This is an ever growing place for all things letter A. We used the letter A as inspiration in instances that made sense, but if there wasn’t something that fit naturally, we simply substituted it with something else we wanted to learn about. If you’d like to read an overview of the structure and creation of this home preschool series you can find that here. This post will be jumping right into our resources for this week.
BOOK LIST
- Alligator Boy by Cynthia Rylant
- Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty^
- Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr. Seuss
- Story Orchestra: Carnival of the Animals by Jessica Courtney Tickle and Katy Flint^
- Andy Warhol: Pop Art Painter by Susan Goldman Rubin
- The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall^
- There’s an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer^
- Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Ron & Judi Barrett^
- Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert
(I’ve only listed the books that we’ve read and enjoyed. But within each list you might also notice this arrow ^. I’ve placed that beside the ones that I think make a great addition to a home children’s library based on their exceptional rereadability or reference material.)
ART STUDY
- Andy Warhol: We have all learned so much about artists, their style, their stories, their inspiration from the children’s book biographies available at our local library. The boys really enjoyed this one by Susan Goldman Rubin. Libraries are also a great place to borrow books that allow you to peruse collections of the artist’s work.
ART PROJECTS
- “A is for Animals” Worksheet with Stickers (Free download for that below.)
- Aluminum Foil Stamping— Scrunch up a medium sized sheet of aluminum foil. (Be sure to tuck in any sharp edges.) For little hands you can also fashion a sort of handle. Dip into paint and stamp onto the page.
- Aluminum Foil Mono Printing—Painting on different surfaces keeps painting interesting and nurtures curiosity. Paint onto a sheet of aluminum foil. When finished, press a piece of paper over the painting to create a mono print. We love making mono prints on cookie sheets and this is a wonderful mess free way to do that.
- Andy Warhol Inspired Self-Portraits (Ours were inspired by this post from Meaningful Mama.)
- All About Me Books
LANGUAGE + LITERACY
- The Traditional Alphabet Song
- The Alphabet (walk through saying the letter followed by the sound it makes)
- Alouette
- Poem: All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil Frances Alexander
- Poem: Alligators Are Unfriendly by Jack Prelutsky
- Poem: All That is Gold Does Not Glitter by J.R.R. Tolkien (first stanza)
MATHEMATICS + BASIC SKILLS
- Counting to 10: There are many moments throughout the day that this skill can be woven into tasks you’re already doing (counting steps from one room to another, counting out carrots or blueberries for a snack, counting shoes by the door, counting stairs, etc.).
- “My Full Name is…”—We simply reviewed this each mealtime and the boys had learned it by the end of the week. It’s such a simple skill for many little ones to master and so important for their safety.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH + SCRIPTURE STUDY
- Mealtime Prayers
- “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”—PROVERBS 15:1
WORDS TO INSPIRE CREATIVITY + PLAY
I share this list because I believe in using the resources that you have. Some preschool plans have made me feel like I need to buy very specific resources, which often isn’t necessary. There are so many perfect materials that already exist in our homes for preschool play and creativity and learning. These words are to serve as inspiration for your own art projects or imaginative play.
- Astronauts
- Artists
- Animals
- Apples
- Avocado
- Ants
- Art Gallery
- Alligator
- Airplane
- Acorn
- Aluminum Foil
- Architecture
- Arches
- Anger
- Antarctica
- Ancient
- Anthem
- Author
- Anchor
Below is a one sheet of the activities we used for the week. I prefer the option of printing things out for the week and having them all in one place (worksheets, poems, plans, etc.). You’ll also find the “A” is for Animals page we did, a blank letter A to fill in if you’d prefer something different, and a large tracing page that can be used with playdough, dry erase markers, or other loose parts. Below that you’ll find a simple printout of the poems for the week.
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