Leaves are falling and Halloween surprises

This week was a combination of studying leaves and Halloween surprises.  In the beginning of the week we learned the fun song “All the Leaves Are Falling.”  We all studied the process that makes a leaf change colors and that the leaf has three parts the stem, blade, and veins.  We discussed how the leaves change color and that the weather plays a big role in that change.  As it becomes colder there is less sunshine and not enough rain to feed the leaves.  The chlorophyll, which gives leaves their green color, begins to breakdown and that is when the reds and yellows of the leaf shine through. We also learned about Chlorophyll, how it makes the leaves green with nourishment and that it feels sticky covering the leaves.  To end the week, the children had a fun time listening to "Go Away Big Green Monster!"  By Ed Emberley and some friends made a green monster mask.

The preschool group read the book, "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert and afterwards they made their own Mr. Leaf Man using real leaves.  The children worked together to create his head, body, arms, legs and he even had a little leaf dog! As the week progressed, they made leaf pictures by placing a leaf under a piece of paper and used a crayon to rub across the paper revealing a beautiful leaf shape.   The teacher reviewed the leaf vocabulary words as the picture emerged.  As the week came to an end, the preschoolers made leaf pictures by counting out and gluing ten leaves onto the tree.  Spider webs were also created using a marble painting technique.  Marbles were covered in white paint and dropped onto a black piece of paper.  The children rolled the marbles around on the paper and out came a beautiful spider web!

         
The Pre-K group started the week off listening to the book, "Leaf Jumpers" by Carol Gerber. We learned about all the different shaped leaves including Ginkgo, Sycamore, White Oak, Basswood, Sugar Maple, Willow, Red Maple and Birch.  To review the week's vocabulary words, the children painted a beautiful leaf with a stem and some veins, one side of the leaf was called the blade and was painted all green and the other side of the leaf was painted with fall colors including yellow, orange, red and green.  Some of the children wanted to leave some white on their leaf because all the leaves are very different. Continuing with curriculum, this week’s word was "DOG" and the children proudly spelled it out adding a big RUFF sound in the beginning.  As the week came to an end, the children made a spider web using a string of yarn with dipped into white paint.  The children carefully dragged the yarn along the black paper to create webs.  The final step was gluing the spider to its web.  I couldn't help but listen to the children's chatter about what the spider catches in it's web. Many of the children commented on how spiders catch flies and insects to eat.  And our Pre-Kers are so smart, when asked how many legs a spider has they all answered eight legs.

        
Movement with Ms. Mary Beth was halloween themed with three skeleton friends called Mr. Bones.  The kids helped Mr. Bones dance around to the song "D’em Bones" and they sang about how our bones connect to one another.  The children worked on their clapping and snapping skills to the Adams Family theme song.

                
Mr. Ed sang lots of fun halloween songs including "Five Little Witches Jumping on the Bed," "Five little Pumpkins Sitting on the Gate" and so many more.  The kids were laughing, singing along and having a terrific time.

What's up next?

November is quickly approaching and on Tuesday, we begin our Thanksgiving unit that is all about family, manners, fruits, veggies and being thankful for everything we have!

Upcoming Dates and Reminders:

October 31: Costumes are welcome at school! Please no weapons :)
November 1: November tuition is due
November 11: SEE is closed in observance of Veteran's Day
November 15: Current student schedule changes and sibling 
                        applications for 2017/2018 are due
November 23: SEE closes at 3:00pm
November 24-25: SEE is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday
December 1: Tuition is due

December 26-January 2: SEE closed for Winter Break
January 3: SEE is back in session and tuition is due

Pictures from the week:

 Mr. Leaf Man and his dog were made using real leaves

Pre-k painted fall leaves and labeled the parts of the leaf using the vocabulary words we are learning: stem, vein and blade

Mr. Bones dancing to the beat

Making a "Big Green Monster" Mask based on the story, "Go Away Big Green Monster"

The friends worked together to make a race car in the block area

Have a safe and Happy Halloween and just a reminder that on Monday your child is invited to dress up in there halloween costume for the morning hours.

Ms. Pauline