Tot School Week in Review - "Pizza" by Frank Asch

This week we had another simple week of tot school with Zeke. I'm still busy planning for and preparing our homeschool curriculum for this year. We will be starting homeschool August 9! 

One of Zeke's favorite books is "Pizza" by Frank Asch, so I decided to create a book companion to go along with it! This is available in my Etsy shop for $3.00 as a digital download, or it's free to my existing blog subscribers. Subscribe to my blog to receive exclusive free printable resources!

This week-long unit has a five-day lesson plan, but feel free to use these resources however you wish! Here is an overview of our week, and you'll get to see exactly what you'll be receiving with this download.

Monday:

Today we talked about circles. There is a page in the book that says the moon, the car tires, and the manhole covers reminded Baby Bear of pizza. We discussed how that was because they were circles! 

First we did some circle stamping using different sized plastic lids. Zeke really enjoyed this activity and stamped the entire outside of his paper!

Next he did a cut-and-glue worksheet matching circle-shaped objects to their outlines. This is a great visual discrimination activity that Zeke and I do quite a bit.

Tuesday:

Today we talked about pizza toppings. The bears ordered a cheese pizza, but you can discuss your family's favorite pizza toppings. 

We did another cut-and-glue worksheet matching pepperoni shapes to their outlines. It was a quick way to name shapes Zeke already knows and introduce shapes he isn't familiar with (like the trapezoid).

He also colored his P is for Pizza worksheet, but he wouldn't trace the letters. He loves tracing, so I'm not sure why he refused to do this. Oh well!

He also colored his own placemat like Baby Bear did in the restaurant. This can be laminated and used as a placemat with your supper! We took a trip to our local pizza place in town for lunch. 

Wednesday:

Today we talked about all of the strange toppings the aliens put on their pizzas. Zeke traced the numbers 1-10 (and did an excellent job, may I add!) and then dotted each pepperoni with a red dot marker. He did such a good job and it was a great way to get in some counting practice.

Next he traced the lines from the pizzas to the letters. He can trace so well for a 2 1/2 year old! 

We then worked on scissor skills. He does not have great scissor control yet, but he can snip. Then he finishes off by tearing the paper! A cute little story - he calls cutting "scissoring." 

Thursday:

We combined two days into one day today. First Zeke glued paper cut outs to the pizza template to make his own pizza! He stayed very focused and glued every single piece on his pizza. I told him he didn't have to use all of the pieces and he said, "Yes. I do."

He also made a breakfast foods collage from pictures I cut out out of magazines. Baby Bear doesn't want any of the breakfast options his mom and dad give him because all he wants is pizza! We had fun naming each of these breakfast foods.

Other Activities:

Of course we do tons more activities each week. Zeke loves to do tot school! He loves these two-piece puzzles and put them together several times this week. 

He also enjoys this button art toy, which is a great fine motor and visual discrimination activity. He doesn't pull it out as much as some of his other toys, but I'm always excited when he does.

He also did some water play this week. This was super simple set up, just using an ice cube tray, a syringe, and colored water. I asked him to fill each of the tray compartments with water. He stayed focused for awhile with this activity!

He also played with this busy bag. I put in a six-trayed paint palette along with some cards I created that have different colored circles. Zeke had to use the palette as a sort of grid and match the colors that are on the cards. He did really well with this, although I had to help quite a bit at first. A few more times and he probably won't need any help.

If you'd like to purchase this digital download, click here to go to my Etsy shop! Have you read this book before? Are you familiar with Frank Asch? 

The Glass Castle

My oldest daughter, Mikaela, loves to read. She has always been a voracious reader, and I have the hardest time keeping her supplied with books! It's an expensive hobby, but one I don't mind funding! She and I were both excited when we were chosen to read and review the first book in a new series  from Shiloh Run Press.

The book is titled "The Glass Castle" by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins. And, seriously, it's one of the best books Mikaela and I have read! This book is 251 pages packed with suspense, action, and mystery, starting with the first paragraph and ending with a huge cliff-hanger in the last paragraph.

The main character is a girl named Avery who has just turned 13 years old. Avery is captured on her 13th birthday and taken to a mysterious place, which she eventually figures out is the king's castle. All of the prisoners with her are 13 year old orphaned boys and girls, who perform most of the behind-the-scenes work for the castle, like cooking, baking, sewing and cleaning.

Avery is intent on escaping, finding her brother, Henry, and getting home to her father. But when Avery finds out that the king had a child 13 years ago with his first wife, she concludes that the new queen is trying to rid the kingdom of all 13 year old children to ensure there will be no other heir to the throne. Avery and her new friends, Tuck and Kate, decide to help all of the imprisoned teens find their homes again.

Avery remembers much about the castle from stories her mother told her before she died. She wonders how her mother knew so much about the castle and the royal family, and she resolves to find the "underworld" - the underground colony of tunnels and passageways that hopefully hold the answers she is looking for.

My daughter read this book in about 2 days! She couldn't put it down. When she was finished reading it, I wondered if it was as good as she said it was, so I read it, too! I also couldn't put the book down. Mikaela wants to read the next book in the series, "The Ruby Moon", which releases October 1st of this year. I have to admit, I'm excited about it, too!

This is the perfect book series for teenage girls {and their moms!} - an interesting, mysterious, suspenseful book that has no adult themes, language, magic, the occult, or glorified sin {which is hard to find in books geared toward teens these days}. This is definitely a book series you can feel about your kids reading!

Here is Mikaela's review:

"The Glass Castle had a very interesting plot. When I read the back of the book, I wasn't sure if I would like it or now, because it sounded like a kid's book. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down! It was amazing! I made my mom read it, it was so good. The characters had really good names and personalities. I can't wait to read the next in the series."

Check out Shiloh Run Press on their website or on Facebook.