It Smells....?

Teaching about the sense of smell can be one of the best, most fun lessons.  When kids can't see what they are smelling, they really learn whether or not they like things.  All of them liked the lotion, candy and yogurt.  One liked the smell of dog food and one liked the mustard.  Go figure?  Who knows why we like some things and others are repulsive, but I'm pretty sure our sense of smell has a lot to do with it.

Listen to That!

We have been working on our senses this month.  Today's sense....the sense of hearing.  We talked about loud sounds and quite sounds.  I played a lot of recorded clips of animals, machines, and natural occurrences, like wind, and had the kids guess what each sound was.  The best was when they thought the elephant was a tiger! I think the kids had fun making their noise makers, and definitely decorating them.

Focus Exercises

 
One last thing I forgot to mention in the video was to watch for your kids to keep their heads still.  Their natural impulse will be to follow the ball with their whole head, but we want their head still and their eyes moving.

Watch the ball:  https://youtu.be/dNGAIQ5MpuE

Snow Kisses

If you go out when it's snowing

And look up at the sky

You'll feel lots of icy kisses

As snowflakes flutter by.

Word Family

What is a "word family", basically, they are words that rhyme - but more than that, they are spelled the same with a rime and you can switch out the beginning letter to change the word.  So far this year we have worked on the "at", "et", "ig" and "op" rimes.

AT

bat

hat

cat

fat

sat

mat

rat

ET

met

pet

let

jet

IG

pig

fig

dig

jig

OP

cop

mop

top

bop

pop

stop

Practicing these words at home will help get your child ready to read.  It will also help them identify and connect letters to their sounds.  There are two students in class that can get them right every time...is your your kid one of them?  If they are, they know 21 words already! And more than that, they are begging to know how to sound things out! WOW!

Why Craft?

People often wonder why we do craft time at preschool? The short answer: it develops small motor skills.
Take today's craft for example.
The kids had to:
1. Hold a paint brush.  This skill will be tested by your kindergarten teachers.
2. Smear paint over the entire plate. This may seem simple, but making sure you cover the whole plate takes a lot of concentration and fine motor skills.
3. Draw 2 freehand ovals. This may seem simple, but drawing things in a circular motion is actually difficult.
4. Squeeze glue bottles. This also strengthens their hands.
5. Hold small googily eyes while squeezing the glue. Testing strength and coordination.
6. Twist pipe cleaners around pencils. Another coordination test.

So while you may see a pink pig on a plate, i see muscle and brain development! Happy Crafting!

Life Skills

January was an awesome month where we focused on the phrase "I Can..." and learned some Life Skills that they will use the rest of their life!  Things like:

 Tying shoes

 Zipping Coats

 Being Tidy

 Buttoning Up

 And putting on a seatbelt!

Every preschool student was able to accomplish every task...most with a smile on their faces.  They were able to prove to themselves, "Yes, I Can!"

Focus Exercises

Here are a few things you can work on at home with your kids.  You can't believe the difference it will make with them!

Soldier March:  https://youtu.be/1_edFTdzs0k

Crab walk:  https://youtu.be/YaKMSYi-MhI

Thanksgiving Poem

The Turkey is a funny bird,

His head goes wobble-wobble.

The only sound he ever makes

Is Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

Halloween Poem

I love to teach these kids a poem. Memorization is a great skill to strengthen that gray matter!

Fall Poem