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!