Wednesday, January 6, 2021

 Welcome back to Mrs. Mudd's preschool class...now in 2021!

Two quick reminders...

Enrollment 2021/2022 begins today for current Zion students and church members! You should have received an email this morning with enrollment information and a link to complete the enrollment process. If you did not receive the email, please contact Andrea Holtz (aholtz@zionharvester.org) or Julie Kainady (jkainady@zionharvester.org).

There is NO school on Monday, January 18 in observation of Martin Luther King Jr Day.

On to the fun...

While others were enjoying free choice time, each friend began his/her day with a special check-in!  Each child completed his/her "January My Name" for his/her portfolio.  Most friends were asked to try writing his/her name without using his/her nametag! Many were able to write his/her name without the help of the nametag.  Others were able to begin, but needed his/her nametag to finish.  We did GREAT! While each friend wrote his/her name I took special note of :

pencil grip

right or left hand

copied name or wrote from memory

We noticed we started another new month, January (and even a new year)!  It was time to check out the December pie graph!  We could tell just by looking that cloudy (black) had the least days in December, while sunny (yellow) had the most. We also noticed that August and December looked very similar! Understanding more, less, and the same is an early math skill.

We loved that Tricky Mouse came to visit us our first week back after break!  Today he brought shapes.  But, he couldn't fool us, we knew all these shapes (and colors) and found him every time! Recognizing/identifying shapes is an early math skill.

Today we introduced the letter "S" and number "2"!  

We remembered start your letter "at the top" then little curve, turn, little curve to write an "S" and big curve, little line at the bottom to write a "2"! Then we came up with words that start with "S" and found "2's" around the room!

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

Then we practiced writing "S" and "2" with crayons (nice and short to reinforce proper grip)!

We enjoyed large motor time on our preschool playground this morning (I think some of us missed it)!

Time for small groups (centers)!

With me we worked on a "kind of" secret project for National Lutheran Schools Week.  Today we worked on step 1 of 2!  Be looking for the finished product to be displayed in some fashion (possibly virtual) the last week of January!

With no snow outside yet, we got to make "snow" for our sensory table today.  Each friend was given 1 1/2 cups of baking soda and a 1/4 cup of hair conditioner.  Then we got MESSY!!!  Mixing, squishing, smooshing, and squeezing until the conditioner was all mixed in.  Once finished, we dumped it into the sensory table so we can play with "snow" where it is nice and warm, and it won't melt!

We got to have a dance party to...FROZEN songs!!! Perfect for improving large motor control and getting the wiggles out!

We improved our sorting skills and strengthened the finger, wrist, and hand muscles.  We used tongs/tweezers to pick up pom pom balls and sort them by big, medium, and small into 3 different containers!

We were quite excited to have the chance to get our wiggles out on the parking lot playground today!

During Jesus Time today we learned about a very special star that led the three wisemen to baby Jesus.  When they finally met him they brought gifts fit for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh!

Thanks for checking out our day!