Monday, January 13, 2014

January 11th






 

Can you spot the difference between these sets of pictures-we could! Autumn in Ohio provided us with not only the opportunity for several walks in the leaves but the excitement of exploring the environment after two unexpected snowfalls. In early November, we went on a nature “hike” through the front of the property and discussed the rotting pumpkins in the garden, noted the seasonal changes like the different colors on the trees, and rolled down the hill in the leaves. After we returned from Thanksgiving, we put on our snowsuits and hats and gloves and boots (thank you for bringing in everything J) and went outside to play in the snow. We made snow angels, found the tracks of several animals (including our class) that had already investigated the snow, and debated what had happened to the bird whose feathers we discovered by the pine trees. The answers for that question ranged from that the “bird got really cold and the feathers were frozen and fell off” to “the bunny was hungry and ate the bird.” (we promise we have not been reading Bunnicula!)


             
            

Need assistance after the holidays? The preschool-PreK class is available to help complete your tasks. The students can assist with party planning and preparation-including cleaning the tables and chairs and sweeping the floor, writing out invitations and thank-you notes, counting the people who are arriving and ensuring the table has the correct number of place settings, taking pictures and writing down messages, making guest beds and doing the laundry when they leave and completing those pesky end-of-year-reports. The members of our group also will gladly assist in caring for younger children and may even be persuaded to entertain your guests!


Here are some more highlights from our “year”!

We discovered two new birds at our window-the cardinal and the chickadee.


We read our favorite books-and shared them with our classmates.

 We listened to Owl Babies and asked questions about the owls that came to visit our school in November.


 





 We expanded our knowledge of scientific and mathematical concepts through investigation and discovery-with some help from our friends.




We worked on mastering the skills critical for future literary success.






 And we shared our holiday traditions with not only our classmates but the younger children as well.







 


 



 
 
We hope you enjoyed 2013-we know we did!




State Standards:
Domain:  Cognition and General Knowledge
Subdomain: Mathematics
Strand: Number Sense
Topic: Number Sense and counting
Standard: Count to 20 by ones with increasing accuracy.

Domain: Language and Literacy Development
Strand: Writing
Topic: Writing Process
Standard: With modeling and support, print letters of own name and other meaningful words with mock letters and some actual letters.

Domain: Social and Emotional Development
Strand: relationships
Topic: Peer interactions and relationships
Standard: Demonstrate socially competent behavior with peers








Final notes:


Do you have empty oatmeal canisters, tea boxes or hot chocolate packages? Please consider donating them to the preschool classroom for our winter café!

Please remember to write down time your child has arrived or been picked up on the weekly attendance form –especially if your teacher has not yet entered the building or has finished teaching for the day. This is important not just for our records but assists your child to master an understanding of how time is measured. Thank you!!

Monday, January 6, 2014

January

January 3rd

We love Ohio-especially the weather! The children loved exploring the property and noting all the changes that were occurring-from the colors of the leaves to the drop in temperature (especially in the morning) to the antics of the squirrels and chipmunks (and the birds) as they looked for food. The early snowstorms we have had also provided us with the opportunity to further extend our understanding of earth sciences as we compared the differences between the way the ground sounded as we walked through the leaves and the snow and how the garden looked before and after it snowed as well as providing opportunities to discuss what the animals do in the winter time. We even got to explore how the leaves and the snow felt on our bodies as we sat in the leaves and the snow and made leaf and snow angels.

The children have also extended their knowledge of basic mathematical and scientific concepts through observation and group interactions. Several children discovered that constructing a system of pylons to place by the end of a large construction tube would allow the ball-or sled ( a wooden block) to continue on a straight trajectory rather than veer off course. Other students have been counting everything in the classroom, from the number of students (and teachers) that are present to the number of dots on someone’s socks. They have begun integrating this newly discovered knowledge into their active play, pretending to be owl babies who are waiting patiently at night for the mommy owl to come and feed them, caring for “sick” or “injured” classmates, and fixing the robots that arrived as a late Christmas present for Ms. Sara.


Need help finishing those belated holiday cards or those thank-you notes? Just ask the preschoolers! They have been very excited about their discovery that they can write their names (as well as the names of all their classmates) and have been working hard to master such skills as eye-hand coordination, task perseverance, willingness to try new activities and of course an understanding of the formation of letters and the alphabet that will be extremely useful in future endeavors. Over the past  few weeks, the preschoolers have also been very interested in assisting Ms. Sara to not only to write their own daily reports but to plan learning experiences and create new works (activities) for the classroom and to complete their own conference forms.









Please remember to note what time your child has arrived or been picked up on the weekly time sheet –especially if your teacher has not yet entered the building or has finished teaching for the day. This is important not just for our records but assists your child to master an understanding of how time is measured



The children excitedly ask questions about the owls that came to visit in November