Friday, October 24, 2014

Last Week's Learning - Oct. 20th - 24th

Last Week’s Highlights
October 20-24
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIAUNA!


GREY SQUIRREL
Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, swish your bushy tail.
Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, swish your bushy tail.
Wrinkle up your little nose, put a nut between your toes,
Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, swish your bushy tail.


Last week Preschool Scholars studied acorns and learned many interesting facts:
  • Acorns grow on Oak trees
  • Acorns are HARVESTED by animals in the autumn and stored for winter snacks
  • Acorns have two parts, a CAP and a NUT
  • Acorns have one edible part (the NUT)
  • Acorns have a round SPHERE shape with a point


After counting and sorting a collection of ACORNS, CHEFS prepared BALLS - ACORN ENERGY BALLS and used their vivid imaginations to transform into Squirrels, Chipmunks and Mice!
 
5 Reasons RES PRESCHOOL SCHOLARS Like To Cook!



1.  Literacy
When we cook we learn new vocabulary and reading the recipe teaches us about one of the important purposes of literacy – to gather instruction and information.  NEW WORDS: CHEF, APRON, MIXTURE, CHILL, VANILLA, FLAX SEED
      


2. Food knowledge
Cooking provides us with an opportunity to talk about different types of food and nutrition. It also encourages us to be more adventurous when it comes to trying new food! HONEY is sticky and is made by bees, VANILLA smells good and comes from a bean and SUNBUTTER is thick and comes from sunflowers!


      


3. Motor skills
STIRRING, POURING and ROLLING – all of these cooking processes provide us with an opportunity to develop physical skills – both fine (fingers, hands and coordination) and gross (arm and body) motor skills.


 




4. Mathematical concepts
Cooking provides us with hands-on math skills such as MEASUREMENT, NUMBER and SEQUENCING . First, we added dry ingredients to a bowl and then we added wet ingredients!
   



5. Self esteem
We feel a real sense of achievement when we have the opportunity to share food that we have prepared with family and friends! We hope you enjoyed our ACORN ENERGY BALLS!:)




A FAREWELL TO VERMONT’S FOLIAGE


Last week’s wind and rain storms caused most of the bright FOLIAGE to drop to the ground however, preschool ARTIST painted maple and oak leaves and later printed them to keep forever!  
  




Next Week’s Learning
Oct 27-31
AUTUMN IS A PERFECT TIME TO CELEBRATE THE CONCEPTS OF LIGHT AND DARK. Harvest moon and Jack-o-lantern ACTIVITIES WILL GUIDE MANY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS!


This week, Scholars will be creating their own HARVEST Lanterns.  Lanterns will be lit and used while reading this week’s featured book!
Lanterns will be brought home to share with families!


Featured BOOK:
Possum’s HARVEST MOON by Anne Hunter


                                  


PUMPKIN SONG
I LOOKED IN MY GARDEN, I LOOKED IN MY GARDEN,
AND WHAT DID I FIND? WHAT DID I FIND?
LITTLE SEEDS A SPROUTING, LITTLE SEEDS A SPROUTING,
ON THE PUMPKIN VINE, ON THE PUMPKIN VINE.
I LOOKED IN MY GARDEN, I LOOKED IN MY GARDEN,
AND WHAT DID I FIND? WHAT DID I FIND?
GREEN LEAVES A GROWIN, GREEN LEAVES A GROWIN,
ON THE PUMPKIN VINE, ON THE PUMPKIN VINE.
I LOOKED IN MY GARDEN,  I LOOKED IN MY GARDEN,
AND WHAT DID I FIND? WHAT DID I FIND?
YELLOW FLOWERS BLOOMING, YELLOW FLOWERS BLOOMING,
ON THE PUMPKIN VINE, ON THE PUMPKIN VINE.
I LOOKED IN MY GARDEN, I LOOKED IN MY GARDEN,
AND WHAT DID I FIND? WHAT DID I FIND?
BIG ORANGE PUMPKINS,BIG ORANGE PUMPKINS,
ON A PUMPKIN VINE, ON A PUMPKIN VINE!



Healthy Preschoolers will celebrate the beginning of a new month (November) by receiving and eating sweet, delicious, ORANGE pumpkins (tangerines).  

Friday, October 10, 2014

Last Week's Learning - October 6th - 10th

Last Week’s Highlights
October 6-10
Golden is the garden, golden is the glen
Golden, golden, golden, October’s here again!
Golden are the tree tops, golden is the sky,
Golden, golden, golden, October’s here again!
With the first month of school behind us, our young scholars have settled into their RES school life with ease. It is wonderful to see the three Rs of our preschool day: RHYTHM, ROUTINE and REGULARITY provide a sense of security and confidence to children as they transition through the day. Each day Preschoolers move between focused activities such as morning greetings and daily projects to free play time and make connections to our weekly rhythm/schedule.
Friday/Monday: MOVEMENT/MUSIC DAY
Thursday: LITERACY ACTIVITY and Quiet READING DAY!
CONTINUATION of ROUND and ROUND WE GO!
CAUSE AND EFFECT ACTIVITIES CONTINUE TO BE A BIG HIT WITH OUR PRESCHOOL SCHOLARS! LAST WEEK THE PRESCHOOLERS INVESTED AMPLE TIME IN AN ACTIVITY THAT PROVIDED OPPORTUNITIES TO MANIPULATE MATERIALS TO SEE HOW THEY WORKED!
AS A FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY TO OUR STUDY OF CIRCLES,  WE INTRODUCED A RECORD PLAYER TO  OUR CLASS OF LEARNERS. WE STARTED BY ASKING THEM TO OBSERVE THE “VERY OLD MACHINE” AND NOTICE ITS SHAPES, COLORS AND PARTS. THE OBSERVERS QUICKLY ARTICULATED PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES AND WERE QUICK TO MOVE ON TO WANTING TO KNOW HOW THE MACHINE WORKED! AFTER A QUICK EXPLANATION OF THE “ON AND OFF BUTTON” WE WERE READY TO WATCH THE LARGEST CIRCLE (THE TURNTABLE) ON THE MACHINE SPIN!
WE TOLD THE CHILDREN WE WERE GOING TO USE THE LARGE SPINNING CIRCLE TO HELP US CREATE BIG AND LITTLE CIRCLES! FIRST, WE PLACED A LARGE WHITE PAPER PLATE ON THE TURNTABLE AND TURNED THE SMALL, ON /OFF BUTTON . WE FOUND THAT THE PLATE SPUN ROUND AND ROUND! NEXT WE CHALLENGED THE CHILDREN BY ASKING, “WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF WE TOUCH THE PAPER PLATE WITH A MARKER AND TURN ON THE MACHINE?” WITH GREAT EXCITEMENT, THEY RESPONDED, “YOU WILL MAKE COLOR!” WE PROCEEDED BY USING SEVERAL BRIGHT COLORED MARKERS AND THE END RESULT WAS A BRIGHTLY COLORED PLATE COVERED WITH CIRCLES OF ALL DIFFERENT SIZES. THE ROUND DESIGN STRETCHED FROM THE CENTER TO THE OUTER EDGE OF THE PLATE.
                       
“CIRCLE INVENTORS” PAIR UP WITH A PARTNER TO CREATE THEIR OWN CIRCLE MASTERPIECE! HENRY IS THE “MACHINE OPERATOR”, AND TEO IS THE “CIRCLE INVENTOR”!
 
SUGAR AND SPICE MAKES EVERYTHING NICE
OUR RECIPE FOR APPLEsauce
1...2...an APPLE for ME and an APPLE for YOU,
3...4… let’s cut some more,
5...6...pulp turns into a soft, mushy mix
7...8...APPLEsauce is great,
9...10...let’s make it again!


REMINDERS:
It is never too early to begin practicing WINTER dressing skills at home with your child.
DRESSING SEQUENCE: PUT ON
  1. snow pants
  2. boots
  3. coat
  4. hat
  5. mittens!
PRESCHOOL IS CANCELLED on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16th and FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17th.

NEXT WEEK'S LEARNING
OCTOBER 13th -15th
Discovering Cranberries
                                           WHAT IS A BOG?
NOT A LOG, OR A FROG, (THOSE WORDS RHYME WITH BOG).
PERHAPS YOU COULD FIND A FROG SITTING ON A LOG IN A BOG!
Is it a lake, a swamp, a marsh, a farm, or just a funny sounding word someone made up?
Actually, a bog is an area of soft, wet ground,where cranberries love to grow on vines.
Cranberries are harvested from a BOG in the autumn and are a favorite round, edible fruit used in many delicious recipes.
Preparing Cranberry HARVEST BALLS
a mixture of healthy foods all rolled up...to create a nutritious snack
BOUNCING CRANBERRIES and CRANBERRY WREATHS
How does one judge a cranberry? Cranberries are judged by their color, size and their ability to bounce. That's right, Bounce! Only the firmest and freshest berries bounce and soft and bruised ones do not!
Sorting Cranberries (fresh and bruised) to create beautiful cranberry wreaths.
ACORN SONG
            I'm a little acorn round,
            Lying on the dusty ground,
            Everybody steps on me,
           I'm a little cracked you see!
             I’m a NUT, I’m a NUT, I’m a NUT,
               I’m a NUT, I’m a NUT, I’m a NUT!

Friday, October 3, 2014

Last Weeks Learning: Sept. 29th - Oct. 3rd

LAST WEEK’S LEARNING

SHARED BOOK READING:
READING BOOKS
TALKING ABOUT BOOKS
INTERACTING WITH BOOKS  

Did you know….
Research shows that reading to young children has a moderate impact on oral language and print awareness.
- National Early Literacy Panel, 2007

What is PRINT AWARENESS?
Print awareness is:
  • Recognizing that there is a front and a back to every book
  • Knowing how to hold a book correctly    
  • Turning pages one at a time from LEFT to RIGHT
  • Identifying that there are words and pictures on a page
  • Being aware that you READ from LEFT to RIGHT
  • Recognizing that you begin at the top of the page and work your way to the bottom


THIS WEEK preschool scholars become AUTHORS and ILLUSTRATORS as we created our first book!  The TITLE of our book is APPLES! We learned the following APPLE FACTS and then practiced the above PRINT AWARENESS skills by reading our books to classmates;
  • APPLES are SPHERES
  • APPLES can be RED, GREEN, or YELLOW
  • APPLES have STARS hiding inside of them
  • Yellow APPLES have a ROUND, flower BLOSSOM shaped STAR
  • RED and GREEN APPLES have pointed STARS!
YOUNG READERS PRACTICE PRINT AWARENESS SKILLS WHILE WRITING and ILLUSTRATING a book TITLED, APPLES

   

We also put our taste buds to work and sampled RED,  YELLOW and GREEN APPLES.
Scholars reported their favorite apple and graphed their choices. Yellow delicious APPLES received the most votes!

      
After reading, TEN APPLES UP ON TOP, Scholars practiced their balancing skills
as they walked the length of the RES primary wing hallway with APPLE bean bags on their heads! Flat APPLE bean bags (DISKS) are easier to balance than round shaped APPLE bean bags (SPHERES)!   
   










                                                NEXT WEEK’S LEARNING
                               OCTOBER 6-10
Highlights will include:

TEN LITTLE APPLES
TEN LITTLE APPLES HIDING IN A TREE,
FIVE FOR YOU AND FIVE FOR ME.
THERE IS ONE LITTLE WORM THAT YOU CAN’T SEE,
WHERE OH WHERE COULD THAT WORM BE?
A LITTLE SUGAR AND SPICE MAKES EVERYTHING NICE
Preparing Applesauce
1.Apples
2.Lemon Juice
3.Cinnamon
4.Honey
5.Strong Fingers for Peeling and Cutting Apples

RECORD PLAYER CIRCLE PICTURES
AN OLDIE, BUT GOODIE!
Creating Circles on a Paper Plate with Markers as the Record Player Spins
Do you know what a Record Player is?
                                                      Featured Book:
                     RED ARE the APPLES by Marc Harshman and Cheryl Ryan
                      What can you find in an autumn garden?...
                           A HARVEST of bright colors and lots to explore!
REMINDERS:
Return Parent Teacher Conference Forms ASAP. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s progress!

Send two books (one fiction and one non-fiction) to school for the month of October! Please be sure to label your child’s books with his/her name.  (Mrs. Self’s  Class)

Jack Frost is looming… please send your child to school with a warm coat for outside play each day.

Thank you for all of the generous donations! We appreciate your support in aiding us in providing active learning experiences in our preschool programs!