We also cored an apple and put some baking soda into the core. When we poured in some vinegar the explosion was thrilling! Ms. Amanda and I just kept rinsing trays and restocking. It kept the girls attention for a good 45 minutes!
What a busy morning the girls had. We continued learning about apples. We began with open center time. Baby play dominated the girls interest. But we also took out the blocks for the first time this year and a few took interest in those building towers together. During art today the girls had the opportunity to paint giant apples on the easel. This was a big hit! This vertical painting is so beneficial. Preschoolers need to work on both vertical and horizontal surfaces to develop gross motor and fine motor skills. A vertical surface allows the child to stand while working and to work on a surface at eye level. A larger area to work allows the child to use larger movements to paint. It also provides an opportunity to experiment with color mixing, paint thickness, and variations in applied pressure. On the playground we chased each other up the play structure and down the slides. This is a group of gifted climbers. We also got a surprise visit from Mrs. Kunkel and the girls flocked to the fence to chat with her. During Chapel to day we heard the story of Adam and Eve and how they were tempted in the garden which led them to disobey God. When we returned to our room it was time for some science. Today we were introduced to baking soda and vinegar. The children had so much fun watching the chemical reaction. They were amazed they could make bubbles. We listened to the sound of the bubbles popping. At first we used the pipette to drop vinegar onto the baking soda. Eventually someone got the baking soda on the tip of the pipette and when they put it back in the vinegar the entire glass bubbled up. Then came the discovery that pouring some of the vinegar onto the baking soda generated an instant, explosion of sorts. We did this over and over and over again! We also cored an apple and put some baking soda into the core. When we poured in some vinegar the explosion was thrilling! Ms. Amanda and I just kept rinsing trays and restocking. It kept the girls attention for a good 45 minutes! On the way back from Motor Skills we stopped in the D wing to do a little "apple picking". We used red, green, and yellow ball pit balls to sort by color. We are masters at sorting by color! This first month of school has flown by! October is another very busy month. We will be learning about spiders next week. We will also have a special visit from the Fire Department next Friday. I hope you all enjoy a restful weekend.
The girls and I had a wonderful day! The centers were apple themed and there were apple pies in the dramatic play area. After several days apart the children were happy to be back together. I am also noticing they are beginning to ask for each other by name. Some of our center games had scissor like scoops which will help develop our scissor skills. Our sensory tub was full of buckets and wooden spoons, a fun way to practice our spoon transfer technique. We color sorted on the light table, worked on some lacing, and a variety of other fine motor focused centers. This is the work of preschool disguised as play! We throughly enjoyed the cooler temperatures on the playground! Slowly but surely the children are beginning to notice and play with one another. We spent some time "playing" with our names in print this morning. Each child received her name on a paper and a sheet of apple stickers. We sang a little song about each child as we passed the materials out. Their job was to fill their names with the apple stickers. We were working to recognize our names in print, first initials, pincer grip (pulling stickers), and hand-eye coordination when placing the stickers. What a workout! Our name song goes something like this... Kristen starts with K, Kristen starts with K, Kristen is my friend, Kristen starts with K. It won't take long to learn our own first initials and our classmates as well! Tootsie brought us a special story and several apples to try. She told us that God made a special secret in each and every apple! If you cut an apple across its middle you will discover a hidden star where the seeds are. Apple seeds are known as pips. We cut into several varieties to find the star, count the apple pips, and of course taste test them! During art we used large foam stampers dipped in red paint to turn a paper plate into an apple! Everyone had a great time! Our classroom aide, Ms. Amanda, made us an apple orchard mural to decorate. We were given colored sticker apples to stick on the correct color apple tree! This was a big hit with the girls! Finally, our dramatic play was pretty active today. We had some apple pies on display and the babies are always a draw. It was nice to see the girls interact with one another in this space. Looking forward to Friday. We will continue our apple festivities. We may even do an experiment involving baking soda, vinegar, and an apple volcano! Can't wait to see you!
We were a small but might crew today. That didn't stop us from enjoying our center time. For snack we enjoyed peeling oranges and some tasty crackers. On the playground we had fun swinging, climbing, and playing with friends from the Dragonfly class. Ms. Rebecca brought out a basket of musical instruments as well as several balls which we loved throwing into the basket on the playground. Back inside, Tootsie told us she needed our help! She had been watching several shapes and they all ran away from her. She gave each child a magnifying glass to help them hunt for the missing shapes. We headed over to the music room to help her search for the runaway shapes! This class is quick and had so much fun hunting down all the hidden shapes. Tootsie was so proud of the children she left them some owl stickers in the classroom that we used to stick on cutting strips and practice our scissor skills. The clippings went home in totes. We finished our day with lunch. The children love biting into their food so that I can hear it crunch! Wonder if they have started doing that at home? For some reason they really get a kick out of it! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We will be learning about apples next week. We might even get to taste test a few different varieties.
What an exciting morning! We welcomed a new Little Owl to our class today and had a visit from the Critter Guy and several of his animal friends. We also began learning about shapes and before the day was through we had spotted several around the school. This week our centers are focused on playing with shapes. On the playground we enjoyed the swings. We also tried to find some shapes. We were really good at finding circles, triangles, and squares. Try looking for shapes in your environment this week. They are hiding everywhere! Back inside we found shapes around our room with Tootsie. Then we got to stamp some shapes in paint to make a shape collage. After washing up we headed over to see Mr. Tom, the Critter Guy. He brought some exciting animal friends for our to meet. If we were comfortable enough he even let us pet them. We met Rip the Snake, Elvis the Toad, Tessie the Rat, Ralph the Turtle Dove, and Wilma and Fred the Hissing Cockroaches! It took some of us longer than others to warm up to the idea of petting some of these creatures but by the end everyone had pet at least two animals. I was very proud of how gentle the class was with Mr. Tom's special friends. With only a few minutes to spare before lunch we used do-a-dot markers to stamp out some shapes. This is a great activity for hand eye coordination. Friday should be another fun day. We will be shape sleuths and go on a shape hunt. We will search high and low for some runaway shapes. We will also continue with our scissor skills snipping some confetti!
See you Friday! We began our morning with center time. Everyone had free time to explore the various centers as they saw fit. The children are really drawn to a couple of sets of stacking dolls I have had for years. One is of an owl family with about 7 different sized owls that nest inside one another. The other is a smaller set of 5 nesting dolls I brought back from a trip to The Baltic's many years ago. Later in the year I will bring out the other set which is made of 15 nesting dolls. That one is still a little challenging for this early. It is pretty amazing that after all these years and so many little hands putting them together that we have not lost a piece. Everyone is so careful not to loose the little baby. Several children began to notice their family pictures on display. They were very eager to share them with their friends and carry them around the room today. During snack we enjoyed peeling our own oranges again. The children are doing such a good job working independently to peel the oranges and clean up any mess they make. A few of the kiddos liked it so much they peeled and ate two oranges! For such a young class, these kiddos have well developed gross motor skills. We enjoyed climbing and swinging. Some of the children also had fun looking for treasure to fill their treasure bags. It is amazing how many acorns, sticks, or rocks these little treasure hunters can find. At the end of playground time we buried our treasure for safe keeping until next week. We had a fun listening to the story of Adam and Eve in Chapel time. Back in the room we got down to the serious business of color mixing. We mixed some primary colored paints together to make new colors. By popular request we used our fingers to mix the paint instead of the q-tips I had prepared. After creating new colors with paint we decided to try another spin on color mixing. Each child received a clear cup of water. They were able to choose two different colored ice cubes. The ice was colored with one drop of red, blue, or yellow food coloring. Upon placing the ice in their cup the ice began to melt mixing into a new color. As an added bonus, we got to drink our colored water once our ice was melted. And if that weren't enough, we washed up and returned to the table for an introduction to pipettes. Pipettes are a wonderful science tool. We use them for all sorts of activities from art to science to sensory play. They are fairly simple for us to use but again for little hands this basic tool can be a challenge. Like scissors, the pipette requires multiple steps for it to work successfully. One needs to place the pipette into the liquid, squeeze the bulb, release the bulb while still in the liquid (creating a vacuum which sucks the liquid up the tube), lift the pipette out of the liquid, transfer it to another container, and then squeeze the liquid out of the tube. For a new learner this takes a few attempts before there is success. Overall we picked things up pretty quickly. I love the determination seen in their faces as they try and figure things out. The trays help contain any mess and define our work space. Even if we had a spill I showed the children how they could clean up their mess with the pipette. Inevitably, one child will try to simply pour the water from one glass to another without using the pipette. They are usually surprised when I tell them that is ok. Pouring, even a small amount, from one container to another is another fabulous skill for the children to learn. It wasn't long before the rest of the class caught on and tried their hands at pouring too. These activities went on for a solid 25 minutes! Everyone was so engaged. Everyone was so proud of themselves!
Next week we will welcome a new Owl to the bunch bringing our class up to 7 (I will have an updated snack rotation for you). We will also be learning all about shapes. The first of our "In House Field Trips" will take place on Wednesday, September 21. We will be meeting the Creature Guy and several of his animal friends. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Our morning began with a lot of excitement. All of the table centers in our room were new and focused on color. The kids couldn't wait to wash their hands and begin exploring. One of the children's favorite centers was this treasure chest game where they need to match the correct colored key to its colored chest to unlock it and find the treasure. It might make a great birthday gift if you're looking for ideas. I found it on Amazon here, https://a.co/d/3VEXWoC After snack we were off to the playground. We enjoyed running around, swinging, climbing, and several tried to balance on the playground borders. One child started and before I knew it many children joined in on the challenge. We returned to the room for some circle time fun. We played a color identification/sorting game which focused on the primary colors. Then, Tootsie brought a book called, Yellow vs. Blue, by Tom Sullivan. This is a fun book about which color is better, blue or yellow. In the end they discover they are better together as Green. From there we headed to the big table to try some color mixing of our own. This morning we decided to use our hands as our painting tools and finger paint. We mixed yellow and blue together as we painted, creating green! After washing up we returned to the table to try some beginner scissor skills. Scissors a a big deal for little hands. We take for granted just how simple cutting something is for us as adults. Our hands have well established muscle memory and our hand eye coordination is strong. For these children scissor success will take time and many opportunities. We began with a discussion of what is ok to cut and what is not. We also sang a little song and mimicked the scissor motions with our hands... "Open, shut them, Open, shut them, Cut, cut, cut, Cut, cut, cut, Open, Shut them, Open, shut them, Cut, Cut Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut. I then passed out the scissors and we practiced picking them up and putting our fingers in the correct holes. We sang our song again and tried to open and close the scissors. Next, we attempted to cut a single strip of paper into bits. Some were successful, some just ripped the paper, others just cut fringe and never had a complete cut. The awkward holds, upside-down fists, coordination of scissor and paper will take time to master but we will get there with many opportunities and a lot of practice. The fruits of our labor were sent home in baggies. At this point in the day we had worked up quite an appetite. Time for lunch. We washed up, retrieved our water bottles and lunch boxes and gathered to eat. The children are eager to try and open their lunch boxes on their own. I am looking forward to Friday and our first science experiment. We will be melting primary colored ice to make secondary colors. We will also work on some water transfer from one cup to another with pipettes. It is sure to be an engaging fine motor workout!
Thank you to those who sent in framed family photos. It is a nice touch of home in our room. See you Friday! Day 2 is in the books and everyone is settling in. We are learning the routines and making transitions well. We began our morning with center time. This is an uninterrupted block of time for the children to explore the centers and make choices about what they would like to do. Dramatic play, the library, block play, science center, easel, light table, sensory play, and the themed trays are open for the children to check out. At this point we are for the most part still solitary players. The children will often be in the same space but are not really interacting with one another quite yet. This is a typical play stage for a 2.5-3 year old. As the year progresses so will their play styles. Out on the playground we enjoyed checking out the various play structures. Little sparks of everyone's individual personalities are beginning to shine through. Back inside we had our first Chapel time of the year. Once a week we gather with a few other classes to sing, dance, and learn a Bible story with Mrs. Kunkel. This week we learned about the Creation Story from Genesis. We returned to the classroom for an art project. Each child was presented with their first initial. We will playfully introduce letters throughout the year. The song we sang as we passed out our letters was a simple little one that goes something like this... Kristen starts with K, Kristen starts with K, Kristen is my friend, and Kristen starts with K. The children were asked to use paint sticks (fast dry, beautiful, and vibrant) to color their initial any way they would like. They were all so proud of them when they were done. We walked them over to the bulletin board and each got to choose where they wanted their letter to hang. Our little hands got quite a workout with some play dough time. Everyone had a tray to work on to help contain the mess. There was a variety of manipulatives to choose from as well as play dough scissors. Just before lunch Tootsie brought a very special treat, Egg Shakers! We played another listening/following direction game with the shakers and some music. When the music played we could shake, shake, shake. When the music stopped, we had to freeze. Thank you for taking the time to meet this afternoon. If anyone has any questions please reach out.
Next week, we will be focusing on our colors. We will do some color mixing, introduce scissors, and pipettes. So many new experiences to look forward too. Have a wonderful, restful weekend. It is my great pleasure to work with your families this year! This blog is a wonderful forum for you to witness what your children are up to once you drop them off in the morning. I hope you spend some time each evening reviewing the day with your child. It will be a powerful resource for oral language development as they explain what we are doing in the pictures, what we learned, what games they were playing with friends, what special guest we met, or what project they painted. Our first day was a huge success! The children spent some time exploring the room and getting comfortable with our routine. I don't plan too much during our first days together because I don't want to overwhelm anyone. We read a few stories, enjoyed circle time, worked on some fine motor activities, and painted our own Owl. For our first snack together we enjoyed some rainbow goldfish crackers and cuties. Cuties are a fabulous fine motor workout for little hands and each child was able to peel their own orange. This year we will concentrate on becoming more independent. This starts with our snack and lunch time. We will work to open our own lunchboxes, retrieve our drinks from our cubbies, clean up and thrown our own trash away, and even peel our own oranges from time to time. After we cleaned up our snack it was time to go and explore the playground. Once we returned to our room, washed up, and had a drink of water, we settled into circle time. Our class puppet, Tootsie, loves to bring a bag to story time with a new book to share, musical instrument, or some special prop to engage our little owls. Today she brought rhythm sticks. Each child received a pair of rhythm sticks to use while we practiced listening and following directions. When our sticks are not in use we hold them on our knees and freeze. As we sing the song, "This is the way we tap our sticks...Rub our sticks, drum our sticks, hammer our sticks..." the children follow along and freeze at the end of each verse. I was really impressed at how well everyone listened and was eager to participate. After sitting for a bit we decided it was time to be a little creative so we headed over to the big table to work on a painting project. Each child was given a wooden owl cut out and several colors to paint their owl however they chose to. Everyone was quite pleased with their work once they finished. We continued at the table for another fine motor activity. Everyone chose the shape they wished to cover with stickers. Peeling little stickers and then placing them on the shapes outline works both the pincer fingers, necessary for proper pencil grip, and hand eye coordination. These went home in our totes to share with you. Each week the students participate in specials classes. On Wednesday we enjoy music, and on Friday it's Motor Skills. Today the children met Ms. Rachel, our music teacher. They had fun singing and dancing with her. We finished our day with lunch. Most of us were able to unzip and unpack our own lunchbox. We were curious to see what our friends were eating. We even played a little game to see what foods in our lunch made a crunching sound when we ate them. I would this first day was a smashing success! I am looking forward to all the learning through play that is in store for us. I hope you enjoy the blog's visual documentation of your little ones growth over the course of the school year.
God Bless and thank you for sharing your sweet little one with me. |
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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