Alka seltzer pop!!

The children love doing science experiments and they are great learning experiences. This week we experimented with film canisters, water, and alka seltzer. We watched the lids pop off from the pressure of the combination. So fun!!

Flubber

We made flubber this week and the children LOVED it!

Here's the recipe in case you feel like making some at home: Flubber recipe

The recipe calls for Borax, which you can find in your laundry detergent aisle. However, the box is huge and you only need a tiny bit to make the flubber. I have tons of Borax at school. Just write me a note or an email and I can send some home in a baggie with your child if you're interested!

Birthday Party!!

Thanks for donating items for our 'birthday party'!! We oftentimes change out themes and activities in our dramatic play center. Experiencing different dramatic experiences allows us to have new experiences and also allows us to practice new vocabulary words. In addition, we also made birthday cards and made lists of different things we like to do at birthday parties.

Morning class

Afternoon class

Making lists of things to do at birthday parties and making our birthday cards.

 

 

 

Process art

You may see your child come home with some 'interesting' art projects :)
In my classroom I encourage children to create art however they choose. We very rarely have art projects where the students are asked to follow step by step directions. We encourage the use of paper, scissors, yarn, boxes, stamps, egg cartons...whatever they choose. We teach how to use tape dispensers properly and how to safely use scissors so that they can work independently. Process art allows students to use their imagination and think outside the box.
Attached here is a link explaining a little bit more about the benefits of allowing children to be creative with their art: PROCESS ART FOR KIDS
At home you can encourage your child to explain what they are making, encourage them to add more, ask questions, etc.

Show me 5

A big part of preschool is learning how to follow rules and routines in the classroom. Most preschoolers are pretty wiggly and while we have many opportunities to move about the classroom during playtime, there are also times when we need to calm our bodies and sit nicely during large group time. We've learned about our "Show Me 5" rules. These are rules that we follow during story time. It is great to review these rules with your child at home!

Legs are crossed
Hands are still
Ears are listening
Eyes are watching
Lips are zipped

 

Patterning

Our math focus for the week was patterning. We used cubes, play dough and blocks to create different patterns.

Suggestions for at home:
Use different items around the house to create patterns; pennies, cheerios, safety pins, buttons, etc. You can also practice patterning by using your bodies; clapping, jumping, stomping, etc.
Try creating a pattern and see if your child can finish it! If you'd like to use a pattern grid to glue items and send back to school to hang in the classroom, look for the pattern template in your child's backpack. I'm also attaching the link here  PATTERN GRID
This activity is optional!

 

Caps for Sale

Our story focus of the week was Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. The main character gets angry and angrier and angrier. We used this as a learning opportunity to discuss what kinds of strategies he could use to calm himself down (Star Breathing).

In the story, the peddler balanced all of his caps on his head. We practiced balancing different items on our head and then we used pictures of the hats to count how many we could fit on his head. Included in your child's backpack this week is a copy of the peddler and all of his caps. As an at-home activity you can color the picture, cut out the caps and see how many caps you can count. Encourage your child to retell the story. Story retelling is a great literacy skill!!

Conscious Discipline

 

Social emotional development is a HUGE part of early childhood development. We use conscious discipline as a tool to help our students identify their emotions and how to cope with them appropriately. Click on Conscious discipline for parents to check out some great resources for strategies to use at home!

Conscious discipline includes creating a safe area in the classroom where children can go to take a break. This area includes a soft chair, visuals of different emotions, 'feeling buddies', emotions books, and strategies for calming ourselves and how to cope.

 

 



One of our calm down strategies that we learned this week is called Star Breathing. When we get upset or angry we use our star breathing to breath in through our nose and out through our mouths. We made our own star breathing visuals to remind us how to calm ourselves.



Star breathers help us inhale and exhale when we are anxious.

We will be sending our star breathers home. Please keep this to help your child practice their calming strategy when they feel themselves getting anxious or angry.

 

 

Learning through play is how preschoolers learn best. Here is just a quick snapshot of some things that have been keeping us busy this week!



Forming letters out of play dough.

Bear counting.

 

Making tie die using markers, baby wipes and rubber bands.
 

 

 

We read the story 'We're going on a bear hunt' and used different story telling strategies to retell the story. We drew out the story on a large piece of paper and made sensory bottles that included the various parts of the story.

 

Reading the story and matching the bottles

Drawing out the story



Matching the bottles to the same part in the story.

 

 

 

 

We've had a busy first couple of weeks as we've gotten acquainted with our new school, teachers and friends. We've learned about following a routine and school rules to keep us safe. We've practiced standing and walking in a line, sitting nicely for large group time on the carpet, and making good and safe choices during free choice time. We also make sure to sit down and have a snack together every day. This is a great opportunity for us to talk and share ideas.

 

 

We have also learned about our classroom jobs. Jobs are important to teach responsibility and accountability. Some of our jobs include line leader, calendar helper, zookeeper (for our classroom crab), and clean up crew. Here's our clean up crew hard at work!

 

 

 

Thanks for following! Looking forward to keeping you all updated.
More updates and pictures to come in the next few days.