Preschool This week! Week 3

So we had a great week this week learning about the letter "T" and Transportation (ask them to tell you the really big "T" word we have been talking about-- it's hilarious to hear them say it!)


Today I was having try the difference of carrying this box, pulling it, or putting it in the shopping cart and pushing it.
They mostly agreed (I had a few macho kids that thought they were "all easy") that it was easiest to push it in the shopping cart- which then led to our conversation on how wheels make things easier and about AXLES (sorry if it comes out something else when they tell you about it! :))
A few new toys were discovered during center time...they like this "shape sorter/matcher" game a lot

They also discovered the marbles and magnets and REALLY liked that!
We had some great snacks! Thanks so much for all the contributions-- make sure you check next weeks schedule!

After we made our Thomas the trains on the first day...we talked about the "cow guards" on the front of the trains. I don't know if that sparked this interest, but this is a wall with "cows" in it. Moo's and all! (at least it's not polly pockets this time right, Natalie?)
Natalie fishing with the magnets again. I have all the letters and numbers! It made me so happy when they fished for the "T" and "F" and were so excited that they recognized them!

Practicing the letter if the week. I think they all mastered "T". They're getting better with their pen grips! Keep practicing at home! We painted our cars with cars, to mix it up a little. They were supposed to be making "Tracks" with them...but most of them ended up painting the whole thing- which is fine with me!

We played a game where they had to feel inside my bag and guess what my object was. Several guessed a "toy" but no one guessed airplane until I said "you might go on it if it's too long to drive somewhere" and Kody was the first one to guess it!

Book time--after snack and project they read books until everyone has finished and I clean the table off. I love to hear them "read" the story to all their friends. They have great imaginations and memories!

More fun center time!! We are glad to have Alexa back this week. She missed the first two weeks of school!
It was a great week at school! we have learned the letters "F" and "T" now and will learn "I" this week. Please continue to work with them at home (for homework--then they can get the treasure box) so they don't forget them-- although we do review them everyday at school!

We have also been working on the number "6" and the colors pink and turquoise and circles. (Today's project with the bus was supposed to help them with one-to-one correspondence by putting 1 sticker in every window for a total of 6- to reinforce that number)

I hope you have been happy with their progress...with what they have been learning, etc. I hope they look forward to coming to school everyday, as much as I look forward to seeing them!! Remember if you EVER have any questions, comments, concerns, etc. please feel free to leave a comment here, or email me, or call me anytime!!

Keep up the great work! I hope you have a happy and SAFE holiday weekend! We will see you on Tuesday!

Remember to work on homework...it can be anything but I prefer their name or the letter that we are learning. Check out www.kidzone.com if you want- it's a great resource with the tracer pages that I do!

Inspection

Well, in case you haven't heard, I had my inspection from the state on Tuesday afternoon. I think it went o.k.- although it was a new lady, and she was here FOREVER and checked every little detail- (I swear sometimes they are just out to get me- it makes me so frustrated!! I wish I could just do what I love to do so much without worrying about having my fire extinguishers serviced every couple months, etc. :)) At least you can feel confident that this is the safest preschool every!! :)

One of my biggest concerns is my backyard...the kids technically are supposed to be going outside every day. I also have to have a certain amount of square feet per child. Well, this summer we dug a hole for a trampoline and layed fake grass. WELL, kids can not have any access to a trampoline, and so the lady told me I will have to figure out a game plan- whatever that's supposed to mean- I'm not going to put a fence around my tramp, besides that will take away square footage of my back yard- and I don't think I will have enough to meet the requirements...

SO, when I get my paper work in the mail (in a couple days) I am going to try to fight my way out of this. My biggest rebuttal being that it is 110 degrees outside, and I don't feel it is safe for them to be out there in the middle of the day. But if that doesn't work, I am hoping to turn to YOU! I thought of something the other day that I'm hoping will work.... Tell them that YOU GUYS Pay me BIG MONEY to TEACH your child (and although I know Children LEARN A LOT THROUGH PLAY- they get enough of that INSIDE) and if you guys wanted your kids outside you could just keep them home and have them play in your backyard. It takes too much time out of our already short day to try to round them up, lead them outside, play for a few minutes, wind them back up, walk back through the house, get drinks, etc. I'm assuming you don't want that precious time wasted every day. SO if it comes to that- I'm hoping you guys might be able to sign something that says you would rather your children not go outside to play. But I will keep you posted.

If for some reason that is really important to you--let me know and we'll see what we can work out! we will have a water day one day a year. We will do a parade for Halloween, and some other odds and ends things outside- but that's usually all I have them do--other than going outside early before you guys come pick them up!!

So that's where I'm at!!

Have a great week!

Week 2 of Preschool...

Well...another week down, and we're having so much fun! Your children are so sweet, and are making my job TOO easy!! Here is a little peek at our week this week.

My morning friends discovered the train-- they want it every day now too! We tried a different train track this time because they fought a little over the leap frog train! :)
Singing a good bye song! Aren't they just so cute!

Hayden decorating her queen crown. Next weeks kings/queens in the morning are Kasj, Kayden, and Kaylee (in that order). Afternoon friends are Brock, Mason, and Natalie.
Hayden passing out all of her snack! She went above and beyond. Feel free to keep it simple.

I was trying to show these boys that they could make a letter "f" with these blocks, but of course they then turned them sideways and said "look you can make a gun!" Leave it to the boys! :)

Building his house just like his daddy!

Painting the "two friends". I just wanted to show you the difference in the painting...older kids and younger. When I try to explain my curriculum, and how I make it adaptable to everyone- this is a good example. I leave it up to the kids how much they want to do...my older kids usually have a longer attention span and will colr, paint, draw a little more, and that's ok. So even though these projects weren't all that pretty there was a lot of learning involved. Besides following our "friends" theme (starting with the letter F) they also practiced mixing colors (they started out with red, yellow, and, blue), they got to express themselves through creativity, they used fine motor skills (we painted these with a straw), they observed what would happen because they were only supposed to paint one side and then smoosh them together to see what happens, etc. So keep an open mind when you see these projects-- IT IS THE PROCESS THAT SUPPOSTS LEARNING, NOT THE PRODUCT!

Painting away! I just love all their smiles!

Lexi trying to hang with the boys- all the girls were gone on this day!

Exploring all the fun toys!
Good friends! Sorry Nat...she has him playing polly pockets and house!! :)


That about winds it up. We practiced sharing with our friends, we made our "fuzzy friends" (they practiced cutting, hand eye coordination, art exploration, creative expression, and fine motor skills again with this project). We learned a couple songs about friends. And today we did that little letter journal. If you want to keep those in a safe spot, we will do one for every letter and it will be fun to see the letter progession, and their writing skills, etc.

That is one area I am having a lot of trouble with. the majority of the children are all holding their pencil wrong (wrapping their whole hand around it). I am trying my best to correct it here at school, but if you see them doing it at home, please try to show them the corrext way to hold a pencil.

Keep working on their name papers. My goal is to have them all writing their own name by Christmas, so we can perfect it by the end of the year! :)

Next week we will be learning the letter "T" and starting our transportation unit!!

Have a great week! Any questions, comment, concerns feel free to leave a comment here or email or call me! Thanks!!

New this week...

As I mentioned below last week we worked on our names/name recognition; the rules of our class; friendshipping; we started to learn all of our calendar songs as well as our "friendly" song- you can quiz them and see if they remember it. We also learned the sign for "friendly".

This week we will be starting our letters out with the letter "F" (this is really different for me--I usually start with "M" so we'll see how it goes...this curriculum kit is fun, not quite as "cute" as last time...but I see a lot of learning potential with it-- If you have no idea what I'm talking about...just ask me! :))

We will be doing mostly "friend" stuff again for the letter "F". Make sure they keep practicing their name homework with at home (I finally stocked my treasure box...mostly candy, so if any of you have any McDonald's toys, or old birthday party favors, etc. that you would want to donate to the treasure box- that would be fabulous!) (FYI...I have found that the wet erase marker works best on those folders) and now they can practice the letter "f". Go to www.kidzone.com for some great printable worksheets; i.e. the letter f, or just make your won on paper!

Thanks guys...Have a great week!

King and Queen Schedule

Here is a copy of the king and queen schedule. Please mark all your dates ASAP! Thanks!


King and Queen of the Day Schedule

Aug. 20 Alyssa Crew
Aug. 21 Hayden Kaden
Aug. 26 Kash Brock
Aug. 27 Kayden Mason
Aug. 28 Kaylee Natalie
Sep. 2 Kody Teagan
Sep. 3 Sami Colby
Sep. 4 Peyton Crew
Sep. 9 Tatum Kaden
Sep. 10 Alexa Brock
Sep. 11 Alyssa Mason
Sep. 16 Hayden Natalie
Sep. 17 Kash Teagan
Sep. 18 Kayden Colby
Sep. 23 Kaylee Lexi
Sep. 24 Kody Kaden
Sep. 25 Sami Brock
Sep. 30 Peyton Mason
Oct. 1 Tatum Natalie
Oct. 2 Alexa Teagan
Oct. 7 Alyssa Lexi
Oct. 8 Hayden Crew
Oct. 9 NO SCHOOL/ FALL BREAK! J
Oct. 14 Kash Kaden
Oct. 15 Kayden Brock
Oct. 16 Kaylee Mason
Oct. 21 Kody Natalie
Oct. 22 Sami Teagan
Oct. 23 Peyton Colby
Oct. 28 Tatum Lexi
Oct. 29 Alexa Crew
Oct. 30 HALLOWEEN PARTY (watch for sign-ups)
Nov. 4 Alyssa Kaden
Nov. 5 Hayden Brock
Nov. 6 Kash Mason
NOV 11 NO SCHOOL/VETERANS’ DAY
Nov. 12 Kayden Natalie
Nov. 13 Kaylee Teagan
Nov. 18 Kody Lexi
Nov. 19 Sami Crew
Nov. 20 Peyton Kaden
Nov. 25 Tatum Brock
Nov. 26 Hayden/Kaylee Mason
Nov. 27 NO SCHOOL/ THANKSGIVING DAY
Dec. 2 Alexa Natalie
Dec. 3 Alyssa Teagan
Dec. 4 Hayden Lexi
Dec. 9 Kash Crew
Dec. 10 Kayden Kaden
Dec. 11 Kaylee Brock
Dec. 16 Kody Mason
Dec. 17 Sami Natalie
Dec. 18 CHRISTMAS PARTY (watch for sign-ups)

Please bring a treat to share with the class on your child's special day. You are welcome to bring whatever you want but keep in mind it doesn't have to be "junk food"-- ie. cheese and crackers, pudding, fruit, yogurt/gogurt, popcorn balls, or the tried and true-- cookies, brownies, fruit snacks, popsicles, etc. You choose- whatever your child’s favorite snacks are-- or you can try and bring something that starts with the letter of the week. Drinks are optional. You are welcome to bring in a poster to tell about your child or any objects that would describe them. Please mark ALL the dates that your child is king or queen on your calendar ASAP-- they really look forward to their turn to be my helper!! Thank you for all of your contributions!
Morning Friends- please bring enough for 12
Afternoon Friends- please bring enough for 8

Back to school...

Here are a few more pictures from the week...

Circle time-- they just all looked so cute- I had to take a picture!

Playing DR. like his daddy!

More Dr. like his daddy- actually they're both dentists- kinda funny!

What would these cute girls play? Barbies of course!


Sorry...I have a few more pictures from the week- but my computer is being crazy and they're taking forever to upload...so we'll call this good for tonight! Thanks again for the fabulous week! More great stuff coming next week!

Preschool's back in session

Welcome to my Preschool blog! I am so excited to give it a try-- My goal will be to update it at least once a week with things we did over the week, and things to expect for the next week.

It was such a GREAT first week of preschool! I can't believe how well all the children got along together. They had such great "listening ears" and are adjusting to our schedule quite well. Here is a little peek into what our week was like...



Book time- (I think my little Lexi found her first crush- she wouldn't leave poor Mason alone :))
Painting/Project time- This week we mostly worked on our names, and name recognition, as well as introduced the unit on friends.

More painting...the were trying to find "the secret message" that appeared when they painted (it was their name! :))
Center aka "Play" time-- Kids learn so well through "play" it is so fun to hear all their little conversations. I love when they learn to reason with each other or take roles such as the leader.

Playing with the train... an afternoon favorite. I don't think my morning friends have asked to get it down yet...afternoon friends...EVERY DAY! :)

More book time!
Our "Circle of Friends" hat! Aren't they SO cute?!?!?!?

Playing together-- both classes did this VERY well, but my morning friends have some young children, and new to any school programs, and they are just doing great!! They all get along and play together perfectly!

See all the team work- that's actually a big stage for this age...a lot of the time it's just the independent play or the side play (they will play next to each other, but not really together).

It was a FANTASTIC first week-- I couldn't ask for more. Thanks for letting me be a small part of your childs day! I love it! They brighten my day!