We are WILD for Preschool!

Pirate Pete Preschool was filled with animals this week as we learned all about animals from all over the world and why they live where they live as well as what they eat and do.  After hearing from our last Star of the Week for the semester we sorted animal toys into places that represented where they might live, where it is hot, cold, wet, etc.

 Later we built animals out of geometrical shapes during some math lessons.  We also used various animals to create patterns of color as well as animal type and then rotated between all of these stations.

 The children threw on their smocks later and painted pictures of their favorite animals.  Remember that their painting skills will improve with time and the practice of the process of painting.  If you cannot rightfully tell what image your child painted that is age appropriate for most children in this age group.

 We went fishing this week as a station as well and practiced our hand-eye coordination at the tables trying to catch fish with our magnetic fishing poles.

After we went fishing we noticed there were a lot of dirty animals in our make believe zoo and we needed to be good zookeepers and get them clean again.  So we gave our toy animals baths and made sure they were clean enough to be back in our classroom.

 We made plenty of animals this week from mixing colored paint in a baggie to change a chameleon's colors to threading string to make jellyfish to cutting the spikes on a hedgehog the children were very busy this week creating various animals and learning about their defining characteristics.

 We put together a number puzzle the teachers created with images of Nemo and the children were given number clues by using math to put the puzzle together.  As they lined up the numbers in order from left to right they saw the image of Nemo appear on their paper.  

This is an easy game to recreate at home with some of their favorite images too.  The children can help you this winter break by coloring a picture and then you cutting it into strips and writing numbers across the bottom.

 We got fit this week practicing animal yoga and learning a few yoga poses that go by animal names.  The children spun a dial that showed various images of animals and then the teachers demonstrated how to create the poses with our bodies.  We were butterflies, flamingoes, dogs and cows to name a few.

We heard a lot of wonderful books this week, as always.  Many were about a variety of animals and their habitats and what they are known for doing.

We worked on some raccoon sorting this week by placing the correct numbered raccoons in the correct order of sequence.  

What's Coming Up?

We have one week left of preschool ending with our holiday party on Friday, December 15th.  We will have a special guest from the North Pole so if you have not sent in your RSVP please do so soon so the big guy can make sure he has enough toys to pass out to everyone.

The last two days of preschool will be sent talking about winter holidays like Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanza.  We will be making decorations for our classroom to display the day of our party as well.

Seasons Greetings!

This week we have had a great time learning about the different between seasons and weather.  We have been learning that snow and rain and heat are types of weather but winter, spring, summer and fall are seasons.  We have been learning how to sort these two concepts through lots and lots of repetition this week and have been so excited to see how many more children were able to answer our closing circle questions correctly by Friday.

After seeing our great Star of the Week presentation this week we had the children add leaves to trees to help them understand the falling leaves concept of fall.  We also learned the big word for fall; autumn. 

After we worked on these autumn leaf trees we had a snow ball fight, which happened quite a lot this week.  We made our own snow balls out of paper and then had a great time throwing them around the room.

We recognized the letters in each season's word by matching small items with letter written on them onto the words printed onto a page.  The children were given clues by having all the letters with the words of each season in the same color and shape. 

After letter sorting to make words of the seasons, we did some snow math by reading a number written by a mitten and then gluing sparkles down on that mitten to represent snowflakes in that amount to work on learning what amount each numeral represents.  We did this same activity later in the week but made mittens more fuzzy with pom pons and hung them up in the room for our holiday party.

We switched seasons to summer later on and built a tree scene complete with green grass, a yellow sun and green leaved branches.

By Wednesday we worked back around to fall and used Q-Tips to place leaves falling around a tree again to see if we remembered the word that went with fall; autumn.

The children enjoyed jumping in puddles as they went around the room for spring jumping with one foot or two feet.  After we jumped in puddles we made the rain storm come back into town again using the rhythm sticks at the circle.

We read a book about autumn leaves falling and then used real leaves to paint them and make silhouettes of leaves on paper.  Some of the children painted their leaves while others painted all over their paper to make silhouettes on the page.  

Later in the week we planted a wall garden in our preschool room using beans, cotton balls and paper towels.  We got the cotton balls a little damp and then places them with the beans and paper towels in a baggie and then hung them on our wall in the room.  We will be watching these seeds grow for the rest of the semester.

 We worked on reading and phonics this week as we helped our teachers sound out words on a page then colored each leaf on the page whichever color was listed on the page.  This will help the children with word recognition as they tell someone at home the color they see and at the same time are able to notice the word that matches that color.

This spring we made rain storms inside jars with water color paints and shaving cream for clouds on top of water that was in a jar.  This activity is always magical and the teachers and students alike enjoy watching it.

 Our winter wonderland came back in full force on Friday when our students worked on throwing snowballs in to buckets and eventually had another snowball fight with the teachers.  We also worked on our balance by staying on the lines of a snowflake that appeared on our floor.  The children walked carefully and slowly across the lines to improve their balance.

After snowflake balance time, we knocked down towers of snowmen with a ball to work on our hand-eye coordination.  

Also on Friday we made snowstorms in a bottle with winter colored beads and snow colored glitter for a little extra magic.  We added tape to the top of the water bottles but people at home might still want to make sure it is in place.

Be on the look out for the holiday party invitations to be coming home on Monday next week.  The reminder about the date and time of the party will be at the bottom of this blog post in the What's Coming Up Section.  Please keep in mind we always like to make sure Santa knows how many children will be in attendance so he doesn't forget anyone the day of the party when he comes to say hello and bring a special something for every good little girl and boy in our classroom.

As stated above this week we did a lot of repetition with concepts to help the children learn the difference between seasons and weather.  As we finished up the week we make it rain one more time in jars and then made rainbows appear with fruit loops on paper.  

At closing circle we reviewed what season snow appears and what season we wear flip flops and go to the pool.  The children really are catching on to these words and we will continue to review this with our Today Board each day as we talk about the season we are in and the weather that is outside that particular day.

What's Coming Up?

• This coming week we will be learning about animals from all parts of the world, what the weather is like there and why they are able to live where they do.
  
• Friday, December 15th will be our Holiday Party from 9:30 - 11:15 AM.  Invitations will be going home this coming week.
  
• The last day of preschool will be the 15th of December and we will resume class again January 22nd.
  
• There are still a few people who have not paid for next semester yet.  Please note that we do have a waiting list and if we do not hear from you or get payment from you this coming week we will start working through our waiting list to find someone else for next semester.