It's KiPS! Kindergarten Prep School  About KiPS
KiPS is a get-ready-for-school summer program for children entering kindergarten in the fall. Children registered for the program come to the library one morning a week to explore six skill areas: Art, Music, Reading, Math, Large Motor Skills and Fine Motor Skills & Writing. The Children’s area buzzes with activity every Tuesday morning through the summer. Certified teachers and teachers from local preschools lead sessions along with certified library staff. Instructional assistants, group leaders and other volunteers help out with each small group of children. Help with transportation was offered in cooperation with Jay School Corporation. Sponsors in addition to the library include Jay Schools, the Friends of the Library, and The Portland Foundation. If your organization would like to lend support, please contact Linda Shreve at the library. SPECIAL NOTES for parents of participants. - Remember to send the folder back with your child each Tuesday! The items inside are yours to keep, but we'll add more each week. Don't send a backpack. We won't be using them here and they are easily forgotten!
- ANY TIME your child will not be attending a KiPS session, we appreciate being informed! Just call us at (260) 726-7890 or email to let us know.
- Due to the movement in gym, it is very IMPORTANT for your child’s safety that they wear gym shoes, not flip flops! If gym shoes are a problem, then sandals with straps would work.
- Parents must come into the library building to pick up their children at their assigned area. Check the list as you enter to see where you'll find your child.
What did we do at KiPS in 2012? Week 1 – Beach Theme  Math - Practiced counting individually and wrote numbers from 0 – 10 Reading - books read: Splash in the Ocean by Mik Zepol and Grandma’s Beach by Rosalind Beardshaw, worked with knowing shapes, colors and saying ABC’s; practiced raising hands to answer the questions asked, recited “Five Little Monkeys” and “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Learned how to hold pencil correctly, wrote first names, traced first names, learned to write the letter C Large Motor Skills - carried shells in a shovel to a bucket; played a relay game with shovels, buckets, and shells; passed a beach ball around large circle, moved to “Surfin’ in My Imagination” and “Zing Hop-a-Hula” (Ralph’s World CD). Art - Worked on lining up and entering the room, how to hold art box and open it to use the supplies, learned how to ask a question (raise hand!) and not just yell out, worked on cleaning up, learned there’s a difference between short crayon strokes and long crayon strokes (have your child show you!). Music - “Hello” song to welcome children, “Hickory Dickory Dock” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” songs with movements, demonstrated playing the ocean drum (ask your child what was inside the drum and how it was played) and everyone got a chance to try it while we all swayed to the ocean waves.
Week 2 – Pirate Theme 
Math - Counted numbers 1 – 20; practiced writing numbers 0, 1, and 2; counted pirate treasure. There is a paper in take-home folders to help your child practice writing numbers. Please take some time to work on this together. Reading - Book read: Shiver Me Letters by June Sobol; looked at pirate pictures to find items like coins, treasure, hook, eye patch, hat, map, ship, etc. Worked with knowing shapes and colors; recited the poems “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” and “A-Hunting We Will Go.” Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Learned how to hold pencil correctly, wrote first names, traced first names, learned to write the letter C, O, A, P for pirate, and R for “what does a pirate say?”; drew a pirate ship. Large Motor Skills - Making Waves: Used the parachute to make waves, kept the fish in the ocean, and passed the ball. Balance on the Plank: a masking tape plank to crawl on, hop on one foot, go forward and backward, and jump over the plank. Target Practice: Used bean bags as cannon balls and threw into hula hoops at various distances. Cannon Throw: Used small Nerf balls as cannons, threw or rolled at empty Pringles cans. Art - Crumpled up paper to make a pirate map. Used crayons and learned the directions up, down, side. Learned to open up art box and just use what we need. Music - “Hello” song to welcome children, learned elements of “Braindance:” head-tail, “Bounce Like a Ball;” upper-lower, “I Shake My Hands, I Kick My Feet.” Review of “Here is the Sea, the Wavy Sea;” learned “Three Times around Went Our Gallant Ship,” and “Going over the Sea.” “Good-bye” song to end.
Week 3 – Picnic/Food 
Math - Practiced writing numbers 1,2,3,4. Counted from 1 – 20. Placed objects on picnic mat using position words (on top of, next to, beside). Again there is a paper in take-home folders to help your child practice writing numbers. Please take some time to work on this together. It doesn’t need to come back with them—it’s just for at-home practice. Reading - Books read: Lunch by Denise Fleming, The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don & Audrey Wood, How Much Lunch? by Elayne Reiss-Weimann. Worked with knowing shapes and colors; recited the poems “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe” and “Peanut Butter and Jelly.” Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Practiced holding pencil correctly, wrote first names, reviewed writing the letters C, O, and A. Practiced letter formation; went outside and drew pictures of picnic items with chalk. Large Motor Skills - Ant relay: carry beanbags on back from one spot to another, identify the letter on the beanbag. Gather plate, silverware, cup, and napkin and carry them from one spot to another, wrap silverware in napkin, throw away “trash;” threw Frisbees from one spot to another. Art - Learned to use glue stick (don’t roll up too much or put too much on paper), learned to use scissors to cut a specific paper; learned to glue items onto another item and leave room for everything (planning ahead!). Music - “Hello” song to welcome children, learned elements of “Braindance:” review of last week and added body-side: “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.” Songs: “When We All Do Eat Sweet Potatoes,” with movements, and “Shoo-li-loo” as game (“fly” to the middle) while patting rhythm on legs. “Good-bye” song to end.
Week 4 - Family 
Math - Practiced writing numbers 1,2,3,4, 5. Learned about shapes—square, rectangle, triangle, oval, and circle. Played shape bingo. Again there is a paper in take-home folders to help your child practice writing numbers. Please take some time to work on this together. It doesn’t need to come back with them—it’s just for at-home practice. Reading - Books read: Family Huddle by Peyton, Archie and Eli Manning, The Shivers in the Fridge by Fran Manuskin, Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman. Worked with knowing shapes and colors; recited the poems “There Was a Crooked Man” and “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,” and “Six Little Ducks.” Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Glued beans and seeds to make family members. Built house with interlocking cubes. Played with toolset, clothes line, lacing cards. Punched out a picture with a toothpick. Traced triangle and square to cut out and make a house. Worked on writing name and some letters. Wrote mom and dad. Large Motor Skills - Played hopscotch, hopping on one foot and hopping on two feet. Walked on romper stompers (small yellow upside down buckets with ropes to hold onto) without losing balance. Bounced ball to each other, rolled ball to each other. Art - Talked about portraits and family, made a popsicle stick puppet of a person. Followed directions, practiced cutting skills, used crayons. Also made a family portrait on paper. Music - “Hello” song to welcome children, more elements of “Braindance:” review of last week and added cross-lateral: “Miss Mary Mack.” “Diddle Diddle Dumpling, My Son John,” with pats on legs, shoulders, head, legs. Acitivity/song: “Listen, Listen, Here I Come” with each getting a turn to beat on the hand drum. “Bye ‘n ‘ Bye” song to end.
Week 5 - Winter in July! 
Math - Practiced writing numbers 6, 7, 8. Created patterns with winter objects. Made own patterns on paper. Practice patterns at home—you can do it with buttons, cereal, socks from the laundry, coins, Legos, etc. The possibilities are endless! Your child is also bringing home a pattern paper to work on. Have them show you how well they’ve learned! Reading - Practiced writing letters and drawing pictures, creating them in shaving cream (snow!). Learned the letters O (to make a snowman) and S (for snow). Worked on tying shoes, built with blocks, clipped clothespins to make the alphabet, and worked individually with children on writing their names. Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Books read: Snow by Kristin Ward, Glowing Moonlight by Elizabeth Partridge. Played a “Who am I?” game by reading sentences together. Large Motor Skills - Ice Skating: gliding on paper “skates” on the carpet; Snowball toss: toss sock balls; Penguin Waddle: hold sock balls between knees, carry to hula hoop, and drop it; Snowball Bowling: using sock balls, roll them at Pringle cans. Art - Used shaving cream and glue mixture to fill in circles for a snowman. Added beans for eyes, paper shapes (squares and rectangles) for hat and arms. Talked about two dimensional and three dimensional art. This picture needs time to dry, so look for it next week! Music - “Hello” song to welcome children, more elements of “Braindance:” review of last week and added vestibular (body cavity): “Humpty Dumpty.” Played “Tideo” using a tambourine! Activity: “The Snow is Dancing,” falling, blowing, turning, sticking—tiptoe, move in and out of each other without bumping into others, using scarves. “Bye ‘n ‘ Bye” song to end.
Week 6 - Visiting the Zoo  Math - Learned to write the number 8, practiced the other numbers. Sorted students by attributes—things they have that are the same. Played attribute guessing game. Sorted zoo animals by attributes. Your child brought home a number paper to work on. Have them show you how well they’ve learned! Reading - Books read: The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Massie, Curious George Visits the Zoo by Margaret Rey, Sam Who Never Forgets by Eve Rice. Also might have read the following books (ask your child if he/she remembers which one!): Oodles of Animals by Lois Ehlert, Q is for Duck by Mary Elting, Never Ever Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson. Learned beginning sounds. Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Played with Play-doh. Rolled and shaped it, used toothpicks to poke an animal shape into it. Learned the letters Z (for zoo!) and O. Worked on tying shoes, played with blocks, tool kit, and Wiki sticks Large Motor Skills - Played “Tails:” students put a sock “tail” in the back of their waistband. They try to pull out others’ tails while guarding their own. When they pull out a tail they bring it to a teacher/helper. The students need to ask for their tail back and do something such as 5 kangaroo hops to get their tail back. Played the “Zookeeper Says.” Art - Cut out monkey pieces to glue together. Glued arms and legs onto them after folding the paper in accordion folds. Music - “Hello” song to welcome children, more elements of “Braindance:” review of last week and added crawling, creeping, walking. Sang “Little Bird through My Window” with motions. Activity: “A Walk through the Zoo” using the song “Chirpa Chirpa.” and walking around the room listening to different instruments. “Bye ‘n ‘ Bye” song to end.
Week 7 - Vehicles Math - Learned to write the number 9. Practiced counting and writing numbers 0 – 9; worked on simple addition. Parked matchbox cars on parking lot mat and added together how many were in different places. Reading - Books read: Wheels on the Bus by Paul Zelinksy; Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort. Did a picture sort with vehicle pictures. Read a riddle poem together. Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Learned the letters c, a, r, and practiced writing them in the air and on paper. Used finger paints to draw/paint a car. Puzzles and blocks were available for those who got done. Large Motor Skills - (based on farm animals theme; will do vehicles next week) Duck Walk Race: squat down and grasp their ankles with each hand from behind, and walk that way across the line; Hop Bunny Hop: hop around until “hawk” is called out, then freeze; Parachute Play with Farm Animals; danced the Chicken Hokey Pokey (put your right wing in); Beanbag toss and Egg Relay. Art - Learned different shapes—star, circle, square, oval, rectangle, half circle,etc.—and used them to “build” a car. Cutting, coloring, and gluing skills were all reviewed and used, as well as learning to place things on a page (under, over, beside, etc.). Music - “Hello” song to welcome children, more elements of “Braindance:” review of all taught so far; Song: “Scotland’s Burning” with patting legs in rhythm; Activity: Used “Rock ‘n’ Stop” song and used yarn as road, pretended to drive and stop at stoplight; “Bye ‘n ‘ Bye” song to end.
Week 8 - Farms  Math - Practiced counting and writing numbers 0 – 9; worked on simple subtraction. Placed farm animals in pen, opened gate and let some escape, then determined how many are left. Wrote subtraction number sentences to do with the problem (8 – 4 = 4). Reading - Read Funny Farm by Mark Teague, Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm by Joy Cowley, and Farmer Dale’s Red Pick-up Truck by Lisa Wheeler. Named animals you might find on a farm. Discussed real and make-believe, how characters changed in the stories, and how the stories were alike and different. Worked on beginning sounds of cow and pig, did a riddle poem matching answer to a picture of the animal. Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Large Motor Skills - (vehicle theme from last week) Played Red Light, Green Light: stop light person calls green light to go and red light to stop. Traffic Cop Says: like “Simon Says” while identifying body parts. Driving a Ball: Much like soccer, kids tried to “drive” a Nerf-style ball through the cones by controlling it with their feet. Art - Showed kids examples of sculptures. Talked about texture and the difference between "fat" art (3D) and "flat" art (2-D). Used modeling clay to make sculptures of animals. The clay sculptures were smushed at the end of class, so they won’t be coming home! Music - Learned and played the game song: “Wake Up, You Sleepy Head” with jumping and kneeling; sang “My Little Pony," clapping the rhythm, then took turns galloping or drumming with mallets.
Week 9 - Pets  Math - Practiced counting and writing numbers 0 – 10; as a class, created a graph of favorite pets and counted some more! Reading - Books read: Wanted: The Perfect Pet by Fiona Roberton, A Pet: the Sound of P by Alice K. Planagan, Farmer Dale’s Red Pick-up Truck by Lisa Wheeler. Discussed authors and illustrators, talked about the books that were read, how they were the same and different, if they were real or fiction; played a beginning sounds match-up game, and used sentence strips to do riddle poetry. Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Discussed animals and what kinds were pets. Practiced cutting skills by making a circle dog craft. Also used Play-doh to make pets and things pets can use. Large Motor Skills - Played “tails” by pretending to be pets with a tail. Used body to hop, skip, walk, walk backward, walk on tiptoes, etc. Practiced throwing beanbags to partners to catch in buckets. Art - Showed a picture of a painting and discussed what was seen. Children then practiced their coloring, being encouraged to choose colors that worked well together and made the picture look nice. Music - Song: “Johnny Pounds with One Hammer” using body parts to pound on (knee, thigh); review “My Little Pony” with mallets, then with drums; review “Little Bird through My Window”; “Bye ‘n ‘ Bye” song to end.
Week 10 - Dinosaurs  Math - Practiced counting and writing numbers 0 – 10; as a class, put dinosaurs in sets and compared using greater than, less than, or equal to; also discussed small, medium, and large. Reading - Books read: When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach, Dinothesaurus by Douglas Florian. Discussed authors and illustrators, talked about the books that were read, read the poems and picked out the rhyming words; played a dinosaur game where they identified the letters that were on the dinosaur’s spikes. Fine Motor Skills & Writing - Talked about dinosaurs. Flattened Play-doh and used a toothpick to write the letter d (for dinosaur!); went outside and used sidewalk chalk to draw fearsome dragons! Large Motor Skills - Played “Egg, Egg, Dinosaur” game; rolled a dinosaur egg to knock over Pringles cans; stomped like dinosaurs on “romper stompers.” Art - Cut out dinosaur parts and used brass fasteners to attach the neck and tail. Added spikes and other parts. Lots of scissors practice! Music - Teview of all "Braindance" taught so far; Activity: Move like a big dinosaur using the song “The Elephant.” Children will take turns playing xylophone and marching to “Dinosaurs and Xylophones;” Move like dinosaurs again to the song “Fossils.”
Questions or concerns about anything? Call Linda at 260-726-7890 or email. | 
