Monday, February 22, 2016

We had a great day in preschool!

First...2 reminders...

Grandparents’ Day...is quickly approaching! Sent home last week in your child’s folder is the detailed information in regards to grandparents/special friends’ day on March 10th. (The papers are blue) Because this is a special day, there is a LOT of information to be given, so please make sure to read over the sheet carefully and let me know if you have any questions.  Then, please fill out the form (page 2) and return it to me by Tuesday, March 8th.  I do need EVERY child to return the form, even if your child does not plan to attend or he/she will not have grandparents/special friends attending. The last 2 pages are a schedule of activities for the day!  If you could please share with/give this agenda to your child’s special guest(s), that would be great! 

Easter Egg Hunt...Zion’s annual Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, March 19 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm for ages birth to second grade.  In an effort to fill the eggs, we need your help to donate non-chocolate candies to place inside the plastic eggs. Donations should be dropped off in the church office before March 7th (you can also bring to the classroom), giving the team enough time to fill all the eggs. If you would like to help out for the egg hunt, please contact Carla Trampe at carlatrampe@sbcglobal.net.

And...here we go...

Korrinne helped out the symphony...she remembered that we needed an "open/closed" sign!

These friends worked together to make beautiful music this morning!  Dramatic play is a great way to interact with other children in an informal setting!

Sophia and Reagan...future artists at work?!?!?

All these friends...improving small motor control as they created!  We may have a few architects or builders in our classroom!

Luke improved his scissor skills as he created tickets to sell for the symphony!

Aubrey improved her writing/drawing skills as she created this awesome treasure map...to find butterflies!!!

Another wonderful morning to improve large motor control and showing God's love to others, while playing outside!

Then...WIGGLE WORM was back!!!  It's been awhile since we've had a visit from wiggle worm, so we were EXCITED!  Today he brought with him guitars with numbers 1 - 20 on them.  If a guitar was picked from the bag, the friend said his/her number to the class.  Then, I gave them an activity to complete that number of times!

Pat your head 1 time!

If a wiggle worm was picked...

 Everybody WiGgLe!!!  While our friends were having fun wiggling, little did they know they were learning self regulation!  As soon as I said, "freeze" everyone stopped and sat down!  Being able to stop when having so much fun is a tough job!

Today we introduced the letter "A" and number "9"!  

We remembered start your letter "at the top" then big line down diagonal, big line down diagonal, little line across to write an "A" and big line down, little curve to write a "9"! Then we came up with words that start with "A" and found "9's" around the room!

Anytime one of our friends thinks of a word that starts with "A" we can add it to our big letter.  Or, if at home, your child sees a small picture or item that starts with an "A", bring it in and he/she can glue it to our big letter!

Then we practiced writing "A" and "9" with our special handwriting without tears crayons (nice and short to reinforce proper grip)! 

To begin small groups (centers), I read the book "The Mitten".  This is the same book that we had read to us (on-line) last week.  Reading it again, reinforces the story and allows our friends to follow along with the words in the book.  Also, it gives friends a chance to ask questions as we read the story together.

After reading "The Mitten" as a group, each friend got to decide what would fit in his/her mitten!  First, he/she drew a picture.  Then, he/she told me what was in his/her mitten and I helped him/her write it.  Success for some was writing the letters hand-over-hand with me.  Success for others was writing the letters on his/her own (copying from a paper I had written the word on)!

 We improved hand-eye coordination, small motor control, and problem solving skills as we worked with lacing cards!

With Mrs. Burnham, we improved sorting skills (and what we know about instruments) as each friend took a turn on the smartboard moving instruments to the correct family!

Jeremiah returned the favorite book bag today.  He shared with us "Larry Learns to Listen"!  Our friends loved this Veggie Tale adventure (and it fit perfect with Jesus Time today).  Thank you for sharing this book with us Jeremiah!

During Jesus Time today we learned the story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha.  Martha wanted to help Jesus.  She was busy cleaning and making food.  Helping is important.  Mary chose to listen to Jesus, learning about God's love, and spending time with her friend Jesus.  Listening is also important.  Helping and hearing are both good things, but hearing God's word needs to come first because it is the MOST important!