Before Five in a Row ~ Jesse Bear ~ Preschool

 The little guy I nanny for is bright as a button. He isn't two until late January, but he is obviously ready for some preschool activities. So I pulled out my Before Five in a Row curriculum. We decided to start with Jesse Bear What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom.  I made him a teddy bear out of cardboard with paper clothes to dress his very own bear. He loves to be read to, and we have read this book together about 30 times over the last two weeks --  I kid you not. We followed the BFIAR curriculum and played I Spy, talked about loving relationships and how to show love and identified patterns and shapes. 

We also talked about foreshadowing (what do you think is coming on the next page?) in the book. For example, when Mother bear comes out and is holding Jesse bear's bib, you know that it is time for Jesse bear to eat and that is then depicted on the next page. 

This curriculum includes lots of rhyming games. He loves rhyming with made up words and initiates rhyming games. We also learned Wee Willie Winkie, Hickory Dickory Dock and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. 

Lastly, we talked about how tidy Jesse Bear's room was and how it is more comfortable to live in a tidy home. We played the clean up game (which I had been teaching him for weeks). He is much more interested in having a tidy home like Jesse Bear and his parents say he is now initiating clean up time before transitions. 

What a delight to work with this little guy. We are starting Goodnight Moon next.