Mrs. Peterson's class familiarized themselves in their new environment, learned classmates’ names with a finger play and learned the morning routine. The children began answering the Question of the Day, received their tool bags and learned about taking turns. They are learning the letters in their name and tracing their name. We have been getting to know each other by charting our hair and eye color and counting the letters in our names. As part of the Social Studies domain, we learned about families. We read the books: Peter's Chair, Lots of Grandparents and Who's in My Family. We listened to music about families and discussed the chores of families and the different homes people live in. The block and art centers had activities surrounding the topic of families. We have introduced the letters "Cc", "Oo", and "Gg" and the sounds they make. For math we are using an “estimation jar”. The jar is filled with seasonal items and the students estimate the correct number.
In Ms. Tanner's class, the children became familiar with their teacher and new friends. They learned how they were alike and different. The students came up with a list of classroom rules to use as a guide for a kind classroom setting. Ms. Tanner helped foster self help skills and independence. The children loved the apple theme. In science, they participated in an apple investigation. The five senses played a key role in learning about apples. A favorite activity was predicting if the apples would float or sink. In math, they measured apples with cubes and made patterns with apple colors. The children are enjoying the Handwriting Without Tears program. They have access to chalkboards, dry erase boards, playdough mats and stamping boards. It makes writing their name and letters fun! The class learned all about the letters Ll and Ff, the color red and numbers 1 and 2.
Mrs. Oldham's class started the school year by getting to know one another through their take home paper, "All About Me". They worked on self help skills such as putting on clothing and washing their hands. The children played color lotto and color matching to help them identify colors. Mrs. Oldham read the books, Color of Things and A Good Day. The preschool class also talked about apples. They tasted Gala and Granny Smith apples to decide which was their favorite. In the art center, the children made apple prints with real apples! After reading the books, I Am an Apple and Apple Trouble, they learned how apples grow on trees. The children did creative block building using wooden blocks of different shapes and sizes. As part of the Handwriting Without Tears program, Mat Man was introduced to show that all words have straight and curvy lines. In the Physical Health and Motor Development domain, the children will continue to work on fine motor development. This month they worked on stringing beads and fruit loops, as well as putting together 3 to 4 piece puzzle boards.