Preschool Story Time, 9/12

This story time is right back to square one now that school is back in session. The wonderful group I had two weeks ago wasn't in today, and in their place, I had a bunch of bored-looking, unengaged families. I had to change my entire routine because I had planned for older kids, and got mostly twos and under (the program is for 2 to 5), and they wouldn't sit for the flannel boards I wanted to do. Very disappointing. But here is what I came up with.

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

 

Book: Let's Look at Dinosaurs by Frances Barry (2011)
I love this one. The language is simple enough for preschoolers, and the pop-up images of the dinosaurs are eye-catching and exciting - especially the T-Rex!

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Enormous Dinosaurs

Song: Hands Are For Clapping

Book: Too Much Noise by Ann McGovern, illustrated by Simms Taback (1967)
A man's house is too noisy. A wise man makes it even noisier. Why? To teach the man a lesson! Amazingly, people managed to talk through an entire story about making too much noise. They also didn't laugh once, even though I really hammed it up. Maybe I'll try this one with my class visit on Thursday, though...

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: Shout! Shout it Out! by Denise Fleming (2011)
Complete and utter disaster. Never again. The book is awesome, but people actually stopped participating halfway through and started having conversations. Awful. This group just won't do anything interactive.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus
A pathetic attempt to salvage the story time. It didn't really work.


Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Saturday Family Story Time, 9/10

Oh, Saturday story time. I keep saying I'm not going to keep doing it, but they're always such nice experiences! Today's crowd (of 6) was totally different from the last Saturday one we did - it was mostly babies then; this time it was all preschool. Only one Grandma actually joined us, though it was billed as a Grandparents' Day story time, but it was so much fun, and everyone was really relaxed and engaged.

This is what we did:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Grandma Comes to Stay by Ifeoma Onyefulu (2010)
Three-year-old Stephanie helps her mum and sister prepare for an overnight visit from Grandma. A nice slice-of-life story with photographs. It was especially nice to have two kids who actually were three in my group today!


Rhyme: Grandma's Glasses
I was shocked by how much they liked this rhyme. I am not such a fan!

Book: The Grandpa Book by Todd Parr
I have never read a Todd Parr book in story time before, and honestly, I had never even heard of him until I started working here! His books are wonderful, though, especially in terms of diversity and sending positive messages about love and friendship. 

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Head and ShouldersSomething I'm still figuring out is when I do and do not need to include songs. I include them in the baby/toddler story times because the variety keeps their attention, but when I ask the older kids to get up and move around, they seem to wish I wouldn't. I'm still working on it. 

Flannel Board Song: Grandpa's Ties / Grandma's Scarves 
This was so good! They loved the wild and crazy rainbow tie and scarf. 

Flannel Board Song: Down on Grandpa's Farm by Raffi
Our flannel board farm animals are not at all the right colors for this song, but we persevered.  I don't always have a lot of luck with Raffi songs, but this one caught on quick!

Book: I'm Going to Grandma's by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
A sweet story about a girl who visits her grandparents' house and learns about her grandmother's own visits to her own grandma long ago. 

Song: ABCD Medley
A family left right before this song. I think it was time to be done. It seems like I can do more books and flannel boards with these older groups and cut out most of my songs.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Flannel Friday: Grandma's Scarves and Grandpa's Ties

I'm taking a break from Fall flannel boards this week because I'm doing a Grandparents' Day story time tomorrow. For the occasion, I have revamped Daddy's Ties to include Grandma and Grandpa.

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GRANDMA'S SCARVES

	Grandma wore her blue scarf, blue scarf, blue scarf Grandma wore her blue scarf all day long
	Grandma wore her green scarf, green scarf, green scarf Grandma wore her green scarf all day long
	Grandma wore her red scarf, red scarf, red scarf Grandma wore her red scarf all day long
	Grandma wore her rainbow scarf, rainbow scarf, rainbow scarf Grandma wore her rainbow scarf all day long

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GRANDPA'S TIES

	Grandpa wore his blue tie, blue tie, blue tie. Grandpa wore his blue tie All day long.
	Grandpa wore his green tie green tie, green tie. Grandpa wore his green tie All day long.
	Grandpa wore his red tie, red tie, red tie. Grandpa wore his red tie All day long.
	Grandpa wore his rainbow tie, rainbow tie, rainbow tie. Grandpa wore his rainbow tie All day long.

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The clip art files for these two songs are below:
grandpa's ties.pdf
grandma's scarves.pdf

While I plan to use them mainly for Grandparents' Day, I was also thinking of ways to use the scarves this winter. Since I've now made faces for three family members - Dad, Grandpa, and Grandma - I thought it would be fun to use the scarves with multiple people. Daddy wore the green scarf, Grandpa wore the blue scarf, etc. I also intentionally made the ties and scarves the same colors and patterns so I could use them as a matching game with my preschoolers on Monday.

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is  hosted by Mel's Desk. Past round-ups are linked at So Tomorrow. Happy weekend!

7 Geeky Books for Tweens & Teens

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	Geektastic edited by Holly Black & Cecil Castelucci A quirky and eclectic short story collection about species of geeks and nerds ranging from Trekkies to Dungeons & Dragons players.
	Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern Mathlete Jessie seeks out a new clique after her closest friends go punk.
	My Life, the Theater, and Other Tragedies by Allen Zadoff Adam, who is mourning the loss of his dad, must deal with the scorn of his fellow crew members when he falls for an actress.
	An Abundance of Katherines by John Green Colin Singleton, who has been dumped by nineteen girls named Katherine, tries to make sense of his Dumpee status using math.
	Nerd Girls by Alan Lawrence Sitomer Main character Maureen must deal with family issues, a weight problem, and the cliquey behavior of her classmates.
	Revenge of the Snob Squad by Julie Anne Peters Jenny Solano, who is desperate to fit in both at home and at school, becomes the leader of the school misfits when they wage war on a popular clique.
	Mission (Un)Popular by Anna Humphrey Canadian-Indian seventh grader Margot Button is drawn to the mysterious Em, a new girl in school, but soon finds out this friendship might be more than she bargained for.