A Tree Study

Group Meeting:  We are exploring the idea of doing a tree study.  The children have certainly been interested in what is happening to the trees in our Outdoor Classroom.  Today, we noticed that some of the leaves on the Tulip tree are turning yellow.   We will be adding a few tree activities to our daily plans and see what happens!

Story:  A Tree Named Steve is the story of a family who decides to build a house on a wooded lot.  Before the construction crew tears out all of the trees, the children pick one tree that they would like to save.  They name it Steve.  Over the years, Steve is a good friend which provides shade, a place to tie the clothesline, a holder for a jump rope, a place to hang a swing, and just a nice place to be.  However, something happens to Steve.  Ask your child to tell you what happens.

Small Group:  I had five bags with counters (buttons, links, pennies, plastic triangles, and glass beads) in them.  Each bag had a different amount.  I asked the children to help me decide which bag had the most items in it.  We counted them and lined them up to see which bag had the most.  My objective was to work on vocabulary and math skills using the words more of, less than, equal, the most, and the least.

Large Group:  We played Leaping Sounds.  I would make a letter sound.  If a child's name began with that sound, they were supposed to "leap up".  
We also spent a few minutes in our Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The morning class had Ritz crackers and juice brought by Addisyn.  The afternoon class had grapes, cheese, and juice brought by Jameson.  Thank you!

Wet, Dry, Try

Group Meeting:  Our message board is working very well.  The children are starting to look at the message board as soon as they sit down for our meeting time to see if they can read it without my help.  We put lots of picture clues on it to give them a good start.

Story:  Crazy Pizza Day is a book that is a guessing game.  In the book, it is "Crazy Pizza Day" at the local pizzeria.   Pages in the book show the pizza makers creating a pizza that is a little unusual.  You have to guess who would eat that pizza.  For example, one page shows them putting jewels, pearls, and crackers on a pizza.  It's for a pirate (crackers are for the parrot).  Another pizza has nuts, bolts, and oil on it.  It's for a robot.  Ask you child to name another kind of pizza and who it was for.

Small Group:  Today we learned how to do Wet, Dry, Try which is part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  The children are given a small chalkboard on which the letter of the week is written.  This week it is the letter L.  They take a small sponge square that is wet and use it to erase the letter L.  Then, they dry it.  Finally, they try to make the letter with chalk.  

Large Group:  We went to the Outdoor Classroom.  On Monday, we will begin a new study.  It will be about trees.  The children have shown interest in the things that have been falling off of the trees in the outdoor classroom.  We have collected pine cones, acorns, and seeds.  I will send home information about the study on Monday. 

Snacks:  The morning class had bagels, cream cheese, and juice brought by Addison.  The afternoon class had Goldfish and juice brought by Noah.  Thank you!

Where Do You Start Your Letters?

Group Meeting:  We have been learning about the letter L this week.  But before we began to print letters, we need to know where to start.  We have learned the song "Where Do You Start Your Letters?"  The answer is "at the top".   The children are taught to make letters starting at the top.  To remind them, we put a smiley face at the top of the paper to help them remember where they should begin.  We teach the children to start from top to bottom because most letters are printed and written in this fashion.  If they are still teaching cursive when your child is in elementary (some schools are considering dropping it), this will be helpful.

Story:  We read Too Many Tamales.  It is Christmas time in this story.  Maria is helping her mother make tamales for the dinner that they will be having when their family visits.  While they are mixing the dough with their hands, Mother puts down her diamond ring.  When Mother is called away to answer the phone, Maria puts the ring on.  After the company arrives, Maria realizes that the ring is no longer on her finger.  Ask your child to tell you where Maria thinks the ring is.   Is Maria right?  Where was the ring?

Small Group:  We added our names to our pages for our circle book.  Some children are able to print the letters and some are just starting out.  We will work with each child giving them the help that they need.

Large Group:  While we were in the Outdoor Classroom this morning, we noticed that a spider had spun a web between the fence and our water table.   It was a big spider and a big web.  It was fun to watch him crawl between a bug that had gotten caught in the web and the edge of the water table.  However, this afternoon, the web had gotten bumped and had collapsed.  Now, we can't wait to see if the spider will build a new web. 

Snacks:  The morning class had Go-gurt and juice brought by Dawson.  The afternoon class had Goldfish, bananas, and juice brought by Wyatt.  Thank you!

Picture Day

Group Time:  Our message board reminded us that today was picture day.  The children took turns getting their pictures taken in the "picture bus" with Mrs. Lehenbauer as an escort.  The message board also told us that tonight is Family Night.  Everyone is welcome to attend between 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Story:  Our story today was Hooray, It's a Pinata.  This story is about Clara who is planning her birthday party.  She wants to have a pinata.  At the party store, she selects a dog shaped pinata.  As the days pass getting ready for the party, she becomes very attached to the dog, taking it for walks, pretending to feed it, and brushing it.  She realizes that she isn't going to want the children to break it.  Her close friend, Samson, notices that she is upset.  He decides to buy her another pinata for a her party so that she can keep the dog pinata.  After the story, we talked about friendships and how nice it was for Samson to buy a new pinata for Clara.

Small Group:  Yesterday, we talked about circles and how we can make pictures using circles.  Today, the children selected a circle to glue on to a piece of paper.  They used crayons to make the circle into a picture.  We will use these pictures to make a circle book.

Large Group:  We played Follow the Leader with a partner.  The children selected partners and took turns being the leader.  The person following had to do everything that the leader did.  Then, they traded places.

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese crackers, marsh mellows, and milk brought by Grace.   The afternoon class had cheese sticks, club crackers, and juice brought by Leigha. 

Message Board

Group Meeting:  From now on, we are going to be using a message board to help us plan our day.  On our message board, we will note who is absent,  the king/queen of the day, changes to play areas, and special events. 

Story:   We read The Gingerbread Man.  This is the classic story of the old man and woman who decide to bake a gingerbread cookie.  However, when the Gingerbread Man is done, he escapes and many characters chase after him trying to catch him and eat him.  Ask you child to tell you how this story ends.

Small Group:  We are going to be making a class book.  Each child will make a page for the book.  Our book is going to be about circles.  Today, we looked around the room to see if there were any items in our classroom that were the shape of a circle.  We found the clock, wheels on a truck, the speakers in the ceiling, a balloon picture on the wall, buttons on a shirt, and several other items.  Next, I showed the class some construction paper circles that I had.  I glued one onto a piece of paper and asked them to give me ideas of what I could do to make that circle into something.  They suggested making the yellow circle into a sun, the orange circle into a basketball, and the pink circle into a pigs head.  We discussed many more ideas.  Tomorrow, each child will select a circle and decide what they can do with a circle. 

Large Group:  We are learning about the letter L this week.  I demonstrated how to make a letter L with a big line and a little line.  Then, I showed them how to make it on the chalk board.  We learned the L song.  A copy of the song is in your child's backpack.

Art:  We have added two new items to the art table.  We have "koosh rings" to use instead of paint brushes.  We also have blue play dough.

Snacks:  The morning class had rice krispie treats and juice brought by Riley.  The afternoon class had graham crackers, strawberries and juice brought by Kadence.  Thank you!

Tomorrow is picture day.  Tomorrow night is Family Night!

The Ant, the Bug and the Bee and Cinnamon Biscuits

Group Meeting:  We looked at a few more family pictures today.  We still need a couple more.  If you have not sent a picture yet, we would really like to have one. 
It was Birthday Day.  We congratulated Addison Meyer, Hudson Harvey, and Aidan Kwak in the morning class and Lana McCoy in the afternoon class.

Story:  We read Neighborhood Song.  This is a picture book about what people do in the neighborhood.  It is written as a song using the melody from "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush".  We learned that people in the neighborhood play together, take care of each other, shop, go to school, work, and celebrate together.

Small Group:  Birthday Day is cooking day.  We made Cinnamon Biscuits.  We took refrigerated biscuit dough (in the pop open tubes) and dipped them in butter and cinnamon sugar.  Then we baked them in the oven.  Yum!

Large Group:  We learned the song "The Ant, the Bug and the Bee".  This helps us learn how to make lines up, down, and around.  Then, we completed the workbook page in our HWT books.  We had to color the ants black, the bugs red, and the bees yellow.  Then we made them climb up and down the page with our crayons.

Snacks:  We enjoyed our Cinnamon Biscuits.  Then we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate Birthday Brownies.

The children have permission forms in their backpacks for the upcoming field trip to the Shady Knoll.

Group Meeting:  We had a few more family pictures come in today, so we took a few minutes to look at them and learn about the family members.  We decided to start a "discovery table" today.  We have noticed a few things falling from the trees in the play yard such as acorns, pine cones, and tulip tree cones (not sure that's what they're called).  We also had a student bring in some leaves that are changing colors.  Mrs. Myers found a yellow feather in the yard.  A student brought in some jalapenos from her garden to go with the story from Monday.  All of these things were placed on a table along with magnifying glasses.  The children are encouraged to bring in things that they find outdoors that are interesting.

Story:  We read Papi, How Many Stars are in the Sky?  This is the story of a grandfather who loves to tell stories to his grandchildren.  One night, they are sitting on the front porch looking at all of the stars.  He asks them to guess how many stars are in the sky.  The children try to count them, but there are too many to count.  He tells that that the stars represent all of the children of the world.  He tells  them that they can do as many wonderful things as there are stars in the sky.  Then they ask again, "how many stars?"   Ask your child to tell you how many stars grandfather thinks are in the sky.   Hint: Buzz Lightyear would stay this word. 

Small Group:  We colored fireworks in our workbooks today.  We are practicing making lines back and forth, up and down.

Large Group:  We sang a new song to help us learn about letters and the sounds they make.  It's call Lettercise.  We punch our right arm out to say the letter and then our left arm to say the sound.  We do a few exercises in between letter sets.  At the end, we all dance around like Rocky.

Snacks:  The morning class had Goldfish, cheese, and juice brought by Aidan.  The afternoon class had animal crackers, cheese, and juice brought by Lily.  Thank you!

There's a Dog in the School

Group Meeting:  Yesterday, your child received a note asking for a family picture to be brought to school.  Today, a few children brought their pictures.  They told us a few things about their family and showed the picture to us.  We will do this all week until we have a picture of everyone.  Thank you!

Story:  We reread the story Peeny Butter Fudge  from last week.   Before we started, I asked the children to help me make a list of everything that the children did with their Nana.  Then we read the story.  Afterwards, we added the things to the list that we had forgotten.

Small Group:  We are learning how to hold the crayon correctly and color a small area.  We colored stars and fireflies in our HWT workbook.

Large Group:  We played a game called "Freeze".  I scattered letters of the alphabet on the floor.  When music played, the children were asked to dance around the letters.  When the music stopped, they were to freeze.  If they knew the letter that they were next to, they were to name it.  If they didn't know the letter, we identified it for them.  Next week, we will begin to learn about the letters of the alphabet. 

We also learned the song "There's a Dog in the School".  Ask your child to tell you about it.

Art:  As some of you probably can tell, we have added beads and plastic lacing to the art table.   We have also switched the paint to gold, silver, yellow, and orange.

Snacks:  The morning class had pretzels, cheese, and juice brought by Payton.  The afternoon class had yogurt and juice brought by Allison.  Thank you!

Time and Schedules

Group Meeting:  We recited the nursery rhyme "Hickory, Dickory Dock".  We discussed that grownups use clocks to keep track of what is happening every day.  They use the clock to get us to school on time and pick us up.  They use a clock to tell us when to go to bed and when to get up.  I explained that we follow a schedule at school and use the clock to let us know when it's time to do the next activity.  We will be making a picture schedule together this week.

Story:  Jalapeno Bagels is the story of a boy, Pablo, who is to bring something from home to school to teach his classmates about his family.  His family owns a bakery.  His mother is Hispanic and likes to make pan dulce, chango bars and empanadas de calabaza.  His father is Jewish and likes to make bagels and challah.  Together, they make jalapeno bagels which represents both parts of his family.  I'm not sure the children understood everything about this story, but it was a good way to introduce some new words and ideas.

Small Group:  Our activity was a bean bag toss.  The children took turns throwing bean bags  with the goal being to get them into a bucket.  I used this activity to introduce and emphasis the positional words of in, next to, behind, in front of, and beside.

Large Group:  I drew a picture of Mat Man on the chalkboard, but left off some of his body parts.  The children took turns drawing on what I had forgotten.  Then, we introduced them to their workbooks.  The Handwriting Without Tears workbooks are used to give the children an introduction to drawing, coloring, and printing.  The page we did today was completing a picture of Mat Man.

Snacks:  The morning class had Go-gurt and juice brought by Parker.  The afternoon class had crackers, strawberries and milk brought by Campbell.  Thank you!

A Day of Review

Group Meeting:  I used my hands to clap a rhythm for the children to imitate.  Then we talked about things that our hands can do at school such as play with toys, paint pictures, eat snacks, help friends, etc.  Then I asked to them tell me something that they cannot do with their hands at school.  They told me that hands cannot hit, pinch, push, pull hair, or destroy someones project or creation.

Story:  We reread the story Charlie Anderson.  This was the story that we read on Monday about the cat who had two homes.  I will reread stories occasionally.  The children see the story in a different light when they know how it ends.  They enjoy hearing favorite stories over and over. 

Small Group:  We played a name recognition game at the table.  I placed name cards face down on the table.  The children had to walk around the table until I said "stop".  Then they turned the card over that was in front of them.  If it was their name, they could sit in the chair.  If it was not, they had to turn the card over, and we played the game again until everyone was seated.  This was a way for me to see who still needed to work on name recognition.

Large Group:  We reviewed Mat Man one more time and drew him on the chalkboard as a class.  Each child added a part.

We went to the Outdoor Classroom and enjoyed the beautiful day!

Snacks:  The morning class had Goldfish, marsh mellows, and juice brought by Lucie H.  The afternoon class had animal crackers, bananas, and juice brought by Gavin.  Thank you!

Drawing Mat Man

Group Meeting:  I talked to the children about times at school when we will need to be quiet.  These times include group meeting,  story time, and instruction time.  I told the children that they will always have the opportunity to raise their hand to tell me something, but if we all talk at the same time, we won't be able to hear anyone.  So we practiced sitting quietly using a special poem.  It may sound silly that we need to practice being quiet, but it's a skill that will be helpful when the children enter elementary school. 

Story:  We read a story today called Peeny Butter Fudge.  In this story, Mom has to go to work, so the children are going to stay with Nana.  While Mom is gone, Nana and the children read books, snuggle up for a nap, put together a puzzle, have gunny sack races and lots of other fun things.  Right before Mom comes home, they decide to make Peeny Butter Fudge, a secret family recipe.  When Mom comes home, the kitchen is a mess.  Ask you child to tell you what happens next. 

Small Group:  I have cards with the children's names printed on them.  I covered up the name with a paper and slowly pulled the paper away so the children could see the letters one at a time.  They had to raise their hand when they thought it was their name.  Some were easy.  Other's like Addison/Addisyn and Lucy/Lucie took a little more time.

Large Group:  I drew Mat Man on the board yesterday.  Today, it was the children's turn to draw him.  We put on the music that gave us the directions and everyone gave it a try.  It would be interesting to see if you child can do it at home. 

Art:  At the art table, we have added fluorescent paint.  The children have really enjoyed this.  We have also tried a little homemade clay.  Some of the children were able to make creations using this before it stuck to their fingers.

Snacks:  The morning class had watermelon and milk brought by Carter.  The afternoon class had Nutrigrain bars and milk brought by Robert.  Thank you!

Group Meeting:  Our topic for the group meeting today was waiting.  No one likes to wait, but sometimes we need to wait for a turn to do something.  I read a little poem to the children.  At the end of the poem, the children were to jump up but only after I rang a bell.  We practiced waiting for the bell to ring.  Then we talked about times when we have to wait at school.  We need to wait to wash our hands, to have snacks, to get into the line to go outside, to empty our cubbies, and to go home.  While we are waiting, we can talk to our friends, sing songs or do finger plays.

Story:  Families Around the World is a picture book about things that families like to do together.  Families like to eat together, play games, make music, read books, work together, etc.  Then we talked about things that our families like to do.  Every child had the opportunity to tell us something about their family.

Small Group:  We worked on making Mat Man.  We reviewed the song, and the children were given the pieces to put him together.  During large group, I showed the children how to draw Mat Man.  Then I showed them that Mat Man can be turned into any person that they would like to draw.  First, I turned him into a student in the class by adding hair and clothing.  Then I showed the children how I could draw Superman by making Mat Man first.  Tomorrow, the children will be given the chance to draw Mat Man.

Large Group:  In the morning, we went to the Outdoor Classroom.  However, in the afternoon, it was too hot to safely play outside.  We stayed in where it was cool and played musical instruments.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be cooler!

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese crackers, apples, and milk brought by Hudson.  The afternoon class had yogurt and milk brought by Leah F.  Thank you!

Introducing Mat Man

Group Meeting:  We recited the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb".  In this rhyme, Mary's lamb follows her to school, which was against the rule.  We talked about why it would be a bad idea for a lamb or any animal to go to school.  Then we talked about rules.  Why do we need rules?  What are our school rules?  Ask you child to tell name a school rule.

Story:  Charlie Anderson is the story of a cat that sleeps at Elizabeth and Sarah's house at night.  During the day, they let him out to hunt in the woods, at least that's where they think he is going.  One night, Charlie doesn't come home.  The next day, the girls go to search for him.  They find him at a neighbors house, but the neighbors call him Anderson.  They figure out that this cat has two homes.  He sleeps at the girls house at night and spends the day at the neighbors house.  They call him Charlie Anderson now because he has two homes and two families that love him.  In the story, the girls also have two homes.  They stay with mom during the week and dad during the weekend.  Some children in the class mentioned that they do this, too.  Like Charlie, they have two homes and two families to love them.

Small Group:  Today was the first day that we had small group.  I called 7 children to the table with me at a time.  The children were instructed to draw a picture of themselves on a piece of paper.  Some knew how to do this and some did not.  I told them to do whatever they knew how to do.  As you will see, we will be learning how to draw a person at small group and at large group.

Large Group:  I introduced the children to Mat Man.  Mat Man is part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  Mat Man is made out of the lines and curves that we introduced to the children last week.  His body is a blue mat, hence the name Mat Man.  There is a song that goes with Mat Man that teaches children about all of the body parts so that we can learn how to draw a person.   We will be working with Mat Man all week.  I have included a picture of him below.  Perhaps you can find things at home to make your own Mat Man.

Snacks:  The morning class had carrots, ranch dip, club crackers, and juice brought by Evie.  However, Evie was not able to come to school today.  Get well soon, Evie!  The afternoon class had graham crackers, grapes and juice brought by Ryan.  Thank you!

Mat Man

 

Group Meeting:  We talked about feelings today.  I showed the children pictures of faces that were smiling, crying, angry, surprised, worried, and sleepy.  I explained to the children that at preschool, our friends might not tell us what they are feeling, but we can tell what they are feeling by the look on their faces.  At this age, some children do not notice when others feel differently than they do.  Helping children to notice others makes it easier for them to react and to develop friendships.

Story:   Interrupting Chicken is the story of a little chicken who is getting ready for bed.  She asks her Papa to read a story to her before she goes to sleep.  However, she gets so excited by the story, that she interrupts her papa before he can finish.  This happens several times.  Finally, Papa gives up and asks the little chicken to tell him a story.  Ask your child to tell you what happens next. 
I use this story to talk to the children about good manners at circle time.  It is polite to wait until it is your turn to talk.  So, I warned the children that we might have a few "interrupting chickens" until we learn to wait for a turn :)

Large Group:  We have been learning about lines and curves.  Today, we did the Hokey Pokey using the wooden lines and curves.  That's what it's all about!

We also learned a finger play about an armadillo.  Before I taught them the words, I wanted to show them an armadillo since they are not native to our area.  I used my ipad to show a short video.  Then we learned "Two plump armadillos, crawling down the street.  One named Pedro, the other named Pete.  Crawl away Pedro, crawl away Pete.  Come back Pedro, come back Pete.  Ask your child to show you the motions.

Snacks:  The morning class had chex mix, bananas, and juice brought by Luca.  The afternoon class had Krispie treats and juice brought by Chloe D.  Thank you!

A few pictures from today!

Group Meeting:  We learned the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet".  Little Miss Muffet was frightened by the spider that sat down beside her.  I asked the children to name something that made them feel frightened.  Responses I heard were spiders, snakes, lions, tigers, and thunderstorms.  I told the children that  Mrs. Hoogheem and I have made sure that everything at school is very safe.  If they do feel frightened, they should tell a teacher so that we can help them.

Story:  The Kissing Hand is the story of Chester Raccoon is who off to his first night of school (raccoons are nocturnal).  Chester doesn't want to leave his mother.  Mrs. Raccoon teaches him a way to remember that she loves him even when he is at school.  She kisses the middle of his hand and tells him that when he misses her that he should put his hand to his cheek and remember that "mommy loves him".  Ask your child to tell you what Chester does next.

Large Group:  Yesterday, we learned about the wooden pieces that we will use to make letters, big lines and curves and little lines and curves.  Today,  I put the pieces in a bag so that they couldn't see them.  Then one by one, the children came up front, closed their eyes and allowed me to put a wooden piece in their hand.  By feeling the piece, they were to identify it.  All of the children did this very well and enjoyed watching their friends try to identify the pieces.

Art:  We added pine cones to the art table.  The children thought of ways to decorate them.  Most chose glitter glue but a few painted them.  They are drying over night.

Snacks:  The morning class had Krispie Treats and juice brought by Jordyn.  The afternoon class had cheese, crackers, and juice brought by Mason.  Thank you!

Here's a few pictures from our day!

 

 

 Watching the construction on the street!

What do I do if I'm sad at school?

Group Meeting:  Last week, we learned that our names are important and that it is important to get to know the names of our classmates.  Today, I asked the children "What would be something that would make you sad?"  We came up with a list of a few things such as getting hurt, fighting with a sibling, being afraid. etc.  Then I asked them if they thought they would ever be sad at school.  After they thought about it, some children answered, yes.  They might get hurt at school,  have a disagreement with a friend or miss their parents.  I told the children that if they were ever sad at school that they should let a teacher know so that we can help them.  We want the children to know that we are there for them whenever we are needed.   

Story:  Wimberly Worried is the story of a little girl mouse who worries about everything, even though her parents tell her not to worry.  One thing that she especially worries about is going to school.  Will the teacher be nice?  Will she be able to make a friend?  Will her friend carry a doll like she does?  When she gets to school, her teacher introduces her to another mouse.  Will Wimberly worry about this friend?  Ask you child to tell you about the friend that Wimberly makes at school.

Large Group:  When we begin to make letters at the end of September, we will use wooden lines and curves to help us form them.  Today, the children got their first glimpse of these lines and curves.  Tomorrow, we will play a guessing game with them.

We went outdoors today.  We added the water pump and lacing loom.  The children noticed that there were a lot of pine cones in the yard.  We collected them to put at the art table tomorrow.  During meeting time, we will think of some ideas for what we could do with the pine cones.  Paint? Glitter? Glue? I wonder what will happen...

Snacks:  Our morning snack was yogurt, strawberries and apple juice brought by Reese.  The afternoon snack was carrots, apples and milk brought by Evelyn.  Thank you!