Parent Notes

Parent Notes--
Our last day of preschool will be May 14th. Tuition for May will be $50.00 Thanks!

May Calendar:
4th-7th: Letter Y
11th-14th: Letter Z




Friday, March 28, 2014

Spring Fever

Theme:  We took a break from our letter theme and just had some fun doing some of our favorite things...

Mini Lesson:  Signs of Spring (little buds, flowers, baby birds, green grass, bees, butterflies, ladybugs, life...)

Choosing Time:  Animal Dominoes, Assorted Figurines, Trio Blocks, Brick Blocks, Doll House, Blocks, ....

Birthday:  Happy #5 Birthday to Kate!  Thanks for bringing in some yummy Whoppers to share!

Snacks:
  • Apple Slices & Popcorn
  • Graham Crackers
  • Cookies & Carrots
Music & Movement:  Each child took a turn choosing a flower or a bee.  Then the child identified the number on the back and we sang the corresponding song.
  • On a Golden Springtime
  • Up, Up in the Sky
  • Rain is Falling
  • Tiny Turtle
  • Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
  • Little House
  • Tick Tock
  • ABC Jump
  • Popcorn Popping
Science:  There are 3 things for a seed to grow:  Sunshine, Dirt, & Water. Each child planted some seeds.  They are in our classroom windowsill.  We will watch to see which seeds sprout first.  When our seedlings are ready the children can take them home to plant in the ground.

Art:  Spring Flower Painting

Art & ABC recognition:  Cutting, Gluing, and Matching catalog ABC's to our ABC charts

Books:
 What Do You Do When Something Wants To Eat You?



Green & Gold?

Theme:  Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Growing up on the west coast I never truly appreciated this holiday as they do in the East.  However, for all of us there is something just fun in the simplicity of wearing green and believing in leprechauns for just a day.
We enjoyed some fun today while wearing green, eating green snacks, and searching for the leprechaun's gold.



Choosing Time:  Leprechaun Matching Faces Game, Leprechaun Gold Counting game, Shamrock Search....

Party Snack:  Green Grapes & Green Cucumber slices

Art: 
  • Watercolor fun
  • Shamrock Necklaces

Book:
Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato: An Irish Folktale

Game:  Hunt for Leprechaun's Gold & exchange it for some Golden Chocolate Coins

Birthday Girl:  Happy #4 to Elizabeth!  Thank you for sharing yummy rice crispy treats with us!

Music & Movement:
  • 5 Shamrocks
  • Little Leprechaun
  • I Can Sing a Rainbow
  • If All the Raindrops...
  • G-R-E-E-N
  • Birthday Dance
  • Timber
  • Tiny Turtle
  • Green Eggs and Ham

Trains, Trees, & The

Theme:  Letter T
We learned the sign for "T" and its sound.  We had fun writing T/t.  We thought of many "T" words such as teeth, toe, two, ten, twist, time, tiger, tell, ....We learned that when "H" follows "T" it makes a different sound.  We practiced listening to "T" words to recognize if the "T" sound came at the beginning, middle, or end of the word.

Choosing Time:  Tracing names, Turtles, & Teddy bears; Trains, Trucks, Trio blocks, Tinker Toys, Tigers, & Teddy bears

Questions of the Week:  This week everyone wished they could have answered "Yes," to all three questions....it was so cute watching them agonize over Telling the Truth or not...and they all did :)

  1. Can you climb a Tree?
  2. Have you touched a Turtle?
  3. Have you ridden on a Train? (Which spawned a discussion on where you could go if you could take a train anywhere?...some really good answers followed....)
Cute Quote of the Week:  "Look at my Love tree I made!"

Show & Tell:  We all loved that "tell" begins with "T."  We listened as one kiddo told us about his family, we saw tigers, a toothbrush, a transforming lego set, ....


Music & Movement:
  • I Had a Little Turtle
  • Timber Trees! (our new favorite word--we pretended to be trees and one chosen child was the wood cutter...as we each fell we'd yell, "Timber!")
  • Tambourine & Triangle Music Making
  • Turkey Dance
  • Tick-Tock
  • Ten Toes
  • Twirling, Tip-toeing, Twisting, being Tigers, and Turtles
  • Making our bodies look like little t's 
  • Do the Locomotion (we did a Train dance)
  • Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
  • What's Going to Work?  Teamwork!
  • The Train Song
Science:  Parts of a Tree & the Seasons of a Tree

Snacks:
  • Twizzlers & Apple Slices
  • Vanilla wafers, Cheese Sticks, & Grapes
  • Green Triangle Tree Treats
  •  Tootsie Rolls
Art:
  • Shape Trains with Tracks
  • Shamrocks with Tissue Paper
  • Spring Trees (with torn pieces of paper) with Apple and/or Cherry blossoms (from torn tissue paper)










 
Books:  I suppose The Giving Tree is a stark contrast to the Lorax....and I didn't mean for it to be...but we had a lovely discussion on love and happiness.  We also thought of times when we would need to chop down a tree.  Although no one wants to cut down trees, we sometimes do and then we can plant a new one...
 The Giving Tree19044The Tiger! El Tigre! (English and Spanish Edition)

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Sh! Here Comes the Cat in the Hat!

Theme:  Letter S & Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss
We had so much fun with many Dr. Seuss books this week! We loved practicing the "S" sound and writing it.

Question of the Week:
  • Do you know who Dr. Seuss is?  This led to a great discussion about what an author is and what some of the books Dr. Seuss has written.
Choosing Time:  Shapes, Square blocks, Seussy Play dough colors...

Art:
  • Lorax Masks
  • Splatter Painting, Spiral Cutting, Space with Rockets
  • Letter S with stickers


Books & Show & Tell: (thank you for sending such fun books!)

Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss)Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?: Dr. Seuss's...

Snacks:
  • Green Popcorn and Apple Slices
  • Strawberries & Smoothies
  • Strawberry Shortcake
Small Surprise:  To celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, each child took home a Dr. Seuss Pencil to practice writing their letters with :)

Monday, March 3, 2014

Rocks, Robots, & Rainbows

Theme:  Letter R

Red, rainbow, rock, run, rope, rub, rose, and so many other cool words start with the letter R.  We made the letters R/r with our bodies and had fun making them with our snacks this week.  We are tempted to say, "ru" for it's sound instead of "ur".  We will keep practicing.  It was a fun week!

Choosing Time:  Racing cars, Railroad trains, Rubber-band pegboards, Robot Game, Red Puzzles,...

Questions of the week:
  • Do you like rainbows?
  • Do you like rocks?
  • Do you like robots?
Show And Tell:  Some fun items included a rabbit fur bag, rocks, and a raccoon

Snacks:  We had fun hopping like rabbits to the snack table.

  • Cheese sticks, Crackers, Apple slices
  • Rice Krispy treats & Rabbit food (AKA Carrots)
  • Rabbit Food, cheese cubes, & Oyster Crackers
Art:
  • Hot Rocks
  • Rainbows
  • Tin Can Robot wind chimes



 

 



Music & Movement:  I had placed raindrops around the classroom numbered 1-10.  Each child had a turn to find the number I asked for.  We did a corresponding activity with the number.
  • If All the Raindrops were Lemon Drops 
  • Rain is Falling
  • See Me Run
  • Row, Row, Row Your Boat
  • I'm a little Robot
  • I Can Sing a Rainbow
  • Smile
  • Little Peter Rabbit
  • There was a Little House
  • Dance a Rainbow with our Rainbow sticks
Books: