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!