Composting 101

Wes Duren from Marvin's Organic Gardens visited our school on March 5th and told us a lot about the importance of compost for growing healthy gardens and exactly how to make them!  He started with a topic which happens to be most interesting for the kids...WORMS!!!

He explained how worms are so important in the gardens and we should should store our throw-away fruits and vegetable pieces so that the worms can feed on them and turn them into compost, an imporatnt ingredient for good gardening.  It was amazing how the kids responded and the daily use of the classroom compost bins became all the more interesting after this session.

The kids couldn't wait to get their hands into the soil. They touched it, smelled it, and found interesting things like twigs and rocks when they investigated closer. Thank you Mr. Wes!

Dental Hygiene Month

February is dental hygiene month and all throughout the month we read about the importance of teeth and how we can take care of them, also how ceratin food make our teeth happy and ceratin food make our teeth really, really sad! Most of the preschool kids concluded that sugar and soda makes our teeth really, really sad!

The dental hygienist, Ms. Jayna, who visited us in the school also showed us different props used in a dentist's office to check teeth.

In the classroom we painted with tooth brushes and the painting strokes were round and round and up and down...just like how we should be brushing our teeth.

We even practiced singing a dental hygiene song, which goes like this...
Brush, brush, brush your teeth,
Two times a day,
Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning,
Fighting Tooth Decay!!!


Dental Hygienist explaining the importance of caring for teeth and how we can fight off tooth decay



Pre-K dentist wearing all the gear that a dentist should wear while in office!

This is how we should brush our teeth!

Pre-school friend doing tooth brush painting!!

             

January News



Blocks are used to measure my friends!!

 January had been a very exciting month...besides the everyday excitements and sparks that we have in our classroom...we also had three very significant events in the past days...we celebrated New Year in Japanese style..another excellent parent contribution. One of my preschool mom came in with lots to share about how Japanese New Year is celebrated!!! We also had a visit from the mad scientist who showed us some very interesting chemistry!!! Our small preschool family also increased when we welcomed a new friend this month. This week would be his second week with us and amazingly, it seems that he had always been with us!!!
Besides participating in Mad Science adventures...we also talked about New Years Resolutions, Dr Martin Luther King and Mozart(It was his birth month!!).
We are looking forward for February...the official month of love and friendship...our friends have already declared that they are going to make Valentine's Day cards for their moms!!!!



Preschool friend coloring the dream of Martin Luther King....Friendship!!




Mad Scientist showing us what happens when we pour vinegar in Baking powder???....BUBBLES!!!!




Preschool Buddies busy doing chemistry!!!



Preschool mom volunteered to share with us the facts about Japanese New Year!!



Mad Scientist showing chemical reactions to the preschool friend!!!





My Little Mozart!!!



Preschool mom showing pictures of celebration of Japanese new year from her laptop.



We really can't believe that we are almost at the end of another successful year and awaiting a new year ahead of us full of new hopes and commitments. The past last month had been extremely festive in the preschool classroom. We were extremely excited about our Christmas presents, Christmas gifts, and true Christmas thoughts. We are curious that what if a kid doe snot have a chimney in her house...how in that case would Santa come in and leave gifts for the kid!!! But we found the answer right away...one of the preschooler suggested "in that case Santa would simply open the door"!!!

In the month of December we also saw some amazing parent participation!!! A parent from the Pre-K class shared about Hanukkah with us and a parent from the Preschool classroom shared some Mexican traditions of LUMINARIAS with us.

 Getting ready for Gingerbread cookie cutter painting

Preschooler using cookie cutter for painting



She is trying to identify words from Gingerbread Man story!!



Preschool friend exploring a Menorah!

Parents from the Pre-K classroom sharing facts about Hanukkah with us.



Preschool friend taking a turn in putting the candles in the Menorah.



Preschool Santas!!!

December has been a fun-filled and enlightening month when we came to know a lot about different cultures, traditions, and cuisine.

COOL CRITTERS

All the kids in the preschool classroom were thrilled to see and observe so many interesting reptiles from Cool Critters Outreach. They not only got to see them but they had the opportunity to touch them and hold them! They also learned the reptiles felt cold to the touch as they are cold-blooded animals and also that the snakes breathe through their tongues. 

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Students waiting for Brian to bring out his cool reptiles. Brian is explaining to them how he rescued the animals.

 

Preschool friends taking a closer look at the snake.

This small snake is a Western Hognose.

This bearded dragon is called Sergeant Stubs because he lost most of his tail during a fight with another reptile.

Petting Sergeant Stubs, the bearded dragon.

Friends taking a very, very, very close look at the Bearded Dragon reptile.



The shell of the tortoise feels hard!!!!



"Peepers," the African Tortoise



Friends touching the shell of the tortoise.



Here comes Mr.Alligator! (his mouth is taped shut)

The Blue Tongued Skink doesn't have any teeth!

"Venus," the boa constrictor!

The Boa Constrictor was taller than Brian himself!!!

The Boa constricting around a preschool friend's wrist!!

Oops he got his leg!!!!!

Costume Party

Visit our facebook page to see more pictures.

Merlin the Magician

 Merlin the Magician stopped by to entertain us with some magical storytelling!  

The kids listened to Merlin tell exciting stories
about pirates, caterpillars, and space. 

He was very silly! The kids loved volunteering
to go up on stage and help out with the tricks. 

"Reynaldo the flea" is holding up one side of the rope. How does he do that?!

The preschool class, enjoying the show!

Two volunteers participate in the telling of the story about Charlie the Caterpillar.

Want to see more pictures and video of Merlin's visit
to Endeavor Learning Center? 

Check out our Facebook page. 

Pumpkin Songs

Mr. Pumpkin
(Sung To: Are you sleeping)
Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin
Eyes so round, eyes so round
Fall is coming, Fall is coming,
To my town, to my town

Pumpkins are Growing
Pumpkins are growing, pumpkins are growing
In the patch, in the patch
Look at all the pumpkins, look at all the pumpkins
Orange and round, orange and round

Big Orange Pumpkin
I'm a big orange pumpkin. . .fat and round
Growing by the corn field. . .on the ground
I could be a jack-o'-lantern with two big eyes
Or maybe I'll make two pumpkin pies

Pick Up A Pumpkin
Pick up a pumpkin and put it in the basket,
Pick up a pumpkin and put it in the basket,
Pick up a pumpkin and put it in the basket,
Way down yonder in the pumpkin patch!

Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate, (hold hands up)
The first one said "oh my its getting late," (hands on cheeks)
The second one said "there's a chill in the air," (hug self)
The third one said "but we don't care," (shrug)
The fourth one said "we're ready for some fun," (jump)
The fifth one said "let's run, run, run," (run in place)
So woo went the wind, and out went the lights,
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight (sit down).

Eat Mr. Pumpkin
(Sung To: Are you sleeping)
Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin
Big and fat, big and fat
I am gonna eat you, I am gonna eat you
Just like that, just like that!

Heritage Village School Program

The students at Endeavor really enjoyed a visit from Heritage Village! They were able to experience what a day was like in the life of their 19th century counterparts. A time when children really had to work. 







Everyone also got a chance to practice sewing with a large plastic needle and comb out sheep's wool.  But we got to play with some of the toys and games from the 19th century and that was pretty fun!

 

It was also fun dressing up in some of the kinds of clothes that they used to wear back then.  

It was very hard to carry the water buckets.