It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Holy wow! We can't believe it's already Christmastime! Where has our year gone? We know you've probably seen remnants of glue and glitter coming home, but we thought we'd show you some photos of what has been happening in the classroom. We've had a present wrapping station, where the children can work with paper, scissors, tape and boxes. They've really loved it, and have surprised us with their talents! We read The Gingerbread Baby, and we decorated "gingerbread houses" (really they were cardboard boxes, but you wouldn't have known it when we were done with them!). We have also read so many opportunities to sing, both with Miss Jenny, and just on our own. We are learning new holiday songs as well as the old favorites. We have also had a nativity set in the classroom. It's always funny to listen in to the children playing with the set. Sometimes they tell the story of the Baby Jesus, and sometimes they add blocks, the farm set, and maybe even a few cars to the mix! We love this time of year because we get to see the wonder of it all through the eyes of 3, 4, and 5-year-olds. Is there anything better than that?

We hope you all can join us for the Christmas sing-along. The 3-year-old class will gather on Thursday the 18th at 11am, and the 4s will sing on Wednesday the 17th  at 11am. Remember, there is no school this Friday the 19th for the 4s, and we will all see you back after the new year. Our first day back is Tuesday, January 6th. Have a safe and wonderful holiday break!

Enhancing the Literacy Experience

This week, both classes did activities based on the books we read during circle time. Take one look at Pinterest and you'll find a thousand "crafts" to go along with the books we read to preschoolers. If you look at these pictures, you'll notice that the children were given materials and sent to work without a goal in mind. Open-ended activities ensure that children are using their imaginations, their social interaction skills, reasoning, mathematical and scientific thinking skills - all while having fun! The outcome might not be pretty, but it's the process that matters in room 102, not the product. Enjoy!

we read this book with 4 year olds, and then made our own volcanoes! 

the children had trays of baking soda

and cups full of colored vinegar

they used pipettes to squirt the vinegar into the soda. small motor development is disguised in many ways!

we read Not a Box with our 3 year old class

we used markers...

and tape...

and scissors...

and even our whole bodies!

What's New?

What's new at preschool? So much! We've been busy these past few weeks with so many different activities. We all made it through Halloween, and have been enjoying the amazing fall weather while we have it. If you haven't done so, please take time to check out the bulletin board outside the classroom, as it details SO much of what we've been doing in the classroom with literacy. We are ALL readers, writers, and illustrators - even when the reading, writing, and illustrating might not look like what we adults might imagine. The children in both the 3 and 4 year old classes have been so interested in books that we decided to make our own library to share. What started as just introducing books by looking at their parts and learning about the people who make the books turned into quite a project. Recently, one of our 4 year olds came up to us with a book she had made and had decided that it, too, needed to go in our library! We couldn't be happier to see the children making these awesome connections, and wanting to share their work.

raking leaves on the playground

water color painting outside (looks more like a nail salon!)

Last week, we had art workshops on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, Miss Renee came into our classroom and brought the art with her! The children picked out different nature items and dipped them in paint. They then put the acorns, pine cones, and leaves into a large container with paper and a lid and shook it. When they opened the container, the children saw that the nature items had painted a picture! On Friday, the 4 year olds went upstairs with Miss Debbie and worked their way through 4 different art stations. They painted pine cones, worked with clay collage, did leaf printing, and even got to decorate a wooden acorn. Both groups loved mixing art and nature.

Food for Thought...Self-Regulation

Sometimes the dark rabbit hole of Pinterest actually produces something worth talking about - like this article about self-regulation in children. We thought we would share it with you. Consider it food for thought, as we know self-regulation is a huge part of what your kids are working on every single day in the classroom - and at home. Enjoy!

Village Preschool Had a Farm...EIEIO!

We had such fun this week with the visit from two different farms. On Thursday, the 3 year-old class had a visit from Stable T Farm. The farmers brought a pig named Dora, along with goats, a rabbit, a duck, and a chicken. The children were able to pet the animals and were also able to talk with the farmers and ask questions. Did you know that a pig can be domesticated? (That isn't a word that the children learned, but they did learn that the farmer and his wife keep Dora the pig as their house pet!) Imagine that!

On Friday, the 4 year-old class had a visit from A-Z petting zoo. This farmer set up a small fenced in stable and the children were able to pet and feed goats, a cow named Daisy, a donkey, and an alpaca! Each child got a cup of feed for the animals, and we soon learned that it was like candy to them - the children were very popular with the animals! Some children decided they'd rather look from a distance, which was just fine, too. We talked with the farmer about how the alpaca has a long neck like a giraffe. It was probably more noticeable because he had recently been sheared! At the end of our day on Friday, the children made a recall list of things they remembered or things that they learned about the animals.

At the water station this week, we washed farm animals.  We also spent time drawing pictures about the farm during work time.

During small group time in both the three and four-year-old classes, the children worked with the geo-boards. These wooden boards have nails in them, and the children are given rubber bands to stretch over the nails. Some realized quickly that they could make shapes, and when we added pumpkins and farm animals to the tables, the children spent a lot of time making their own stables. Not only were the children using the small muscles in their hands to stretch and place the rubber bands, they were using eye/hand coordination, as well as their imaginations! So many fun stories came from this activity. In fact, when it was time to go to work time, many of the children chose to stay at the tables and continue playing with the geo-boards!

Finally, on the playground this week, the 3 year-olds had taken out the large wooden blocks and had started to make a pile of the blocks on the stage area. When it became clear that the intention was to make a giant pile of blocks and try to climb on them (eek!) we asked the children if they could think of something they could do with the blocks that would be more safe for everyone involved. It doesn't always happen like this, but on this day, the children began working together to take down the pile, and to create something new - a boat! It was such fun watching the amount of teamwork that went into what happened next, that we knew it needed to be captured in photos. At one point, one of the boys said, "look! we are working together as a team!" Yes they were, indeed.

We hope you're all enjoying this amazing fall weekend!

Firetrucks and more!

Wow. It's been way too long since the blog has had an update! We've been busy doing all sorts of fun stuff in room 102. Two weeks ago, we had a visit from the fire department! The three year olds had the chance to see the firetrucks up close, and even climb on board, if they wanted to do that. Many children decided to look from afar, rather than going into the truck, and the firefighters were able to tell us all about the parts of the truck. In our classroom, the children created firetrucks - both as a large group collaborative activity, and then in our small group.

The four year olds got to see the firetruck up close as well, and then Firefighter Chad came into the classroom for a short fire safety talk. We made a list of the things we already knew about firetrucks and firefighters, and a list of questions we wanted to ask Chad. It was a fun way for us to see what the children knew, but it was also a way for us to plan, based on the children's knowledge and interests. We noticed they were very interested in the subject of fire and rescue, and so on Monday of this past week, we read the book Preschool to the Rescue. While we were reading, one of the children asked if we could play "preschool to the rescue" on the playground - and so we made a list of things we might need for outside. We found pool noodles (for fire hoses, of course!), large pieces of red and orange colored material, which was used for the fire. We also used the water feature on the playground with the "hoses". The children loved this, and it was another fun way for us to build on their interests. Be sure to look at our new door for photos of the firetruck visit.

 
We also spent time this week working on fine motor skills. We used the small muscles in our hands to place pegs into a pegboard. We worked with snap beads, and also with shaving cream. In EPD this week, the children looked at "I Spy" books and tried to create their own "I spy" pictures as well. We've been making many collaborative classroom books - stay tuned for more information on the blog, as well as on our bulletin board, about how we incorporate early literacy skills into our daily routine. You all have some very talented authors and illustrators - ask them what an author or an illustrator's job is - we bet you'll get some interesting answers!

Field Trip and Other News

The last week has been full of all kinds of exciting things for room 102. Our 4-year-olds went on their first school bus ride to their first field trip - the Beanstalk Garden. We aren't sure which was more exciting for them - the bus ride or the garden! We had a great time learning about different fruits, vegetables, and herbs. We were given the opportunity to taste the different veggies and herbs. Because we'd learned quite a bit about gardening, we also spent time in the classroom this week planting different seeds. You might see our strange looking gloves hanging in the window as you walk into preschool! Do you know what else you can find in a garden? WORMS! During our Friday EPD class, Stacey brought in nightcrawlers for the children to measure, to compare with rubber worms, and to touch. Many of us overcame our fears by touching the worms! Later this week, we'll be scientists when we place gummy worms into water and see what happens. We'll be making predictions, and using our eyes and our noses, too!

first school bus rides are pretty fantastic.

we got to touch, smell, and even eat the herbs and veggies growing at the garden.

can you spot what's swimming in the pond?

In our 3-year-old class, we had a visit from Pete the Cat! Pete helped us rock in our school shoes! We danced and sang, and talked about all the fun things we can do at school. We strengthened the small muscles in our hands this week when we worked with scissors, first cutting playdough, and then cutting strips of paper. We also have waterbeads in our sensory tub, which start out as small and hard, but change in the water. The children helped put the water in the tub, and were able to talk about the beads as they absorbed the water. "It feels squishy!" and, "They are getting bigger and fatter." are just some of the things that they noticed.

ask your child to sing about "rockin' in school shoes"

we learned that our thumbs go in the smaller hole in the scissors, and always stays on top while cutting.

water beads in the sensory tub

On Thursday and Friday of this week, we'll have some very special visitors. Here are some hints for you and your child: it's red and black, it has wheels, and it has a siren. We might also meet the people who come with the surprise...they might be wearing helmets, if that helps you know for sure. Our riddles are pretty tricky! Finally, thanks so much to all of you who have written a little something for us about your child. It could be a letter, or even just a few bullet points. We're getting to know lots and lots about your children, but this is an opportunity for you to share anything important or special with us. Your letters truly are appreciated as we get to know and focus on the whole child.