Monday, January 31

Group Meeting:  I have been waiting to share these pictures of our snow people with you.  There are still a few missing.  They can still be sent.  If a new snowman is needed, we can do that too.  They are so cute and creative!

Story:  The story for today was The Lost Package by Richard Ho.  A girl wants to mail a package to a friend that lives across the country.  She packs it into a box and labels it with her friends name and address.  She takes the package to the Post Office where it is weighed and stamped.  Now the package goes onto a van which takes it to the sorting facility.  Finally, it ends up on a big truck.  Something happens to the package while it is in the big truck.  Ask your child to tell you what happens and how the box gets to where it is supposed to be. 

Study:  This week, we will be learning about people that use packages at their job.  Today, we watched a video of an Amazon warehouse worker.  We watched him put items into boxes, tape the boxes shut and put them on a conveyor belt.  A video camera was placed on the front of a box so that we could pretend that we were the box going through the machines.  

Letter Learning:  Yy

Small Groups:  The children were given papers with the words "Surprise Box" printed over a drawing of a box.  They had to think of a surprise that might be in the box and draw that in the box.  We tried to sound out a few words that we could print on the box as well.

Snack:  The snack for today was Scooby grahams, juice and water.

Thursday, January 27

Group Meeting:  Our Let's Out Magazine set the topic for today.  All of our activities were about frozen water.

Story:  The story for today was Henry Holton Takes the Ice by Sandra Bradley.  Henry's family loves to play hockey.  When Henry was little, they put ice skates on him and he learned to skate.  But when he was given a hockey stick, he wasn't interested.  He preferred to skate and twirl.  His parents wanted him to keep playing hockey, but his grandmother understood.  She had been a figure skater, too.  Ask your child to tell you if Henry gets to become a figure skater or if he plays hockey.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  Our magazine was about frozen water: ice and snow.  We had some technical difficulty with the video.  Perhaps you can watch it at home.  letsfindout.com  Sign in as a student and use the password redeemer.

Small Groups:  The children investigated melting ice.  They had to guess from four things to see which would melt the ice the fastest.  The paper in their school bag will help them explain what we did.

Letter Learning:  Xx

Snack:  The snack for today was applesauce, milk, and water.

Wednesday, January 26

Group Meeting:  Everyone has had a turn to be the King or Queen of the Day twice.  We are going to take a little break from that and start again next week.  

Story:  The story for today was Box Meets Circle by Aaron Hartline.  Box and Circle want to be friends.  They are trying to decide what they can do together.  Circle can jump, but Box can't.  Box likes to sit, but Circle will roll away.  Does that mean that they can't be friends?  Ask your child to tell you what they can do together.

Small Groups:  Not all of the small groups had the opportunity to build a prism yesterday.  We continued that today.

Letter Learning:  Ww

Large Group:  The children played a game that we call "Four Corners".  We put four colored cones on the floor in the shape of a large rectangle.  The children pick a cone to stand by.  One person closes their eyes and counts to 10 while each of the players choose different color cone to stand by.  With eyes still closed, the counter names a color.  All of the children standing by that color sit in the middle.  The play continues until there is only one person left.  We all cheer for the winner!  This is a good game for taking turns and learning how to be a good sport.

Study:  The question for today was "Are these the same?"  I had a box and a square.  We decided that they were not the same.  The box is a prism.  The children have started to be creative using the boxes that have been brought to school.  If your child would like to bring another box to school to use, they may do so.

Snacks:  The snack for today was cereal (AM class had Cheerios, PM had Rice Chex), milk, and water.  

Tuesday, January 25

Group Meeting:  Our opening movement song for today was "Jack in the Box".  Some of the children remembered playing with a Jack in the Box.  We pretended to be in the box and jumped out at the right time.

Story:  The story for today was Fox's Box by Emily Zebrowska.  This book is full of rhyming words as Fox and his friends try to guess what is in the box.  Pig thinks it will be big.  The mouse says it's bigger than her house.  The peacock thinks it will be a clock.  What's inside?  It is something that rhymes with snake. 

Study:  We learned the meaning of the word prism.  I explained it as something that has a face and back that are the same.  A shoe box is a rectangular prism.  A potato chip canister is a prism with a circle for a face and back.  We call it a cylinder. 

Small Groups:  The children learned to make a prism out of playdough and toothpicks.  We started by making two squares.  Using more toothpicks, we put them together to make a cube which is a prism.

Letter Learning:  Vv

Snack:  The snack for today was wheat bread, fruit spread, milk and water.

Monday, January 24

Group Meeting: Our box study continues.  We are looking at how we can put these boxes together to make new things.  We have been brainstorming some ideas.  Today, we will look at materials that we can use. 

Story:  The story for today was Grace and Box by Kim Howard.  Grace's family received a new refrigerator, and Grace received a new box.   Grace uses her imagination to make the box into many things.  After a week, the box begins to look at little distressed.  Grace has to decide how to take care of the box so that she can continue to use it.  She tries bandages, putting the box to bed, and giving the box soup.  What can she use to make her box useful?  Ask your child to tell you.

Small Groups:  The children played a game called "What's in the Box?"  We placed four shapes on the table.  The children took turns hiding one shape in the box while the other children had their eyes closed.  After they opened their eyes, the children had to figure out which shape was in the box.  We tried putting two shapes in the box as well.

Letter Learning:  Uu

Study:  The question for today was "What can we use to make boxes stick together?"  The choices were glue and tape.  We decided that we could use both to create things with our boxes.  Tomorrow, the creations will begin.

Snack:  The snack for today was carrots, ranch and juice.  

Thursday, January 20

Group Meeting:  Our opening song today was Koo Koo Kangaroo's "Heroes Unite".   In this song, we pretend to be super heroes.  I asked the children to be super heroes and help their friends when they need it.

Story:  The story for today was There's a Walrus In My Bed by Ciara Flood.  Flynn has a new bed.  When he goes to bed, he finds that there is a walrus in it.  He tells his parents, but they think that he doesn't want to sleep in his new bed.  The walrus needs a snack, then a drink, then more covers...  Flynn's parents still think that he doesn't want to sleep in his new bed.  Finally, Flynn asks his parents if the walrus can sleep with them.  Ask your child to tell you what happens next.

Letter Learning:  Tt

Small Groups:  The children were given paper snowballs that had pictures printed on them.  We took turns matching the beginning sounds of the picture words.  Once the snowballs were sorted out, they created snowmen with matching letter hats.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  Our magazine was about animals that live in the artic, mainly walrus.  The children loved the video about the walrus.  You can check it out at letsfindout.com.  Sign in as a student and use the password redeemer.

Snack:  The snack for today was Sun Chips, juice and water.

Wednesday, January 19

Group Meeting: The question everyone had for me today was "Where is Mrs. Yocom?"  Mrs. Yocom's daughter is getting married on Saturday.  She will be taking the next few days off to help prepare for the big day.  The other big news in our class was that Mrs. Youngbauer has a new baby.  Kyla told us that the baby's name is Tegan Ruth. 

Story:  The story for today was Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.  Harold wants to go for a walk in the moonlight.  The moon isn't out, so he draws it with his purple crayon in the sky.  He uses his purple crayon to draw a walking path.  He draws a forest of one apple tree.  Harold keeps drawing adventures until he is tired and draws his bed and goes to sleep.  In the middle of this book, Harold runs into trouble by drawing an ocean and falling off of a mountain.  Ask your child to tell you how he saves himself both times using his crayon.

Study:  The children are using boxes and marbles to create a paint picture.  They start by putting a piece of paper in the bottom of the box.  They choose three colors of paint to create small puddles on the paper.  Next, marbles are added and the children move the boxes back and forth causing the marbles to paint the picture in the box.

Our Post Office officially opened today.  It was very busy for a while.  Below are a few pictures that I was able to take in the morning class.  I'll try for more tomorrow!

Letter Learning:  Ss

Snack:  The snack for today was cheese sticks, Goldfish and water.

Tuesday, January 18

Group Meeting:  We started the day by pretending that we were blasting off into outer space.  Yoyo has a exercise video in which we pretend to put on a space suit and become an astronaut.

Story:  The story for today was Boxitect by Kim Smith.  Meg loves boxes.  She builds all kinds of creative things with her boxes.  Her mother decides to send her to Maker School where she learns more about building.  Meg loves Maker School until she meets Simone.  Simone is also a boxitect.  She likes to build with boxes too, but they don't like building together.  On the last day of school, there is a competition to see who can be the most creative builder.  The only rule is that they have to work with a partner.  Can Meg and Simone work together?  Ask your child to tell you what happens.

Small Group:  We have added a Post Office to our dramatic play center.  Today, we explored this center to see what will be available when it opens tomorrow.

Study:  Our study question for today was "Can we build with boxes?"  We made a list of things that we could create with boxes.  Soon, we will be adding boxes to the art center so that children can build.  Tomorrow, we will make a list of things that we will need to help us create.

Snack:  The snack for today was cinnamon Belvita bars, juice and water.

Thursday, January 13

Group Meeting:  We started the day by doing the Snowman Hokey Pokey.  We looked at a few more snow people that were brought in.  We're still missing a few.  If you've misplaced the snowman and need another, please let me know.

Story:  The story for today was Snowman Magic by Katherine Tegen.  It is snowing.  So much that school has been canceled.  George is bored.  Once it stops snowing, he goes outside.  He decides to build a snowman.  Ask your child to tell you about the magic that happens to the snowman.  At the end of the story, the snowman melts, but new snow is on the way.  

Small Groups:  Today was Birthday Day.  The children made Cinnamon Snowflakes for a snack.  They used tortillas and cut shapes out of them using mini cookie cutters.  I sprayed them with butter flavored Pam and the children sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar.  I baked them in the oven until they were crispy.  

Let's Find Out:  The issue for this week is celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.  The video that we watched was about fairness.  

Snack:  The children ate their Cinnamon Snowflakes with juice and water.  We also had Birthday Brownies.  

Just a reminder...we do not have school on Monday for the MLK Jr. holiday.  We'll be back on Tuesday.

Wednesday, January 12

Group Meeting: We learned a new song yesterday called “Hot Chocolate”. We did again today. Ask your child to sing it for you.

Story: The story for today was Big Box Little Box by Caryl Hart. Cats love boxes. In this book, a cat is trying to fit into all kinds of boxes. At the end, the cat finds a hole in his box. Ask your child to tell you what was making the hole.

Small Groups: I brought in trays of snow from outside. The children dripped colored water onto the snow to see what would happen.  We observed melting and colors mixing.  I’ve attached pictures below.

Letter Learning: Pp

Study: Yesterday, we made a list of what we knew about boxes. Today, we looked at a variety of boxes to see if our descriptions fit all boxes.  We also tried to draw a box and print the word box.

Snacks: The snack for today was yogurt, granola, juice and water.

 

Tuesday, January 11

Group Meeting:  We have a few snow people still coming in from our activity last week.  It's so fun to see everyone's creation.  If your child hasn't returned one yet, it can be brought at any time.  If you've misplaced it and need a new one, let me know.

Story:  The story for today was Shorty and Clem by Michael Slack.  Shorty finds a package.  The package has his friend Clem's name on it.  Shorty wants to open it, but he knows that it does not belong to him.  Shorty shakes it, drums on it, and jumps on it while trying to guess what's inside.  Finally, he can't wait anymore and opens it.  Ask your child to tell you what was inside the box and what his friend Clem said to him about opening the package.

Letter Learning:  Oo

Study:  The question for today was "Is this a box?"  Next to the question was a cereal box.  All of the children answered, yes.  Then I asked them to tell me how they knew it was a box.  The words that I heard were; it's square, it's hard, it has letters on it, it has a picture on it, you can put things in it, it has corners, it has a top/bottom, it has a lid.  Tomorrow, we will use our box collection to see if all boxes fit with these words.  

Snack:  The snack for today was Quaker Oatmeal Squares, milk and water.

Monday, January 10

 Group Meeting:  We are starting a new study.  We are going to be learning about boxes.  Children love boxes, sometimes more than the items that come in them.  Please take a few minutes to read the note.

Story:  The story for today was Christina Katerina and the Box by Patricia Lee Gauch.  A delivery truck brings a new refrigerator to Christina's house.  Mother is excited about a new refrigerator.  Christina is excited about the box.  Christina and her father make the box into castle.  When it tips over, she turns it into a clubhouse.  When the clubhouse falls in, it becomes a race car.  Christina uses her imagination to create all kinds of things with the box until it finally falls apart.   Ask your child to tell you what happens next.

Letter Learning:  Nn

Study:  As part of our study of boxes, I will be asking the children a question every day.  Today's question was "Did you use a box today?"  Most of the children answered no until I asked them what they had for breakfast.  Then, many realized that cereal, frozen waffles and pancakes, pop-tarts, and oatmeal all come in boxes.  Tissues and crayons come in boxes.  This week, we will collect various boxes to lead our discussions and guide our explorations.

Snack:  The snack for today was apples, peanut butter, milk, and water.

Thursday, January 6

My apologies for not getting the blog to you for the past two days.  Somehow, the posts went to last year's blog.  I'm not sure how that happened, but I will watch more carefully from now on!

Group Meeting:  A few children have returned their snow people from Tuesday.  We took a few minutes to look at them.  It's so fun to see all of the different ideas!  We will put the snow people up for display in the hallway.  If you child hasn't finished his or her snow person yet, they can still bring it in when it is finished.  We'd love to see them all!

Story:  The story for today was Geraldine and the Big Snow by Holly Keller.  Geraldine's father has heard that it is going to snow.  Geraldine gets her boots and sled ready.  She goes outside to wait for the snow to start.  She sees her neighbors getting ready for the big snow storm by going to the grocery story, getting books from the library, putting bird food into the feeder and putting the plow on the truck.  But by the time Geraldine goes to bed, it still has not started to snow.  Ask your child to tell you what happens overnight.

Small Groups:  I brought a tub of snow into the preschool.  The children filled a cup with snow and using their five senses, made some observations and predictions of what would happen to the snow.  We set it aside until it was just about time to go home and then looked at it again.  Their observations are recorded on a paper that they completed.

Letter Learning:  Mm

Snack:  The snack for today was wheat crackers, sliced turkey, and water.

Wednesday, January 5

 Group Meeting:   The cold and snow were definitely a topic of discussion today.  Many children talked about the strong wind and blowing snow.   I'm glad we all made it to school safely.

Story:  The story for today was The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  This is the story of Peter who wakes up to find that it has snowed over night.  He puts on his snow suit and heads out to explore.  He makes tracks, gets into a snowball fight, slides down a hill, and makes a snowman and snow angel.  When he goes inside, he puts a snowball in his pocket to save for later.  Ask your child to tell you what happened to his snowball.

Letter Learning:  Ll

Small Groups:  The children drew pictures of what they would do if they could go out into the snow.

Large Group:  The children played musical chairs.  When we play at preschool, we do not make a child sit out if they don't have a chair.  Instead, we ask children to "share" their chair.  It's so nice to see children say "come sit with me" or "I'll share with you".  

Snack:  The snack for today was blueberry bagels, cream cheese, juice, and water.

Tuesday, January 4

  Group Meeting:  We started our day by doing the Snowman Dance and Freeze.  In this song, we pretend to roll snowballs to make a snowman.  This started our conversation about making snow people.

Story:  Our story for today was Snowballs by Lois Ehlert.   Lois Ehlert uses collage in her books.  In this story, a family has saved items to use to decorate snow people that they are building in the yard.   They are very creative in creating a snow family and pets.  Ask your child to tell you what happened at the end of the story.

Small Groups:  The children used paper circles to create a snow person.  At home, they are to decorate the snow person using items from their house.  The snow person was sent home along with some directions.

Letter Learning:  Kk

Gross Motor:  The children had a snowball "fight" using yarn snowballs that we have at the preschool.

Snack:  The snack for today was Teddy Grahams, juice and water. 

Monday, January 3

 Group Meeting:  It's good to be back in school!  We started the session talking about things that we did while we were on break.  This week, we will be learning about winter and snow.  

Story:  The story for today was Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton.  Katy is a tractor that works for the city maintenance department.  In the summer, she has a bulldozer blade.  In the winter, she has a snow plow.  Because she is such a big tractor, she only gets called out when the snow is deep and heavy.  One day, it begins to snow.  It snows so much that most of the city is shut down.  Katy is called out to help.  Ask your child to tell you what Katy says every time that someone asks for help.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  The magazine for this week was about celebrating the new year.  The video showed us different ways that New Year's Eve is celebrated.  The magazine was about New Years  goals/resolutions.  The back page was a little challenging.  Perhaps you and your child can do it together.

Letter Learning:  Jj

Snacks:  The snack for today was cheese slices, crackers, and water.