A fun day of bowling!

We had a great day today.  Thank you, grown-ups for taking the children and helping them with bowling.  The children seemed to have a great time!  Here's a few pictures that I managed to take.

Having a Ball!

Group Meeting:  We made of list of everything that we have learned about balls during our ball study.  We also discussed our field trip to the bowling alley which will take place tomorrow.

Story:  We decided to revisit The Little Red Hen.  The children had heard it twice before, but still enjoyed it.  At the end, we talked about the lesson that was learned by the dog, cat and goose.  Ask your child to tell you what they have learned.

Small Group:  The children are making a book to share what they have learned about balls.  The title of the book is We Are Having a Ball!  Each child drew a picture of something that they have learned about balls.  We will put the pictures together and bind it so that the children can take turns bringing it home. 

Large Group:  Tomorrow, we will be going to the bowling alley.  We discussed the rules today and did a little practicing with a bowling ball and wooden blocks.  Hopefully our practice will pay off!

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks and juice brought by Mason.  The afternoon class had cheese sticks, Wheat Thins, and juice brought by Lana.  Thank you!

Mrs. Hoogheem and I enjoyed meeting with everyone during the past two days of Parent/Teacher Conferences.  Thank you for your time!

Blueberry Muffins

Group Meeting:  Today was birthday day which means that we had to make our own snack.  I gave the children a few clues to guess what we would be making.  It is something that we would bake in the oven.  We will mix small "balls" into the batter.  We will be making blueberry muffins.

Story:  I reread Tuesday's book, The Doorbell Rang.  When we read it on Tuesday, we didn't know who was at the door.  This time, we did.  Because some of the words are repeated in this story, I had the children say the recurring parts.  They enjoyed knowing that grandma was coming with more cookies.

Small Group:  We mixed up and baked blueberry muffins.  The children poured the mix into the bowl, added oil, water, and eggs (cracking them was fun).  They mixed the ingredients and scooped the batter into the muffin tins. 

Large Group:  We sorted out all of balls in our collection and got them ready to take home.  Thank you for sharing!

Snacks:  We had blueberry muffins,  birthday brownies and apple juice. 

Remember, conferences are next week.  P.M. class on Monday, A.M. class on Tuesday.

Mat Man returns!

Group Time:  It's been a while since we have talked about Mat Man.   I brought the wooden pieces to our group meeting to see if we could put him together.   The song really helps!

Story:  Our story for today was A Birthday Basket for Tia.  Cecelia's Tia (great-aunt) is going to be celebrating her 90th birthday.  Cecelia wants to give her a present.  She wanders around the house wondering what to give her.  She finds a basket and fills it with things that will remind Tia of things that they like to do together.  The first thing that she puts in the basket is a book that Tia reads to her.  Ask your child to tell you about the other things that she puts in the basket.

Small Group:  After putting Mat Man together, the children drew a picture of a person using the Mat Man method to help them remember all of the body parts.

Large Group:  Yesterday, I asked the children to guess what would be inside three balls that I had; a tennis ball, a baseball, and a foam football.  Today, we took a look inside.  I had a baseball that had been cut in half using a saw.  We saw the leather cover, the string and yarn in the middle, and the rubber ball in the center.  I cut the tennis ball with a knife.  They were surprised to find nothing but air inside.  We found that the football was just like a sponge on the inside.  

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese Ritz and juice brought by Lucy.  The afternoon class had cheese Handi-snacks and juice brought by Marlie.  Thank you!

What's on the inside of a ball?

Group Meeting:  Tomorrow I am going to cut into several balls that have been donated for this purpose.  We took a few minutes to guess what would be inside of the balls.  We will be wrapping up our ball study within the next two weeks.  We would like to end it with a trip to the Miller Time Bowling Alley.  A note about this trip is in your child's backpack today.

Story:  I read the book The Doorbell Rang.  In this story, Ma has baked cookies for her two children.  They are going to divide them up and eat them, but then the door bell rings.  They invite the children at the door inside and again divide the cookies up to eat.  However, the doorbell rings again.  They recount and divide the cookies one more time.  This happens over and over until every child has only one cookie, and then the doorbell rings.  What should they do?  Eat the cookies quickly before opening the door?  Break up the cookies?  Who is at the door?  Ask your child to tell you!

Small Group:  The children practiced cutting a circle with a scissors.  Once we got started, all of the children could cut a circle.  We decorated the circles to look like the balls in our collection. 

Large Group:  The children did relay races with the balls.  All of the balls were in baskets at the other side of the room.  They took turns running, galloping, and skipping across the room to get a ball and bring it back their team. 

Snacks:  The morning class had Go-gurt and juice brought by Logan.  The afternoon class had applesauce and milk brought by Chloe S.  Thank you!

Valentines Party Tomorrow!

Group Meeting:  We are all ready for our Valentine's Party tomorrow.  Please refer to the note that was sent home on Monday for the times of our activities.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

Story:  I read The Love Me Bird.   The Love Me Bird is sending out her call to attract a friend.  She calls, "love me, love me, love me",  but no one answers.  She asks the wise owl what she can do to find a friend.  He suggests many things such as making herself pretty, acting helpless, playing hard to get, or building a nest, but nothing works.  Finally, he suggests changing her call to "love you, love you, love you".   Does it work?  Ask your child.

Small Group:  The children made a cereal mix to be eaten at our party tomorrow.  They mixed Cheerios, Strawberry Frosted Mini-wheats and M&Ms in a large bowl.  Then we divided it into zip-lock bags so that it will be ready to eat.

Large Group:  The children played a game similar to Musical Chairs.  Instead of chairs, we used large heart cut outs.  As the hearts were taken away, each child had to find a friend with which to share a heart.  At the very end, all of the children were on one large heart.  Lots of giggles with this game!

Snacks:  The morning class had cheese sticks and juice brought by Maxwell.  The afternoon class had bananas, with yogurt to dip them in, and juice brought by Lucy.  Thank you!

Counting Hearts

Group Meeting:  We are finalizing our plans for our party on Thursday. 

Story: I read The Valentine Bears.  Mr. and Mrs. Bear usually don't celebrate Valentines Day because they are hibernating.  This year Mrs. Bear sets her alarm so that she can surprise Mr. Bear with Valentine treats.  She has everything ready, but just can't get Mr. Bear to wake up.  Ask your child to tell you how she gets Mr. Bear to wake and what she gives Mr. Bear for Valentines Day.

Small Group:  The children played a game in which they have to stack candy Valentine hearts.  They are given a minute to see how many they can stack without it falling over.  Once the minute was up, we counted how many hearts were in their stack.  

Large Group:  In the morning, we played a shape game.  The children had to identify the shape that they were standing on once we stopped counting to 10.   
 
In the afternoon, Campbell's dad came to teach us about soccer.  He brought soccer balls and equipment for us to see and touch.  Thanks!

In both classes, we did the Lettercise song.  In this song, the children are pretending to be boxers.  They use one hand to box (say) the letters of the alphabet and the other hand to box the sound.  Ask your child to show you what this looks like.

Snacks:  The morning class had Go-gurt and juice brought by Addisyn.  The afternoon class had Cheez-its and juice brought by Jameson.  Thank you!

Valentine's Week

Group Meeting:  Today, we talked about going to Senior Star.  The children remembered going there for trick or treating at Halloween.  I told them that I thought it would be nice if we went back and brought the residents Valentines.  The children agreed.  They will be making Valentine cards at the art table this week.  A note with the schedule for Thursday is in your child's backpack today.

Story:  Our story was Will You Be My Valentine?  A class of preschool children are picking names out of a hat.  They are to make a Valentine for the name that they pick.  Thomas picks Gretchen and is glad.  She is his favorite girl in the whole class.  However, Gretchen doesn't like Thomas, or so she thinks.  Thomas' mom invites Gretchen over to play.  Will Gretchen be nice to Thomas?  Will she be his Valentine?  Ask you child to tell you how this story ends.

Small Group:  We are using this time to pass out Valentines for the next two days.  The children are matching up names from their Valentines to the Valentines boxes.

Large Group:  The morning class had a hippity hop race.  Three children brought theirs in to share.  The afternoon class did this a little last week when one was brought in.  Thank you, children!  We are also practicing the songs that we will be singing on Valentine's Day.

Snacks:  The morning class had graham crackers and milk brought by Addison.  The afternoon class had Scooby Snacks and juice brought by Noah.  Thank you!

Pajama Day!

Group meeting:  We took a few minutes to look at every one's pajamas before we got busy for the day.  It was a very comfortable day.

Story:  Piggies in Pajamas was our story for the day.  In this story, five little pigs are supposed to be in bed sleeping, but mama is downstairs on the phone.  What do the piggies do?  I'm sure you can imagine.  At the end, something scares the piggies and they all end up in mommies bed.  A lot of children said they could relate to that.

Small Group:  We began passing out Valentines today.  As your child brings them to school, they will match up the names on the Valentines to the boxes that the children have made.

Large Group:  P is for pajamas and popcorn.  I asked the children if they had ever seen popcorn pop.  Most are familiar with microwave popcorn or popcorn at the movie theater.  So, we took a large electric skillet, put a little oil in the bottom and dropped in some popcorn kernels.  Everyone stood back as the kernels began to pop.  After everything had cooled, we enjoyed the popcorn.  Ask your child to tell you what makes the kernels pop.

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

Wrecking Ball

Group Meeting:  We have picked two games for our Valentine's Party next week.  We'll have a little preparation work to do, but it will be easy and fun.  The children have been working on decorating their boxes.  We should be able to start passing out Valentines tomorrow or Monday.

Story:  We read Demolition.  This a story of a construction crew who demolish an old building so that they can create a park with a playground.  I chose this story because it had a wrecking ball in it.  I also liked that after knocking the building down, the crew takes the pieces apart to be recycled. 

Small Group:  The children  made the letter P on their wet, dry, try boards.

Large Group:  I asked the children to select a ball from our large collection.  Then, I asked them to move the ball using directional words such as behind, in front, over, under, next to, etc.  Finally, we took a little time to play with the balls.

Snacks:  The morning class had animal crackers and strawberry milk brought by Grace.  The afternoon class had cheese crackers and juice brought by Leigha.  Thank you!

Tomorrow is Pajama Day!

Play Ball!

Group Meeting:  We are continuing our plans for the Valentines Party.  We've come up with a few ideas for games.  It's so interesting to hear what they come up with.  They are very creative. 

Story:  The book we read today was Play Ball.  This non-fiction book told about many activities that you can do with a ball.  We saw baseball, basketball, soccer, croquet, and many other sports.  We also saw jacks and a snowball fight.  One thing that the children in both classes commented on was the large bouncing balls with handles for children to ride.  When my kids were little, they were called Hippity Hops.  I was wondering if anyone had one of these at home.  If so, we would love to borrow one for a day just to show some of the children what this is like.

Large Group:  We played T-ball today.  We played kick ball last month, so the children knew how to run the bases.  We used a soft baseball and padded bat to make it safe for indoor play.  Each child had a turn to bat and play the outfield. 

At the art table, the children were invited to decorate their Valentine boxes.  We are using stickers, foam shapes, sequins, glitter glue, and anything else that the children can think of.  If your child has not brought a box yet, please send one soon.

Snacks:  The morning class had Angry Bird grahams and juice brought by Riley.  The afternoon class had Minion grahams, chocolate frosting, and milk brought by Kadence.  Thank you! 

A New Month Begins

Group Meeting:  February looks to be a busy month for us.  We looked at the calendar and noticed that we have Valentines Day, Presidents Day and many birthdays.  We are going to start planning our Valentine's Day Party tomorrow.  We will be thinking of some ideas for games and snacks.  If your child has not brought a covered box to school yet, please do so as soon as possible.  Instructions for this were attached to the February newsletter.

Story:  Our story for today was Just Like Josh Gibson.  In this story, a grandmother is telling her granddaughter that from the time she was born, she wanted to play baseball just like Josh Gibson.  However, back in the 1940's, girls were not allowed to play baseball.  She would watch the boys practice and sometimes they would let her join in.  One day, her cousin's team needed one more player for a game.  They asked her to play.  Even in a dress, she could hit and throw better than most of the boy players.  As you can guess, we had a lot of discussion about this story.  Some of it was a little hard for the children to understand, but I think they got the main idea.  If you are wondering about Josh Gibson, he was player in the Negro Leagues during the 1940's.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.

Small Group:  We will be "mailing" our Valentines during small group during the next two weeks.  The children will be matching up the names on their Valentines to the names on the boxes.

Large Group:  We are learning about the letter P this week.  Also, we are learning a few new songs to sing when we go to Senior Star as part of our Valentine's Party.  We practiced them today.

Snacks:  The morning class had Goldfish and juice brought by Aidan.  The afternoon class had Teddy Grahams and juice brought by Lily.  Thank you!