Exploring Snow

Thank goodness we explored snow last week, because after our unseasonably warm weather, it's almost all gone!  The kiddos had lots of fun playing with the snow inside.  We read:

 

 

In writing, the kids played Winter Roll 'n Write (from PreKinders).  This was something out of the ordinary and brand new for us, but I think we'll definitely do it again!  The kids had dice with a different lowercase letter on each side.  They rolled the dice and wrote the letter that was facing up. You can see on the grid below that there is space for 16 letters, but I only asked the children to fill 8 boxes. As they get more experience with this activity, we will increase the number of boxes to fill.

 

In science/math, we played a snowflake matching game (also from PreKinders).  We had two different boards, each with 9 snowflakes.  The kids had to look very carefully, because some snowflakes looked very similar to others.  This was a challenging game for them, but still fun!

 

And the very BEST part of the day was playing with real snow...inside!  We had two individual tubs set up with shovels, assorted bottle tops, tongs and cups.  The children came to the center, put on a pair of mismatched mittens (because that's how we roll in our class!), and happily played in the snow!  We saw lots of shoveling, scooping, pouring and building.  Yep, we had snow-covered tables, and had to all but mop the floor at the end, but it was worth it for the kiddos to have such a great experience.  I love the magic that such a simple activity can bring!



Happy {Pre-K} New Year!

The new year has officially begun in our pre-k class!

 

The children came back to school today with smiles, giggles, lots of stories, and more enthusiasm than I think I've ever seen!  We talked about their favorite Christmas gifts, and the fun things they did with their families while on break.  Sounds like these kiddos had an ahhh-mazing vacation!

 

Rather than try to explain "resolutions", we decided to talk about things we'd like to do in the new year.  We had lots of fun, cool and silly answers!  The one pictured here is one I'd like to try out as well - going to a nice, sunny, sandy, warm beach!

 

 

The kids dictated their answers to me, then sprinkled their choice of glitter on 2013.  Some chose one color of glitter, while others mixed it up a bit.  Check them out in our hallway!

 

Since this was our first day back after a two-and-a-half week break, I decided to go easy on the lesson plans.  We covered literacy, social studies, and art with our 2013 activity above.

 

For math, we counted back from 10 to 1, then shouted "Happy New Year!"  The children really loved this part of the day!  We will do more counting backwards, as well as counting by 5s and 10s.

 

Also, keep in mind that when I post a blog about our activities of the day, it's really just the highlights of what we accomplished.  There are many other things that go on in our classroom each day, such as:

 

• calendar and Letter of the Week,
• social, interactive and imaginitive play with peers and teachers,
• using fine motor muscles for coloring, writing and playdough,
• painting beautiful masterpieces at the easel, and
• singing and dancing!

 

Oh yes, we have lots of fun in our class!  But at the same time, while your children are playing, laughing, and chit-chatting, they are also {shhh!} secretly learning!  They are becoming scientists, writers, thinkers, artists, musicians, decision-makers and problem-solvers.  Pretty amazing, right?!



Mm is for Marshmallows

Our marshmallows were in cute little Christmas shapes, just in time for the holidays and our letter Mm study.

 

I gave the kids a cupful of pink and green marshmallows, which they used to line Mm.  They also traced Mm with their finger, said the /m/ sound, and gave me a word that begins with Mm.  They did a great job!  And of course, the kiddos got to have a few tasty marshmallows after completing their activity!

 

 

For extra practice at home or on the go, have your kiddo:

 

~point out pictures in books or magazines that begin with the /m/ sound

~form Mm using cooked spaghetti noodles or play dough

~march around the room to your kid's favorite tunes

~munch on healthy foods like mango or melon

 

Whatever you decide to do, have a marvelous time with your munchkin!



Ll is for Licorice

When we studied the letter Ll, the children completed their activity with red licorice, and then got to sample a piece.  Yummy!

 

 

Unfortunately, I didn't think quickly enough to snap a picture of our Ll activity, so I'll just attempt to describe it as best I can. 

 

I gave the kids a sheet of paper with Ll written in bold, black marker.  They traced both uppercase and lowercase with their fingers, and made the /l/ sound.  I also asked them to show me the sign for Ll, which is one of the easier ones to form for little fingers.  Then they placed licorice pieces on the Ll and taped them down.  As a special treat, they each got a little taste of licorice!

 

We also talked about other words beginning with the /l/ sound:

love, lion, lip, leg, laugh, and many others.

 

Ll is very easy to practice writing, because only straight lines are used.  Have your kiddo write a few Ll's for you, and maybe even form an L with their whole body!  Have fun! 



Kk is for Key

Happy New Year!

 

I hope you're all having a safe, fun and relaxing winter break.  My family and I have been busy, busy, busy!  It has been amazing and wonderful, but I think we're all ready to get back into our normal daily routines.

 

I'm going to try to get our Letter of the Week posts caught up during these last few days of break.  Then once we're back in school, I promise I will do my best to update more regularly!  (A New Year's resolution, perhaps?  Nah, let's not call it that, since most resolutions dissolve within a few weeks!  We'll just call it a goal.)

 

Here we go with the letter Kk:

 

 

Kk is for Key

 

The children used a key (yes, a real car key) to practice writing Kk in the sand.  For newbies, learning this letter sound confuses them with the hard /c/ sound.  (English is a confusing language.)  In time, they will learn the difference, and it's mostly just memorizing which letter (c or k) belongs in which word (car or key).  This will come when they begin spelling lessons in first grade.

 

For now, we will just continue to reinforce that Kk begins words like key, kite and kiwi.  Another good way to reinforce this is by playing computer games or just pointing out Kk words in books, magazine, on signs, or anywhere you see words!

 

Check out these fun, FREE preschool learning games:

 

Kaboose Funschool

Fisher-Price

Starfall



Rudolph & Olive

Hello!

 

On Friday, we read:

 

 

We talked about being nice and friendly to others, even if they are different from us.  Just like Rudolph learned, being different is what makes us special!

 

The kiddos crafted Rudolph puppets for their art project, and happily played with them when they were finished.  :)  See the antlers?  They are your child's handprints!

 

We used our foam Christmas trees and ornaments game again, but this time the children played a bit differently.  Instead of using dice and putting the trees in numerical order, I placed them randomly, and just asked the kids to match the same number of ornaments to the star on the tree.  If a star had the number 4, then they would place 4 ornaments on that tree.  This time, I allowed them to choose if they wanted to participate in this center, and I'm happy to report that most children were eager to decorate these trees!

 



 

Tomorrow I will post about our letter Kk activities.  Stay tuned!



Christmas Countdown!

It's Christmastime at Preschool!

 

I'm going to try to get you caught up on this week's happenings over the next couple of posts.  We have started decorating our classroom, and the kids are getting into the festive holiday spirit. 

 

On Monday, we read:

 

 

We began learning about the letter Kk, and we made a Christmas countdown chain.  The chain was good for number recognition and AB patterning.

 

 

We gave the kids directions that they're supposed to rip one link off the chain each night, starting tonight.  Then they can count how many days (or sleeps) left until Christmas.

 

 

On Wednesday, we read:

 

 

We continued to review Kk, and made stand-up Christmas trees for our art project.

 

 

Aren't they cute?!  I think these would look darling on a window sill, shelf, or anywhere to brighten up the house for Christmas!  They were so simple to make - just use paint chips from the hardware store, stickers and clothespins.

 

 In math, we played an ornament game.  The children worked in pairs, rolled the dice, and decorated foam trees with pom-pom ornaments.  The trees were numbered 1-10, in order.  See the #4 tree?  Yeah, they got a little too ornament happy on that one!  :)

 

 

Coming soon:

I will be posting about Friday's class, and hopefully picking out some songs for the kids to sing at our Christmas Family Fest.  Since I've already heard a couple of kids singng "Jingle Bells", that one is sure to be on the list!  We do still need an accompanist.  Anyone interested?  Let us know!