Weather

This week we talked about the weather and we learned about the four seasons (although, where we live it's more like 2 seasons...)

On Monday we had fun making our own rain and thunder storm. The kids loved clapping their hands for the rain and stomping their feet for the thunder. They even had fun spinning in circles acting like tornados.

We talked about the four seasons and what makes each one different. It's hard to explain fall to kids who live in the desert! :) They were looking at me like I was crazy when I said that some trees change colors like red, yellow and oranage. I did show them some pictures of trees in the fall in New York. That seemed to help a little.

On Friday the kids made their "four seasons" craft. They had fun cutting out the leaves for the trees and choosing an apple tree or an oranage tree to decorate. We talked about blossoms and how the trees look like they have popcorn on them (like the song "popcorn popping")

There was another birthday this week...
Happy Birthday to Paytyn!

(SORRY- no pics this week...my computer won't download them right)

Have a GREAT Fall Break!

Ocean

On Monday we learned facts about a few ocean animals and then the kids made their own "ocean animal" books. The kids had fun playing with playdough and seashells. It was cool to see the different imprints that the shells would make in the playdough.

On Wednesday we talked about blue whales. To show the kids how big the whales can be, we took some rope (100 feet long) that was wound up in a ball, and we slowly unwound it. The kids were amazed at just how big those whales really are!

The kids were so cute crossing the street...

The kids practiced making letters with pom-poms. They also really enjoyed making smile faces, snakes, flowers and a parade!

We had 2 birthdays this week! Happy Birthday to Jason and Thomas!  :)
I failed to mention a birthday last week, but since it was my own daughter, I don't feel too bad...(Happy Birthday Livia!)

Friday we had fun playing in our own little ocean which included water, shells and ocean animals.

We also had a chance to watch a little of "Finding Nemo."

Fun with FROGS and FISH

Although we didn't talk too much about frogs this past week, we did have fun making up a story on Monday about Frank the Frog who loved to Fish! I started the story by saying, "once upon a time, there was a frog named Frank and he loved to fish. One day on his way to the pond he ran into a big..." then the child sitting next to me would start where I left off. All the kids had a turn to add something to our story as we went around the circle. It was really fun to hear the different silly things the kids would say, they were very creative. :)
On Wednesday we practiced naming our shapes. As items were pulled from a bag, the kids would tell me what shapes they were. Paper plate (circle), a block (rectangle), a rag (square)...etc.
 We really had a good time playing a matching shape game. The kids each wore a shape necklace and had to look around to find their matching shapes which were hidden somewhere in the room. The kids also worked on their cutting skills as they cut out the different fish shapes and glued them on the right shape.
For 'Fun Friday' we read the story "The Rainbow Fish." The kids had a great time making their very own rainbow fish. They loved cutting and crumbling the tissue paper to stuff inside it!

The kids also really enjoyed fishing for matching fish! :)  

And what better snack to have on fish day than Fish! We had tuna and fish crackers! :)

One more week with our ocean theme and then we will be moving on to our weather and seasons theme.

Ducks, Elephant, Octopus

On Monday we played for the first time "ABC Bingo." We will be playing this game a lot throughout the year, it is a great way for the kids to learn and recognize their letters. The kids had a really fun time looking for the different letters that I called out. However, we are still working on the whole concept of the game (4 in a row and you win...) so we ended up filling in the whole board. :) Some of the kids were so giddy as they became closer and closer to winning. It was really cute.

To go along with the worksheet that we did on Monday, we read a book and sang a song about "5 Little Ducks." Some of the kids already knew it, so that was fun. I would rather them sing with me than me doing a solo. :)

Okay, I have been waiting and waiting for the letter E so we could sing "The Elephant song." I am pretty sure that the kids enjoyed it as much as me. It is a really silly song about the different things that animals do.
We also had our first "flour handwriting" activity. The kids enjoyed writing letters in the flour. They also had fun drawing different pictures including a car, a boat and a happy face.

Friday was our "Octopus" Day. We learned a little bit about them and the kids each made a hand print octopus to take home. The kids even got to eat a pretend octopus. While a few of the kids were a little grossed out by the way that the hot dogs looked, the rest seemed to think it was pretty silly and had no problem gobbling them up. :)

Boden decided that he would go for the head first...

Once again, a few kids were able to pick something out of the treasure box today. Here is Thomas picking something out.

Short and Sweet

This week sure did go fast. I am sure it has something to do with the fact that there was no school on Monday. :)

On Wednesday we talked about which animals live in the ocean (water) and which animals live on land. The kids took turns pulling a stuffed animal out of a bag. They would tell me what animal it was and any facts or information they knew about the animal. We then decided where that animal lives. The kids would chose which pile to put their animal in: the pile for land animals or the pile for ocean animals.

Here are the kids during snack time. Perfect snack for the start of our "ocean unit?"  Goldfish crackers! :) The kids enjoyed swimming their fish all around.

Friday we learned all about dolphins for our "Dolphin Day." We learned that they love to jump and swim, that they can't breath under water and have to come up for air just like us, and that dolphins have belly buttons! The kids thought this was pretty silly.  :) The kids really enjoyed making their own ocean scene and adding a dolphin that can jump in and out of the water.

P.S.  Your kids have been doing a wonderful job of getting along. They work together cleaning up and are great at taking turns with toys during free time. :)

Water Week

What a FUN week we had learning all about water!
We started out by talking about what happens to water when it gets really cold and what happens to water when it gets really hot. The kids had a look at 3 different size ice cubes (green, blue and pink) and they guessed which one would melt first, second and which one would take the longest to melt. While we waited for the ice to melt, we headed over to make our bubble books. Because "how do we make bubbles?" I asked them. "Water and Soap." While making our bubble books, the kids had to name shapes, count the bubbles, and listened for rhyming words. After making our bubble books we went to check on the ice cubes and we found a rainbow! They guessed right: the green melted first, the pink second and the blue was the last one to melt.

We learned a song about Bubbles! "Bubbles Everywhere." The kids liked popping the pretend bubbles that were floating around.

The kids favorite part of the week was making bubbles with their hands. They LOVED it! :) Many of them caught on really fast with how to do it.

They also enjoyed just playing in the soapy water. :)

Wednesday we talked about who or what needs water to live. We learned that people, animals and all plants need water to survive. We also had fun guessing what objects would float in water and which would sink.

On Friday we had more fun with water. We talked about waves and how they are made. We talked about the 3 things that are part of the beach. The sand, sea shells and water. (we will be talking about the ocean animals next week.) The kids had fun making wave bottles. They were able to choose a sea shell and some glitter-sand to put into their bottles.

They had a blast playing with cups and a tub of water!

We also played a "penny drop" game. We had one large container filled with water and a little cup inside of that. The kids took turns dropping their pennies into the water. If the penny lands in the little cup...you win! No skill involved, just fun! :)

Next week we will start on our ocean animals unit.

And remember: NO school on Monday. Have a GREAT holiday weekend!

Caterpillars

It's been another great week!
Everyday the kids trace the letter of the week in their special notebooks. Today was our last day for letter C. On Fridays after the kids have traced all 3 sets of letters, they are able to choose a letter sticker to put on that page. At the end of the year, the notebook will be full of the alphabet. :)
Since it was letter C this week and we have been talking about bugs...this week was our caterpillar week. On Monday we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." We practiced counting all the different foods that the caterpillar ate. The kids practiced tracing numbers 1-5.
We did some more number fun by putting this mixed up caterpillar back in the right order.

On Wednesday we reviewed our story of the hungry caterpillar and the kids helped put the events from the story in the right order. This is a great way for the kids to practice their listening skills. Then the kids were able to make their very own "Hungry Caterpillar" book to take home. We also learned a caterpillar song similar to the "Itzy Bitzy Spider" song.

This was a very exciting week. We had 2 birthdays in one day, one in the morning class and one in the afternoon class.

Here is Madi blowing out her candle.

Here is Grayson blowing out his candle (which is behind the big Kung Fu Panda ring).

This was also a very exciting week because some of the kids filled up their sticker charts and were able to pick a treasure from the treasure box! I wish I would have had the camera out when the kids first looked inside. It was so cute, the biggest smiles I have seen! :D

We were able to watch a little of "A Bug's Life" during our snack. The kids had fun pointing out the different bugs that we have learned about over the last few weeks. I was very impressed with how many they could name!

 The kids really liked playing the bee sting game. Kind of like "hot potato." If the music stops and your holding the bee...you get stung!

Best part of 'Fun Friday?' Painting! It will not happen every Friday, but it sure is fun! The kids really enjoyed painting their caterpillars.

                          

*UPDATE*

-The kids are using the glue sticks A LOT faster than anticipated. It would be greatly appreciated if everyone could donate a few glue sticks to the classroom.

-I am still missing paint shirts from a few of you. If you could have your child bring one into class that would be great!

-If you would like to bring in a special treat for your child's birthday, you are more than welcome to. Please let me know ahead of time if you are planning on bringing something in.

-Show and Tell is very exciting for the children. However, please help them to choose ONE thing that is small enough to fit inside their preschool bag.

-If anyone ever has any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to ask! :)