September 21-25 Three Year Olds

We've also been busy in the 3 year old class! This week, we read a Pete the Cat book - Rockin' in my School Shoes! The children loved the book and the song and dance that went along with it. We have been working hard with the 3 year olds on being intentional with planning their worktime. This week, the children told our Pete the Cat doll what their plan was, and that was a lot of fun!

This group of 3s is also very interested in sensory activities. This week, we used shaving cream during one of our small group times. We learned how to put on our smocks (with the yellow square in front!) and the children were given shaving cream as well as red and blue liquid watercolors. We used our hands to feel the shaving cream, and then we used our hands to mix the red and blue paints. Be sure to ask your child what color we made when we combined those!

Finally, on Thursday, we found a praying mantis on the playground. We decided to put her in a jar and take her inside the classroom. We found out it was a female because they typically have a larger thorax. We looked closely at her, and the at the end of the day, we let her go. The children were very interested in looking at the mantis up close!

September 21-25 Four Year Olds

Another busy week in room 102! The four year old class had their first field trip to the Beanstalk Garden. We got to tour the garden and look at many different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Some of us even chose to taste some of the different vegetables. At the end of our time there, we planted basil plants to take home with us. The best part of the field trip for most of the children, however, was the school bus ride! We talked at school this week BEFORE our trip about what we know about buses. AFTER our trip, we wrote another list of things we now knew about buses after riding one. The children had so much to say – we even made our own school buses! Be sure to look at the bulletin board we are creating this week to see what we had to say. 

 The four year old class also had their first Snacks with Stacy time. Stacy Al Ettar (fellow preschool teacher and all around awesome lady) came to read the children a story, and to talk with them about healthy foods. We played a stoplight game, in which the children had to decide which foods were “green light” (all fruits and veggies), which were “yellow light” (foods we eat in moderation), and which were “red light” (junk food and candy). Stacy also left us with a healthy snack of snap peas and strawberries. Yum! 

here we go!

we are listening carefully to our guide!

we were encouraged to touch the leaves of most everything we saw. this is a fig tree.

we pretended to be seeds, and then we grew into flowers!

we loved seeing this BIG grasshopper

we loved this pond with "big goldfish" in it (or, koi fish!)

Snacks with Stacy

creating our own school bus

we used different materials for windows, wheels, and people.

this child noticed that the wheels didn't have "the circle part in the middle" so she cut it and fixed that problem herself. SO fun to watch the children process all of this.

this bus needed an engine on the bottom.

Week of September 14-18

We'd like to thank all of you for coming to the Back to School nights this week. What a great turn out! We hope it was informative for you all. Please don't forget that we would like you all to bring a photo of your family to go on our family board in the classroom. You can always email the photo to one of us and we can print it for you.  Please enjoy a few photos of our week, and enjoy your weekend!

working hard on a "rocket ship"

just hanging out

these girls decided they should use the blocks to build a "see saw"

exploring the discovery area

writing letters and putting them in envelopes

sorting bears

working in the writing area

using rubber bands on the geo boards

washing cars

sorting bears at the workbench

4 year olds cut out the area sign for their first plan and then placed it in an envelope to go home

painting outside on a hot afternoon

more bear sorting

First Day for 4-Year-Olds!

We had another great start today with our 4-year-old class. We spent the morning getting to know each other, and getting to know our routines. We read the book "I'm Not Ready!" about a little owl who wasn't quite ready for his first day of preschool - the children loved it. Again, it's our goal to update this blog at least once a week, but probably not every day like this first week! Please enjoy these photos of our first day together.

we did some writing

we did some measuring

we explored the gears

we played at the discovery table

we had a "banana bread party"

we built a castle with guards

we had a collaborative art project

we played with the farm

we played at the doll house

we found a cozy space to read

we dressed up

we used the dump truck to help clean up!

First day for 3-Year-Olds!

We had a great first day today! We are always so amazed at how quickly children acclimate to a new situation, and today was no exception. While we won't be updating this blog daily (the goal is at least once a week!) we thought the first day for each age needed a post with some photos taken today. When parents came to pick up at the end of our day today, one child looked at her mom and exclaimed, "It was SO GOOD!" and that was a joy to hear! Enjoy a few moments of our day!

play dough!

dot markers

doll house

dump trucks are fun to fill with bears!

a little quiet coloring time at the end of the day

sand table

more dot markers

outside play in the sandbox!