Thursday, January 21, 2016
It finally snowed a significant amount where my friends were able to understand a little more of what happens when it snows. I hope those of you that had a snow day yesterday enjoyed it to the fullest. We
talked about things we need to wear in the snow and cold to keep us warm and
what types of fun activities we can do in the snow. WE talked about what we did in the snow yesterday, some of my friends went sledding, some threw snowballs and others made snow angels! We spend a lot of our time in
our classroom making ourselves aware of the things around us whether it is a
holiday, season or special event. I firmly
believe this gives our small friends a sense of time and allows us to open up a
dialog of many different topics and allows us to use our imaginations and
explore what is around us. Talking to
your child about what you like to do or not do when it is a cold outside is a
great way to help them understand the world around them. Today one of our transition activities was
when a friends name was called they had to tell me one thing that they would
wear outside when it was cold. I got
lots of different answers that were so great to witness and hear.
COUPLE OF REMINDERS
IF YOUR CHILD HAS BEEN RUNNING A FEVER THEY NEED TO BE FEVER FREE FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE RETURNING TO SCHOOL. THE SAME GOES FOR IF THEY HAVE HAD DIARRHEA OR ARE THROWING UP. IF YOUR CHILD IS NOT ACTING LIKE THEMSELVES THEN IF COULD BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD AND THE REST OF THE CLASS IF THEY STAY HOME FROM SCHOOL.
LOTS OF FRIENDS HAVE BEEN SICK AND WE SEEM TO HAVE THE COUGH AND SNOTTY NOSES GOING ON IN OUR CLASSROOM. WE ARE DOING A LOT OF TALKING ABOUT COVERING OUR MOUTHS AND USING A KLEENEX TO WIPE OUR NOSES. IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU CAN HELP REMIND MY LITTLE FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME AT HOME.
REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SIGNED UP FOR THE EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM OR FOR PRESCHOOL I STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU DO SO IMMEDIATELY. . OUR EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSES FILL UP QUICKLY
AND TO BE GUARANTEED TO GET THE DAYS AND CLASSES YOU WANT YOU NEED TO ACT SOONER
RATHER THAN LATER. I AM MORE THAN HAPPY
TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE REGARDING THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR. OUR OPEN HOUSE WILL BE ON SUNDAY JANUARY 24
FROM 1;00-3:00 THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO TAKE A TOUR OF THE EARLY CHILDHOOD WING
AND MEET ALL OF OUR FABULOUS TEACHERS.
I HOPE YOU ENJOY VIEWING THE BLOG TODAY AND SEEING
ALL THE EXCITING THINGS WE DID TODAY. AS
ALWAYS YOU MAY EMAIL ME AT HHORN@ZIONHARVESTER.ORG WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.
Free Choice/First Round of Centers
Today we listened to a variety of Disney Music as we moved around the classroom exploring, learning and playing. We had a small group of eight today and they had a fabulous time playing with each other. We ran our Free Choice and Center time a little long today because we were having so much fun playing and learning. We also all did an awesome job cleaning up and getting ready for Morning Meeting. Clean up time is a very important part of our day as it makes us take responsibility for our classrooms and what we have in our classroom. Having your child help clean up at home will help them take pride in what they have and take ownership for their space and things. In Preschool, the students at Zion are expected to help clean up the classroom during various times of the day.
Puzzles and Block Building
The play dough again was not out today which has forced my friends to find other fun things to do in our classroom. We have had a lot of friends busy doing puzzles and building towers with the blocks. These two activities are great to work on our problem solving skills, pre math skills and spatial awareness.
Imaginative Play
We had playing with the doll house. This was something that I am seeing more and more as the year progress' more interactive playing rather than parallel play. I love to see the students interacting with each other and learning from each other. Play is so important in early childhood and so much can be learned from just "playing"
Joseph did a great job vacuuming up the floor for us today.
Star Bingo Dauber
Today we used the bingo daubers to decorate a star. Bingo Daubers help us with our fine motor control and are ability to stay in one area. We use bingo daubers every week and this will be a section in our portfolios that will come home at the end of the year. It is always neat to see the progression from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
The Letter R is the letter of the week and we did the next page in our Alphabet Books. I had the question brought to me why we do each letter and if my friends are really getting anything out of a letter of the week if they can't read. Absolutely, they may not remember the letter but they are being exposed to what the letter looks like, the sounds it makes and all different types of words that start with that particular letter. Many of the students are starting to recognize some of the letters in their names so this is also helping with learning our letters. It is never not beneficial to not expose a child to letters and to foster that love to learn to read or to read
Penguin FEET
Last week we used squishy balls to paint a snow storm, this week we painted our feet to look like penguins that we placed in our snow storms. They are turning out to look really cute. These will be displayed in the Church Welcome Center this coming weekend to help us celebrate National Lutheran's Schools Week Next WEEK. Some of us were excited to have our foot painted and others of us were not to sure what to think. A great sensory project for us as well.
Painting a Winter Picture
Today my friends chose to either paint a picture of Peppa Pig or Elmo dressed for winter weather. After they are dried, cut out and mounted to paper we will paint them in a snow storm of their own. Water color painting is a great way for us to work on holding a writing tool, learning our colors and painting inside the lines.
Sparkly Snowflakes
We had fun working our pre-writing skills and fine motor skills as we got to use the glue bottles today to trace a snowflake and then used silver glitter to make them sparkle. We will be adding these to our snowflake walls this week. Be sure and check them out!
Morning Meeting
Happy Snowy Thursday
Today our calendar color was pink and we talked about the numbers 2 & 1
We dressed Mr. Weather Frog for a snowy day outside.
Our Theme Boards
We read a book about a Penguin really wanted to fly but he couldn't he had to try many different ways to fly. He never did fly but he found out he could swim and feel like flying.
Transition Time
We continued this month placing stars on our blue paper. We are having to wait our turn, listen for our name, follow directions, place our star sticker on the paper and then find a place to stand in line.
SNACK TIME
Make sure snacks are peanut free and is something your child enjoys eating. Each child also needs to have a drink during snack time. I have lots of friends who have not had drinks during snack.
Jesus Time
Today we learned that another Angel came to tell Joseph that it was OK for Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus to go back home to the town of Nazareth that King Herrod was gone and would not hurt them. We continue to review the Christmas Story each day during Jesus time and then add on our new part we are learning. I am AMAZED at how well the students are remembering of the story it warms my heart to hear them "help" tell the story. We also sang the B-I-B-L-E and Jesus Loves Me.
Circle Time
We watched Kipper the Dog playing in the snow. We are able to talk about all the different things Kipper and his friends did in the snow and what they had on to go out in the snow.
Music and Movement
We had fun singing and dancing today we did not go to the commons we had to many coughers and decided it was not in our best interest to head up to the big school. We do really well just staying in our classroom and doing extra music and movement.
We read a book about Tacky who was a penguin and wasn't like all the other penguins but we found out that that was ok because he helped his friends stay away from the mean trappers.
Free Choice/Centers Round 2
We enjoyed listening to some classical music during our centers. A calming presence was felt over the room as our friends moved about doing their centers and playing. It was hard to tell them it was time to clean up for lunch.
Patterning
Today we stamped a pattern of snowmen and polar bears. The pattern was started and then we needed to finish the pattern with Mrs. Wegener. Patterning is something else we expose to the students on a daily basis. Many of our friends are able to complete a simple pattern at this time. This will be another section in our portfolios that you will see a progression of your child's work when they come home in may. This activity will come home this week in your child's folder.
Counting the Number 6
Today we had six different winter stamps and we had a piece of paper blocked off into six boxes and we had to stamp each winter stamp six times in the box. This helped us count to 6 six different times. We also we able to work on our pre-reading skills as we were identifying different winter stamps. WE stamped snowflakes, mittens, penguins, stars, snow globes and Mickey Mouse dressed for winter. We also were working our fine motor skills as our stamps were kind of small and placing it in the correct box.
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Today we made our own Snowman to display in our room. We talked about how we needed three snowballs, two eyes, a nose a mouth and some buttons. We used a black marker to make the arms on our snowman and made the snow using a q-tip and white paint. We have these displayed in our classroom above our magnet board.
SNOW PAINTING!
We had fun playing in the snow today. We brought the snow inside to us and had fun feeling it and then we had fun painting it different colors. We then talked about what would happen to the snow if we kept it inside. So pictures will be sent you way to show your children what happened to the snow!
Circle Time
Our final book of the day was about that silly monkey Curious George and what happened to him on a snowy day.
Transition
We are doing a great job filling up our star board.
We had a great time in class today. We played hard and had fun playing with friends and the snow. Have an amazing weekend and don't forget that Open House and Tours are taking place this Sunday from 1:00-3:00
No comments:
Post a Comment