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This week Little E and I are taking a trip into outer space! Our letter for the week is A for astronaut so space was the perfect theme to explore for the week. We will be having fun with planets, stars, and so much more! As I am writing this post throughout the week, I would like to say thank you for being patient as we work through this week together. I hope you enjoy it as much as we are so far!
Monday
Focus: Sensory, Art, Foreign Language, Math, Reading
To start off the week, we started with a sensory bin made with black beans, planets, stars, astronauts, and space vehicles. I planned out this unit a week in advance so I put all of the sensory items into this plastic container so I could store it until we were ready to use it and so that I could store it in case she wanted to use it again during the rest of the week.
Little E had a lot of fun running her hands through the black beans and finding all of the stars hidden beneath. The planets, astronauts, and space vehicles were a little easier to find as they were more bulky. The sensory tools I got for her are still a little new to her so she explored them for a bit, but prefered to just use her hands. She seemed to really enjoy the feeling of the black beans running through her fingers! Playing with this bin in the dark was a new experience for her and she really enjoyed finding the glowing planets and stars.
Whenever Little E would pick up an object, I would tell her what it was and she would repeat it back to me. We named the different planets and space vehicles, since she already knew what astronauts and stars are. I also told her what the different space vehicles were used for in outer space.
After our sensory play adventure to space, we had a good time at Parent-Tot gymnastics where we jumped, crawled, climbed, and so much more! Then we settled down for lunch and read What Are Stars? This wonderful Lift-the-Flap book explores what stars are (and are not), what shapes they are, what else is shaped like stars, and more. It's a great way to get the conversation going and answer some great questions! Little E loves lifting the flaps and was ready to lift them all at once to see what was hiding underneath. She loved repeating words back to me.
After Little E's nap, we worked on our Hooked On Phonics lesson for letter A by watching a video and tracing some tactile capital and lowercase A's. Then we made some fun watercolor planets using washable markers and coffee filters. We used colors that would match planets, such as red and orange for Mars and blue and purple for Neptune. Little E then decided to play with the sensory bin again so our French lesson tied into her playtime by saying "étoiles" for the stars and "lune" for the moon.
Tuesday
Focus: Puzzles, Foreign Language, Positional Words, Reading
Today we took it easy since we had such a busy day yesterday! Little E put together a spaceship puzzle that I had made from a printable spacecraft glued onto a piece of cardboard. We read My Very First Space Book together, practiced some positional words (first, middle, last) and the French word for sun (soleil), and listened to what letter A sounds like. Little E played with her sensory bin the rest of the day.
Wednesday
Focus: Visual Differentiation and Similarities, Foreign Language, Yoga, Reading, Art
This morning was very busy so all of our schooling was fit into the evening after naptime. We used Space Montessori Activities Bundle printables by I Believe In Montessori to practice recognizing differences and similarities, finding pairs, and counting. Little E really enjoyed putting together the planets and figuring out which planet was different in a set of pictures. She didn't want to participate in counting on the counting wheel, but she did enjoy placing the clothespins on it!
We also had the shadow match cards, name cards (she just matched pictures while I named the objects), and Solar System position. The Solar System cards were a little more advanced for her age, but she enjoyed looking at the planets and naming them with me.
After we finished playing with our Montessori printables, we had some fun painting the moon using a sponge and gray paint. I later cut it out in the shape of a circle and added it to our wall where our watercolor planets hang. Little E enjoyed having something different to paint with and explored stamping, swiping, and slamming the sponge onto the paper (no paint splashes = MOM WIN!).
After we got all cleaned up from painting we had a blast doing some fun Space Yoga poses from Kids Yoga Stories. Little E couldn't stop giggling and jumping around between poses, which was a new experience for the both of us. Beware! When doing yoga with a toddler, it's not calm! She had a good time shining and stretching, and trying to climb under me during some of the poses. Then we settled down and read her favorite books right now: What Are Stars? and My Very First Space Book.
Thursday
Focus: Science, Reading, Yoga, Mathematics
This morning we used our planets from the sensory bin to make a cute mobile to hang above Little E's bed. She had a fun time handing me the different planets when I named them and described what they look like ("Mars is the small red planet"). She also liked swinging the planets and watching them move around while hanging on pieces of string. She was absolutely delighted when she saw me start to hang it above her bed and ran to turn the lights off to see them glow above her!
We then practiced tracing the letter A and watched a video on what the letter A sounds like. We practiced rhyming sounds and naming objects that begin with A. Today Little E also gets to eat like an astronaut! So breakfast was freeze-dried granola with milk and blueberries. She much prefered her Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
Friday
Focus: Fine Motor Skills, Art, Foreign Language, Memorization
Today Little E practiced her fine motor skills by placing stickers onto a piece of black paper to make up the Solar System. We started out by cutting out a half-circle for the sun and gluing it on. Then Little E had a good time working on her motor skills and putting the stars on the page, since they are so small. She really enjoyed peeling the planet stickers off of the sheet and placing them in order on the page.
We also used this page to practice our French words of the week (soleil, étoiles, and la lune) so she could see them in a different format from flashcards and plastic shapes. She loved repeating the words after me for her French and for her week's Bible verse (Psalm 74:16 MSG). It was a good week to be in space and next week will be a fun time exploring BUGS!
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