Theme of the Week: Leaders

Since Monday is President's Day, I thought "Leaders" would be an appropriate theme. At first, I thought it might be a little over the Pea's head but more often than not we underestimate kids. So "Leaders" week it is.

Book: Duck for President by Doreen Cronin

This book is perfect for a discussion about Election Day, government, or community leaders. It is about a duck who decides to become leader of the barn. So he sets up an election and wins the animals' votes. He works his way up to winning the presidential election. A great comprehension strategy to tie in is Using picture clues to determine a word's meaning on page 12 of the story. The story reads "Farmer Brown was furious." This may be a new word for your child, but your toddler most likely knows the feeling of being furious! Ask, "How do you think Farmer Brown is feeling." Discuss the picture of Farmer Brown to use the picture to figure out the meaning of furious.

Book: Arthur Meets the President by Marc Brown
This is a book but it is also online with an oral reading! Another great way to help your child develop an understanding of the meaning of "President".
http://classroommagic.blogspot.com/2012/02/just-in-time-for-monday.html

Concept Discussion/Vocabulary Builder:
I have the following cards prepared...

Discuss with your child who leaders in her world are. This can just be a discussion for you to expose your child to the concept of leaders/president. For older kids you can do a concept sort that compares leaders/followers, levels of leaders with the goverment, or types of leaders. For the Pea, I prepared the cards above and wanted to tie in things she would understand. I plan to use the verbiage "Who's in charge of..." And I will include ideas that incorporate the leaders of home, Gymboree, Playgroup, TV shows or movies ie: Who's in charge of the ocean in The Little Mermaid. Who's in charge of the trains on Thomas the Train?
Yes, that is a picture of President Obama. And that is a clip art of George Washington. What kind of Mommy would I be if I didn't mention the name of the current president? Or the first president? I'm sure she'll just look at me like I am a psycho. Next on the agenda: Have the Pea memorize all 44 presidents in order. Just kidding.
P.S. Ignore the pizza stone in the picture.
P.S.S. (Or P.P.S.??) Since I use my iPhone and not a fancy smancy camera, the glare on the cards is bad. They just have pictures and words to tell Home, Gymboree, etc. The cards are mostly blank since we will them in together during our discussion. I will keep them in the container labeled "Leaders" for her to look at when she feels like it. Or for her to destroy. Since that's the more probable scenario.

Art: Do-a-Dot Flag
Prepare this template and have your child repeat the dots to make a flag. This is great for fine motor skills and following directions. You can tie in counting, patterns, and/or colors if you'd like.

"Field Trip":
Delaware Children's Museum is having a special exhibit for President's Day, called "Polling with the Presidents". We may just have to check it out!

Writing Activity: "If I were president..."

I got this from http://classroommagic.blogspot.com/2012/02/presidents-day.html
We all know that I think my little 2 1/2 year old is a genius but no, she cannot write yet. The plan here is for the Pea to dictate to me what she would do if SHE were the president. She talks, I write. I am not sure how well this activity will work since it may be a little advanced for her. But since I do not believe in underestimating her ability, we will give it a whirl!