December 14-18, 2015!

We are down to the final few days of the month.  Can you believe 2015 is almost over!?  What a truly amazing year it has been.  We are so thankful for all of the kiddos, the amazing families and all of the talented teachers who make this school so special! We could not think of a more inspiring and nurturing place to learn and grow.  Here's what we were up to this week:

The children were busy preparing a special holiday treat for their families.  At this time, most of our families received their gift.  If you are one of the patient ones who are saving your gift for Christmas, spoiler alert ahead!

The children whipped up a yummy batch of blueberry jam for the holidays! After reading "Jamberry" by Bruce Degan and "Bread and Jam for Frances" by Russell Hoban, the children were invited to the table to help measure and stir the ingredients in the bowl before the jam was placed on the hot plate to cook.  In addition to the jam, the children designed a card for their families using an art technique that included wind (aka blowing through a straw).  The wind moved the paint in all different directions to create a beautiful design.  All of the designs were incorporated into a card and each child proudly signed their name inside the card.  I hope everyone enjoys the allergy friendly blueberry jam!

On Thursday and Friday of this week, the children and teachers dressed down for pajama day! We had a blast listening to the story of the Polar Express, by Chris VanAllsburg, and we all enjoyed a group "breakfast" of blueberry pancakes and syrup! We just love this time of year!

Classroom update: Our new air plants must be loving their new home! They are starting to bloom! We hope to come back to school on Monday to beautiful flowers.  We will share pictures soon or come take a peek in the classroom to see!

Important Dates and Reminders:

December 24 - January 3: SEE closed for winter break

January 4: SEE back in session and tuition is due
January 18: SEE closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day
February 1: February tuition due
February 15: SEE closed in observance of President's Day

Pictures from this week:

Mixing up the blueberries and sugar

Stirring it up!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!
We'll see you all on Monday!
Joanna

Week of December 7-11, 2015!

This week was all about incorporating the holiday spirit into our classroom! The dreidels we spinning and the menorah was "lit" each day. We also wrapped up our vanGogh unit and introduced our animal of the month, the reindeer!  Take a look at the fun activities:

The children learned that another name for a reindeer is caribou! Who knew! The reindeer can migrate, (as the children call it, "move from place to place") up to 3,000 miles each year.  Reindeer primarily live in Canada and the northern most areas of Europe, Asia and Greenland.   Both male and female reindeer grow antlers which they lose in the spring just like a tooth. Reindeer's favorite food is apples.  In the winter, when food is hard to find, reindeer search for moss and lichen (a type of moss) that we found in our very own playground! Baby reindeer are called calves.  Reindeer are great runners and swimmers and the children added that some even fly!

For this week's class project, the children whipped up a batch of reindeer food.  The reindeer food can be spread out on the front lawn as a snack for Santa's reindeer.  It is also a yummy snack for our neighborhood deer too!

Mary Beth's Music and Movement class incorporated the reindeer activities.  The children learned to prance and practiced their prancing skills to the song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by the original musician Gene Autry.  The children then tested their reindeer skills by participating in the annual Reindeer Games!  The children took turns leaping over rooftops, tossing wreaths on reindeer antlers and pinning the red nose on Rudolph.  The kiddos has tons of fun!

A note from Ms. Heather's Pre-K class:

"On Monday and Tuesday, the children played Hanukkah games.  We started off with a game of Hanukkah Bingo and learned lots of Hanukkah vocabulary.  Now we all know that the helper candle on the menorah is called the Shammash.  In addition to all of the holiday fun, we also introduced the children to two more upcoming holidays, Christmas and Kwanzaa.  Today, the children created a holiday tree while practicing their cutting skills and name writing skills.  The direction was to design and cut out enough tree decorations for each letter of the child's name.  Once complete, each tree had lots of beautiful decorations!  They are being displayed on the office windows."

Next week the children will be making a very special holiday surprise for their family.  I can't tell you much, I don't want to ruin the surprise! And don't forget about pajama days on Thursday, December 17th and Friday, December 18th.  Wear your favorite pajamas to school and enjoy an allergy friendly pancake snack!

Important Dates and Reminders:

December 12: December Gathering at Panera Bread in Burlington
December 17 & 18: Pajama day and pancake snack

December 24 - January 3: SEE closed for winter break

January 4: SEE back in session and tuition is due

Pictures from this week:

A vanGogh Masterpiece!
Come take a peek at the classroom bulletin board!

The making of reindeer food

Shutterfly has finally been updated! Lots of pictures were added from November and the first two weeks of December! Don't forget to check it out!

Have a great weekend!
Joanna

Week of November 30 - December 4, 2015!

Happy December! The last month of the year is finally here! It has been one amazing year if I do say so myself! Here's what we've been up to:

New month, new artist! This month's artist is Mr. Vincent van Gogh.  The children learned that van Gogh was a great artist who loved to use light in all of his paintings.  This "light" that van Gogh liked to use could be in the form of a blazing moon, sunny sunflowers, one small light in a dark room or a big yellow house in the middle of the night.  The "light" was not always in the form of lamps or the moon but also brightly colored objects. The one similarity the children noticed was the "light" in all of the pictures was the color yellow.  Last year we studied van Gogh's Sunflowers, this year we are looking at his masterpiece, "The Starry Night" (1889).  The light in this painting came from the moon and stars.  The children also learned that van Gogh often used thick layers of paint in his art.  The think layers of paint made beautiful texture in his work.  In keeping with the theme of think paint, we whipped up a batch of "puffy paint" aka shaving cream, glue and paint.  The children did not use a paintbrush for this painting, they used a fork with four "prongs" to replicate the characteristic texture in van Gogh's work.  After the first layer of paint was created, the children sketched the tall tree, town and cut those items and a big yellow moon out of paper.  All was glued together and the final product is just amazing!  I can't wait to have them up on the bulletin board next week.  I also love that the children are still revisiting their Henri Matisse masterpieces from last month.  Each child is so proud of their work!  Definitely pop in next week to check it out!

A little side note on van Gogh:

An article was written a little over a year ago and published in Vanity Fair.  The article examines van Gogh's supposed suicide in 1890 and explores the possibility of it being an intentional murder.   Van Gogh had mental illness and was a bit of a strange character.  The people of the little french town where he lived, did not care for van Gogh and often ridiculed him.  Fast forward to current day, with further investigation, a leading handgun forensic expert agreed that there was no way it could have been suicide.  So interesting! Here is the article to read more about the people who posed the very interesting question, "was it murder?"... Vanity Fair Article

In addition to our van Gogh studies, the children are beginning to learn about holidays around the world beginning with Hanukkah!  Hanukkah begins this sunday at sundown.  Next week the children will spin the dreidel, learn Hanukkah traditions and learn the dreidel song!

Important Dates and Reminders:

December 11: Scholastic orders due at 12pm
December 12: December Gathering at Panera Bread in Burlington
December 17 & 18: Pajama day! More info to come soon!

December 24 - January 3: SEE closed for winter break

January 4: SEE back in session and tuition is due

Pictures from this week:

Creating texture with a fork

Putting on the final touches! These look so great!

Stay tuned for updated Shutterfly pictures coming next week and a sneak peek at the glass orbs hanging from the classroom ceiling with some beautiful air plants.  

Have a great weekend!

Joanna

Thanksgiving Week!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had such a great week this week. Not only is Thanksgiving almost here but we also have a 4 day weekend ahead of us! Woohoo! Here's what we were up to this week:

Before the thanksgiving festivities began, the pre-k constructed a very tall scarecrow for our playground! Not only did they help collect all of the fallen leaves from around the playground, they worked together to fill his clothes and lift him up on his feet.

This week was all about thankfulness.  We held a few group discussions to talk about what it means to be thankful.  Naturally, we asked all of the children what they were thankful for and here are a few of the responses:

"I am thankful for picking colorful leaves"

"I am thankful for my hair!"

"I am thankful for playing at preschool"

"I am thankful for my mom and dad"

"I am thankful for begin invited to parties!"

Our preschoolers are very grateful kiddos! In keeping with the theme of thanksgiving, the children arrived at school on Tuesday and Wednesday to an (allergy friendly) thanksgiving feast! The children prepared corn muffins, set the tables for their friends and became pilgrims and native americans!  The children created either a native american headdress or a pilgrim hat.  We introduced the children to the story of how thanksgiving came to be and focused on the friendship between the pilgrims and native americans.  

The menu for our thanksgiving feast included homemade cornbread, cranberry sauce, carrots, corn and turkey, of course!

Music and Movement with Mary Beth was all about manners and being a great guest at someone's house! The children were introduced to the poem, "The Turkey is a Funny Bird" and acted out the lines.  To finish the class, the children moved and grooved to the song, "Be Our Guest" from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack and had a blast!

Important Dates and Reminders:

November 25: SEE will close at 3:00pm

November 26-27: SEE will be closed for Thanksgiving break

December 1: December tuition is due
(stay tuned for more info for the December gathering) 

December 24 - January 3: SEE closed for winter break

January 4: SEE back in session and tuition is due

Pictures from this week:

The making of the scarecrow

The pre-k's 6 foot scarecrow!

Mixing up the corn muffins on Tuesday!

A feast fit for a king!

I hope everyone has a very yummy thanksgiving!

Joanna

Week of November 16-20, 2015!

This week was all about nature's engineer, the beaver! The beaver is quite a fascinating little creature.  To begin our study, the children first looked at the anatomy of the beaver and shared interesting facts that they knew.  The beaver is the second largest animal in the rodent family and they are herbivores. They are especially good at chewing through wood and like to eat it too! Beaver families (also known as colonies) work together to build their lodges. Beavers like to keep themselves busy and they primarily build though the night, that is where the saying, "as busy as a beaver" came from!

To extend out studies into the classroom, the water table was filled with natural materials and the children were encouraged to created a beaver habitat.  From the outdoors, we collected small sticks, rocks, autumn leaves, dirt and added a little water to make the mud beavers need to create a lodge.  Miniature beavers were added and, viola! a beaver habitat.  The children enjoyed the sensory experience as they created dams and lodges for the beavers to live.

At the art table, the children were invited over to create their own version of a beaver lodge using different sized wooden sticks, clay, and grass.  To support their learning about a beaver home, we asked the children what jobs their colony of beavers had to do to help build the lodge.  The lodges will be completed through the first week of December, each child will have an opportunity create their own!  We invite you into the classroom over the next few weeks to see your child's beaver lodge! 

As we continue our study, we will investigate beaver dams and how they help our environment and help other animals in the environment.

Important Dates and Reminders:

November 22: Monthly Gathering at Winchester Gymnastics

November 25: SEE will close at 3:00pm

November 26-27: SEE will be closed for Thanksgiving break

December 1: December tuition is due

December 24 - January 3: SEE closed for winter break

January 4: SEE back in session and tuition is due

And the pictures from this week:

Beaver lodge inspiration and a child-made lodge

The making of a beaver lodge! Of course we need mud, sticks, grass and beavers!

This week's sensory experience, lodge building!

The children worked like busy beavers to create a lodge for their furry friends

Thank you for waiting so patiently for the pictures! 

Have a great weekend!

Joanna

Week of November 9-13, 2015!

November is flying by! The children were introduced to the moose this week and they learned all about it's habitat, anatomy and so much more! Did you know, the moose is the largest land mammal in the United States.  Moose are herbivores, which means they only eat plants.  They also have four, long, skinny legs that are great for swimming and running! Under their chin, moose have a beard called a bell.  Male moose have antlers.  The antlers have points that can be counted to determine the age of the moose. The children discovered that the stuffed moose in our classroom is 9 years old because he has 9 points on his antler.  Each year in the winter, the antlers fall off and grow back in the spring with one more point in it's antler.  Pretty cool, the points are like birthday candles!  During the week, the children created life size moose tracks by rubbing crayons across the prints.  We also read the book, "If you give a moose a muffin" by Laura Joffe Numeroff.  The children have been busy working on their own moose muffins! Check out the pics below! It is always fun to get a little messy and work with clay!

Next week, the children will be introduced to the beaver, nature's engineer!  The beaver is a very unique little critter with so many interesting facts.  Stay tuned for our classroom dam explorations! Get ready to get messy!

During Mary Beth's movement and music class this week, the children became scarecrows.  The children discussed how a scarecrow would act if he were alive.  Would he be strong and stand tall?  Would he be floppy and droopy? Would he be light and airy and float around? We put these movements to music and created a scarecrow dance.  It was adorable to watch the children transform into floppy, flowy, bendy scarecrows.  The children also heard a scarecrow poem and took turns acting it out.  Way to go little scarecrows! 

The pre-k group explored Veteran's Day this week.  The children learned about the vehicles soldiers drive, including humvees, helicopters, ships and planes.  We also talked about how the American flag has 50 stars to represent all 50 states.  The most surprising fact the children learned was that women (including moms!) can be veterans too!  To honor our veterans, the children drew hearts, carefully cut them out and added white strips, a blue square and several stars to make a tribute to the american flag.  Come check them out, they are proudly hanging in the classroom!  We ended the week, exploring the letter C and played an always fun game of pictionary with C words.  Next week we are on to letter D and will begin talking about what we are most thankful for!

Important Dates and Reminders:

November 22: Monthly Gathering at Winchester Gymnastics

November 25: SEE will close at 3:00pm

November 26-27: SEE will be closed for Thanksgiving break
December 1: December tuition is due
December 24 - January 3: SEE closed for winter break
January 4: SEE back in session and tuition is due

Lastly, the children put our old jack-o-lantern pumpkins outside for the critters to enjoy.  The children have been watching the pumpkins closely all week waiting to see some nibbles taken out of the pumpkin, finally today, one of our pre-k kiddos, very excitedly, came running down the hill and announced, "Someone took a bite of the pumpkin's flesh!" What a silly choice of words! These kiddos are always making us laugh!

Some pictures from the week:

American flag hearts by Pre-k!

Our Henri Matisse Bulletin Board

Rolling the clay muffin

Creating the clay muffin

The final product!

I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend before all of the holiday festivities begin!
Joanna

Week of November 2-6, 2015!

Another month has come and gone! Can you believe it's November?! With weather like this it is hard to believe the holidays are approaching.  Here's what the kiddos were up to this week:

We introduced the children to our artist of the month, Henri Matisse!  The children learned that Matisse was a great artist who loved to paint beautiful masterpieces.  However, when he got older, he wasn't able to use his hands to paint anymore.  One day, while he was sick in bed, he picked up a pair of scissors and began cutting shapes out of colored paper.  Matisse called it, "drawing with scissors."  The children LOVE using scissors so this was a very easy way to invite the children to the art table to create artwork with me. Cutting with scissors is new for many children and it was fun to watch the them concentrate while using the scissors.  To make our art more meaningful, we read the books, "Henri's Scissors" by Jeanette Winter and "When Pigasso met Mootisse" by Nina Laden.

As I sat with the children making their Henri Matisse inspired art, I was able to capture some of their language while they created their masterpieces.  Now, many of you may be puzzled by the art your child brings home and you may wonder, "What can this be?"   With  language samples, it all makes more sense! For example, a little girl was making her masterpiece and she said out loud, "So right here is the head and that's the body and these are the legs and I'm doing the hair.  She's going to be Rapunzel so I better make long hair!" My favorite part of the whole process is hearing about their creation.  Many times I can say to myself that, yes, in fact, it does look like Rapunzel!  I invite you all to come into the classroom next week and view your child's Henri Matisse inspired masterpiece.  These works of art will be placed in each child's portfolio after being displayed on the bulletin board this month.  

During morning meeting this week, the children learned a lot about fruits and vegetables and how we categorize them.  We talked about fruit vs. vegetable, grows underground vs. grows above the ground and grows on a vine vs. on a tree.  

To end the week, we discovered that there was a nest inside of our birdhouse out in the playground.  Assuming that the birds have flown south for the winter, I decided to open it up and show the children the nest.  As I carefully pulled it out, I suddenly saw two eyes looking back at me! I don't know who was more frightened to see who, me or the MOUSE! I slowly slid his nest back into the bird house that we now refer to as the mouse house! Sleep tight little mouse! 

What's up next:

Next week the children will be introduced to a novel animal, the moose! They will learn about the types of tracks they make, their habitat and the foods they eat.  

Lastly, don't forget to check out our little free library in the front of our school! The way it works is take a book, leave a book!  Don't forget to donate to the library to keep all of the books rotating!  Also, the library is not just for the kiddos, it is for adults too! 

Important Dates and Reminders:

November 11: SEE will be closed for Veteran's Day
November 22: Monthly Gathering at Winchester Gymnastics

November 25: SEE will close at 3:00pm

November 26-27: SEE will be closed for Thanksgiving break
December 1: December tuition is due
December 24 - January 3: SEE closed for winter break
January 4: SEE back in session and tuition is due

Some pictures from the week:

"I'm making a making a horsey, well actually, it kind of looks like a cow!"

"I'm cutting the lightening"

"So right here is the head and that's the body and these are the legs and I'm doing the hair.  She's going to be Rapunzel so I better make long hair!"

Inside the Mouse House!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Joanna

Week of October 26-30, 2015!

It has been a very busy few weeks and this blog post is long over due! Since our last post, there was a wedding, apple picking event, trunk-or-treating, curriculum night, a few Patriot's victories, a full moon and halloween! So as you can see, it's been quite busy! But I am more than happy to back in the blog routine! As we wrap up October and get excited for November, there is so much to get ready for!

November will bring us brand new studies on the mighty moose and nature's engineer, the beaver! We will also talk a lot about what we are thankful for and the traditions of Thanksgiving.  The Shutterfly account is also up and running for this school year and the pictures from last school year are finally complete!  Check your email for the link and check out the pictures! Look forward to monthly picture updates from our classroom! 

A note from Ms. Heather:

"This week, pre-k learned about bats, fire safety and celebrated Halloween.  The children were introduced to the story, "Bat Loves the Night" by Nichola Davies.  This book inspired the children to create a drawing of a bat complete with a name, what they eat and where is lives.  The answers were very imaginative and included living in the jungle, a bee hive and a tree hole.  These bats also liked to eat oreos, banana bread and ham!

Did you know October is fire safely month? We read the story, "Stop, Drop and Roll" by Margery Cuyler and made a fire safety book.  The children also practiced the stop, drop and roll sequence in our classroom.

Next week, the children will begin to trace and practice forming numbers!"

A note from Mary Beth:

"The preschool class began the week by reading the story, "Three Little Ghosties" by Pippa Goodhart.  This story inspired a sensory project using cotton balls to create their own three little ghosties.  The children pulled the cotton ball in all directions and put some cute little faces on the ghosts.  Most went home this week so take a peek at your child's artwork!  We also talked about the number 3 and went on a classroom scavenger hunt.  The children found 3 wheels on the tricycle, 3 circles on our wall, and a whole bunch of friends that are 3 years old! Great work preschoolers!

During Music and Movement class, the children warmed up their bodies to the song "This is Halloween" from the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack.  After talking about costumes and trick or treating, the children transformed their bodies into various halloween characters while dancing to The Monster Mash.  For example:

Frankenstein has stiff, strong steps
The black cat has low and slow movements
The bat has quick and high movements
The ghost has flawy and slow movements
The witches has quick and small movements

Being able to move from one movement quality to another was a fun yet challenging motor planning activity!"

A note from Mrs. M:

"The children are always asking for science experiments so I have been trying to incorporate more experiments into each school week.  This week's experiment was all about air! The children were first asked a few questions about air, "can you see air?" "does air have color?" and "why do we need air?"  It is always fun to hear the children's answers! Some of the answers included, "we need air because it makes you alive" and "it helps you breathe." I then presented the children with a hallowed out, uncarved pumpkin and a carved jack-o-lantern.  I asked the children what would happen if we put a candle with a flame inside both pumpkins and put the tops back on.  Most children said the candle will continue to burn.  So we tried it out and discovered that the jack-o-lantern's candle continued  to burn because it had lots of air to keep it going.  The uncarved pumpkin's candle quickly went out because there was not enough air to keep the candle going.  It was fun to hear all of the children's observations and theories on the the flame.  We tried a similar experiment with candles and different size mason jars.  The candle covered with the smallest jar went out first and the candle covered with the largest jar went out last because there was more air in the large jar.  I can't wait to introduce the children to more experiments!"

Important Dates and Reminders:

November 2: November tuition is due

November 11: SEE will be closed for Veteran's Day
November 22: Monthly Gathering at Winchester Gymnastics

November 25: SEE will close at 3:00pm

November 26-27: SEE will be closed for Thanksgiving break

Check out a few pictures from this week:

"Three Little Ghosties" project

Cleaning out the pumpkin for our experiment

Separating the seeds to bake next week

The air experiment in progress

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween! I can't wait to hear about about it on Monday!
Joanna

Week of September 28 - October 2, 2015!

Happy Rainy Friday!  I hope everyone is staying dry and warm. It's also pretty chilly out there. Fall is definitely upon us! Here's what we've been up to this week:

We welcomed Ed the Music Man to our school this past Thursday.  The children loved singing along to familiar songs as well as learning many new ones! I can't tell you how many times I heard the children singing "Baby Beluga" as the day went on! So cute!  We are also beginning to transition into our autumn curriculum!  Our October curriculum topics are leaves/trees and migration.  The children will learn all about the migration habits of geese and monarch butterflies.  Stay tuned for some cool facts about these insects and birds!

A note from Ms. Heather's Pre-K class:

"This week, pre-k dove right into fall.  We discussed what fall looks like and what changes we see as the weather begins to change.  Some of the answers included, "the leaves are bright and changing colors," "I watch my dad use the leaf blower," and "I love to go apple picking and eat apple cider donuts!"  Such great answers!

We also started shares this week and the children really enjoyed sharing their special items from home.  The shares are a great opportunity to increase confidence and language skills.  The pre-k group also came up with several great questions to ask their peers.  For example, "where did you get it" and "who gave it to you?"  

Lastly, we talked about classroom responsibility and the importance of keeping the classroom clean for all of the children.  We reminded the pre-k class to help the preschoolers as they learn how to take care of the classroom too!" 

A note from Mary Beth's Music and Movement class:

"This week's theme was apples.  A magical sounding apple was passed around the circle and the children practiced waiting nicely as the musical apple was passed to each child.  We also danced around the apple tree as we sang many songs and engaged in movement activities to apple songs and rhymes. 

We also continued the gross motor activities on our very rainy Wednesday with an obstacle course complete with a tunnel, balance pods, balance beam and "stepping stones."  Each child had an opportunity to try out the obstacle course!"

A note from Mrs. M's preschool class:

"It’s science time.  What happens when you mix water, white vinegar, and baking soda into a glass jar?  The water gets cloudy then clear after the baking soda dissolves.   What happens when you add kernel corn into the mixture?   Many children guessed the kernels would sick or float.  Some decided the kernels would disappear. Others thought the kernels would shoot up straight and hit the ceiling.  Well, they did not disappear or shoot out of the jar.  Our outcome showed that the kernels did sink to the bottom at first, but soon they began to hop up and down in the jar.  As a result we created our Hopping Corn Science Jar!  The kernels continued bouncing up and down in the jar for many hours for the children to continue watching. We preformed this experiment on Thursday and Friday so all of the children can have a turn watching the outcome"

Important Dates and Reminders:

October 9: SEE closing at 4:30pm
October 10: Apple Picking at Parlee Farm (check your email for the Evite)

October 12: SEE will be closed for Columbus Day

October 28: Curriculum Night @ SEE (check your email for the Evite)

November 2: November tuition is due

November 11: SEE will be closed for Veteran's Day

November 25: SEE will close at 3:00pm

November 26-27: SEE will be closed for Thanksgiving break

And a quick picture of our Hopping Corn experiment:

Have a great weekend everyone!

Joanna