Getting ready for tomorrow...

Group Meeting:  Today was our final regular class day.  I encouraged the children to play in all of the areas one last time including the art table.  I explained our schedule for tomorrow so that the children would know what to expect.

Story:  I know that many of you may be planning a summer vacation, so I read Twas the Night Before Summer Vacation.  In this story, a family is preparing to go on a camping trip.  They begin to pack the night before including all of the things that they think they will need.  The car is crammed full.  As the family pulls out of the driveway, a child asks, "are we there yet?"  

Small Group:  The children were measured for their "graduation" hats.  They will wear them tomorrow during the program.

Large Group:  The children practiced the program for tomorrow.  Then, we went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The morning class had Go-gurt and juice brought by Mason W.  The afternoon class had Cheddar Chickadees and juice brought by Mason D.  Thank you!

I am hoping that the rain holds off long enough for both parties tomorrow.  We noticed that it was quite buggy outside today.  I would suggest sunscreen and bug spray.  I'm looking forward to a fun day.

Summers coming...so are the ants.

Group Meeting:  The children discussed things that they saw on our field trip.  They seemed to enjoy climbing inside of the helicopter the best.  I want to thank all of the parents and grandparents who were able to take us on this trip.  It interesting for the children and adults.

Story:  The story I read today was The Ants Go Marching One by One.  This is a story version of the song by the same title.  It has lots of rhyming words and repeating phrases that the children enjoy.  This story also went along with our snack for today.

Small Group:  The children practiced the Last Day Program.  We learned a new song to sing and brushed up on a few of the old.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  Today was Summer Birthday Day.  We celebrated the birthdays that will take place in June, July, and August.  The snack that the children prepared was Ants on a Log.  The children spread peanut butter or cheese onto a piece of celery and added raisins as ants.  When we were outside, we noticed quite a few ants (real ones) on our new play house.

I shared a "duck" story with the afternoon class today and one of the children asked me to put it on the blog so that her parents could read it, so here it goes...  I have a pen of five ducks that I have raised as pets.  Occasionally, we have had predators try to get into the duck pen.  Over the weekend, I noticed that something had scratched a small hole on one end of the pen.  I asked Mr. Christiansen to put out the trap to see if we could catch whatever was trying to get into the pen.  We have had to do this before and usually catch skunks.  However, on Wednesday morning, Mr. Christiansen found a raccoon in the trap.  The raccoon was not very happy.  After school on Wednesday, we took the raccoon for a long ride and left him near a farm creek where I'm hoping he will make a new home and not hitch hike back to our house.  We'll set the trap again tonight to see if he had any friends or relatives!

Preparing for our Field Trip

Group Meeting:  The children prepared for our trip to the National Guard tomorrow.  I told the children a few facts about what we would be seeing.  We also discussed good manners and how to ask questions.  I think we are ready!

Story:  To prepare for our trip, I went to the library and checked out three books.  One was The National Guard.  The other two were both titled Helicopters.  Both of these books had a lot of information to help us prepare for our trip tomorrow.  We read a few pages from each book.

Small Group:  In the morning, Lucie's dad came to visit.  He has an electronic keyboard that makes wonderful music as well as some really cool sounds.  He explained to the children that a keyboard is easy to carry around so that you can make music without having to move around a piano or organ.  This keyboard could also make the sounds of thunder, trains, footsteps, and a few others.  The children each had a turn to make some sounds.
In the afternoon, the children counted M&Ms.  Each child was given a fun size bag of M&Ms.  They had to sort them by color and determine how many they had of each.  We compared and found that no two bags of M&Ms are the same.

Large Group:  The children practiced their last day songs and then headed out to the Outdoor Classroom.  Mrs. Hoogheem and I put the playhouse together with some help from Mr. Hoogheem.  The children enjoyed playing in it, but also enjoyed playing in the empty cardboard boxes!

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese crackers and juice brought by Lucy.  Thank you!   In the afternoon, the scheduled snack person was absent.  Because I knew this ahead of time, I told the children that I would bring the snack and asked for suggestions.  Many of them suggested macaroni and cheese.  I laughed at first, but then thought that there aught to be a way to make that work.  I went to Hy-Vee and bought a pan of frozen macaroni and cheese, popped it in the oven and had it for snack!  These children can think and make me think outside of the box!

What is your favorite thing about preschool?

Group Meeting:  The children and I talked about many of the things that we have done at preschool this year.  I asked them to think of one thing that was their favorite.  During small group, they will draw a picture of their favorite thing.  We also started a countdown to the last day.  I drew 6 stars on the board.  We will erase one each day.

Story:  The story I selected for today was An Annoying ABC.   The children and I talked about what it means to be annoying.  I told them that the ABC's were in the book, but that they would have to find them. In the story, all of the children's names are printed in alphabetical order.  Adelaide annoyed Blair, Blair bothered Clive, Clive chased David, etc.  At the end of the story, all of the children apologized to their friends.  

Small Group:  I gave the children paper and crayons and asked them to draw a favorite thing about preschool.  Everyone drew a picture and printed the words to describe what they had drawn.  These pictures will be placed in the hallway for everyone to see.

Large Group:   The children will be performing a program for the grown-ups on the last day of school.  We practiced it today.  It is called "We Know Our Stuff".

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks and juice brought by Logan.  The afternoon class had fruit bars and milk brought by Leah Z.  Thank you!

Piggies!

Group Meeting:  Today, we are celebrating the May birthdays.  We will be making the snack for the day.  A while back, we read the Three Little Pigs.  We reviewed it yesterday because we will be making Pigs in a Blanket today!

Story:  I read the story The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.  This story if very similar to the Three Little Pigs, with a twist.  This time, it's the pig who is big and bad.  He chases the wolves out of three houses.  How can the wolves be safe from the pig?  What kind of house did they build?  What happened at the end?

Small Group:  The children made Pigs in a Blanket for snack time.  The pig was a hot dog.  The blanket was biscuit dough.  The children flattened the dough and wrapped it around the hot dog.  We put them in the oven. 

Large Group:  The morning class went to the Outdoor Classroom.  By the afternoon, it was raining.  We stayed inside and did a music action song.

Snacks:  We ate our Pigs in a Blanket and Birthday Brownies!

I was absent yesterday and did not post.  However, the afternoon class had a special visitor.  Lucy's dad came to share his musical talent with the class.  He plays the guitar in his band "Wild Oats".  He brought his guitar, drums and recording equipment with him.  The children had the opportunity to strum the guitar and play the drums.  They also sang and recorded songs.  I am attaching a video that was taken.  I hope it will work!

A Time to Say Thank You

Group Meeting:  The countdown has begun to the last day of school.  During group meeting today, I asked the children if we should send thank you notes to any grown-ups who helped us during the school year.  We made a list of places that we visited and people who came into the classroom to help.  The children will make a thank you card during small group time.

Story:  One of my favorite stories is Caps for Sale.   In this story, a peddler is selling caps.  He carries them through town balancing them on his head.  When he can't find anyone to buy a cap, he decides to go out into the country to rest.  He sits down under a tree and falls asleep.  When he wakes up, his caps are missing.  Where did they go?  How will he get them back?  Ask your child to tell you!

Small Group:  The children printed their name on a thank you card that we will send to grown-ups who were helpful to us throughout the year.  Some of the children wanted to draw little pictures as well.  

Large Group:  The children were divided into two teams to play a game.  Mrs. Hoogheem and I distributed little cubes all throughout the classroom.  When we said go, the children were to pick up the cubes and put them into their team's circle.  However, they could only pick up one cube to bring to the circle at a time.  When all the cubes were gathered, we counted to see how many were in each circle.  

Snacks:  The morning class had crackers and juice brought by Addisyn.  The afternoon group had Go-gurt and juice brought by Lucy.  Thank you!

Chicka, Chicka, BOOM, BOOM

Group Meeting:  Over the weekend, the green bean seeds really grew!  We took a few minutes at group meeting time to look at the stems and leaves that were growing.  Some of the seeds are still getting roots.  If that case,  I have told the children to try to hang them in a window a little longer before putting them outside.  We also took another look at the May calendar.  The days are winding down and we have several events coming up.

Story:  When the children sat down on the rug today, they noticed that the coconut tree that we had been putting our letters on had fallen down.  I asked them to think about why that had happened.  Then someone remembered the story Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom.  In this story, the letters climb to the top of the tree, but when all of the letters get to the top, the tree topples over.  We got the book out and read it again.  What will happen to our tree next?

Small Group:  After looking at our green bean seeds, we completed our Green Bean Book.  The children  are bring the books and their seeds home today.

Large Group:  The children played in the Outdoor Classroom.  We were able to add water and water painting today.  The new play house has arrived.  We are still looking over the directions.  We may need some help, stay tuned!  

Snacks:  The morning class had apples, peanut butter and milk provided by Addison.  However, Addison was ill today.  Get well soon!  The afternoon class had Cheese Nips, apples, and juice brought by Jameson.  Thank you!