I'm so excited to have volunteered this year again for my son's preschool celebration of the Week of the Young Child. Last year I participated by reading a very special book about our beloved coquí. However, this year I let my son pick which book he wanted Mommy to read. He picked The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle; and he wanted to show off his animals and craft we made about this book to his schoolmates.
The initial plan was that I was going to read in Spanish, and he was going to show the animals as I read out loud the story. We had been talking about this for weeks, and he was really looking forward to it. I had gotten sick and my vocal chords were strained, raspy and I could barely talk. I told him that we'd have to cancel because Mommy couldn't read. I was surprised that he didn't get upset, but offered a suggestion that I couldn't pass! He says, "Mommy, don't worry I will read; and you show the animals!" What super idea! He was so excited!
At his preschool he "read" The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle (he knows the story by heart), and I turned the pages for him. He'd pull the animals out of the small bin, and say there names in both English and Spanish: horse/caballo, cat/gato, etc. To end the story time session I passed out the lyrics to Boca Beth's "The Animal Song/La canción de animales" so his teachers and classmates can sing along with him.
"TheAnimal Song/La canción de animales" (#8)
(Sing to the tune of “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”)
Hay un perro afuera,
Hay un perro afuera,
Hay un perro afuera,
¡El dice woof!
There is a dog outside,
There is a dog outside,
There is a dog outside,
He says woof!
Hay un gato afuera,
Hay un gato afuera,
Hay un gato afuera,
¡El dice meow!
There is a cat outside,
There is a cat outside,
There is a cat outside,
He says meow!
(Continue with pato/duck/quack…vaca/cow/moo…caballo/horse/neigh…
mono/monkey/ooh-ooh…pájaro/bird/tweet)
Hay un perro afuera,
Hay un perro afuera,
¡El dice woof!
There is a dog outside,
There is a dog outside,
There is a dog outside,
He says woof!
Hay un gato afuera,
Hay un gato afuera,
Hay un gato afuera,
¡El dice meow!
There is a cat outside,
There is a cat outside,
There is a cat outside,
He says meow!
(Continue with pato/duck/quack…vaca/cow/moo…caballo/horse/neigh…
mono/monkey/ooh-ooh…pájaro/bird/tweet)
Both my son and I enjoyed ourselves although I couldn't do much talking or singing. However, at the end of the day my baby was overjoyed that his Mommy was there for story time.
How are you celebrating the Week of the Young Child? Would love to hear from you! Please comment, like, share or pin.
¡Hasta luego!