The children seemed to enjoy their Halloween Parties today. As I've stated before, this is the first time that I have had the children help us with the planning of the parties. I think they enjoyed it as much as I did. The pinatas were a lot of fun to plan, create and tear apart. The trick or treating at Senior Star was wonderful. Thank you to all of the parents and grandparents who helped us make this possible. I was not able to take any pictures today due to time. If anyone has pictures that they would be willing to share, I'd appreciate it if you could email them to me. Thanks!
On Monday, we should be back to our normal routine!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
What's Your Henny Penny Name?
Group Meeting: Again, we went over our Halloween party plans to see what needs to be finished up before Thursday. This is the first time that I've had the children help with this process. I've enjoyed it and it seems that the children have, too.
Story: We read Big Pumpkin which is one of my favorite Halloween stories. If you are familiar with the old story of The Big Turnip, then you will be familiar with this one. In Big Pumpkin, a witch has planted a pumpkin seed so that she will have a pumpkin from which to make pumpkin pie for Halloween. However, the pumpkin grows so big that she can't get it off of the vine. Several of her friends, Vampire, Ghost, and Mummy stop by to help her, but they are not strong enough, either. Along comes a little bat. Ask your child to tell you what happens next.
Small Group: Yesterday, we read Henny Penny. All of the characters in this story have names that rhyme such as Ducky Lucky, Turkey Lurkey, Goosey Loosey, Cocky Locky and Foxy Loxy. During group time today, we tried putting different letters at the front of our names to create our own rhyming name (or Henny Penny name). Ask your child if he or she remembers their Henny Penny name and make up one for yourself.
Large Group: We played a game called "Squirrels in the Trees". In this game, two children join both hands to be a tree. Another child stands between them and is the squirrel in the tree. Once everyone has a role, there is one child left to the be squirrel with no tree. That squirrel yells "run squirrels" and all of the squirrels have to leave their tree to find a new tree. However, the lone squirrel tries to take their tree. Everyone child had a turn to be a squirrel and a tree.
Snacks: The morning class had a Goldfish/pretzel mix and juice brought by Aidan. The afternoon class had Cheez-its and juice brought by Lily. Thank you!
Story: We read Big Pumpkin which is one of my favorite Halloween stories. If you are familiar with the old story of The Big Turnip, then you will be familiar with this one. In Big Pumpkin, a witch has planted a pumpkin seed so that she will have a pumpkin from which to make pumpkin pie for Halloween. However, the pumpkin grows so big that she can't get it off of the vine. Several of her friends, Vampire, Ghost, and Mummy stop by to help her, but they are not strong enough, either. Along comes a little bat. Ask your child to tell you what happens next.
Small Group: Yesterday, we read Henny Penny. All of the characters in this story have names that rhyme such as Ducky Lucky, Turkey Lurkey, Goosey Loosey, Cocky Locky and Foxy Loxy. During group time today, we tried putting different letters at the front of our names to create our own rhyming name (or Henny Penny name). Ask your child if he or she remembers their Henny Penny name and make up one for yourself.
Large Group: We played a game called "Squirrels in the Trees". In this game, two children join both hands to be a tree. Another child stands between them and is the squirrel in the tree. Once everyone has a role, there is one child left to the be squirrel with no tree. That squirrel yells "run squirrels" and all of the squirrels have to leave their tree to find a new tree. However, the lone squirrel tries to take their tree. Everyone child had a turn to be a squirrel and a tree.
Snacks: The morning class had a Goldfish/pretzel mix and juice brought by Aidan. The afternoon class had Cheez-its and juice brought by Lily. Thank you!
Monday, October 28, 2013
It's Halloween Week
Group Meeting: We are continuing our plans for our upcoming Halloween party. We need to complete our pinatas and will work on this during art. We also have something new in the sensory table that needed a little instruction. Ask you child to tell you what was new in this table.
Story: We read Henny Penny. This is a classic story that also goes by the title Chicken Little. In this story, Henny Penny, who is a worrier, is hit on the head by a falling acorn. She doesn't see the acorn and thinks that the sky is falling. She tells her friend Ducky Lucky that the sky is falling and that they must tell the king. Henny Penny and Ducky Lucky rush to tell the king and are soon joined by Goosy Loosy, and Turkey Lurkey. However, on the way, they meet Foxy Loxy. This is where the trouble begins. Ask you child to tell you what happens next.
Small Group: The children worked on the treat bags that will be put into the pinatas for the Halloween party.
Large Group: We went to the Outdoor Classroom.
Snacks: The morning class had blueberry muffins and milk brought by Payton. The afternoon class had celery, dip, and juice brought by Allison. Thank you!
My normal routine is to complete the blog post as soon as the afternoon class is over. However, we have been having trouble with our internet connection in the afternoon. I will be contacting our server tomorrow to find out why this is happening. In the meantime, I will try to complete it from home as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.
Story: We read Henny Penny. This is a classic story that also goes by the title Chicken Little. In this story, Henny Penny, who is a worrier, is hit on the head by a falling acorn. She doesn't see the acorn and thinks that the sky is falling. She tells her friend Ducky Lucky that the sky is falling and that they must tell the king. Henny Penny and Ducky Lucky rush to tell the king and are soon joined by Goosy Loosy, and Turkey Lurkey. However, on the way, they meet Foxy Loxy. This is where the trouble begins. Ask you child to tell you what happens next.
Small Group: The children worked on the treat bags that will be put into the pinatas for the Halloween party.
Large Group: We went to the Outdoor Classroom.
Snacks: The morning class had blueberry muffins and milk brought by Payton. The afternoon class had celery, dip, and juice brought by Allison. Thank you!
My normal routine is to complete the blog post as soon as the afternoon class is over. However, we have been having trouble with our internet connection in the afternoon. I will be contacting our server tomorrow to find out why this is happening. In the meantime, I will try to complete it from home as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
We're Back!
If you've been trying to find out what's been going on at preschool lately, you probably noticed that I haven't posted for three days. Monday and Tuesday were Parent/Teacher Conference Days. I didn't have enough time on either day to sit at the computer. On Wednesday, we had computer troubles and weren't able to log on. So, thanks for being patient!
Group Meeting: We have been making plans for our Halloween Party. Today, we decided that we needed to make some decorations. We put our heads together to think of what we could create. The children were given a few ideas of what they could make at the art table.
Story: Our story was When The Monkeys Came Back. This is the story of a girl who lives near a rain forest. Every morning and evening, she hears the monkeys howling and barking in the trees. One day a man comes and pays her father a lot of money for their property. Soon, people arrive and cut down the trees and build roads. One day, the girl notices that she cannot hear the monkeys any more. Ask you child to tell you what the girl does next. This was a long book with lots of content. It may have been difficult for the children to grasp all of the concepts. However, I was surprised at how intently many of the children listened.
Small Group: We played a matching game of beginning sounds. The children had to try to match pictures of words that sounded the same.
Large Group: We went to the Outdoor Classroom. It had been a while! Although it was cold, they enjoyed it.
Art: The children used paint, glitter glue, glitter, markers, and crayons to decorate Halloween shapes.
Snacks: The morning class had carrots, dip and juice brought by Parker. The afternoon class had strawberry grahams, and milk brought by Campbell. Thank you!
Group Meeting: We have been making plans for our Halloween Party. Today, we decided that we needed to make some decorations. We put our heads together to think of what we could create. The children were given a few ideas of what they could make at the art table.
Story: Our story was When The Monkeys Came Back. This is the story of a girl who lives near a rain forest. Every morning and evening, she hears the monkeys howling and barking in the trees. One day a man comes and pays her father a lot of money for their property. Soon, people arrive and cut down the trees and build roads. One day, the girl notices that she cannot hear the monkeys any more. Ask you child to tell you what the girl does next. This was a long book with lots of content. It may have been difficult for the children to grasp all of the concepts. However, I was surprised at how intently many of the children listened.
Small Group: We played a matching game of beginning sounds. The children had to try to match pictures of words that sounded the same.
Large Group: We went to the Outdoor Classroom. It had been a while! Although it was cold, they enjoyed it.
Art: The children used paint, glitter glue, glitter, markers, and crayons to decorate Halloween shapes.
Snacks: The morning class had carrots, dip and juice brought by Parker. The afternoon class had strawberry grahams, and milk brought by Campbell. Thank you!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Eating a Coconut Tree
Group Meeting: Now that we know about the parts of a tree, we are going to learn about what lives in a tree. I asked the children to help me make a list of things that live in a tree. Next week, we will find out if this list is correct. We've already started to do some research.
Story: We reread A Tree Named Steve. Since we have read it twice, your child should be able to tell you the major parts of the story. Why did the family name the tree Steve? What did Steve do to help the family? What happened to Steve at the end of the story?
Small Group: We counted cubes and matched the number to the numeral. We are learning to count items by lining them up so that we don't count the same item twice.
Large Group: We completed the letter H page in our workbook. We made four letters and colored a house.
Snacks: Today was Birthday Day. The children made coconut trees from the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The trunk was a graham cracker, the leaves were green apple slices, the coconuts were grapes, and the letters were Alpha-bits cereal. We intended to celebrate Parker's birthday in the morning, but he was absent due to illness. We did celebrate Mrs. Hoogheem's birthday. She's ___ years old (more than 5).
Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday afternoon/evening for the afternoon class and Tuesday for the morning class.
Story: We reread A Tree Named Steve. Since we have read it twice, your child should be able to tell you the major parts of the story. Why did the family name the tree Steve? What did Steve do to help the family? What happened to Steve at the end of the story?
Small Group: We counted cubes and matched the number to the numeral. We are learning to count items by lining them up so that we don't count the same item twice.
Large Group: We completed the letter H page in our workbook. We made four letters and colored a house.
Snacks: Today was Birthday Day. The children made coconut trees from the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The trunk was a graham cracker, the leaves were green apple slices, the coconuts were grapes, and the letters were Alpha-bits cereal. We intended to celebrate Parker's birthday in the morning, but he was absent due to illness. We did celebrate Mrs. Hoogheem's birthday. She's ___ years old (more than 5).
Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Monday afternoon/evening for the afternoon class and Tuesday for the morning class.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
More Rhyming
Group Meeting: We played another rhyming words game today. I put pictures of familiar items into a bag. The children took turns selecting a picture out of the bag and trying to think of a word that would rhyme with the picture word. This wasn't easy, so we had a lot of help from friends.
Story: We read The Biggest Leaf Pile. Four leaf friends are turning colors now that it is fall. Soon the winds blows them off of the tree. Fortunately, they land together in a big pile. A blue jay flying over tells them that they are in the biggest pile he has seen. Suddenly, the leaves begin to argue about which one of them should be the top leaf of the pile. However, they don't argue for long because something is coming! Ask you child to tell you what it is.
Small Group: We did wet, dry, try with the letter H.
Large Group: We used the wooden pieces from the Handwriting Without Tears program to create letters of the alphabet. It was too cold to go outdoors, but tomorrow, we are planning to go out for another tree search. Please dress warmly!
Snacks: The morning class had Cheez-its and juice brought by Hudson. The afternoon class had Cheez-its and milk brought by Leah F. Thank you!
Story: We read The Biggest Leaf Pile. Four leaf friends are turning colors now that it is fall. Soon the winds blows them off of the tree. Fortunately, they land together in a big pile. A blue jay flying over tells them that they are in the biggest pile he has seen. Suddenly, the leaves begin to argue about which one of them should be the top leaf of the pile. However, they don't argue for long because something is coming! Ask you child to tell you what it is.
Small Group: We did wet, dry, try with the letter H.
Large Group: We used the wooden pieces from the Handwriting Without Tears program to create letters of the alphabet. It was too cold to go outdoors, but tomorrow, we are planning to go out for another tree search. Please dress warmly!
Snacks: The morning class had Cheez-its and juice brought by Hudson. The afternoon class had Cheez-its and milk brought by Leah F. Thank you!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Rhyming Words
Group Meeting: We played a rhyming words game today called "Riddle, Dee, Dee". After I said the rhyme, the children tried to think of words that could also be included in the rhyme. For example, I used ball and call. They thought of fall, tall, and wall. This is a great game to play with children and can be played while you are waiting for something or when you are in the car. Say a word and have your child come up with a rhyming word.
Story: We read The Grouchy Ladybug. In this story, a grouchy ladybug does not want to the share aphids that it and another ladybug has found on a leaf. The grouchy ladybug starts to pick a fight with the other bug, but backs down and goes off to find someone bigger to fight with. Ask you child to name a few of the animals that the ladybug meets before deciding that sharing is better than fighting.
Small Group: We used the acorns, pine cones, and chestnuts that we have picked up from our tree study and made patterns with them. Acorn, pine cone, acorn, pine cone, etc. We made ABAB patterns, ABBA patterns, and ABC patterns.
Large Group: Because it was wet and chilly today, we stayed indoors and played Four Corners. Ask your child to tell you how we play this game.
Sensory Table: We took the rice out of the sensory table and added Moon Sand. The Moon Sand is white and clings together like wet sand, but is not messy like real sand. If your child comes home with a white powdery substance on their clothing, it's probably from the Moon Sand.
Snacks: The morning class had carrots, dip and juice brought by Evie. The afternoon class had graham crackers and juice brought by Ryan. Thank you!
Story: We read The Grouchy Ladybug. In this story, a grouchy ladybug does not want to the share aphids that it and another ladybug has found on a leaf. The grouchy ladybug starts to pick a fight with the other bug, but backs down and goes off to find someone bigger to fight with. Ask you child to name a few of the animals that the ladybug meets before deciding that sharing is better than fighting.
Small Group: We used the acorns, pine cones, and chestnuts that we have picked up from our tree study and made patterns with them. Acorn, pine cone, acorn, pine cone, etc. We made ABAB patterns, ABBA patterns, and ABC patterns.
Large Group: Because it was wet and chilly today, we stayed indoors and played Four Corners. Ask your child to tell you how we play this game.
Sensory Table: We took the rice out of the sensory table and added Moon Sand. The Moon Sand is white and clings together like wet sand, but is not messy like real sand. If your child comes home with a white powdery substance on their clothing, it's probably from the Moon Sand.
Snacks: The morning class had carrots, dip and juice brought by Evie. The afternoon class had graham crackers and juice brought by Ryan. Thank you!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Leaves
Group Meeting: We have been spending a lot of time talking about various parts of the tree. Today, we focused more on leaves. I brought in various examples of leaves. I showed the children how to do leaf rubbings so that they can see the veins in the leaves. We are watching to see how quickly the leaves in our yard will change colors and fall off of the trees.
Story: I am a Leaf is the story of a leaf from summer to fall, winter and spring. The leaf's job is to make tree food. Ask you child to name the critters that were on the leaf during the story.
Small Group: I gave the children a large basket of items that we have collected from trees. I asked the children to sort the items into categories. We made six categories of items. Then we made comparisons.
Large Group: We are learning about the letter H this week. We made the H with wooden lines and learned the H song. We went to the Outdoor Classroom as well.
Art: We had easel paint available. We also added "noodles" to our assortment of things to color, cut, and glue. I saw some pretty neat creations.
Snacks: The morning class had peanut butter crackers and juice provided by Luca. The afternoon class had Rice Krispie Treats and milk brought by Chloe D. Thank you!
Story: I am a Leaf is the story of a leaf from summer to fall, winter and spring. The leaf's job is to make tree food. Ask you child to name the critters that were on the leaf during the story.
Small Group: I gave the children a large basket of items that we have collected from trees. I asked the children to sort the items into categories. We made six categories of items. Then we made comparisons.
Large Group: We are learning about the letter H this week. We made the H with wooden lines and learned the H song. We went to the Outdoor Classroom as well.
Art: We had easel paint available. We also added "noodles" to our assortment of things to color, cut, and glue. I saw some pretty neat creations.
Snacks: The morning class had peanut butter crackers and juice provided by Luca. The afternoon class had Rice Krispie Treats and milk brought by Chloe D. Thank you!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
New Books and CDs
Group Meeting: With the bonus points that we received from our last book order, we purchased 6 books on CD for our media center. I took a few minutes to show them to the children and also reminded them about how to work the CD player and earphones.
Story: The Fox and the Falling Leaves was our story for today. A young fox notices that the leaves on his favorite tree are changing colors and falling off. He is concerned because he thinks the tree is sick. He tries to put the leaves back on the tree, but soon they are all gone. His mother tells his not to worry, it's autumn. The next morning, he wakes up and finds something beautiful on the tree. Can your child tell you what it is?
Small Group: We played a game with alphabet cards. If the group of children could identify the letter on the card, they got to keep it in their pile. However, if they did not know the letter, I got to keep the card. At the end, we counted to the cards to see who had the most. Happily, I lost every time.
Large Group: We did the workbook page for letter E. We also went to the Outdoor Classroom. We typically go outdoors everyday, but sometimes we get so busy that we run out of time.
Snacks: The morning class had Handi-snacks crackers with cheese and juice brought by Jordyn. The afternoon class had Chickadees (cheese crackers) and juice brought by Mason. Thank you!
Art: The glitter has been put away following class today. I know many of you will be happy about that, but we thought everything looked beautiful!
Story: The Fox and the Falling Leaves was our story for today. A young fox notices that the leaves on his favorite tree are changing colors and falling off. He is concerned because he thinks the tree is sick. He tries to put the leaves back on the tree, but soon they are all gone. His mother tells his not to worry, it's autumn. The next morning, he wakes up and finds something beautiful on the tree. Can your child tell you what it is?
Small Group: We played a game with alphabet cards. If the group of children could identify the letter on the card, they got to keep it in their pile. However, if they did not know the letter, I got to keep the card. At the end, we counted to the cards to see who had the most. Happily, I lost every time.
Large Group: We did the workbook page for letter E. We also went to the Outdoor Classroom. We typically go outdoors everyday, but sometimes we get so busy that we run out of time.
Snacks: The morning class had Handi-snacks crackers with cheese and juice brought by Jordyn. The afternoon class had Chickadees (cheese crackers) and juice brought by Mason. Thank you!
Art: The glitter has been put away following class today. I know many of you will be happy about that, but we thought everything looked beautiful!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
How Do Trees Grow?
Group Meeting: We talked about how trees grow. The children knew that acorns and pine cones were seeds for trees, because we had talked about that when we found them in our yard. Today, I asked if all trees had seeds and if all seeds were the same. So, we are going to try to find different tree seeds. If you have any tree seeds at home, please send them. I am looking for maple tree seeds (children call them helicopters), apple tree seeds, peach pits, cherry pits, walnuts, pecans, etc.
Story: The book we read today was a counting book called Trees Count. The children counted leaves, knotholes, apples, pecans, and many other things that are parts of a tree. How many trees are in your yard?
Small Group: We played a shape matching game today. All of the children were able to match shapes and some were able to identify shapes such as circle, triangle, and square.
Large Group: We did two group activities today. We did the wet, dry, try part of Handwriting Without Tears for the letter E. We also went outdoors to measure the circumference of several trees with yarn. We compared the length of the yarn to see which tree was the largest.
Snacks: The morning class had Chez-its and juice brought by Reese. The afternoon class had granola bars and milk brought by Evelyn. Thank you!
Art: The children have been anxious to bring home their painted pine cones, acorns, sticks, and branches. We hope the glitter is not a problem. We have been doing a lot of vacuuming here, but it is very pretty.
Story: The book we read today was a counting book called Trees Count. The children counted leaves, knotholes, apples, pecans, and many other things that are parts of a tree. How many trees are in your yard?
Small Group: We played a shape matching game today. All of the children were able to match shapes and some were able to identify shapes such as circle, triangle, and square.
Large Group: We did two group activities today. We did the wet, dry, try part of Handwriting Without Tears for the letter E. We also went outdoors to measure the circumference of several trees with yarn. We compared the length of the yarn to see which tree was the largest.
Snacks: The morning class had Chez-its and juice brought by Reese. The afternoon class had granola bars and milk brought by Evelyn. Thank you!
Art: The children have been anxious to bring home their painted pine cones, acorns, sticks, and branches. We hope the glitter is not a problem. We have been doing a lot of vacuuming here, but it is very pretty.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Drawing Trees
Group Meeting: We repeated an activity that we did last week. I drew a tree while we sang the song "The Green Grass Grows All Around". The children remembered the parts of the tree to add while we were singing. This led into our small group activity.
Story: We reread Abiyoyo. The children really liked this story from last week. Before I read it today, I asked the children to help me remember what happened in the story. We made a list of all of the things that we could remember. Then I read it. Afterwards, we checked our list to see if there was anything that we had missed.
Small Group: We drew pictures of trees. Using the song from Group Meeting time, each children drew their own picture of trees. They included a trunk, limbs, branches, and leaves. Some of the children added nests, eggs, birds, squirrels, apples, and acorns. I will share these pictures with parents at Parent/Teacher Conferences.
Large Group: We played a game called "The Name Dance". The children took turns clapping out their name to see how many claps (syllables) were in their name. Then, the child whose name we were clapping had to show us a dance to imitate. While we chanted the name, we did the dance. Everyone enjoyed coming up with fantastic dances. I was surprised at how quickly some could figure out how many syllables were in their name.
Snacks: The morning class had graham crackers and juice brought by Mason. The afternoon class had yogurt and juice brought by Lana. Thank you!
Story: We reread Abiyoyo. The children really liked this story from last week. Before I read it today, I asked the children to help me remember what happened in the story. We made a list of all of the things that we could remember. Then I read it. Afterwards, we checked our list to see if there was anything that we had missed.
Small Group: We drew pictures of trees. Using the song from Group Meeting time, each children drew their own picture of trees. They included a trunk, limbs, branches, and leaves. Some of the children added nests, eggs, birds, squirrels, apples, and acorns. I will share these pictures with parents at Parent/Teacher Conferences.
Large Group: We played a game called "The Name Dance". The children took turns clapping out their name to see how many claps (syllables) were in their name. Then, the child whose name we were clapping had to show us a dance to imitate. While we chanted the name, we did the dance. Everyone enjoyed coming up with fantastic dances. I was surprised at how quickly some could figure out how many syllables were in their name.
Snacks: The morning class had graham crackers and juice brought by Mason. The afternoon class had yogurt and juice brought by Lana. Thank you!
Monday, October 7, 2013
Thank you to Farmer Gene
Group Meeting: Because we had such a good time at the farm, we thought that we should make a thank you note for Farmer Gene. During our meeting time, we tried to remember all of the things that we saw at the farm. It was interesting to me that the thing that the children remembered the most was the mud! Just about everyone remembered how muddy their shoes were when they went home. Now they know what it's like to be a farmer!
Story: We reread the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We have put up at coconut tree on our wall. As we learn the letters of the alphabet, we will put them up in the tree. "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, will there be enough room? I guess we'll find out.
Small Group: The children used ideas from our group meeting and drew pictures for Farmer Gene. We will mail them to him along with a thank you note.
Large Group: We played a game called "Say It, Show It". During this game, I would hold up a numeral card and see if a child could identify it. If not, we would help them figure out the name of the numeral. We are working on numerals 1-10.
Art: We collected a number of items on our tree walk last week. We have placed these items at the art table along with paint, glue, and glitter. The children could select an item and decide what they wanted to do with it. We have glitter everywhere, but it is beautiful!
Snacks: The morning class had animal crackers, cheese sticks, and juice brought by Maddie. The afternoon class had Clementine oranges and milk brought by Leah Z. Thank you!
Story: We reread the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We have put up at coconut tree on our wall. As we learn the letters of the alphabet, we will put them up in the tree. "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, will there be enough room? I guess we'll find out.
Small Group: The children used ideas from our group meeting and drew pictures for Farmer Gene. We will mail them to him along with a thank you note.
Large Group: We played a game called "Say It, Show It". During this game, I would hold up a numeral card and see if a child could identify it. If not, we would help them figure out the name of the numeral. We are working on numerals 1-10.
Art: We collected a number of items on our tree walk last week. We have placed these items at the art table along with paint, glue, and glitter. The children could select an item and decide what they wanted to do with it. We have glitter everywhere, but it is beautiful!
Snacks: The morning class had animal crackers, cheese sticks, and juice brought by Maddie. The afternoon class had Clementine oranges and milk brought by Leah Z. Thank you!
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Wet, but fun day at the farm!
I want to thank all of the parents and grandparents who escorted us to the farm today. Even though we got wet and muddy, it was still fun. Here's some pictures.
Morning Class
Afternoon Class
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Getting Ready for Our Trip
Group Meeting: On our message board, we read that tomorrow will be our field trip to Shady Knoll Farm. We talked about what we would see and do at the farm as well as what we should not do. I think we are all prepared.
We also read a book that was brought to us by Campbell in the afternoon class. She brought the book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It's a good one, so we took a few minutes to read it.
Story: I read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for our story today. Some of the children were familiar with this story about the letters of the alphabet that are trying to climb the coconut tree. Will there be enough room for all of the letters? Ask you child to tell you what happens.
Small Group: Prior to school today, I went into our yard and picked up a few sticks. We compared the length of the sticks to see which was the longest and which was the shortest. Then, I showed the children how we could measure the sticks using Unifix cubes which are plastic cubes that fit together. Our shortest stick was four cubes long and the longest stick was 61 cubes longs.
Large Group: We went outdoors to collect items from trees. We collected sticks, acorns, pine cones (several types), chestnuts, and leaves. We will put these items at the discovery table and at the art table next week.
Snacks: The morning class had Go-gurt and juice brought by Lucy. The afternoon class had granola bars, fruit strips, and milk brought by Chloe S. Thank you!
We also read a book that was brought to us by Campbell in the afternoon class. She brought the book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It's a good one, so we took a few minutes to read it.
Story: I read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for our story today. Some of the children were familiar with this story about the letters of the alphabet that are trying to climb the coconut tree. Will there be enough room for all of the letters? Ask you child to tell you what happens.
Small Group: Prior to school today, I went into our yard and picked up a few sticks. We compared the length of the sticks to see which was the longest and which was the shortest. Then, I showed the children how we could measure the sticks using Unifix cubes which are plastic cubes that fit together. Our shortest stick was four cubes long and the longest stick was 61 cubes longs.
Large Group: We went outdoors to collect items from trees. We collected sticks, acorns, pine cones (several types), chestnuts, and leaves. We will put these items at the discovery table and at the art table next week.
Snacks: The morning class had Go-gurt and juice brought by Lucy. The afternoon class had granola bars, fruit strips, and milk brought by Chloe S. Thank you!
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
A Tree Walk
Group Meeting: We are learning the song "The Green Grass Grows All Around". This song describes a tree growing out of a hole with a limb, branch, nest, egg, bird and the green grass. While the children sing the song, I draw the tree parts which form a picture at the end. Once we learn it, the children will be able to draw it as well.
Story: We read the story Abiyoyo. This story is an old folk tale. A father and son are asked to leave town after the father's magic tricks and the son's ukulele playing make the town people angry. While the father and son live on the edge of the town, the old legend of Abiyoyo comes to life. Abiyoyo is a large creature with long hair, slobbery teeth, stinking feet, and matted hair. He eats animals. The people are afraid and begin to run. However, the father and son know what to do. Ask you child to finish the story.
Small Group: We made an attempt at writing poetry today. We have learned two poems about trees, so we decided to write our own. I let the children come up with the ideas and helped them add words.
Large Group: We went on a tree walk today. Each child was given a clip board, paper and a pencil to document what they saw. Some of the children "wrote" words and others drew pictures. Ask your child to tell you what he or she saw on our walk.
Art: We have added colored chalk to the easel and pipe cleaners to the art table this week. Some of the children have been quite creative with the pipe cleaners!
Snacks: The morning class had cheese sticks and juice brought by Max. The afternoon class had chocolate graham crackers and milk brought by Lucy. Thank you!
Story: We read the story Abiyoyo. This story is an old folk tale. A father and son are asked to leave town after the father's magic tricks and the son's ukulele playing make the town people angry. While the father and son live on the edge of the town, the old legend of Abiyoyo comes to life. Abiyoyo is a large creature with long hair, slobbery teeth, stinking feet, and matted hair. He eats animals. The people are afraid and begin to run. However, the father and son know what to do. Ask you child to finish the story.
Small Group: We made an attempt at writing poetry today. We have learned two poems about trees, so we decided to write our own. I let the children come up with the ideas and helped them add words.
Large Group: We went on a tree walk today. Each child was given a clip board, paper and a pencil to document what they saw. Some of the children "wrote" words and others drew pictures. Ask your child to tell you what he or she saw on our walk.
Art: We have added colored chalk to the easel and pipe cleaners to the art table this week. Some of the children have been quite creative with the pipe cleaners!
Snacks: The morning class had cheese sticks and juice brought by Max. The afternoon class had chocolate graham crackers and milk brought by Lucy. Thank you!
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