It is hard for me to believe the year is over! Where did the time go? The boys have come such a long way this year and I am so pleased I had the opportunity to spend my Wednesdays and Fridays with them. They have brought so much joy and laughter to my life. I love them all so much and will miss their smiling faces and giggles this summer. Today we celebrated our favorite things from the year. I brought back the famous train set, had water in the sensory tub and we did our favorite science experiment (baking soda and vinegar) again. That one never gets old! We ended our classroom time together with an explosive experiment, Elephant Toothpaste. If you have ever seen it on Pinterest it is worth trying at home. So much fun! Simply take an empty water bottle and add a 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide* (6%, 20 volume found at Sally's Beauty Supply Store). Add a few drops of food coloring and a few drops of dish soap. In a separate cup mix 2 Tbs. warm water and 1 tsp. of Dry Yeast (or one packet) until it dissolves. Add that mixture to the water bottle, shake and step back. I wish you could have heard the ohhhh's, and ahhhh's. We liked it so much we had to repeat it four times! Again, thank you all for the generous gifts and kind words. It really was a special year and I love each of the boys dearly. I look forward to Mondays next year and to continuing to teach the boys in a different capacity. Have a safe and fun filled summer. God Bless!
We had a fantastic day rotating between several camping themed activities. The boys explored a multitude of sensory tubs, mixed up their own trail mix, ran some races, painted pet rocks and explored a campsite. That is a lot to cram into one morning but we managed it and had a blast doing so. First stop: Canteen Trail Mix Next we headed on to the sensory tubs. There were NINE sensory tubs to explore. I think it was one of the boys favorite stops all day. After a sensory explosion we headed out to the front for some camp themed races. After all that racing we needed to cool down and what better way than with some Italian Ice in the shade. We enjoyed some running around on the playground and then headed into the cool classrooms to paint our own "Pet Rocks". Our final stop of the morning was the campsite. The boys had the opportunity to roast hot dogs or marshmallows by the fire, explore a few tents, go on a bug hunt, or try their hands at "fishing". Bet the boys pass out early tonight! I know I will.
I can't believe our year together comes to an end on Friday. Over the last few days I have been going back over the blog and have really enjoyed seeing all the learning we have done and how much the boys have grown. It is amazing to me that they came in as such babies and are leaving as independent, enthusiastic learners. I am going to miss them over the summer but really look forward to teaching them every Monday in Life Skills, where we will explore more science and cooking together. I am also looking forward to our family picnic Friday at noon and hope to see you all there. The adventures continued this morning. We had so much fun in our costumes. Our superheros enjoyed an outdoor adventure time as well as some special "Superhero" art. The boys worked on their scissor skills. There has been so much growth over the year in this area. The boys are using proper scissor hold and are now able to control where they cut as well as being able to manage holding the paper and the scissors at the same time. We headed outdoors to explore some "Superhero" activity centers. We fought the bad guys with pompom poppers. And back in the classroom we had fun creating our own superhero artwork.
The boys were ready for action today! We had a blast reading about heroes, building structures for our heroes to jump over and a host of other activities. We even shared a special hero snack. This was a theme that attracted everyone's attention and imagination to the fullest. The boys are showing much more interest in writing and have improved their pencil grip and hand strength since the beginning of the year. They also demonstrate more control over the writing tools. This was a station that was revisited several times throughout the morning. Creative Play
Today we celebrated the artist in each of us with the annual Oak Hills Fine Arts Museum. Each student in the preschool was represented by a piece of their original artwork. There is a lot of love and creativity that went into each piece and we are so glad the parents and students could see that hard work on display. On behalf of all of the Awesome Owls, I would like to take a moment to say Happy Mother's Day to the amazing Moms who bring us to school every day, make us special lunches, love us with all of their hearts and would do anything for us. We love you very much and hope you have a blessed Mother's Day!
The boys had a lot of fun today learning all about the ocean. We enjoyed exploring miniature ocean creatures, real shells and starfish, an ocean themed flannel board, counting fish, and several underwater fine motor activities. We also had the opportunity to work a little on our culinary skills. We made a very simple "fish bowl" snack. The boys were each given a rice cake to spread blue icing on. We topped the treat off with a few Swedish Fish. Even though this was a very simple and basic task it was interesting to see them each try and figure out how they would use a knife to spread the frosting. They sure did enjoy eating it though!
I had grand plans for today to continue our worm study but to my dismay when I arrived at school this morning I found our worms had all died. Needless to say I was disappointed and did not look forward to telling the boys that the worms I promised they could take home today were no longer. Our worms were either overly manhandled Wednesday or something in the soil they were in did not agree with them. When the boys asked where the worms were I didn't have the heart to tell them they died. One boy suggested they "slithered away" when no one was looking, so we went with that. As disappointed as I am I am pretty sure most of you are glad you didn't have to take a worm home this afternoon. We did however have a great day and enjoyed the beautiful outdoors. We even decided at the last minute to have a picnic lunch.
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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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