About Tomorrow!

Our Feast begins at 10 a.m.
Come in through the kitchen doors.
Just bring your assigned food - we'll prepare it there with our kiddos.

A BIG thank you!
Jen

Let me Explain...

That's never a good way to start a preschool post, right?!? No worries, nothing too crazy, just some messy hands that I need to explain:
Did you LOVE the hand turkey? I did, but it came at the cost of stamp ink on our little fingers (it will come off with a good washing... or two... or three). I debated between washable paint that would not look as good, or stamp ink that would not come off very well. After trying both, I had to go with what looked best and what would last - so... HAPPY SCRUBBING! I really want some of these preschool creations to last through the years so as mother's, you can look back on that TINY little hand-print and sit and let the memories of your once three/four-year-old come rushing back. I know for me, these hand-prints are PRECIOUS, so I hope you will forgive me when the bath-water turns "ink-color" and the scrubbing lasts a bit longer than usual. Our little ones are precious!

Today, we also:
-continued our learning of the letter Hh.
- worked on sound spelling words of things we're grateful for.
-had the choice of water coloring or marker coloring.
-practiced first and last names.
-worked hard in centers (today, on their own, the children all found "new" friends to play with).
-began learning our new sound song.
-played outside.
-read a wonderful story called, "I am Thankful Every Day!" by Steve Metzger.
- had a very special show-n-tell where Chloe was able to bring her sister Maclee to show! (Thank you Chloe's mom for the fun treat too.)

It was a great day!

I feel... Grateful!

Our theme is Feeling Grateful (as well as different feelings we have). This is a great time to retouch on not getting upset and remaining calm when things don't go our way (something I still am working on).

So, today we:
~ practiced first and last names.
~ worked hard at centers (meanwhile I worked with 2 children at a time teaching rhyming through a fun game).
~ attended to our calendar (practiced counting, days of the week, singing my FAVORITE song - our Preschool Theme Song).
~ worked on rhyming as a whole group with our Nursery Rhyme "Humpty Dumpty"
~ heard the story, "Turkey Tom and his Terrible Temper". Tom is a turkey that often loses control of his emotions and throws different temper tantrums, like: screaming, pouting, whining,etc) and eventually learns through his colored feathers that HE is the only one that can make his life better and happier. He must do that by controlling his temper, even when things don't go his way. (We took some time to relate this to our own lives... good conversation, they are insightful.)
~ got to paint with turkey feathers.
~ enjoyed ONE last day of nice weather (for 2 seconds before deciding it was NOT that nice of weather).
~ enjoyed a snack.
~ Read the book, "If you're Angry and you Know It" and looked at healthy ways to act when we get upset.
~ then got to work on a grateful book.

Lots of fun!
You'll have your food assignments on Thursday.

Looking Forward:
Thurs - show n tell
Tues - Thanksgiving Feast* (starts at 10 a.m.)
*More info provided on Food Assignment/Invitation

Our Fall Unit Comes to an End...

Today we:
~ completed our "pudding tree" by doing some Rip Art for the leaves (though Carl the Cat came to join us at the back window, making it very hard to for the children to want to concentrate to finish their project, so some trees are a bit sparse; Taryn will be working on her's later).
~worked on the sound F makes, and completed that work page.

**Homework - Ff Rainbow Writing -
Capital F strokes: start at 1x "straight down, jump up, straight out, jump to middle, straight out". Help them distinguish between the F (with two lines out) and the E with three.
Lowercase F strokes: start at 1x "up over, straight down, line across the middle - they like to say "give it a belt" instead of being so proper.
Remember to have them pick up to 8 crayons/markers and complete over and over again so they really get the strokes down.

We also:
~ played a game with our Nursery Rhyme to not only work on rhyming, but to work on vocabulary.
~ read, Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Louis Elhert
~ Enjoyed a ::MYSTERY READER:: ~ A big THANK YOU to Peyton's mom for reading the book Curious George goes to the Library and giving us bananas and chocolate covered pretzels to enjoy as a treat!!!

Thank you for letting me know how many people from each family will be attending our Thanksgiving Feast. We'll be sending out food assignments next week (and Thank You in advance for your participation).

Have a good one!!!

Crazy Crazy Life!

Life is getting crazy this time of year, as it does for everyone, but that's no excuse for dropping the ball on this blog... oops! and sorry!

Yesterday we had a great day! I was so excited for the surprise painting project at the end of the day... and it did not disappoint!

We:
~worked on new name plates (some with last names).
~worked hard in centers.
~reviewed our Nursery Rhyme (Humpty Dumpty)
~Read, Going on a Leaf Hunt
~made ourselves a sorting game (sorting is an essential math skill - as they work on this, have them try to sort by different determining factors (not just color) to help them notice subtle differences, which will in turn help them in all aspects of learning (letters, reading, math, numbers, etc).
~were introduced to a FUN FUN FUN alphabet sound song we will be learning.
~worked hard on our lowercase f.
~colored with 'fall' colors
~ ended the day with a fun PUDDING PAINTING project!
**It was so cute to watch the children learn just what they would paint with; and then to see them paint, lick, paint was priceless!

**Please Note:
- Please, let me know by tomorrow (Thurs) how many from your family will attend our Thanksgiving Feast.
- Feast food assignments will be passed out next week.
-Feast is scheduled for Tues, Nov 22nd @ 10:00.

{Preschool Love!}

I am so grateful for Preschool and especially the chance to be uplifted by these little ones. Even a crazy hard day (in my regular life)is made better by the joy and excitement they bring when they are here and learning. Thank you!

Today we:
~ worked on correct formation of the letter Ee.
~ played in centers (It was a day of playing house, I guess, and one where the "mothers" had to leave the "dads" in charge of babysitting. Pretty cute!)
~ Introduced November
~Read Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall. As we read we notice shapes of leaves and what colors they were in the fall.
~ made our own leaves (since our original plans of collecting leaves were foiled by the snow)with red and yellow paint.

** This was a super fun sensory activity where we squished around red and yellow paint to actually see the way the colors combine to form orange. I love the process but having leaf full of mess-making paint just sitting around ready to be "squished" into carpet makes me very nervous! I will LOVE that she did it, but the actual leaf may disappear soon, very soon, and it's ok!

~ we began to learn our first Nursery Rhyme - Humpty Dumpty. We will show and work on reading skills using Nursery Rhymes this year. Today we focused on reading left to right, top to bottom and we focused on building vocabulary:
what is an:
egg
wall
fall
king
horse
men
*all these words, the children probably already know, but may have a hard time explaining in words. Isn't it interesting that no one could come up with "a four legged animal" when I asked for a definition of horse. They sure would be able to point it out, but I hope to challenge them by having to explain in words. It will be a wonderful asset to them.
~ lastly, we played our November Letter Game. These pieces are so versatile, please consider laminating them for continued use.

Thank you for another great day!