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

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