During our story time we had the opportunity to touch, compare and discover the similarities and differences between several types of apples. We noticed their sizes were different and so were their colors. We began wondering if they tasted different too. After listening to a story we headed over to the group table to investigate further.
Our morning was full of apple investigations. We learned about the parts of an apple. We taste tested apples and painted with them. Ask your little one tonight what special secret is held in each and every apple! During our story time we had the opportunity to touch, compare and discover the similarities and differences between several types of apples. We noticed their sizes were different and so were their colors. We began wondering if they tasted different too. After listening to a story we headed over to the group table to investigate further. We learned that apples have a stem which helped them hold on to the tree while it was growing. We noticed they each had different coloring on their skins. The apples were visited with today were Fuji, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Gala, and Granny Smith. Then I told the children that every apple God has made for us has a special hidden secret inside. If you cut the apple across the middle vs. from top to bottom you will find a hidden star! And inside the star are the apple seeds known as pips. And of course we had to cut them all open to find the hidden star. This was very exciting for the children. They loved knowing that every apple regardless of its variety has a star. Next came our taste test. We tasted the Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith and got to vote for our favorite. The boys and girls were very excited to place their vote on the chart for everyone to see. We also enjoyed making some beautiful apple prints with some of the extras. A few other activities included apple cutting practice and shaving cream play! Enjoy a well earned weekend! We will be back next week learning all about bats!
Our little hands got quite the workout today. We explored some color mixing, popped some bubble wrap, finger painted and squeezed some play dough. Never a dull moment in the Owl Class. We spent time today talking about colors and how you can mix some colors and create new ones. Each child was given a baggie with a scoop of blue and a scoop of yellow paint. We sealed the bags and started squishing and poking until our colors combined to make GREEN! What an exciting discovery for these young scientists. They were in awe that they had made a new color. Then we had the opportunity to finger paint with yellow and blue and make the green come to life on our papers. I had received a package yesterday and the contents were wrapped in bubble wrap. Bubble wrap is never thrown away in my house. It always goes right into my school bag for little hands to pop. I remember as a child loving the sound those little bubbles made as I popped them. And these children were over joyed to have a chance to pop away! As we popped we sang... B is for bubble that's good enough for me, B is for bubble that's good enough for me, B is for bubble that's good enough for me, Oh, bubble, bubble, bubble starts with B. P is for pop um, that's good enough for me, P is for pop um, that's good enough for me, P is for pop um, that's good enough for me, Oh, pop, pop, pop starts with P. We finished out our day with some play dough. Today day we buried a little bead in the play dough and used our hands to play hide and seek and find our hidden treasure. Well, this was so exciting you would have thought that some had never played with play dough before! We kept finding our treasure over and over and over again, working our hand muscles with every squeeze!
This morning was spent counting frogs, jumping like frogs, learning about their life cycle and painting beautiful watercolor lily pads. I love how this class attacks new experiences with enthusiasm and wonder. The children enjoyed their first experience with liquid watercolor painting this morning. We discussed that we needed to share supplies with a partner as well as the technique involved in washing your brush off when trying new colors. The boys and girls were given three colors and asked to paint a pond or lily pad for a frog. I also asked that they cover as much of the white paper as they could. They were fascinated watching the colors bleed together. There were many ooh's and ahh's. It was another high interest activity that held their attention for nearly a half hour. I was really impressed a how determined most of the children were to truly cover every inch of their paper. The end results are beautiful. This activity worked their fine motor muscles as well as exposed them to the scientific concepts of color mixing and absorption. I just love how throughly engaged every child is! During our circle time we played a fun little hide and seek game with our friend Little Mouse. This simple and repetitive color identification game has been a big hit with the class. The various houses are lined up on "3 streets". We always start at the top left hand corner and move across the row, then drop down to the next row and so forth. This order is deliberate. It is the same way in which we read text on a page. This basic flannel board story is setting the foundation for future reading success. Little Mouse is always hiding in the last house but that doesn't deter the children's astonishment when a house is removed and Little Mouse is not behind it. The story goes like this... "Little Mouse, Little Mouse, Are you in the red house?" We repeat with each color until the mouse if found under the last house and the class rushes forward to blow Little Mouse a kiss. And we always whisper our calls to Little Mouse so that we don't startle him! After our introduction to pipettes last Friday I decided to pull them out again. This time the children transferred water from their jar onto an over turned bath cling and tried to fill the little suction cups with colored water. They all did a wonderful job and have gotten the hang of using a pipette quickly. This activity encouraged both pincer grasp and hand eye coordination.
The children are continuing to learn our daily routines. We are working on clean up, circle time and walking in the halls. I have found they are very interested in listening to story books that are sung as well as flannel board stories. These are fun, engaging ways to capture their attention. The boys and girls were very excited to paint today. We grabbed some big garden rocks and got busy painting them, gluing on eyes and feathers and creating our own one of a kind owls. They turned out super cute and everyone had a fabulous time with real paint. Our tool of choice today was in fact a paintbrush. Most of the children were pretty comfortable holding it with a proper pincer grasp and excercised good control. We are enjoying our playtime and are getting comfortable with each other. The housekeeping area is a popular draw and many are showing interest in the baby dolls. Others have found the blocks, our magnetic blocks in particular, and have enjoyed creating with those. The sensory tub is another popular destination. This week we worked with bright blue sand, scoops and funnels. Although some sand made it to the floor I was impressed at the control every one showed in using the tools correctly and keeping as much sand as possible in the table. We also celebrated our first class birthday today with the sweetest cupcakes! Everyone loved eating an owl. We finished out our day with a very exciting activity. We used a pipette to transfer colored water from one jar to the next. We discussed the importance of being very careful with our materials. We used real glass and were very careful in how we handled our tools. I find using real materials vs. plastic or paper cups shows the children that the work they are doing is important and that I trust them. This is a fine motor activity designed to isolate the muscles in our thumb and pointer finger and to use them to control the pipette. It seems like a simple task to us but to a child who has never used one before the multi-step directions that must be followed in order for the pipette to work correctly require higher level thinking skills. I was so proud of their determination and high interest in this activity. Some children were engaged for a solid 25 minutes. That is tremendous for children of this age. Overheard while working... "This is hard." "Look! I got some!" "I can't work it." "Watch me do it!" "Oh, I spilled a little." "Me, Me, Look at me!" "See, I did it!" After a bit of trial and error, success was a very proud moment. Smiles were ear to ear and the concentration in their eyes was intense. Of course there were some friends that wanted to explore pouring from one jar to the other. Although this was not my goal with this activity I did not discourage their exploration. The mess was minimal given the trays and amount of water and when you think about it, pouring is also a complicated task on its own requiring good hand eye coordination and control. I also do not want to limit their desire to see if they can do something. Taking risks and feeling comfortable to do so is an important step towards independence!
The children are learning all about owls this week. We had the opportunity to work on those fine motor muscles, work with tracing lines, squeezing some play dough and creating our own owls with bath scrubbies. We were also blessed with a visit from the Zoo Man. He brought several interesting friends for us to meet. The Zoo Man brought a cockatiel, a huge tortoise, a blue tongue lizard and some giant hissing cockroaches. A few of our very brave owls even got a chance to hold the cockroaches! What a fun experience for all. We rounded out our day with a little art. The children had a great time making their own owls using bath scrubbies and wiggly eyes. They chose how to design their owls and I have to say I was impressed that the eyes and beak made it into the correct spot almost every time!
We had another wonderful day! We continued exploring the classroom and reviewing the routines. The children are so eager to learn and are settling in very well. We had a hand muscle workout today. The children had the opportunity to use their very own glue bottles! And let me tell you they were super excited!!! We read a story called Too Much Glue by Jason Lefebvre. We all got a chuckle out of the boy in the story who uses too much glue in his art class. Then it was our turn. We repeated over and over, "Dot, dot, not a lot!" as we squeezed our own bottles of glue. Once we were able to control the glue flow we got the chance to make our own square collage by glueing colorful squares to our paper. What an exciting experience to be independent! Our day would not be complete with out some outdoor time! I enjoyed meeting with you this afternoon and look forward to an amazing year together!
The class is off to a great start. For many this is the first experience your little ones have had, being dropped off and seeing you go. I have to say they did amazingly well. Not a single tear was shed (by the children, I can't say how Mom's and Dad's did.) The children had a wonderful day exploring our classroom, playing with new toys, meeting new friends, learning new routines and getting comfortable with new surroundings. We dove right in and finger painted, were introduced to scissors and squeezed some play dough. We spent time feeling things out. There are a lot of new opportunities to get used to. A new school year is always exciting. I am looking forward to seeing your children grow and learn over the next nine months. Please visit the blog often and review it with your child. Ask them about their day and what we are learning. These pictures will provide a wonderful way to engage your child's oral language, recall skills and will let them know that what they are doing is important to you. Preschool may look like a lot of fun and games but through PLAY we are LEARNING!
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Why Blog?Here you will find little snippets of our days together. When my children were in preschool and would come home I would always ask, "So, what did you do today?". All they ever said was, "Played." That didn't tell me much. I hope this blog will be a place to share what we have done and help you ask more directed questions of your child. You will see first hand just what we do after you kiss your little one goodbye in the morning. It will also be a great place to visit and see just how much your child has grown and learned throughout the year. Archives
March 2024
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