Learning About Leaves: Day 4 (Easy Preschool At Home)
Next up on our home preschool schedule, we spent some time learning about leaves. We always seem to focus on leaves in the autumn, as they change and fall. Spring seemed like a great opportunity to learn more about what leaves really do for plants. My family and I also made sure to take advantage of the (brief) perfect weather we had, and took some learning outside for a bit. You’ll want to check that activity out, if your little ones also love learning in nature.
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LEARNING ABOUT LEAVES: WEEK 2 dAY 4
Flowers, Plants, and Seeds: Day 4 Ideas
Letter of the day:
L is for leaf. I created a simple free printable ‘L is for Leaf’ page on Twisty Noodle. My son peeled leaf stickers from a set we already had at home, and stuck them all over the L.
Word of the day:
Instead of working on his name, my kiddo wrote ‘leaf’ with 4 different writing instruments. (I grabbed that printable page from First And Kinder Blue SKies on Teachers Pay Teachers!)
Book of the day:
Planting A Rainbow. By Lois Ehlert
Journal prompt of the day:
Leaves help a plant grow by collecting…
Activities and play we enjoyed:
I printed the checklist page of a printable flower color emergent reader. Then I added some color to each of the crayons as a clue for my non-reading 4 year old. We clipped the checklist to a clipboard, gave him a pencil, and he climbed into our wagon. Luckily, we had a gorgeous sunny day, so we were able to take a walk as he ‘hunted’ for flowers in each of the colors listed. He checked them off as he identified them.
Later, I printed a page made to accompany Planting A Rainbow. I gave my son a seed catalog, and he looked for flowers or plants for each color of the rainbow. He used scissors to cut them out (great scissor skill practice!) and then we stuck them down with double sided tape. My boy loved creating a bright rainbow of plants!
YOU MAY NEED THESE FOR LEARNING ABOUT LEAVES…
colored pencils / crayons / markers / transparent tape / pens / scissors / pencils / double sided tape / composition notebook / index cards / clipboard / wagon
But PLEASE Remember…
This is what is working for us during the pandemic, for the time being. It may seem overwhelming to your family to attempt anything like this. Or if you’re like me, you may welcome a little structure in your days. It’s important for you to consider the needs, emotional health, and learning styles of your entire family, and make adjustments as needed. The goal is NEVER more stress, more comparisons, or more guilt.
Keeping the above in mind, here’s a little bit more about our process…
- We’re aiming for about an hour of ‘school-ish’ work a day. This might included coloring, painting, writing, drawing, stickers, and more. My 4 year old is used to attending UPK for two and a half hours a day, 5 days a week, so 1 hour seemed like a good starting point at home.
- I build a ton of breaks and flexibility into our days and weeks. I plan 5 days of ‘school’ each week, and we generally accomplish all the activities by stretching them out over 7 total days. Some Wednesdays, we just can’t do school. So we’ll make it up later, if we can. Again, the goal isn’t stress or pressure, so flexibility is key.
- Variety is helpful for my kiddo. His attention span is short, so most of what I plan is quick, and we change styles of learning often. You know what will work best for your own families.
- Our journal is simply a basic notebook. Every day, I provide a prompt, and my child draws a picture on a blank index card. I tape that into the notebook, and write most of the prompt. At least one or two words are written larger, in dots, so my son can trace them.
- I have a pretty well stocked supply of craft and learning materials already, and know that may not be the case for you. Be creative, be flexible, and be open to compromise! We also have a large home library for the kids, which is very helpful right now!
