Fishing Game

I realized today that my lack of energy with Gracie's pre-Kindergarten education seems to have caused a backwards effect. This morning I pulled out some long lost worksheets (I guess we took a holiday vacation from "school"), and she couldn't get her numbers right. I thought at first this was a fluke and she just didn't want to try, but several attempts later in the day to identify different numbers proved the same.

Last night, when I was flipping through the channels I watched a few minutes of Supernanny. I do not like that show, not that the nanny isn't wonderful, but because the parents who let their kids get like that make me so upset. Anyway, the Supernanny had made a game for the kids to play where they "fished" in a bowl with a homemade pole and fish. I noticed that her pole had a magnet and so, I decided to take the idea in order to help Gracie with her numbers.

I cut out fish in several different colors, used brass brads for the eyes, and then added a smile and a number from 1 to 10. Then I used a fat pencil and added a rope and a magnet to make the pole.

Gracie LOVED this game of fishing! She played and played this game all afternoon and evening. She never got tired of the fish. Each time one of us would catch a fish we would say "wow I caught number x fish!" We would let her tell us the number regardless of whose turn it was. She still struggles with a few numbers, but it has been great practice.

I also glued objects to paper and taped them to the front door (which is magnetic) and had her count the objects on each paper and then choose the number magnet that matched. This also helped, but she really loved the fishing game.

**We watched Leelou after school today, so that's why she is in the picture. I tried to distract Gracie so that Leelou could do her homework. Gracie is so proud each time she catches a fish!**