Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Thank you for checking out our Wednesday!

The "snow" was open again today for our friends to explore and create!  This will be the last week of the snow and we are excited to see what will be in the sensory table next!



The easel was oh so popular today!  Many friends improved writing/drawing skills as they worked with a paintbrush today...





Reese and Ella were protecting their feet from the shark that was in the water their plane had to land in!!!  Just love the imagination!


Coloring is another great way to improving writing/drawing skills...strengthening the finger, wrist, and hand muscles!


 We were excited to see the signs we made yesterday for the airport were now hanging in the "airport"Both are laminated so the information can be updated daily with a dry/wet erase marker!



Mrs. Mudd had 7 items.  We took a minute to talk about each one and "lock" them in our brains!  These were a bit harder today since we had multiple of the same item, so we had to remember which color was missing too! Then while hidden under a towel, Mrs. Mudd took away 2 items! Our friends' job was to recall what was missing !  We did AWESOME today, didn't miss even once.  Recognizing and recalling is an early cognitive skill.


With a wet and muddy playground, we enjoyed some scooter and other larger motor activities in the commons!






Now...that's what I call teamwork!
 

We enjoyed an excellent book from the library! This easy to read book pointed out many things that happen from start to finish when taking a trip on an airplane!  It was awesome to see most of the things in the book, we had set up in our "Amazing Airlines" airport!


We then took a "flight" around the world!  We flew (more like a bird) over the mountains, the arctic, the desert, the ocean/beach, China, Paris, and much more before we landed at Epcot in Disney World!  If you've ever been on the Soarin' ride at Epcot (updated within the last 2 years), this is the youtube video of that experience! We LOVED it!!!


Time for small groups (centers)!

Friends  worked together to make more written signs for our airport.  We improved letter recognition, number recognition, and writing skills as we made our signs!


Earlier this week each friend was given a heart with his/her name and 3 lines drawn on it.  Each friend cut his/her heart on the lines, making 4 "puzzle" pieces.  Today, with Mrs. Dose, each friend put his/her heart puzzle back together, gluing it on a piece of paper.  This activity not only worked our motor development and spatial awareness, it also showed persistence, and the ability to listen to and understand directions.


We improved our sorting skills as each group decided how they were going to sort all of the  airplanes we have around the classroom...by type, by size, by color...there were so many choices!


As March approaches we have some "new" to us books on the bookshelf.  We improved our early literacy skills as we took turns "reading" to a friend!














And...it was a gym day for us, we enjoyed every last minute of it!!!





During Jesus Time we acted out the story of Jesus forgiving Zacchaeus! Not only did Jesus forgive Zacchaeus, He changed his heart and his life!  Jesus forgives us when we make poor choices.  He loves all people, no matter what!

Ella was a wonderful photographer today...check out these action shots!






Hope you enjoyed reading all about our day!

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

 This Tuesday was terrific in preschool!

Two quick reminders...

Grandparent/Special Friend DayLast week in your child’s folder was the detailed information in regard to grandparents/special friends’ day on Thursday, March 8th. (The papers are green) 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 school by this Friday, March 2nd.  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 page is 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!

11:00 Dismissal on Friday, March 9…there is NO half day care option this day.  Please make arrangements to pick up your child at 11:00 am on 3/9.  We will NOT be eating lunch at school, but we WILL have morning snack.

On to our day...

While friends enjoyed free choice time, those not here yesterday "tested" his/her early scissor skills.  Each friend was given a heart with his/her name and 3 lines drawn on it.  Each friend cut his/her heart on the lines, making 4 "puzzle" pieces.  Later this week, each friend will put his/her heart puzzle back together, gluing it on a piece of paper.  This activity not only worked our motor development, it also showed persistence, and the ability to listen to and understand directions.






Kinley expressed creativity while painting with watercolors...


Check out all of the friends working together to create with magnatiles!!!




Mara and Brooklyn decided to take a practice flight since they didn't have any passengers!


We were excited to see the signs we made yesterday for the airport were now hanging in the "airport"!


This sign is laminated so the information can be updated daily with a dry/wet erase marker!


Mrs. Mudd had 7 items.  We took a minute to talk about each one and "lock" them in our brains!  These were a bit harder today since we had multiple of the same item, so we had to remember which color was missing too! Then while hidden under a towel, Mrs. Mudd took away 2 items! Our friends' job was to recall what was missing !  We did AWESOME today, didn't miss even once.  Recognizing and recalling is an early cognitive skill.


Zion's Student Council led our chapel service today!  They did an awesome job acting out the story of The Prodigal Son (they made us laugh quite a bit, while still delivering an important message).  We remembered that God will always be there for us and always love us, even when we make poor choices!




And...that led us to a bit of large motor time outside!











Mara returned the favorite book bag today! She shared with us "Go, Dog, Go!". We loved hearing from Mara about her favorite part of the book, and seeing her drawings.  We then enjoyed hearing the story as Mrs. Mudd read it to the class.

This activity is one way to encourage the love of reading.  Also, this activity allows the children (and teacher) to be introduced to new books!  Furthermore, it helps to continue to build home and school connections!



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 little curve, big line down 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 crayons (nice and short to reinforce proper grip)! 




Emma thought of some "A" words at home last night.  She wrote them down and brought them in so we could add them to our big letter!


Time for small groups (centers)!

Friends  worked together to make written signs for our airport.  We improved letter recognition, number recognition, and writing skills as we made our signs!


With Mrs. Cooper we played some alphabet BINGO! Mrs. Cooper would make the sound one letter makes, each friend had to find that letter and cover it up.  Success for some was working with uppercase letters.  While success for others was working with lowercase letters.


We improved our large motor control as we "flew" over clouds on the balance beam.  Each cloud had a number on it.  When each friend got to a number he/she said the number then "flew" in place while counting to that number, before "flying" over the cloud!


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














And...we are loving this warmer, sunny weather! Yay for more large motor time outside today!
 
 



Thank you for checking out our day!