Week 5 - 4th Week of September
Items Needed: Bible
Sandpaper Letters: X, x, Letters in last name
Books: The Berenstain Bears and the Truth
CD: Hide 'Em In Your Heart, Vol 1
Worksheets: X, x, Visual Perception Worksheets, cutting worksheets, Angled Line Characters #1, 1 1/2" tracing paper
Activities: Scarf or handkerchief, toy to hide, Children's Safety Scissors, large soft ball or beach ball, Nature wreath (see below), short and long popsicle sticks
Letter X Activity
Character Trait: Honesty
Definition: Telling the whole truth
Opposite: Lying, deceitful
Big Thoughts for Little People: Letter L
Bible Story: Ananias and Sapphira (Opposites)
Scripture: Acts 5:1-11
The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
Verse: Psalm 34:13 - Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Bible Song: “Keep Your Tongue from Evil” – Steve Green – Hide 'Em in Your Heart Vol. 1 - #11
Information: Last name – tracing sandpaper letters
Math: Spatial - High, Low Up, Down Above, Below Near, Far
Letters: X, x
Criss, cross
Ideas:
• Letter & Number Ideas:
Weeks 5-9 focus on "angled-line letters." Start by creating the characters using short and long popsicle sticks and move to writing the characters on 1 1/2" tracing paper with yellow lines and green and red dots as a guide. If needed, create 3" characters using yellow lines and green and red dots as a transition to the tracing paper. Use the Angled Line Characters #1 worksheet to show the progression of the letters and numbers. Be sure to say the Letter Formation Chant or Number Rhyme as the child creates each character.
• Name:
In the 4 Year Curriculum, the child will learn how to write their first and last name using a capital letter for the first letter only. This week starts the child learning (reviewing) the formation of each letter of their last name using sandpaper letters. Lay the letters in order so the child begins to think of the letters as a "word" instead of individual letters. If letters are doubled, you may need to make extra sandpaper letters.
• My Young Child Character Education Story - read online for free or print. Be sure to do the discussion and activities for each book.
-Cory Learns About Honesty
-Cory Learns to Tell the Truth
• Spatial
- Raise scarf or handkerchief
- Hide a toy and try to find it with clues of “higher, lower, near, etc.”
- Check out this Spatial Concept website for suggestions and pictures
• Read 
• Make a Nature Wreath - Walk around the neighborhood or park collecting different items from nature. Back at home, create a cardboard wreath (frozen pizza board works well) and glue items on. Allow to dry. (Thank you, Shannon for this idea.)
• Teaching True vs. Not True - Great family activities from Value Parenting (reprinted with permission)
Ask, "Do you know the difference between something that's true and something that's not true? Let's see if you do. I'll say something and you say, 'True' or 'Not true.'" Start with simple physical facts and move toward things relating to behavior, for example:
- The sky is green. (Kids say, "Not true.")
- (Point at foot) This is my foot. (Kids say, "True.")
- Ants are bigger than elephants.
- We see with our eyes.
- We hear with our nose.
- Milk comes from chickens.
- Take a cookie out of a jar and eat it. Then say, "I didn't eat the cookie."
- Drop a toy on the couch. Then say, "Yes, I left my toy on the couch."
Then say, "You really can tell the difference between true and not true, can't you? Do you know what it's called when someone says something that's not true? It's called a lie."
Now: "I'll say some more things and you say, 'Truth' if it's true and 'Lie' if it's not true."
- Pick up a dollar on the floor. Then say, "I didn't find a dollar."
- Give a bit of food to someone else. Then say, "No, I didn't eat all my food. I gave some of it to ______."
(Use more illustrations appropriate to your child or children.)
Then ask, "Why is telling the truth better than telling a lie?" (So that everyone knows what really happened; so the wrong person won't get blamed; so we can learn to do better; because God knows the truth, etc.)
• Fine Motor Skill:
Draw various lines or print the cutting worksheets onto heavy paper (cardstock). Using safety scissors have your child cut along with lines. Draw thicker lines if needed. Check out Teaching How to Use Scissors for ideas.
• Gross Motor Skill:
Have your child stand opposite you about seven feet apart. Before throwing a large soft ball or beach ball toward your child, say "up", "down", "low", "high", or "catch." Depending on what you say, throw the ball in relationship to the child's body and have them bat the ball away. If you say "catch", throw the ball toward the child and have them catch it. This requires another level of thinking. At first, have your child show you where the ball will be. As they improve, give them less time before the ball is thrown.
• Visual Perception Skill:
Worksheets
