Winter Break

I hope you are having a wonderful 

Winter Break!

Your Preschoolers are learning so much and having a lot of fun doing it.

We had a great time making Christmas Trees.
They love painting whenever they can--who doesn't?

We partied and danced to Christmas music.  It is nice for them to let loose every once in a while.  And let me say--they've got moves!

We made snowmen out of shaving cream and glue--it sounds a lot more messy than it actually was.  

Along with all of our fun, we have been learning new letters and reviewing our 

Sight Word

it

sit

fit

lit

mit

hit

Time To Catch Up

I just realized that I hadn't updated the Blog in a while - Don't you just love the Holidays?!

We have been working and playing really hard.  Our lesson today was on: Where Do Animals Go in the Winter?  We talked about hibernation and migration.  We also talked about the deer in our mountains not hibernating, but walking down the mountain where they can find more food.

One rather smart preschooler asked about baby birds, how do they migrate if they can't fly? (what a Smarty Pants!) So we discussed how birds don't have their babies until the Spring, that way all the birds who migrate are "grown-ups".

No pictures today of our awesome craft, it was a little more hands on for me, but here are some pictures from preschools past...

We took a little field trip to Gardner Village to look at the Elves.  It was a little chilly, but fun.

We also had our Thanksgiving Feast, which contrary to our yawning friend, was a lot of fun!

We've been working on our letter sounds, simple addition, place value and recognizing all the letters in the alphabet.  Not everyone can recognize all the letters, both capital and lower case, so there is something to be working on at home.  

I'm going to be testing your girls in the next few weeks so we can compare what they know now, to what they will know at the end of the year.

Letter of the Week

K

Sound

k - like kite

Sight Words

it

lit

sit

fit

hit

mit

Turkey Day

We had a Special Day today...

Yep you guessed it - a Birthday girl.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

It is so fun to see these girls learn and grow.  We made another mess today when we made our turkeys, but at least they stuck together unlike our last Epic Fail!

(note to self: glue is meant for paper not "real" leaves)

The girls are continuing to learn new things, I can't tell you how excited they were to learn that Hippopotamuses are mean and would attack you!  One preschooler even said, "I am never going to Aftrica!"  Too cute.

Letter of the Week

H

Sound

h - like help

Sight Words

lit

fit 

mit

hit

sit

Epic Fail

Well...

That didn't quite go like I planned...

If you don't know what I'm talking about just sneak a peek at what your preschooler brought home for their craft.  

It was a good idea to begin with - let's make a fall wreath - but it turned out oh-so-wrong.

This picture doesn't quite capture the mess we had by the end.  Just imagine glue and sticky leaves everywhere by the end.  I said to the girls, "Maybe we should just throw this craft away?" To which they replied, "NO!!!"  

(If you want to throw this one away I won't even feel hurt, some things just don't pan out.)

On The Bright Side

Your girls are learning so much.  We started a few new things, Math and new Sight Words.

The Math we are doing every day as we count how many days we have been here, then we count how many groups are in the TENS side and add that to how many we have in the ONES side.  They are really understanding place values as we go on.

Sight Words

mit

hit

lit

fit

sit

Catch-Up Time

Wow!

I can't believe how fast the Fall is going...

and speaking of Fall...

That is our Theme for this month.  We will be learning all about Fall and Harvest Time.

This last month we have had so much fun and learned so many things.  It would be a really long post if I tried to recap everything, so I'll just show you some things that went on.

We Had a super fun Tea Party where we could practice our manners.

We learned how to be polite by passing things and saying please and thank you.

We painted with pumpkins which was fabulously messy and very colorful.

We always have fun with each other outside...

...but it is getting so fun to see the Fall colors and leaves all around.

We had the BEST Halloween Party with fun games like Pin the Nose on the Jack-o-lanturn...

Halloween Matching Game

Halloween Bingo

...and of course a photo op.

We learned a lot of letters and sounds like...

Letters of the Week

B

C

D

F

Sounds

all of these letters just make one sound, except c.

Just for fun, see if your preschooler remembers c's two sounds

c - like cat

c - like cinnamon

Pumpkins

Sooo...

It is working out for me to post just once a week.  I know that is a little inconvenient for some, but it just happens to work for my family.

Thursday the 10th

We had a great day talking about those MAGIC WORDS--PLEASE and THANK YOU.  We read some cute stories, How I Became a Pirate and Snow White.  Two very opposing views on those Magic Words--Pirates do not have good manners, they do have manners, Pirate manners.   Of course, Snow White set us right and taught us how to be as polite as a Princess.

Letter of the Week

Y

Sounds

y - like yet

y - like gym

y - like my

y - like Stacey

Sight Words

mat

cat

rat

fat

hat

sat

******

Tuesday the 15th

We had one lonely preschooler today, so we had a field trip! We went to the cutest pumpkin patch on 90th South and picked out a pumpkin.  

We wandered through rows, and rows, and rows of pumpkins until we found the perfect one.

They even had a fun MAZE for us to explore!

We didn't do much learning today, unless you count learning that pumpkins grow on vines and have seeds on the inside (and I count that)!

This coming Thursday, we will be practicing all the manners we have learned so far this month with a Tea Party.  Parents are welcome to send their preschoolers with something, but it will not be necessary.  Can't wait to see you then!

Sorry So Late!

I'm sorry this post is so late-LIFE!

So last week we had a really fun time talking about taking your turn.  Manners Month has been a blast so far.  Your preschoolers have very good ideas on why it is so important for us to wait our turn.

We also had fun with Thursday's book Wheels on the Bus.  We were so wrapped up in our fun craft however, that we didn't take time to sing the song, but no worries, all the songs I teach them stay in our song rotation for about a month so they will have plenty of time to sing it.

Letter of the Week

U

Sounds

u - like up

u - like music

u - like put

***

On to Yesterday

***

We had a most revealing time talking about Germs!  The preschoolers learned about what germs are and what they do to our bodies (there are some pretty cute videos on youtube).  We also talked about the right way to not share our Germs--like coughing into our elbow and blowing our nose with a tissue.  

We read one of my FAVORITE books A Pie Went By, and so of course, we ate our craft!  The girls had a lot of fun making their own pies and, of course, eating the fruits of their labors.

 

 

Letter of the Week

Y

Sounds

y - like yet

y - like gym

y - like cycle

y  - like Stacey

We are also still working on our sight words...and I think we will be until the end of October, the girls are starting to grasp them, but I don't want to move on until they know them FAST.  As always, practice at home will help them to move on quickly.

Sight Words

mat

hat

cat

rat

sat

fat

Manners

We started a new month and a new topic: Manners!

Manners are not always something that a preschooler will grasp so easily--and it will be a work in progress for many years.  We started our Manners Month talking about sharing (awww).

Our Sight Words are coming along.  The preschoolers seem a little more familiar with them, but practice at home will always make things go faster.

Sight Words

mat

hat

cat

rat

sat

fat

Letter of the Week

U

Sounds

u - like up

u - like music

u - like put

Delicious

Happy Birthday

to a very special preschooler!

We have a very fun celebration today for a very special preschooler!

We had a fun time talking about things that we eat to make us healthy.  We talked about how colorful food is and how many different vitamins are in all the colorful foods of the rainbow.  We also talked about not just eating one particular color (white) because it doesn't have all vitamins we need in our cells.  (Just for kicks see if your preschooler remember's what color doesn't have as many vitamins.)

We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and You Are What You Eat, two very funny books about eating things that are good for you.  We also painted our very own Very Hungry Caterpillars with a potato stamp.

We have started new Sight Words and will be going through them each time we meet.  I introduce Sight Words in word families and we are starting with the AT family.

mat

cat

sat

rat

fat

hat

We will be doing these words for the next few weeks and will move on when the preschoolers feel more comfortable with them.

Letter of the Week

O

Sounds

o - like odd

o - like mote

o - like do

***

As an added note, we had our first meltdown today.  One of our preschoolers was not quite listening and threw a little tantrum.  When this happens I have a special place they can go away from the others to take the time to calm down.  I do not have time to coddle like a mother would, so the preschooler was  informed that when she was ready to stop, she was welcome to join us.  It took about 10 minutes for the shy little creature to return.  

I just wanted to reassure you that there will be no spanking or yelling.  I will calmly talk, invite, and inform in a very logical way (I have found getting emotional either way just adds to the drama and makes it last twice as long).  If the preschooler gets violent, I will be giving you a call to come and get them.

All preschoolers need to know that when I say it is time to move on to a new activity, they need to come with us and not remain with what they are doing--we only have so long and we need to get to every activity.

***

Move It

I always have such a fun time discussing our topic of the day with your preschoolers and Tuesday was no different.  Our topic was keeping our bodies healthy with Exercise.  They, of course, knew what some forms of exercise were, like lifting weights and aerobics, but they didn't realize that playing was good exercise for them!  Jumping on the tramp, running races, jumping rope, riding bikes and scooters were just some of the ideas they had.

We also read one of my favorite stories, Dr. Seuss's: The Sneetches, and laughed as they "RAN around those wild screaming beaches..."

We practiced something new--something they don't get much practice at before Kindergarten:

CUTTING WITH SCISSORS

Surprisingly a very hard skill for a preschooler.  When you watch them at home, make sure the thumb is on top (it is something Kindergarten teachers watch for).

We also talked about how being healthy means putting healthy food in your bodies and made a healthy snack to go with it!

We rounded out the day by making ourselves look like Sneetches with our "Star Bellies" and we even had enough time to watch the 12 minute Sneetches movie!

AND

of course practiced all our letter sounds, adding the 

Letter of the Week

 

O

Sounds:

O - like odd

O - like home

O - like do

We also added something new and exciting this week...

SIGHT WORDS!

We are going to be learning sight words from the same word families, like; pig, jig, fig...

This week and next week we will be starting with the AT family.

mat

hat

sat

fat

rat

cat

On The Road Again

We had a fun time talking about ROAD SAFTY on Thursday!  

We made sure everyone knew the rules:

STOP

LOOK 

LISTEN

...and of course we had to practice crossing the street.  I think you would have been proud of your preschooler.  They all knew what to do and made sure they looked both ways before they crossed.

Absolutely no one just ran out into the street--I thought you might find that reassuring since we never know what our children will do when they are out of our sight!

In addition to just crossing the street, we also talked about bike and scooter safety and of course had a fun time practicing that with our own obstacle course.

After all that fun, we had to do a little BLINING OUT

of our safety helmets.  We glued our bling onto paper helmets, but you could transfer all that sparkle onto their real helmets if you wanted.  I find tacky glue holds best.  It is a shame to waste any sparkle you don't wear--in my opinion. 

We also talked about our Letter of the Week, which is I, and learned about a new animal called the IBIS...just for fun see if your preschooler can remember what the bird looks like, where it lives and what it eats.

Letter of the Week

I

Sounds

I - like milk

I - like Mike

Kitchen Fun

We had a very fun and productive day in Pre-school.

We talked about being safe in the kitchen and things we could and couldn't touch.  

We also read:

Curious George Makes Pancakes

and then

actually practiced being safe in the kitchen!

The best part, of course, was eating the pancakes.

The best part for me was hearing the preschooler's actually remember the sounds we have been practicing for our Letter of the Week.  They are really coming along and will know every sound before the end of the year!

Letter of the Week

I

Sounds

I - like milk

I - like Mike

Don't forget to bring your bike helmets tomorrow!

Play Safe

We had a special Birthday Girl today!

So

Happy Birthday!

We spoke a lot about playing safe and things that can be dangerous like:

Climbing High

Spinning too close

Running Wild

Jumping off high things

Preschooler's had many more ideas about things that could be dangerous.  We also talked about how to do these things safely like:

watching out for others when we are swinging

having manners on the trampoline

climbing up to the playhouse safely

taking your turn

and 

using the railing up and down the stairs

And of course we had lots of fun practicing these things!

We also read the most perfect book for this talk on safely--The Cat in the Hat.

I love reading this book to young children and seeing the expression on their little faces when that naughty Cat does things they can see are dangerous!

We also had the most marvelous time doing our Cat in the Hat craft.

Our Birthday Girl's mom made us the most fabulous cup cakes for Snack Time and they were all delighted to find a delicious chocolatey surprise in the middle (as was I), YUM!

AND

Of course we talked about all things school...

Letter of the Week:

E

Sounds

E - like elephant

E - like eat

*In case you are wondering, we keep practicing our sounds from the weeks previous, so by the end of the year they should really know them WELL!

Fire Danger

With it being HEALTH AND SAFETY MONTH this month,  we talked about FIRE DANGER today and many of the things that could burn us.  We did a walking tour of the house and talked about the many things that aren't safe to touch ever--like the water heater.  It is a good subject to review with your preschooler as they are naturally very curious creatures.  We also did many Fire Drills at my house today and talked about the three ways we could get out of the house if there were ever a fire here--this is something I do with my own children once a year.  

We also talked about something which is very common with young children, and that is not to hide from a fire!  A lot of children think they can hide from a fire--next time you watch the news listen if there was a small child who died in the fire and they will have often found them in a closet or under the bed.  (One of our preschoolers tried to tell me if you found a really good hiding place, then the fire couldn't get you!) Make sure to review your own fire plan at home!

On a much lighter subject...

We read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and did a really fun bear craft today.

LETTER OF THE WEEK

E

Sounds

E - like end

E - like me

Don't Eat It

Since this is Health and Safety month, we talked about things we Don't eat or put in our mouths like: 

Paint

Cleaning Chemicals

Plants Outside

Paper

Chalk

Markers...

They had a lot of good ideas about things that could be harmful.

We read "Pinkalicious" and talked about how she put some things in her mouth that her mom told her not to!  Then we made "Pinkalicious" Star Wands!

We had a blast playing outside with all the awesome play equipment...

I believe I counted 7 "make believe" games ranging from "Star Wars Princess" to "Princesses with babies"

In writing time, we practiced our triangles.  You may be surprised to find how hard it is for little fingers to draw a triangle!  Have your preschooler show you--the practice is good for them--and drawing shapes is a launchpad for good handwriting!

We also colored our Letter of the Week (Which is A) and learned the 3 sounds it makes:

a - like apple

a - like take

a - like father

Can't wait to see you all next week!

Welcome Back

We had such a fun first day of school.  The girls were bright and eager to learn.  This month our theme is Health and Safety.  We will be talking all month about ways to be safe and healthy.  Yesterday we talked about a very important topic:

Stranger Danger

And learned the six Stay Safe rules:

1. Never talk to stranger.

2. Never take a present from a stranger.

3. Never open the door to a stranger.

4. Never take a ride with a stranger.

5. If a stranger tries to touch or grab you,

    yell "No" and run to a grown-up you trust.

6. If you go somewhere, take a friend with you.

Stay safe pre-schoolers!

Almost Here

We are amping up and getting ready for school to start next Tuesday.  I can't wait to meet you all.  Don't worry about bringing anything for the first day; I will have all supplies and materials ready.  Some sort of a bag would be helpful to carry your first craft home, other than that, bring a smile and get ready to have fun!