Camping in the fall

Monday was Halloween so we enjoyed a very sweet start to the week.  Our families were able to enjoy trick or treating with us around the school and then we all headed back to the classroom to enjoy the great treats brought by our preschoolers and their parents.

Enjoy the pictures we snapped while taking on our trick or treating adventure as well as a few snapshots of the party.

By Wednesday we were ready to talk about something new and with the changing of the seasons it seemed fitting to talk about camping and taking a few last trips outdoors before winter kicks in.  We enjoyed a Star of the Week presentation then began talking about things we might bring with us if we were to go on a camping trip.  

We practiced writing down some of the words we discussed on paper and what letters made up those words.  Our prechoolers are really doing better with tracing letters! By tracing letters we are also learning the names of letters but don't be surprised if sometimes you see lines and shapes coming home instead.  The children use the same muscles when they draw anything as they do when they write so any work with do with a writing utensil is going to work those little muscles.

We started a science experiment with pine cones you can do at home this fall.  We brought in a few pine cones and placed one in a jar with ice water and one in a jar with hot water and left one out on the table for comparison.  After about 30 minutes we checked out the condition of the pine cones and they CHANGE!  One water opens the pine cones scales and one closes the scales.  It is awesome!

While our pine cones were in their jars changing, we did a little math with ladybugs.  The children were given green sticks with numbers written on them, then they needed to read the number then place the correct amount of ladybugs on their stick.

We played a game on the iPads called Camping vacation this week which was loved by the children and their teachers.  Any time we have an app the children have the chance to work alone or with a friend or a teacher on building vocabulary skills and more.  Always remember that technology for children, when appropriate, has a lot of learning merit.  Using it to help engage children in topics we are talking about in school helps excite them with what they are learning.

What is coming up?
This coming week we will be talking about sports and what a great time of year for that as the Cubs have won big as of late!  

Don't forget the week of November 20th will be a week off of preschool for the Thanksgiving holiday.