Week of September 21-25, 2015!

Happy Friday! The days are getting cooler and we are beginning to see more and more jackets come to school! The autumn season is upon us! Here is what we were up to this week:

We are wrapping up our "getting to know you" unit and beginning to transition into conversations on the changing seasons.  We also worked on completing all of the children's portfolios!  They will be all ready for Curriculum Night on October 28th.  We just love watching the children's progress over the years! It is always so fascinating to take a moment to look back to when each child first began school.  It is such an amazing transformation and I am so excited we can be a part of the children's learning foundation! *Sigh* I love my job!

Here's a word from our Preschool Teacher and Music and Movement Specialist, Mary Beth:

"During Music and Movement this week, I brought my name drum to share with the children.  We discovered our names have counts, which in music are called beats.  There were two, three and even four beat names!  We then turned those beats into name dances.  It was a great way for the children to learn each other names while engaging in a fun game."

And a word from our Preschool Teacher, Mrs. M:

"This week we investigated GERMS.  Our group discussed ways we can prevent germs from spreading in our classroom.  Our story about spreading germs was, "Blow Your Nose, Big Bad Wolf" by Steve Smallman.  In the story, the three little pigs houses are blown away when the Big Bad Wolf sneezes, spreading his germs to the little pigs who at the end of the story develop a cold too.  

To visually show germs to the children, we conducted an experiment using bread and an ultraviolet light.   Two pieces of bread were licked.  One piece was placed in a ziplock bag marked germs.  The other piece of bread was placed under the ultraviolet light for several minutes and then placed in a separate ziplock bag.   Stay tuned next week to learn which piece of bread grew more germs!"

And lastly, a word from Ms. Heather, our Pre-K Teacher:

"Last week, the pre-k children began autumn discussions during curriculum time.  We discussed topics such as, "what is different about outside," and "what does a fall tree look like?" Our explorations continued as the children created fall trees from a variety of classroom materials.  We talked about the shape of the trunk and the colors of the leaves before diving right in to the art materials.  A goal for the pre-k group is to expand on their drawing skills and incorporate more details and colors in their artwork. 

This week brought on more fall explorations with apples.  We read one of the children's favorite books, "Ten Apples Up On Top!" by Dr. Seuss.  To continue practicing drawing skills, the children were asked to draw themselves with many apples balancing up on top of their heads! We cannot wait to show you their art work during Curriculum Night!"

Important Dates and Reminders:

October 1: October tuition is due
October 9: SEE closing at 4:30pm

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

(More pictures coming next week! It's hard to find pictures without those cute, smiling faces in them!) 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Joanna

Week of September 14-18, 2015!

Happy Friday! Our weeks are getting better and better! Here's what we were up to this week:

The children continued learning about themselves and their buddies! We incorporated some math skills by graphing the children's eye color.  We used the words "more" and "less" to describe the graph results.  Take a look at the picture below to see the beginning stages of our graph!  

Mrs. M, our science guru, introduced the children to a new science experiment.  She poured milk on a tray, dotted some food coloring in the milk and asked the children what would happen if she put some drops of soap on the tray.  Many of the children quickly raised their hands and gave answers such as, "I think it's going to mix together," and "It's going to make the colors disappear!"  As Mrs. M placed the first drop of soap on the tray, the colors quickly moved away from the soap drop. The children loved it! So it turns out, the soap reacts with the oil (fat) in the milk and creates a chemical reaction.  So cool!

Throughout the week, we continued to acclimate the children to our classroom routine.  Small group curriculum time is now in full swing and the preschool group has been learning a lot about colors! Some activities included a fingerprint color blending activity and a color scavenger hunt.  The children were given blue and yellow paint and discovered that, when "blended" together, those two colors make green.  And the color scavenger hunt was a success as the children explored the classroom looking for items of various colors.  

The Pre-K group has been busy drawing pictures of their houses using several different colors to add in details.  They have also been  talking a lot about the autumn season and all of the environmental changes we notice outside. 

Out in out Outdoor Classroom, the children have been loving the ramps! The children really enjoyed working together to build, create and play with the ramps! Ramp play incorporates engineering (designing a structure), physics (creating a structure to move objects) and technology (using a structure to move the balls in new ways)! We just love how play can open doors for such meaningful learning!

In addition to all of the fun we've been having, Mary Beth is back to providing Music and Movement class! The Friday group got to enjoy her class today and we look forward to introducing music and movement to the Thursday group next week!

What's Next?
As we continue to learn all about our new friends, we can't wait to hear that everyone's favorite things are! Ramp play will continue with the question, "I wonder what will happen if we play ramps on the hill outside?" 

Important Dates and Reminders:

October 1: October tuition is due
October 9: SEE closing at 4:30pm

October 12: SEE will be closed for Columbus Day

October 28: Curriculum Night @ SEE 6-7:30pm - more info             

                    coming soon!

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

Check out some pictures from this week:

Blending colors to make a new color

Experiment Step 1: Pour milk and add food coloring

Experiment Step 2: Carefully add soap drops

Experiment Step 3: Watch the colors move away from the soap

Ramp Investigations!

Loving the results of their hard work!

Eye color bar graph in progress

Preschool Group's color scavenger hunt!
I hope everyone enjoys the lovely weekend that is upon us!
Joanna

Week of September 7-11, 2015!

Another successful week! The children are settling so nicely into the new classroom routines. Now all we need is the weather to cool down (just a little!) and the rain to go away and we will be all set!

This week we began our new curriculum unit, "All About Me." Our investigations focused on the children in our school community.  We discussed what characteristics we have that are the same and which characteristics are different.  

We introduced this topic by first comparing the children.  The children observed that we are all the same because we all have skin, hair, eyes, etc.  This also lead to discussions on how we are different, red hair vs. brown hair, boy vs. girl, enjoys playing with dolls vs. enjoys playing with trains, etc.  

After our initial discussions, the children were invited to the table to draw their eyes.  Each child looked into the mirror and drew their interpretation of what their eyes look like.  The colors varied from blue, to brown, to black and grey.  The eye drawings are proudly hanging in our classroom and represent how we are the same and also how we are different.

By the end of week, we transitioned in a mirror activity.  The children were again invited to the table and they observed themselves in the mirror.  There were lots of materials available to the children.  They recreated their face using different types of yarn, a rainbow of colored crayons, scissors and glue.  We can't wait to see all of the different faces up on our bulletin board!

What's up next:

We will continue to observe and draw different parts of our faces and continue with the mirror activity.  We will hold a group discussion about "The Best Part of Me" to hear about the things the children love most about themselves. In addition, we will use different classroom objects to measure the children's height and use a scale to measure weight! 

We will also welcome back Mary Beth and begin music and movement class with her on Thursday (the music and movement day will change each week so every child has an opportunity to participate in Mary Beth's class!).

Important Dates and Reminders:

October 1: October tuition is due

October 12: SEE will be closed for Columbus Day

October 28: Curriculum Night @ SEE 6-7:30pm - more info             

                    coming soon!

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

Check out a few of the pics from this week:

 Observational drawing of the eyes in progress

The final product and a language sample.  The teachers try to record language samples from the children throughout the day!

Another mirror activity, love the purple hair!

Some of the completed eye drawings! We can also use this activity to incorporate counting by twos!

Another great week has come and gone! We are so lucky to have such great kiddos and such great families too! Have a great weekend and we'll see you on Monday!
Joanna

The First Week of School!

Welcome back everyone! What a great week we've had with our returning friends and new friends! We are getting to know one another and some really great friendships are already starting to form.  

Here's what we were up to:

Once the children were settled in the classroom and they kissed their families goodbye, each child, new and seasoned, began to explore/re-explore the classroom.  The children quickly noticed that some furniture was moved around and some learning areas where in new places.  This is always exciting for the children as it always feels like a brand new classroom. Moving learning centers to new places in the classroom always brings a fresh start and a new perspective the the children's play.  We have already noticed the baby dolls being played with so much more now that they are near the kitchen and "home" area.  And the children are loving the corn meal in the sensory table. Every year it's a hit! 

As the next few weeks progress and the children learn the classroom routines, we will begin to introduce the children to lots of new classroom materials, different types of art experiences, group games and small group activities (aka curriculum time).  There is so much to look forward to and we are so excited to share our classroom with so many new friends!

What's up next:

We are very excited to bring out the portfolios once again! Every year in September, we interview each child.  This is a great way for us to get to know each child better, begin to build rapport and keep track of developmental milestones. The portfolios are always presented in a fun, easy going manner. Each child is asked a few questions (including what they want to be when they grow up and a few of their favorite things), asked to identify colors, basic drawing skills and basic cutting skills.  The teachers praise all work! For our new students, this initial portfolio presentation serves as a baseline for monitoring each child's developmental milestones.  For our Pre-K students, it shows, on average, 3 years of growth and development. It is such a wonderful tool for the classroom and the best part is, families are presented with their child's portfolio right before their Kindergarten transition as a keepsake of their preschool years.  It's a beautiful way to save such great memories from such an important period of growth in your child's life.

Quick Note:

As the school year progresses, the blog with be filled with more details on our curriculum topics, classroom activities, home extension suggestions and, most importantly, all of the fun we have! Don't forget to "like" us on Facebook to know exactly when the blog is posted each Friday.  I will send out the occasional email reminder but Facebook is the best way to keep track of it all!

Important Dates and Reminders:

September 7: SEE will be closed for Labor Day

October 1: October tuition is due

October 12: SEE will be closed for Columbus Day

October 28: Curriculum Night @ SEE 6-7:30pm - more info             

                    coming soon!

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

Check out a few of the pics from this week:
(As a reminder, I do not share pictures of the children's faces on our public blog.  All classroom pictures can be viewed on a private Shutterfly account - coming soon!)

Exploring with shapes and paint

    And a few sneak peeks at our first day of school picture board:

I hope everyone had a great first week at preschool! We sure did!  Have a great long weekend and we'll see you on Tuesday!

Joanna