Weekly Theme  (Start Monday, continue with the theme all week)

This week's theme is TRAINS.  ~Train Pictures/Printouts~

The vocabulary word is engine - an engine of a train is the train car that usually pulls all the other cars along the track.

Books to read aloud that support the theme:

Freight Train by Donald Crews
The Little Train by Lois Lenski
Engine, Engine, Number Nine by Stephanie Calmenson
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis
I Love Trains! by Philemon Sturges

Poems that support the theme:

Shiny New Train
by Katrina Lybbert

I hear the whistle, then the clackety-clack,
Of a shiny new train coming down the track.

I see the engineer waving to the crowd,
His beaming smile shows he's happy and proud!

Another whistle as the train slows right down,
Then pulls to a stop at the station in our town.

Hip hip hooray, come on over this way,
Let's ride the new train this wonderful day!

Songs that support the theme:

Train is A Comin'
I've Been Working on the Railroad

Gross Motor Skills Activity:  (Monday)

Set up chairs in a line to become a train.  Place different passengers (stuffed animals or dolls) or cargo (fruit, toys, books, clothes) on different chairs.  Your child can sit at the front in the "engine" and be the engineer.

If there are a few children in your family, let your 2 year old be a leader of a "train" of people.  Put on music and let your child lead the way!

Fine Motor Skills Activity:  (Friday)

Play with a wooden train set.

Glue rectangles and circles (cut out by parent) onto paper to create train cars.
 

Shape/Color  (Tuesday)

This week you will teach the color black.

• Introduce the color by coloring in the circle (previous week's shape) on your learning poster with a black crayon.
• Put on a black article of clothing.
• Point out objects around your home of the color black.
• Add the color to a meal by choosing a black food, or using a plate, cup, or utensil of the color black.
• Let your child color in a coloring book or on a printout using a black crayon.

The letter this week is the letter J.

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

The number this week is the number 10.

• Show your child 10 objects to count, or eat 10 mini crackers, 10 cheerios, etc.
• Show your child the written symbol (numeral) for 10 and put on your learning poster.
• Add 10 stickers to your counting book.
• Show your matching index cards for the number 10 to your child.
• Draw 10 circles on a piece of paper and count them with your child.
• Walk around your home counting 10 of many different objects.

The nursery rhyme this week is Little Boy Blue.  Recite often!

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn!
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack, fast asleep.