WINTER WISHES

   

This week Preschoolers created WINTER WISH GLOBES, drew self portraits and shared special WINTER WISHES. Prior to making a WISH… children discussed the importance of considering other people when making a WISH. We also talked about the following components of building strong relationships with others.

• Showing others’ affection
• Considering others’ feelings, desires and needs
• Expressing interest in others’ activities/projects
• Respecting others’ plans and opinions
• Providing others’ with encouragement

                                                           

We also mixed up a batch of lavender play dough, created miniature and enormous snow people and learned a new snowman song!

Once there was a snowman, a snowman, a snowman,

Once there was a snowman, that stood big and tall!

He melted and he melted, and he melted and he melted

Then he was a puddle and NO snowman at all!

Preschoolers came to the realization that making miniature snowmen is very tricky! You need just a PINCH… not an INCH of dough and rolling a PINCH of dough takes a lot of concentration! They also LOVED squishing three SPHERES of dough (a snowman) to create flat DISKS as they chanted the above rhythmic tune!

    

Mathematicians also found great success in creating various PATTERNS. After counting out ten yellow rectangle stickers, scholars placed the stickers in a tall column. A space was left in-between each four cornered shape which created a white, yellow, white, yellow pattern. Then students filled in each white space with different shapes and created very elaborate PATTERNS!

 

The next day ROBERT noticed a PATTERN while eating his slice of PIZZA!

“BITE, SPACE, BITE, SPACE!”

 

HOLIDAY CHEER

PRESCHOOL HOLIDAY CHEER

December is a month that generates a high degree of excitement and we will be off to an EXTREMELY enthusiastic start! With only three weeks until the holiday recess and the official start to winter, the Preschool and Part 2 children will be very busy planning for a very special get-together. Part of the excitement of the holiday season is the gift of GIVING and spending time with FRIENDS.

On Wednesday, December 16th students will spend time together and create a variety of gifts for loved ones. Children will rotate between four classrooms and partake in four different gift making projects. Besides the pride children gain from the making and giving of a handmade gift they will also have direct practice with numerous literacy and math skills.

In the midst of our holiday bustle and math/literacy learning, it’s important for us to leave enough time for RELAXATION. On the first day of WINTER… Tuesday, December 22nd children will curl up with peers and a cup of cocoa and watch the musical production of the SNOWMAN. We will also squeeze in a few RHYTHMIC and RHYME activities. Rhythm sticks and catchy melodies will assist us as we move, dance, hum and sing our way into the start of the holiday vacation starting on December 23rd!

Triple Decker

A TRIPLE DECKER LAYER CAKE OF A WEEK

Over the summer, I had the pleasure of reading a book written by a Richmond author, ANOTHER KIND OF HURRICANE. In this debut novel, TAMARA ELLIS SMITH introduces the reader to two very different characters—a black boy who loses his home in Hurricane Katrina and a white boy in Vermont who loses his best friend in a tragic accident. The two boys come together to find healing and peace. Throughout the story, SMITH refers to the boy’s great ideas as, TRIPLE DECKER LAYER CAKE IDEAS. The catchy phrase stuck with me and this autumn when I greeted my students I shared the phrase with them! Knowing young learners always surprise me with creative and novel ideas, I knew the expression would be contagious in our classroom!

This week, preschoolers invested hours of hard work preparing a variety of handmade items for their FAMILIES. After counting family members, preschoolers wrote stories, illustrated family portraits, prepared food, decorated THANKFUL STONES, and designed pattern napkin holders.   The word GRATITUDE was woven into all of our conversations and I was simply astounded by the investment and focus young learners exhibited when preparing gifts for their loved ones! GREAT thoughtfulness was put into each gift by recognizing a parent’s favorite color and using hearts, flowers and rainbows for decorations! Your child’s love for you exceeds a TRIPLE DECKER LAYER CAKE!

     

We ended our week together by playing the WONDER GAME… I SEE, I THINK and I WONDER.

Colored corn was introduced and the following observations and thoughts were made:

I SEE…

Yellow, red, white, purple and brown corn

Round and long corn

Wire and hair on the corn  

I THINK:

An animal bit some of the corn

It grew in the ground with things that help it grow… they are roots

Soil helped it grow

It has a pattern with lines

I WONDER:

If we boil it, if it will turn into popcorn

If people can eat it, because their kind of corn is yellow

If we put the seeds under the ground, will it grow more corn?

What kind of animal will eat the corn, will they take it to their dens when they hibernate

After we completed the WONDER GAME, we dissected the colored corn and that’s when it happened…

A TRIPLE DECKER LAYER CAKE OF AN IDEA!

 

One preschooler said, “HEY the corn cob has air pockets just like a cranberry…I bet it will float!

We instantly got out a tray and filled it with water to test out the idea! YES, a corn cob does have air pockets and it does float! The TRIPLE DECKER LAYER CAKE OF AN IDEA lead to many other great observations and ideas! Students noticed the cobs had different colors and became darker when wet. They also compared the hard corn kernels to the cranberries we strung onto wire weeks ago. The children WONDERED… when the colored corn is picked by the farmer does it have juice in it like a cranberry?

Mrs. Emery and I were unsure…the question left us all WONDERING!

Have a

                   TRIPLE DECKER LAYER CAKE OF                                   A THANKSGIVING!

Cooking in Preschool

SOCIAL STUDIES in PRESCHOOL…

OUR FAMILIES

Over the past few weeks Preschoolers have been studying their FAMILY and the world around them. Very young children are focused on their own wants and needs, but as they grow older (4 and 5 years old) they become developmentally ready to begin forming relationships with other people and exploring the world around them! Social Studies for Preschoolers begins with the child and gradually expands their awareness of the world around them and their place in it to include the immediate family, extended family, neighborhood, and community. It helps them move beyond their natural egocentricity and begin to take on the perspective of others, becoming active participants in the larger world beyond the home.”

Through discussions, drawing family portraits and reading a variety of books, Preschoolers have learned that FAMILIES look very different; however they have two things in common…

They ALL LOVE and TAKE CARE of EACH OTHER!

To honor our Preschool FAMILIES, next week preschoolers will prepare an edible treat to share with their family members. Children will be responsible for reading a recipe, following directions, preparing a festive treat and writing a heartfelt note to RELATIVES!

Have a wonderful family feast!

THANKFUL STONES

Thankful STONES

Inspired by Elizabeti’s Doll

  
   

This week, preschoolers will focus their attention on the word GRATITUDE. Working on character development with young children is an important part of our social and emotional curriculum and being appreciative is an essential character trait we want children to have. Celebrating the things you have verses focusing on what you don’t have is so important.  

 

Last week, Preschoolers listened to the book Elizabeti’s Doll, which features a young girl and her family living in Tanzania. In this story, Elizabeti wants a doll to care for, however she does not have the means to purchase one. She uses her imagination and magically turns a STONE into a doll and names the doll EVA. One day when Eva turns up lost, Elizabeti realizes just how much she loves her special doll.

 

The heartfelt story captured the Preschooler’s attention and sparked their curiosity, empathy, compassion and thankfulness for the many people in their lives! To celebrate the people and possessions that Preschoolers cherish, they will create Thankful Stones. The stones will serve as a visual reminder to be grateful for what they do have instead of focusing their attention on what they don’t have. A collection of colorful stones marked with family member’s first name initials will accompany your child home at the end of the week. Our hope is that the bright gems can be placed on your Thanksgiving feast table and will represent your child’s GRATITUDE for YOU!

 

Pussy Willows in Preschool!

PUSSY WILLOWS

  

Close your eyes and do not peek

And I'll rub spring across your cheek.

Smooth as satin, soft and sleek.

Close your eyes and do not peek.  Aileen Fisher

If you venture into the woods hunting for signs of spring, effortlessly one can find fury catkins dotting the tips of willow branches. Catkins resemble bunny tails and are known to be spring's earliest harbinger. As weeks pass, the soft buds transform into bright green leaves, which reside on branches of a willow plant throughout the summer months.

                                    

Last week a bouquet, of pussy willow branches greeted preschoolers as they returned to school from spring recess. After observing and touching the soft buds, students predicted how many days it will take for soft catkins to transform into green leaves?

Students were also involved in the following sensory activities:

          

Station 1 - Students altered catkins by applying pastel chalk dust to buds with a dry paintbrush. They resulted in bright and beautiful bouquets.

Students also created coil vases to be used as vessels for the bouquets.

Station 3 – Students painted lines to represent branches and then attached catkins using their fingerprint and grey paint.

Last Week's Learning April 2015

 

 

 

 

BAA BAA BROWN SHEEP,

HAVE YOU ANY WOOL?

YES SIR, YES SIR, THREE BAGS FULL!

ONE FOR MY MASTER AND FOR THE DANE

AND ONE FOR THE PRESCHOOLER’S NEST THAT LIVES DOWN THE LANE!

Last week preschoolers learned about the art of FELTING and transformed brown wool fleece into robin’s nests. Using liquid soap, hot water, wool fleece, a plastic egg and strong preschool hands, scholars magically manipulated wool roving into a hollow egg shape.    

            

After the wool dried, the egg shape was cut in half and students were surprised to find they had created two robin’s nest!  

After reading THE CARROT SEED by Ruth Krauss, Preschool Scholars were curious and experimented with ROOT VEGETABLE SEEDS and

ABOVE the GROUND VEGETABLE SEEDS!

They planted seeds in miniature GREENHOUSES, watered the seeds and placed them in the SUNLIGHT!

Which seeds will GERMINATE FIRST, CARROT SEEDS or PEA SEEDS?

Our PREDICTIONS;

13 scholars predict CARROT SEEDS will GERMINATE first and 14 scholars believe PEA SEEDS will SPROUT first!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

 PRESCHOOLERS ALSO DREW ROOT VEGETABLE DIAGRAMS.

Can you locate the ORANGE edible ROOTS, and the GREEN stems? We also added WORMS, NIMBUS CLOUDS, the SUN, and RAIN!

Last Week's Learning March 23rd-27th

Water Travels in a Circle

Water travels in a circle… YES it does,

Water travels in a circle… Yes it does!

Water goes up with evaporation,

Then it makes condensation, and comes down in precipitation,

Yes it does! (Sung by Ethan Mitchell)

Last week’s sunny, cloudy, windy and rainy weather assisted Ethan Mitchell with real life experiences and proved the above lyrics to be true after he introduced the rhythmic tune to peers!  Vermont’s fickle springtime weather is perfect for investigating the WATER CYCLE and CUMULUS and NIMBUS CLOUDS! Miraculously a large, puffy CUMULUS CLOUD floated into the classroom meeting space and introduced itself to scholars using a first and last name; CUMULUS CLOUD. As pretend water droplets (student’s bodies) evaporated and were absorbed into the large and puffy

cloud it turned dark and grew in size to form a NIMBUS CLOUD and raindrops!

  

Students transform into water droplets and gather to form a NIMBUS CLOUD!

A PRESCHOOL CLOUD FACT:

• Clouds fill up with water and when the cloud is filled with water, it becomes heavy and the water falls to the ground.

Cloud Watchers also performed the following 3 experiments;

Experiment 1

• Shape a cotton ball into a cumulus "cloud" shape.
• Using an eyedropper, drop rain water onto the cotton ball (cumulus cloud). Continue dropping drops until it starts to "rain" from the "cloud."
• Add more water via the eyedropper until more "rain" falls onto a paper towel.

Experiment 2

• Fill a balloon with air to make it puffy and light (a cumulus cloud)
• Fill a balloon with water to make it big and heavy (a nimbus cloud)   

RAFI compares the weight and size of a CUMULUS and NIMBUS CLOUD

Experiment 3

• Fill a transparent cup half full of water and add shaving cream to form a cumulus cloud.
• Begin to add water drops to the cumulus cloud until it transforms into a nimbus cloud
• Observe raindrops below the nimbus cloud as they fall

 

Mathematicians also used cloud dough to shape and count raindrops. As more rain drops were created and were ADDED onto cumulus clouds… heavy nimbus clouds appeared!

  

After reading Eric Carl’s book, Little Cloud and Charles Shaw’s story, It Looked Like Spilt Milk, writers authored a page and illustrated CLOUD SHAPES!