Wednesday, January 27, 2016

We had a great day in preschool!

We had a very quick free choice time before we headed off to "big kid" chapel (for National Lutheran Schools Week)!

Magnatiles were ever so popular again today!  Improving small motor control while creating/understanding 2D/3D shapes!

Two best buddies realizing that they both want to be Cardinal baseball players when they grow up!

We headed off to the all school chapel, led by Pastor Eisold.  Pastor recently returned from a mission in Peru!  He and his family will soon be moving to Florida to open new churches in the southern part of the state.  Lutheran schools are training us to be "jedi knights" of God's word! He reminded us that feet, feet, feet are so important!  Feet get the body where it needs to go to hear about Jesus and to share the love of Jesus with others!  

Upon returning from chapel, we had another short free choice time!  These 2 future veterinarians showed Sophia what it's like to be a doctor for animals!

Then...we had a wonderful opportunity to practice sharing with friends...look at everyone working with magnatiles!

 Everyone checked in, so we used our early math skills to see that "happy" and "tired" had the same (or equal) with 5 friends each, while "scared"  had the least with 0 friends!

Can you figure out what the future holds for these friends?!?!?

We had 3 baseball players, 3 veterinarians, 1 teacher, and 1 construction worker!

(Thursday, 1/28 is spirit day...wear as much red and white as you can!)

Time for a little science!  

We started with one empty can (from green beans). We crushed up some ice and put it in the can.  Then, we added a little bit of cold water to the can.  Then...prediction time...

I asked each friend what they thought would happen when I poured salt into the can too...

Voila!  We created frost! We learned that the air around us can hold a lot of water (water vapor).  You can't see it, but it's usually there.  We can often see it when it condenses on windows, cars, grass, and cobwebs.  We call this dew.  If the surface is very cold (below the freezing point of water) the condensed water vapor freezes, this is what we see as frost!

Time for small groups (centers)!

With Mrs. Mudd we worked on part 1 of a creation!  Today we used mirrors to draw our self portrait.  Each friend then finished the following 2 statements...

My eyes are ________

My hair is _________

This activity helped improve symbolic development, early writing/drawing, small motor control, and knowledge of self!

We improved our early scissor skills cutting out paper hearts.  Each paper was folded in half.  Each friend had to cut on the line that Mrs. Mudd had previously drawn. Then...unfold the paper and just like that we made hearts!  After cutting out his/her heart, he/she could decorate with markers!

We improved our patterning skills placing conversation hearts in different patterns!

With Mrs. Dose we improved recognizing/identifying and forming letters.  She would hold up a lowercase letter.  Our friends would tell her the letter name, then make that same UPPERCASE letter with our wood pieces.

And...what a beautiful day it turned out to be!  Here we are enjoying that fresh air!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

We had a great Tuesday in preschool!

First...a few reminders...

Zion Trivia Night 2016...is this Saturday, January 30.  You can still help support our students, even if you aren't able to be a part of the trivia event. Sponsorship opportunities are available. You can send a message of thanks or encouragement, advertise your business, or simply say something silly with a Bobcat Shout-Out for only $25. For those attending, don't forget the Hawaiian Luau theme. Dig out your tiki torches and best Hawaiian outfits and prepare to be judged. Prizes will be awarded for the winning team, and the best luau themed dress and table decoration! Questions? Please email trivia@zionharvester.org or contact Josh Kainady at 314-518-5645.

12:00 Dismissal on Wednesday, 2/3...School will dismiss at 12:00 this day for teacher in-service meetings.  Preschool will need a snack this day.  We will NOT be eating lunch at school this day (unless you registered for half day care).

Zion Half Day Care Registration for Wednesday, 2/3…Two weeks ago, in your child’s folder, you received a registration form for half day care on Wednesday, 2/3/16 . School will dismiss at 12:00 on 2/3 for teacher in-service meetings.  It is expected that your child be picked up from school at 12:00 on this day, unless you register your child to attend half day care.  If you would like for your child to attend half-day care that afternoon, please fill out and return the registration form by Friday, 1/29.

Valentines to give to friends...Our class will have our valentines parties on Monday, February 8 and Tuesday, February 9. Prior to the parties, each child will be making a valentine bag, at school.  Please have your child prepare 23 valentines at home (1 for each child in the class) and bring them on 2/8 or 2/9.  (Please see my email sent on 1/22/16 for more details).

On to our day...

We had a different check-in this morning (for those not here yesterday. Each friend decided how he/she was feeling today (happy, sad, angry, scared, tired, or excited).  Then wrote his/her name in the correct column!

Many friends were excited to see magnatiles had returned!  A super fun way to improve hand-eye coordination while recognizing 2D and 3D shapes!

Pierce and Keller planned and worked together while dinosaurs invaded the police and fire station!

 These friends prepare and share a picnic, creating the world as they see it!

 Everyone had checked in, so we used our early math skills to see that "happy" had the most with 6 friends, while "scared"  and "angry" had the least with 1 friend each (these are also the same or equal)!

For morning large motor time, we got the wiggles out in the commons...still a bit chilly for us outside!

We are beginning a project on music, so to wrap up morning meeting we watched 2 short videos.  One of a symphony orchestra and one of a band classroom.   Our first decision for our project is...do we want a symphony or a band room created in our classroom?

After watching both videos and discussing the similarities and differences between a symphony and a band room, our friends (that were not here yesterday) voted!

All 23 votes are in, we decided that symphony has the most with 18.  So, we will begin creating a symphony orchestra in our dramatic play area soon!

Happy Birthday Mrs. Dose!  Thank you for sharing your special day with us!

We decided to see if we could remember how to build mat man! Look at this teamwork...

And...we did it!!!

Time for small groups (centers)!

Since we were able to build mat man with our wood pieces, each friend had the chance to draw his/her very own mat man!  Mat man activities develop a child's body awareness, drawing, and counting skills.

With Mrs. Dose we expressed creativity as we created our bags for Valentines day!

We improved rhyming skills as we made tiny puzzles by matching up 2 words/pictures that rhyme!

We improved letter identification and writing skills as we wrote "winter" words from our word wall in our journals!

Day two of National Lutheran Schools brought us some "wacky tacky" outfits! Look at all these happy faces, getting to wear "crazy" clothes to school! 

(Wednesday, 1/27 is career day...wear the clothes of what you want to be when you grow up!)

Aubrey returned the favorite book bag today, bringing in "Going to the Sea Park"! Thank you for sharing this fun book with us Aubrey!

And...we bundled up for round 2 of large motor time...it was cold...but we kept moving and stayed warm!

During Jesus Time today, Zippy visited on his way to the grocery store!   He was excited to buy some of his favorite foods.  We reminded him that those foods don't just appear at the store.  Instead all food begins as something that God provides!  God always gives us everything we need and sometimes what we want!