Our Bible verse was John 15:5a: I am the vine. I think that verse was a bad choice because Riley now thinks she is the vine.

On Monday, we discussed seeds as well as planted an herb garden and grass "heads" (I have no idea what else to call them, but we decorated a cup with faces and planted grass that grew into hair). Our grass is now a couple inches long and our sweet basil is beginning to sprout. Riley enjoyed handling the potting mix: she helped me fill the containers and mixed the grass seeds into it. We also did some crafts with poppy seeds. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of those projects. 

Riley and I also talked about what plants need to grow. She can tell you that they need "water and sunshine." David also started talking to her about what she needs to grow. If you ask her, she'll tell you "food and bed." We had a conversation about plants having roots, but I know she didn't get that. Next week we'll have to pull some weeds so she can see a real example. We made a fingerprint carrot picture to go along with these concepts.

Riley loves making footprints (she always says "that's funny!" or "it tickles!" when her foot is being painted), so we also made a carrot by painting her toes green and the sole orange. Each week, I really try to incorporate activities that she will love. Let's face it, my 26 month old doesn't care what plants need to be healthy; but she does enjoy getting her hands dirty and finger painting. I'm hoping that by combining facts with fun, she'll retain at least a little of what we're talking about.

A couple of days this week, we went outside and looked at and talked about plants. We talked about how the grass is a plant, a tree is a plant, and a flower is a plant. We looked for animals that might live in the plants (birds in trees, bugs in grass, etc.). We even picked a few weeds  beautiful flowers in the back yard. Riley is into any activities that involve being outside; this girl would live in our yard if I let her.

Let me close this week's post by saying this: I know Riley isn't mastering everything we're talking about. Thankfully, that's not the point. My goal is to build background so that when these topics come up later on her educational journey, she'll have something to build upon. I think some of my friends might think I'm a little bit crazy for talking to Riley about all the things I do (they probably would think I'm insane if they heard my deep conversations with Caroline throughout the day). Whenever I have the chance, I encourage them to do the same. That's how kids learn.

 

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