Preschool Letter M

So I taught preschool again this week. We learned about the letter M and the number 9. I've had a hard time incorporating the numbers in the past with the limited attention span that the girls have. But I decided to try and sneak it in this time. I think it worked out well.

We started off tracing the letter M, and talking about the sound it makes. Then we made moose antlers. Taking brown construction paper, I made a head band for each girl (this was done prior to preschool). Then I had them trace their hands on brown construction paper. The girls didn't want to do it however, and I have noticed quite often when I try to get them to do crafts they don't always have the most enthusiasm. I wonder if I am trying to do things too advanced, or boring for their tastes.

We then played a letter M matching game, where the girls tried to match different cards that had pictures that started with M. They seemed to enjoy that game as well, but lost interest after they had found a couple matches.

For our snack we had muffins, and milk. And I worked in the number 9 by giving them 9 m&m's. They were very excited to see that the candy they got had the letter they were learning about on it. I also have invested in some foam numbers and letters. I let Cinderella and Guy play with them in the bath, but I decided to pull the numbers so that the girls could see actual 3D numbers, then we counted up to 9. Then I tried to explain to them that the 9 was like the 6, but upside down. They weren't getting it, so I thought quickly and came up with a little ditty. I told them that a 6 has an arm, and a 9 has a leg. Then I had them repeat it several times over for me. I then quizzed them various times throughout the rest of preschool, holding up the 6 and asking what it was, and holding up the 9 and asking what it was. They knew it each time. Cinderella even pointed out to me in one of her reading books later that day, that there were the ones with arms and legs. When I asked what she was talking about, she pointed to the 6 and said, "the six has an arm" then pointed to the 9, "and the 9 has a leg". So I guess this time my sneaking in the number worked pretty good.