The last two weeks we have been reading the story “Over in the Meadow.” Children loved all the animals in this story and had fun practicing counting in ASL! We did so many fun things check them out below!

We got a special delivery in preschool – GOATS. Our lovely interpreter Elaine shared her baby goats with the preschool, Annabelle and Luella! Children learned how to interact with the goats, making sure they were gentle and only pet them on their backs. Children got to take turns feeding the goats. They were so cute!

Elaine pointing to the goats back.                      We are so happy!

They loved to cuddle!

Taking turns feeding.

Thank you Elaine & Lynn for sharing your baby goats!

         Family Friday was fantastic! Students planned ahead and made invitations to give their families. The weather was perfect and the rain held off until after our picnic was finished. Many families came to our picnic which was held in our “Quad” area and playground. After lunch, the fun began. Many of our parents have ALMOST as much energy as their children. There was a lot of running, laughing and all around good fun!

Thanks so much to all our wonderful parents, families and most of all…young children!!! We cherish you all!

        Working together was our second theme during “Week of the Young Child”. We focused on “working together” and helping “care for our environment”. We read “The Earth Book” by Todd Parr and then went on an island walk and cleaned up the trash. We had outside centers that taught us about recycling. We sorted paper, plastic and tin and used recycled newspaper to make hats! We also painted a beautiful mural and planted bean and sunflower seeds. Our favorite center was making robots from recycled items!

      The past two weeks we have been celebrating our students during “Week of the Young Child”.  Monday and Tuesday we focused on “Movement“.  Next we had “Work Together Wednesday and Thursday”. Then on Friday, we celebrated “Family Friday”! We Love our Young Children!!!

Using our muscles is lots of fun. We have really grown up this year!

1,2,3…Slide!

Outside play was so much fun. Looking out at the world with out friends.

Ready to move…Shake, Shake, Shake…

We have enjoyed our ice-cream activities through the story, Wemberly’s Ice-Cream Star. Through this unit, we have explored with shapes, coloring, and even creating our own ice-cream!  Here is the recipe:

1 small ziploc bag

1 large ziploc bag

1 tbsp sugar

½ cup milk

¼ tsp vanilla

6 tbsp sugar

3-4 cups ice

In each small bag, add milk, vanilla, and sugar; seal the bag. Fill the large bag half full with ice; add salt. Place the small bag inside the large bag and seal. Shake until mixture is the consistency of icecream (approximately 5 minutes). Enjoy!

After April vacation, we will be doing an unit on The Week(s) of The Young Child. We have decided this year to focus on three themes: movement, Earth, and families!

• Movement Monday (and Tuesday!)
• Earth Days Wednesday and Thursday.
• Families Friday

We will update you about our exciting Family Friday on May 4^th!

Our “Bring Your Stuffed Animal to Preschool” day was a huge hit! We love our stuffed friends! We will see you after April vacation!

The next two weeks are all about colors! We are reading “Dogs Colorful Day” by Emma Todd. In this story, Dog gets really messy, and very colorful!

We did a fun science experiment this week, seeing if our carnations will change color by putting dye in the water.

We checked the next day… they changed colors!

Each day of the week we dressed in a different color!

Monday: RED DAY

Tuesday: BLUE DAY

Wednesday: YELLOW DAY

Thursday: PURPLE DAY

Friday: ORANGE DAY

Colors! Colors! Colors!

We started the “Healthy Bodies” Unit this week! We are focusing on handwashing and reading “Hooray for Handwashing” as well as “Germs Are Not For Sharing” by Elizabeth Verdick. The students have been practicing their great handwashing skills!

For centers, we have been focusing on having MESSY fun so that we can further work on our handwashing!

Plus, we created mini “germs” with poms and googly eyes.

What do you do when germs make you sick? Go to the doctor’s office!

Thank you families for sending in fruits for our Valentine’s Day Fruit Salad and so we can continue to learn about healthy bodies! Stay tuned…

For the past month, the preschoolers have been reading books written by author, Jan Brett.  First, we read “The Mitten” which was about a young boy who loses his white mitten in the snow. Through the story, various woodland animals find the mitten and crawl inside… The second book, “The Three Snow Bears”, another version of “Goldilock and the Three Bears”,  takes place in the Arctic region and the characters are polar bears living in an igloo.

Both books were about snow and cold…Brrr. They matched the weather we have had outside on Mackworth Island! Our centers have included many snow themed activities as well as many outside adventures playing in the ice and snow!

All eyes are on the story, waiting to see what happens next…

During story time, students acted out the story using props and masks.

Students dressed up as animals from “The Mitten” in the Drama Center.

The art center was a busy place as students made masks of all the animals from “The Mitten”.

The owl…

The bear…

Painting big, medium and small sized polar bears at the easel center…

Experimenting with shaving cream and liquid water color paints at the art center…

More fun with shaving cream…

Love this!!

Building igloos in the gym…working together with friends!

Team work is important…

 

Opps…try again!

 

 

What a busy month it has been!

We read What I Like About Me! by All Zobel-Nolan.  Ask your child what their favorite colors, foods, and activities are! The past two weeks we have had fun exploring all the same and different characterstics of our friends- hair colors, eye colors, ear gear/glasses, heights, etc.  We all are same and  different in our own special ways!  We also took a mini-field trip, and walked over to the audiologist’s office, where we explored all kinds of colorful ear gear!

We then moved on to the Family Unit, and read Oonga Boonga by Frieda Wishinsky.  It is about family members who try to calm a crying baby.  The children enjoyed recreating this story in the drama center with baby dolls and props!

Thank you families for sending in pictures of your mothers, fathers, siblings, and grandparents.  We have been creating classroom Family Trees with those photos. Check them out sometime!