This is the first time in years that each student in my class has a unique initial. I usually have two A's or two P's but not this year. This will give us an opportunity as a class to learn 8 different letters and who belongs to which! It will also allow the children to begin to identify their names in print much faster without being confused by several names which begin the same.
What a wonderful first day we had. The boys and girls were eager to come to school and there were no tears on our first day! Carline went smoothly and once everyone had arrived we made our way to the classroom. We began establishing routines for the children right away. Every morning they will wash their hands before moving about the room exploring the new offerings for the week. We placed our totes in the hall and put our lunch boxes and water bottles in our cubbies. As the children moved about Center Time we took turns going to the bathroom. This process will be much easier as the year progress since at this point most of the children still need some level of assistance. Once Center Time was finished we washed up for snack. As you can see from the pictures most of the children are still in the late stages of parallel play, meaning they will play along side another child but not truly with them. At one point everyone in the room was off doing their own thing! It is so interesting to me to be able to witness the growth in play styles throughout the year. By the end of May this group will be playing together in dramatic play and other areas cooperatively. After snack the children headed to music class with Ms. Rachel. Once back in our room we washed our hands again and settled in for our story time. Tootsie, our class puppet, brought us some egg shakers and a fun song that helped us with our listening skills. When the music played we could shake our eggs but once it stopped we had to freeze and control our bodies. This is a wonderful and playful way to begin to introduce the listening skills. Everyone had a lot of fun! Next up was art. We painted our first initials today with quick dry paint sticks. They turned out amazing and so colorful. They were hung on our bulletin board for everyone to see. This is the first time in years that each student in my class has a unique initial. I usually have two A's or two P's but not this year. This will give us an opportunity as a class to learn 8 different letters and who belongs to which! It will also allow the children to begin to identify their names in print much faster without being confused by several names which begin the same. The children then moved on to a fine motor activity aimed at strengthening their pincer grasp. The pincer grasp is the coordination of the index finger and thumb to hold an item. The pincer grasp represents the coordination of brain and muscles that are necessary to help them gain increasing independence. These are movements that require precise control of small muscles in the hands. They require multiple skills, including strength and hand-eye coordination. Fine motor skills are the foundation that will later allow your child to write and use a computer mouse. Today's activity involved pinching stickers off a sheet and sticking them to their name cards. Who doesn't love playing with stickers! The time had finally come to head out to the playground. The boys and girls were very excited to run around outside and play. We finished the morning with lunch together. We will be working on gaining independence with opening our own lunches, remaining seated while eating, cleaning up after ourselves and enjoying a meal together. It was a fantastic first day and I am so excited to see how the year will unfold for this group of Little Owls.
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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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