Hide and Seek

My little friends love this game!  Today the children took turns being the teacher.  It was lots of fun to see how they talked and took turns playing the game. 

Here is what we do... 

I have some pieces that we put on a table or in a pocket chart (as shown).  I have colors, shapes, numbers, letters, and sight word pieces to use depending on the level of the children that I have at the time.  I will hide a seasonal picture behind one of the pieces.  The children need to take turns trying to find it. 

Today, I have colored paint cans in the chart.  The children hide a tulip behind one of the paint cans.  The other children take turns guessing where the tulip is at and use the word "behind".  When the tulip is found, they all cheer and the child that finds the tulip was the next teacher.

Try this at home for a cheap game that will keep your child interested for a really long time.  :} 

Eagle Cam... We have baby eaglets!

We have been watching the Decorah Iowa Eagle Cam for a couple of weeks now.  Yesterday afternoon an egg hatched.   This morning when we turned it on, there was a second one that hatched.  We were able to watch the eagles this morning while we played.  I turn the eagle cam on in the morning while we are playing. 
It is fun to hear the sounds of nature while we play.  Once in awhile one of the children will notice something when they glance over at the screen.  This morning we saw the mommy eagle feed the baby some fish for breakfast.  Follow the link to see what we are watching. 

Spring Cleaning

It is that time of the year again.  At home and in school I get the urge to tidy things up and get rid of the winter dust and clutter.  We will be spending the week cleaning up our classroom.  Ok....  bear with me.  Before I hear phone calls saying "WHAT!!!  You mean my child is going to go to school to clean?  I thought he was supposed to be learning something!!!" let me tell you a little bit about what we will be learning this week.   

• Children will learn vocabulary related to cleaning and messes.  (ie. clean, neat, mess, tidy, vacuum, cleaning spray, wipe, sweep, mop, etc)
• We will be covering our early learning social studies standards, (sharing responsibility in taking care of the environment and beginning to participate successfully as a member of a group) We will be working together to achieve a common goal. 
• We will work on math standards of sorting and counting as we sort tubs of toys and put them where they belong. 
• We will work on concept/positional vocabulary like "put it beside the barn" or "it goes on the middle shelf"'
• We will talk about sequencing and order of events (like steps to wash a window) using words like first, then, next, last. 

PS...  it would be GREAT if you would help your child practice our theme this week at home.  Have them tidy up their room or pick up their toys.  Talk with them about what they are doing.  An added benefit...  a neat and clean house!!!

WOW!!! I have so much to share :}

It has been a really busy week for me and I have not had a chance to update you on all the fun things that we are doing in school this week.  Stay Tuned....

REMINDERS!!!!!!

There will be no school on Monday, March 26.  This is a Teacher Workshop Day. 

There are conferences in the Elementary on 3/29 and 4/3 after school.  I will not be having formal conferences with everyone because many of us have met in the last couple of months.  I will contact you if I need to meet with you directly.  I will be in the building so if you have specific questions, please stop in and visit.  

Flower Shop Donations Requested....

I would like to make a flower shop in our dramatic play area this spring.  I am in need of a few things though.  If you have any of the following around the house that you are wanting to get rid of please send them our way :}

• artificial flowers
• pretty ribbon
• tissue paper
• plastic flower pots/vases
• seed/flower catalogs
• magazines with lots of pictures of flowers

 

Spring Is Here!! Insects, Flowers, and Fish in the classroom :}

Some friends were sorting colored fish into colored bowls.  Won't it be fun to get out on the lake and do some real fishing! 

We are matching flower manipulatives to the number on the watering can.  This is a fun math activity that helps children practice number identification and being able to use one-one correspondence to put that number on their garden. 

Here a child is using a tongs to pick up insects from the grass.  This is a great fine motor activity that strengthens little muscles in the hands AND it is fun :}

Making Trains with Doug...

Doug helped us make train cars out of old kleenex boxes, paper, tape, and markers.  The children had a great time and some even stayed at the table for almost 45 MINUTES!!!  This is a great rainy day idea for families.  Throw out craft supplies and recycled items and watch children create and have fun for long periods of time!

Lucky Charms Math Activity

This afternoon we did a Lucky Charms math activity.  We sorted, counted, then graphed the number of each marshmallow shape that the children had on their napkin.  We talked about more, less, most, fewest, and the same.  It was a fun way to begin a graphing unit in preschool!

Dressing for Outside Play...

I love spring!  The weather here is so nice outside right now.  I really hope it stays this way.  We try to have our preschoolers go outside everyday and it makes it so much more pleasant when the weather is warm and sunny.  A few things to remember about outdoor gear as the weather changes:

• If we get more snow, snowpants and boots are required.
• If your child comes to preschool in the morning it may still be pretty cool in the morning.  Your child may be more comfortable outside if they are wearing mittens/gloves, a hat, and warm jacket-especially if wearing short sleeves. 
• If your child comes to preschool in the morning he/she may be more comfortable having a warm jacket for awhile rather than a lighter spring jacket.
• Right now the playground is pretty dry but if we get more snow or rain and it is wet outside boots may be a good idea to keep your child's shoes/feet dry.  Puddles attract young children :}

Patterning

Today we worked on patterning in school.  We used colored trains and other transportation pieces to make patterns.  Most of the children are really getting pretty good at AB patterns (red, green, red, green, red, green, etc).   Patterning is one of the math standards that we work on in preschool.  When children are able to understand, identify, create, and extend patterns they are practicing skills that will make them more successful in math in their Elementary years.  It helps them practice reasoning and memory skills as well. 

The patterns that we practice in preschool are:
AB patterns (red, green, red, green, red)
AAB patterns (red, red, green, red, red, green, red, red, green etc)
ABC patterns (red, green, yellow, red, green, yellow, red, green, yellow, etc)

Some things that you can do at home to practice patterns:

• Use ice cube trays and small objects (buttons, shaped erasers from dollar store, pom poms, etc-- make sure that objects will not be a choking hazard for your child)
• Use pictures of family members (Susie, Grandma, Mom, Susie, Grandma, Mom)
• Use common household objects to make different kinds of patterns (fork, spoon, fork, spoon, etc)
• Use movement to make patterns (clap, stomp, jump, clap, stomp, jump, etc) 
• Use sounds or words to make patterns ( cat, frog, mouse, cat, frog, mouse, etc.)
• Identify patterns in familiar story books
• Find patterns in buildings or nature. 
• Use stampers or stickers
• Music!

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo! Read Alouds for March 12-15--(maybe longer)

Target Vocabulary:   mountains, engine, train tracks, roundhouse

This week we will be reading train stories.  This is the first time I have ever done this unit so I think I may be learning right along with the children! 

Other Train Stories:  Goodnight Train, Freight Train, and Tracks

"Spring Ahead"

Each year I find that when the clocks "Spring Ahead" in the spring a couple of things happen. 

 First, the rest of the school year seems to fly by!  The sun goes down later and later.  The weather is warm and windy.  Spring events are in full swing. 

Second, I find that many children are quite often plain worn out and tired.  They are losing an hour of sleep and their little bodies need to adjust to the time change.  As it stays light longer many children play outside later at night as well. 

When children are tired they are not as able to learn and behave in the manner that we would expect of them.  It is harder for them to concentrate on learning tasks.  It is harder for them to sit and attend to an activity.  I find that in myself, I move around more when I am tired than when I am well rested.  If I didn't, I may just fall asleep!  :} 

Please try to keep a consistent bedtime routine and make sure that your child is getting to bed no later than 8:00.  Preschoolers need 10-12 hours of sleep a day.   There is a lot of learning that happens in the preschool years.  They need sleep to recharge their bodies and brains. 

Plans Change...

I really do love my job!  Last week I prepared what I thought was going to be a SUPER FUN lesson plan for this week.  I had my books prepared.  I had my activities ready.  I was excited for another week reading stories from one of my favorite authors, Eileen Christelow.  

Then, Monday comes.  Little did I know that the children would be really interested and excited about the "ghost story" that the little monkeys were reading in bed.  Also, the shadows that were talked about in the book were the source of a lot of questions.  So, my lesson plan changed and we cut out ghost shapes and I wrote down what the children said about the "ghost story" in the book.  I also took out the overhead projector and the children learned about shadows while playing with shapes. (see picture from yesterday's blog post).  It was a fun and meaningful day and the children were interested and engaged in learning.

Today I came to class prepared to get back on track with the GREAT lesson plan I prepared.  As I was changing the bulletin board in the classroom a little friend saw the brown piece of paper I was going to use as a tree trunk.  He was so excited because it was a "brown swamp" just like in the 5 Little Monkeys Wash the Car story.  He and another child put a car in the swamp.  We found a paper crocodile and monkeys for them to color and cut out.  It was really cool to see them act out the story! 

As for tomorrow...  who knows what we will end up doing!  I still have my GREAT lesson plan ready to go but you never know what kind of interesting learning activities the children will bring up.  Did I say "I Love My Job!" yet   :}

March 5-8 Read Alouds

This is a super fun story about 5 little monkeys that are bored and have nothing to do.  Mama finds things for them to do though!  The monkeys clean the house because Grandma Bessie is coming for lunch.  But wait...  the end makes me laugh and giggle out loud because it reminds me of my own house when my children were small.  By the time Grandma Bessie arrived the house was messy again!  Silly monkeys :}

Target Vocabulary: 

whispers, shadowy, frightens, jokes

RHYMING:

This is a fun story about the 5 little monkeys.  There are lots of rhymes on each page that I will focus on when we read the story.  Remember...  research says that if children are able to identify rhymes in their  preschool/Kindergarten years they will be much more likely to be good readers by 3rd grade.  Try to add a nursery rhyme or two to your day.  Children love them because they are fun!   

Fun with the Monkeys!

We played with shadows today putting shapes on our overhead.  My little friends had a lot of fun making shadows with their bodies and shape pieces. 

In our story today the monkeys wanted to keep reading in bed after their mommy told them it was time to go to sleep.  It was really fun to see a couple of my friends reenact the scenes of the book during play time today!