ELC Preschool

January News

2012-01-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

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.

2011-12-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-21T09:42:00.001-05:00

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.

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

2011-11-10T14:32:00.001-05:00

Visit our facebook page to see more pictures.

Merlin the Magician

2011-10-20T09:38:00.001-04:00

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

2011-10-12T13:59:00.005-04:00

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

2011-10-12T13:41:00.000-04:00

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.

The buckets were heavy and they didn't even have any water in them!

Field Trip: VOA Park

2011-07-17T17:03:00.006-04:00

2011-07-17T16:44:00.000-04:00

2011-07-17T16:26:00.001-04:00

Playing the harp!

2011-06-10T13:49:00.004-04:00

Harpist, Sabra, with her harp. It is about 6 feet tall!

Listening to harpist, Sabra Thomas, talk about how the harp makes sound. She played several songs for the children, including "Clair de Lune," a piece about a swam, and a storytelling piece about fairies!

Everyone who wanted a turn got a chance to strum the harp. Sabra showed them how to use their first finger and point it down while moving it across the strings.

Dinosaurs

2011-06-02T13:37:00.009-04:00

Check out our dinosaur fossils!

Now that Kings Island is open the kids have been buzzing about dinosaurs (and the new dinosaur attraction at KI). We have been reading dinosaur books and pretending to be paleontologists...and, of course, playing with dinosaurs!

Digging for "dinosaur bones" just like paleontologists.

Working on a dinosaur puzzle.

Which dinosaur is your favorite?

Oh no! The t-rex found a snack!

Sing a song about dinosaurs!

The preschoolers dipped toy dinosaurs in paint to make dinosaur tracks on their papers.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

2011-06-02T13:30:00.004-04:00

This recent art project was inspired by the weather.

A visit from Marvin's Organic Gardens

2011-05-09T13:51:00.000-04:00

Last month Wes Duren, from Marvin's Organic Gardens, stopped by to chat
with the group about gardening. He told the kids about the importance of
worms in gardens and brought lots of soil for the kids to touch.

The soil was very soft and fun to squish in our hands!

Mr. Wes passed around several different types of herbs for the kids to
touch, smell, and even taste! The lavender smelled very nice.

Tasting one of the herbs.

Mr. Wes will return next week to help us start our
edible forest (the first phase of our nature playscape).
We will be planting eleven fruit trees!

Arrowhead Reptile Rescue

2011-03-24T13:44:00.004-04:00

In honor of National Wildlife Week one of our favorite special guests, Arrowhead Reptile Rescue, stopped by last week with many of their very interesting friends!

Two volunteers from Arrowhead show off a Burmese Python, "Big Al."

They brought some of their rescued turtles, lizards and snakes. Members of the nonprofit reptile rescue rehabilitate and “foster” displaced and unwanted reptiles and promote herpetological education in local schools and educational centers. The kids are always eager to get a close-up and hands-on look at these creatures, even "Big Al."

Making a Healthy Snack

2011-02-23T13:18:00.006-05:00

On February 8th dietitian Amy Francis presented the children with a hands-on opportunity to make their own healthy snack...parfaits! Everyone washed their hands and got ready to cook :)

They started by checking out all of the tools on the table (measuring cups and spoons, cutting board, butter knife, bowls). Then they cut up strawberries, bananas, and mangoes.

Tasting some of the ingredients for the granola. Everyone liked the sunflower seeds.

The preschoolers measured out the correct amount of dried edamame, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, and oats. Then mixed them together.

Adding cinnamon to plain yogurt.

Mixing the cinnamon and yogurt.

Adding the first layer of granola to his parfait.

Layers of granola and yogurt.

Most of the children layered granola, yogurt, and fruit. They enjoyed choosing how much they wanted to put in their cups.

The finished parfaits went into the refrigerator until afternoon snack time. Yum!

Snow and Shaving Cream

2011-01-21T13:22:00.005-05:00

The preschoolers love sensory activities. They are always ready to dive right in and get their hands dirty! Earlier this week we played with shaving cream. One of the kids talked about making a snowman with it but realized that it was difficult to form it into shapes. As you can see they liked smearing it around on the table and feeling it in between their fingers.

After that activity we compared a cup of real snow from outside with a cup of shaving cream. We passed the cups around and I encouraged them to use their senses to examine the snow and shaving cream. They looked, smelled, and touched (I wouldn't let them taste it!) the snow and shaving cream.

I asked the children how they were the same and how they were different.

I recorded their observations on a chart...
"One is snow. One is shaving cream!"
"They are white."
"You can play with them."
"Snow is cold. Shaving cream is warm."
"It (shaving cream) smells!"
"Shaving cream does not come from the sky."

Several hours later the preschoolers noticed another difference between snow and shaving cream. The snow had melted in its cup but the shaving cream had not changed at all.

Snow, snow, snow...

2011-01-21T13:05:00.004-05:00

Thankfully SNOW is one thing that has been in abundance for the last few weeks because our new lesson plan is all about snow. The preschoolers love snow. They love reading about it, singing about it, and playing in it. Some of the books that we have been reading regularly include The Biggest, Best Snowman, The Mitten, and The Snowy Day.

We went outside with some carrots and a plan to make some snowmen but the snow wouldn't pack well so we looked around for good spots to leave our carrots for the bunnies.

I built a little snowman. (make large circle with arms)
He had a carrot nose (point to nose)
Along came a bunny (hold up to bent fingers)
And what do you suppose? (shrug)
That hungry little bunny, ( make bunny again )
Looking for his lunch, ( hop bunny around )
Ate the snowman's nose. ( pretend bunny is eating nose )
Nibble! Nibble! Crunch! ( pretend to be eating a carrot )

We made snow angels outside...

...and inside!

Five Little Snowflakes

One little snowflake with nothing to do.
Along came another and
Then there were two.

Two little snowflakes laughing with me.
Along came another, and
Then there were three.

Three little snowflakes looking for some more.
Along came another, and
Then there were four.

Four little snowflakes dancing a jive.
Along came another, and
Then there were five.

Five little snowflakes having so much fun.
Out came the sun, and
Then there were none!

We made our own snowman in the classroom (pictured above) since we were unable to make a real one outside. Everyone had fun adding the different parts to the snowman. With the leftover "snowballs" (cotton balls) we did snowballs races where the kids tried to move the cotton balls along a track without using their hands. They quickly figured out that you could blow the cotton balls pretty far with big breaths.

Mad Science of Cincinnati

2011-01-20T13:22:00.001-05:00

We excitedly welcomed Mad Science back to our school earlier this month. The program they presented this time was "Mad Mixtures," an interactive program that consisted of hands-on activities to introduce mixtures and the science of chemistry. The lesson began with a mini volcano to demonstrate how mixing things together can create something new!

Our "mad scientist" then focused on the mixing of colors. The kids examined tubes that were filled with colored water and oil. The oil and colored water separated when left alone and mixed together when the kids shook them up!

Next, everyone was given a baggie filled with several different colors of a jelly-like substance. They were instructed to softly press on the baggies to mix the colors. As they pressed the colors together they mixed to make new colors.

Finally the Mad Science instructor let the kids pick out a color and she added that colored water to some homemade dough in a bag. The kids smashed the bagged dough to mix their color into the dough.

Snow Activity

2011-01-13T13:20:00.004-05:00

Too cold to go outside and play in the snow? Bring the snow INSIDE!

I added a few drops of food coloring to some water and showed the kids how to use droppers. We filled up two small tubs with some fresh snow and used the droppers to paint the snow.

The preschoolers took turns with the cups of water and were able to use all of the colors to paint the snow in their tubs. One of the kids wanted to use one of the small scoopers to scoop up the colored snow and dump it on the white snow. They realized that they could mix up the colors by doing this.

Everyone was pleased with the final result. Our snow was so pretty!

We let the snow melt in the tub and checked on it later in the day. All of the colors had mixed together and turned the water a dark greenish color.

ALL ABOARD!

2011-01-11T20:49:00.003-05:00

The preschoolers love trains, especially Thomas the Train. For the last few weeks we have enjoyed having a miniature train station in our classroom. The kids purchased tickets at the ticket window in order to ride their decorated train cars. They loved pretending it was the Polar Express, headed to the North Pole!

Some of the book selections from this unit included several Thomas the Train books, The Little Engine That Could, and The Polar Express (and the audio version).

Round trip ticket for the Polar Express. Everyone enjoyed pretending to buy tickets and getting a chance to be "the ticket taker" at the ticket booth.

"Here's my ticket!"

Resting on the train.

"This Little Train" was one of our favorite train songs to sing.

"Ice skating" on the train tracks.

Our Final Space Mission

2010-12-13T13:36:00.005-05:00

On Thursday we suited up in the astronaut suits (white jackets, space gloves, and space helmets) and prepared for lift off.

Climb aboard the Spaceship!

Sung to: "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Climb aboard the spaceship,
We're going to the moon.
hurry and get ready,
We're going to blast off soon.
Put on your helmets
And buckle up real tight.
Here comes the countdown,
Let's count with all our might.
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1---BLAST OFF!!

As will happen with imaginary spaceships from time to time, we crash landed and damaged our ship. Armed with a digital map, flashlights, and our telescopes we went exploring the mysterious planet in search of martians (this was an idea from one of the preschoolers, inspired by the book The Way Back Home).

The kids ventured out into the big room and were looking for martians with their telescopes. They pretended that the other children in the classrooms were friendly martians who could help us repair our spaceship. After collecting "tools" from them we fixed our ship and headed back home to Earth! :)

This week we are trading in our spaceship for a train! Hop on The Polar Express and join us for another fun adventure.

Preschoolers in SPACE!

2010-12-02T13:28:00.005-05:00

One of the activities that the kids enjoy when we are outside is pretending that the playground is a giant spaceship. So for a few weeks we are going to be astronauts :)

Pictured left: gear for our space missions.

We've been reading stories with a space theme, have transformed the dramatic play area into a space ship, and have been pretending to go on space missions. The preschoolers helped place the buttons in the spacecraft. 3-2-1-Blast Off!

This week we read Space Boy by Leo Landry and The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers, both are about little boys who travel to the moon and back.

Using the wooden blocks to make our own little spaceships.

Some of the kids worked by themselves to make their own spaceships and the other children worked together, sharing the blocks. The best part? Knocking it all down of course!

Snow!

2010-12-01T13:49:00.004-05:00

Everyone was excited to see some snow on the ground today and lots of flurries blowing around outside! After getting all bundled up we went outside just long enough to throw some snow around, taste it, and slip and slide around on the slippery grass. December is off to a great start!

Playing in the leaves, part 2

2010-11-18T13:45:00.005-05:00

The rest of the leaves have finally dropped and we just couldn't resist playing in them earlier this week. Thankfully we made it before the rain started. The boys love throwing leaves in the air, at each other, and of course, rolling in the leaves!

We even made "leaf angels."

Now that the leaves are off the trees we could easily spot several bird nests up in the trees. Maybe that's where this big white feather came from?

Playing hide and seek in the pine tree. Can you spot them?

Letter Recognition

2010-11-18T13:40:00.003-05:00

Can you find the first letter in your name? Yes! :)

Pizza by the Slice!

2010-11-16T13:40:00.003-05:00

Yum!

To wrap up our pizza shop unit we made some pizza art for the wall. The kids glued toppings on their slices...cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, pepperoni, and green peppers. The boys thought it was funny to pretend the pizza slices were faces so they said arranged some of the cheese and other toppings like they were eyes and mouths.

The Preschool Pizza Shop

2010-11-12T11:16:00.005-05:00

This month our lesson plan has focused on food. With Thanksgiving being at the end of the month we have been talking about feasts, fruits, vegetables, and the difference between foods that are healthy and foods that are not healthy. We also made a list of foods that we like and don't like.

One of the foods that everyone likes is pizza! The dramatic play area has been transformed into a pizza shop complete with all sorts of pizza ingredients, aprons, chef hats, and a cash register.

ordering pizza at the counter

The kids grab an apron and a hat and get to work. They like choosing toppings for their pizzas and putting them in the pizza oven to cook. One of the challenges with the pizza shop is deciding who will do each task and taking turns in the various roles.

The kids have worked together very well! They usually decide who will be the pizza makers, the customers, the person using the cash register, and the person taking orders over the phone before they start playing and then stay in those roles.

Most of the class said they only like cheese on their pizza. One of the boys likes peppers on his pizza and one of the preschoolers said he would like butter and salt on his pizza! Yuck :)

One of the books we read recently was Pizza Pat about a pizza maker who cooks a delicious pizza but is sad when mice eat his pizza. The silly song "On Top of My Pizza" (click on the link to listen to it) was a big hit with everyone!

On top of my pizza

All covered with sauce

Could not find the meatballs

I think they got lost

I looked in the closet

I looked under the sink

I looked in the cup that  held my cola drink

I looked in the saucepan

Right under the lid

No matter where I looked

Those meatballs stayed hid

Next time you make pizza

I’m begging you please

Do not give me meatballs

But just plain old cheese

Wild About Animals

2010-11-11T15:21:00.009-05:00

The Cincinnati Museum Center stopped by this week to present one of their programs, "Wild About Animals," to the preschool and pre-k classes. Ms. Deann led the group on a virtual safari, beginning in Africa. She talked about elephants, lions, giraffes, and zebras. The kids already knew some facts about elephants, like how they use dirt to protect their skin from sun. They learned the different uses for trunks.

Ms. Deann told them that male lions have manes to protect their necks from bites and also to help attract girlfriends. The kids thought that was hilarious! They also thought it was funny that giraffes have purple tongues to protect their tongues from getting sunburned when they are picking leaves from tall trees.

Ms. Deann handed out zebra finger puppets to everyone and they acted out what zebras do when they see a lion coming too close...the lookout lions call out "Woop woop!" to alert their friends and the zebras run away.

Everyone touched a pelt of real zebra skin. The fur was very smooth and soft.

We looked through the viewfinders to see other animals from Africa.

The next stop on the safari was Antarctica! Ms. Deann discussed emperor penguins with the group. She passed out baby penguins to everyone.

The kids tried to waddle around while keeping the baby penguins warm on their feet. It wasn't very easy!

Everyone huddled closely together just like penguins do to try to keep each other warm.

The final safari destination was a much warmer place...Australia! Ms. Deann taught the kids about koala bears and kangaroos. She let everyone smell eucalyptus since that is what koalas eat. The kids gave a thumbs up or thumbs down to let her know if they liked the smell. About half of the kids thought it smelled good. Ms. Allison thought it smelled yucky and gave it a thumbs down.

The last animal that we learned about was the kangaroo. Everyone loved the kangaroo toys with the joeys in the pouches. The kids learned that some kangaroos can jump 30 feet in one jump! They tried to jump that far but discovered that it took us a lot more jumps to go 30 feet :)

Costume Party 10/28/2010

2010-11-03T13:51:00.003-04:00

Senor Doug started off the day with a special Spanish lesson! He taught the kids how to say words like ghost, costume, pumpkin, and candy in Spanish. Then they played a fun game where they passed the "calabaza" around in a circle and told Senor Doug one of the new Spanish words if they were holding the pumpkin when the song ended.

In the afternoon the kids dressed up in their costumes and marched around the Big Room, showing off their great outfits!

Following the costume parade they went outside and searched along the trail for treat bags filled with bubbles, bracelets, and stickers. Everyone was so excited when they found their own little treat bag :)

Black and Gold

2010-11-01T13:35:00.005-04:00

Last week we talked quite a bit about dressing up in costumes, carving pumpkins, trick or treating, and about the colors in autumn. During Circle Time the preschoolers listened to the poem, Black and Gold, by Nancy Byrd Turner.

Everything is black and gold,
Black and gold, to-night:
Yellow pumpkins, yellow moon
Yellow candlelight;
Jet-black cats with golden eyes
Shadows black as ink,
Firelight blinking in the dark
With a yellow blink
Black and gold, black and gold
Nothing in between-
When the world turns black and gold
Then it's Halloween!

One of the books that the kids really liked was Five Little Ghosts by William Boniface. We made our own little ghosts to decorate the classroom door. I traced the kids' feet and cut it out. The kids glued googly eyes on their ghosts. We thought they looked a lot like the ghosts in the book.

Another book that was a big hit with the class was Funnybones by Allan and Janet Ahlberg. It is about two silly skeletons and their silly skeleton dog. We used (cooked, room temperature) spaghetti to make our own silly skeletons!

The kids loved getting their hands into the spaghetti. They said it was sticky and it stuck to their hands. It also stuck pretty well to the paper but we used some glue too. We discovered that too much spaghetti on the paper wouldn't stick so a few of the preschoolers had to scale the size of their skeletons down a bit. I love all the different skeletons that the kids made! Some of them pointed out leg bones and arm bones on their skeletons to me. Some of the kids said their skeletons were dancing.

Pumpkin

2010-10-21T13:39:00.004-04:00

All week we have been talking about pumpkins, reading about pumpkins, singing songs about pumpkins, and even making our own little pumpkin patches. Today we looked at a real pumpkin.

The kids made some guesses as to what might be inside the pumpkin. Some of the kids said maybe it was empty or it might have seeds inside. We knocked on the pumpkin and it sounded hollow. Then we passed the pumpkin around to see if it was heavy or light. It was small so most of the kids were surprised at how heavy the pumpkin was.

Inside we found lots of stringy pulp and lots of seeds! Everyone had the chance to reach inside the pumpkin and see what it felt like. The consensus was that it was cold and wet. After smelling the pumpkin a few of the preschoolers tasted the pulp and said it was yucky. But one of the boys said it was kind of like watermelon and went back for a second taste :)

Some kids decided to pick out a bunch of seeds. One of the kids tasted a seed but spit it out because it did not taste good. They put the seeds in a bowl. Maybe we will plant the seeds in our garden.

Lesson Plan - Apples and Pumpkins

2010-10-21T13:27:00.005-04:00

For the last two weeks we have been talking about Fall and two of the foods, apples and pumpkins, that are ready to be picked in the fall. We discussed how apples grow on trees and pumpkins grow on vines on the ground. The kids made their own apple orchards and pumpkin patches!

To make their apple orchards they did apple prints (apple halves dipped in green paint) on the top of brown construction paper that was already glued to the paper. After the paint from the apple prints dried the kids used their fingers dipped in red paint to put apples in the trees. Some of the kids just put the apples IN the tree and some of the kids put apples all over the tree and all over the paper, saying some of the red parts were apples and some of the red parts were rain.

To make the pumpkin patches the kids picked out pre-cut leaves to glue on a vine. Then they decided where to put their pumpkins (pom-poms) on the vine and glued them in place.

Dramatic Play

2010-10-20T13:26:00.004-04:00

At our school we provide many opportunities for the children to engage in dramatic play. Some of the many benefits to dramatic play include taking turns, fostering friendships with peers, solving problems and helping build self-confidence. But most importantly, the children are having fun in their own magical world that they have created.

This morning, when given the chance to choose the center they wanted to play in, everyone ended up in the dramatic play area. Initially the kids started preparing food in the kitchen area and setting up a small feast. Then they decided to assume different roles. One of the girls announced that she would be the mom and her friend could be the big sister. She told her other friend that he could be the dad or the big brother. He decided to be the dad. Their common goal was to take care of the babies. After feeding the dolls someone said they needed to go to Florida! So everyone began preparing for their trip...they got play clothes and bags out of the dress-up area. While preparing for the trip one of the girls put on an impromptu concert. She sang a song about going to California.

The preschoolers had a great time playing together. They used kind words with one another such as please, thank you, and I'm sorry. Everyone was able to contribute ideas to their little adventure. They didn't make it to Florida (or California) today. But there is always tomorrow :)

Playing in the leaves

2010-10-14T13:46:00.005-04:00

Autumn is such a perfect season, isn't it? This morning we read Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert. We said a song about the leaves in autumn and then we went outside to play in the leaves.

(Sing to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus")
The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown,
orange and brown, orange and brown.
The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown
all through the town.

The leaves on the trees come falling down,
falling down, falling down.
The leaves on the trees come falling down
all through the town.

The leaves on the ground go swish-swish-swish,
swish-swish-swish, swish-swish-swish.
The leaves on the ground go swish-swish-swish
all through the town.

Let's Measure with Mad Science

2010-10-13T11:36:00.001-04:00

Last month Dr. Discovery from Mad Science of Cincinnati stopped by to present the "Let's Measure" workshop to the preschool and pre-k classes. The kids learned about measurement through a hands-on program that focused on mass and length. The pre-k class was particularly interested in this subject as they had spent the first couple of weeks in September learning about measurement. They had been measuring all sorts of things, including themselves and objects they found in the classroom and outside, so this was a fun extension of what they had been working on with Ms. Lu Ann. Dr. Discovery was quite impressed with their enthusiasm about measuring!

The kids used the balance to determine that the mass was greater with more toys and the same with the same amount of toys. They used string to measure all sorts of objects inside, including their own legs!

Dr. Discovery passed out rulers to everyone before she left.

Rainbow Hike

2010-09-30T14:18:00.003-04:00

We have been talking about different colors that we find both in the classroom and outside. The preschoolers all helped make a big chart with different colored squares on it. We went outside to see how many different colors we could find outside. One of the kids carried the chart while another child carried a bucket to hold our color collection. They loved hunting for different colors! As we walked on the trail we spotted red leaves, yellow leaves and flowers, and white flowers. In the gardens we found pink flowers, orange flowers, and purple/blue leaves. Of course we were able to find plenty of green items too.

Everyone sorted through the color collection from the bucket and we found our favorite items to glue on the color chart. This was an activity that everyone enjoyed and would be great for the kids to do at home too!

September pictures

2010-09-21T13:28:00.005-04:00

The thyme that we planted grew but the marjoram never did come up for us.

Practicing cutting and coloring on the gourds.

Enjoying quiet time in the Library center and bringing imagination to life in the block area.

These two preschoolers were working together in the block area.

Everyone picked out some of their favorite colors to make handprints and footprints. In the last picture the kids are comparing the rulers they received from Dr. Discovery during the Mad Science program.

Bike Day

2010-08-31T15:51:00.003-04:00

The kids had a fun time riding bikes with the pre-k class. They raced each other, rode around the cones, and then went to the "bike shop" (in between the pine trees) to work on their bikes.

It's not a block...it's corn on the cob!

2010-08-31T15:00:00.005-04:00

One of the preschoolers found two lamps in the dollhouse that looked like corn on the cob holders. He was determined to make corn on the cob for me. He found just the right block and worked and worked until he was able to pick it up with his new corn on the cob holders.

Time to do some planting

2010-08-30T13:46:00.006-04:00

We received some donations of little potting kits and decided this was a great time to get our fingers into some dirt! :)

Examining the dry peat. How will we put seeds in this stuff?

Adding a cup of water to the bowl.

Soaking the peat in warm water. It is starting to feel softer.

Whoa! The peat grows as it absorbs the water. And the kids noticed that it started to feel very "squishy."

Scooping the dirt into the pot.

Covering seeds (thyme and marjoram) with the wet peat.

Now we sit back and wait for it to grow!

Ready for Fall 2010!

2010-08-27T14:00:00.003-04:00

The preschool room is now open again for fall 2010. Looking forward to a great year!

2010-04-29T14:21:00.002-04:00

The children are working with the pinecones in the water. We talked about how the pinecones were floating in the water. Mairin is pictured and heard in the video below, squealing as her friends played in the water.

The first video is of the children running in the rain. That day the rain was really light and the children were watching the rain and waiting for it to stop. Then a few of them stood out in the rain then ran back to where we were all standing. The video shows how they gradually ended up running all the way to the end of the sidewalk then back.

The second video is of the children working in the mud puddles with the pinecones. This was all initiated by the children. They found out that the pinecones did not sink in the water, but were floating and they kept adding more and more pinecones to the puddles.

Museum Visits: Learning About Eggs and Frogs

2010-04-29T13:55:00.008-04:00

ACTING LIKE FROGS

LOOKING IN THE CONTAINER AT THE TOAD

TOUCHING THE TOADS AND FROGS

Play or Work?

2010-04-29T13:40:00.004-04:00

These children are dancing around the room with wigs and hats on their heads! Can't have much more fun than that.

This child put the letters on the magnet board in alphabetical order and in a straight line, then worked on making double digit numbers.

Monster Truck

2010-03-24T13:33:00.002-04:00

A friend of an ELC parent surprised us with a Monster Truck visit! The kids came out to have an up close look. They couldn't believe it actually had steps on the side of the truck. Everyone got a chance to touch the truck and hear its loud horn. Awesome!

2010-02-24T13:56:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday!

This child just celebrated a birthday! Look at the beautiful birthday hat that she decorated for the occasion!

2010-02-24T13:53:00.001-05:00

Working

This child is "working on her computer!" She has lots of important work to do! :)

2010-02-24T13:51:00.001-05:00

To Grandmother's House We Go!

These children are on their way to visit Grandma! They are wearing their hats because it is raining.

2010-02-24T13:46:00.001-05:00

Ladybug Counting Game

Here, the kids are counting the number of ladybugs on each card, and then matching it with the appropriate number. With assistance, they are able to match every one!

2010-02-24T13:40:00.003-05:00

Fun in the Snow!

The kids had a great time playing in the huge snow mounds in the school's parking lot! They all tried to climb to the top! Several of the kids collected snowballs. One child lined up his collection of snowballs!

2010-02-17T13:55:00.002-05:00

"A Crack in the Track"

These boys have worked hard to make a color-coded road for their cars. They then made a "crack in the track," which is also the title of one of our favorite Thomas the Tank Engine books. Together, they worked to repair the crack!

2010-02-17T13:50:00.002-05:00

Bubble Wrap

These children enjoy feeling the texture of bubble wrap. They enjoy popping the bubbles even more!

2010-02-17T13:46:00.002-05:00

Animal Hospital

This child is working diligently to unlock each door and then place an animal inside. He then locks every door.

2010-02-17T13:40:00.002-05:00

Writing Center

The kids use the writing center quite a lot. They use either the Magna Doodle or paper and markers to write and draw.

2010-02-16T13:38:00.002-05:00

Alphabet Puzzle Teamwork

Here, the kids are working on completing an alphabet puzzle. Each letter matched up with picture that started with that particular letter. Together, with a little assistance, they were able to complete every letter!

2010-02-16T13:33:00.003-05:00

Snowman Counting Game

This game has been a recent favorite! The kids take turns rolling a die, counting the number of dots, and then moving the correct number of spaces. With assistance, they can move around the whole board!

2010-01-18T13:35:00.002-05:00

Painting with Branches

The children had fun painting with out-of-the-ordinary brushes -- evergreen branches! They also took notice to how the white paint showed up on the dark paper, and hypothesized that it wouldn't have worked on white paper.

2010-01-18T13:26:00.002-05:00

Teamwork

Two children work together diligently to complete an Ernie K'Nex. With assistance from the teacher, they complete the task. One child checks to make sure it looks like the picture on the box. Proud that it does, he shows off their work!

2010-01-18T13:18:00.002-05:00

Fun in the Snow

The kids had a great snowy day! Some tried to push trucks through the deep snow, while others tried to throw snow in the air and then catch it. A favorite activity was moving snow from the ground to the outdoor easel. All the kids worked together until every hole on the outdoor easel was filled! Great teamwork!

2010-01-18T13:08:00.002-05:00

In The Kitchen

The boys love working in the kitchen! They put on their aprons & cook, cook, cook! Then, they head over to the table, where they sit and enjoy their meal. Hot chocolate and chicken nuggets are two of the more popular items!

Let it snow!

2009-12-23T09:37:00.004-05:00

Let's Dress Up!

2009-12-16T14:54:00.006-05:00

Trucks!

2009-11-04T13:18:00.006-05:00

Before our costume party we went outside with the toddlers to watch the trucks tear up the road in front of the school. We saw several different trucks. One big truck was taking up the old road and putting it into a dump truck. It looked like dirt. We saw a lot of construction workers and a few of them waved at us. When the workers were waiting for another dump truck to arrive we played in the leaves. It was a lot of fun!

Pajama Day!

2009-10-16T13:16:00.003-04:00

Nature Trails

2009-10-16T08:53:00.004-04:00

In his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv writes "Nature inspires creativity in a child by demanding visualization and the full use of the senses." Time spent in nature is essential for the physical, mental and emotional health of all children. Upon the recommendation of Bill Hopple, executive director of the Cincinnati Nature Center, we expanded our outdoor play area to include several new nature trails.

The preschool class has been very excited about the new nature trails that Mr. Shaun mowed for us in the tall grass. The kids love having a new area to explore outside! They have been making up new games to play on the trails and have found all sorts of interesting plants and bugs.

Below is an art project that the kids worked on together. They collected various items that they found during a nature walk and created a beautiful collage to hang on the wall!

Owl Pellet Investigation

2009-10-12T10:20:00.003-04:00

Last month the preschool class purchased an owl pellet kit. They made some very interesting discoveries when they examined the contents of the owl pellets. The class discovered that owls eat mice (a lot of them!) because they found hair, tiny teeth, bones, and even a few mouse skulls inside the pellets! Some of the items were so small that the kids had to look at them under a magnifying glass.

Below is a short video of one of the owls that came to visit our school in March. In the clip you can hear the recording of various owl sounds. The owl kept looking around, trying to figure out where the sounds were coming from.

Lesson Plan (September/October 2009)

2009-10-08T13:21:00.002-04:00

The preschool class will take advantage of the falling leaves for several special projects including leaf collages and classifying. The St. Jude's Trike-A-Thon is scheduled for October 9th. Don't forget to bring your bike and helmet to school that day!

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - blocks, cars, Little People
Dramatic Play - housekeeping center
Manipulatives/Math - squirrel gride game, apple math path game, sorting seasonal items on a grid
Creative Art - assortment of items to glue, color, and cut
Library/Literacy - books about Autumn
Science and Nature - finding leaves outside and matching them to a picture in the leaf book; identifying leaves by name after looking them up
Music & Movement - finger play & foot play CD; The Leaves on the Trees song; Roly Poly Pumpkin song
Outdoors - easel painting with natural items found outside; leaf collage

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - morning song; calendar activities; letters of the week (E and F); apple tasting & graphing; SpanishFUN with Senor Doug
Small Group Activities - "E" and "F" activities; pumpkin life cycle sequence cards; working with the sorting graph
Story Time - Now It's Fall; Foggy Day; Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf; Where Do Butterflies Go When It Rains; Oak Trees; Pine Trees; If You Take a Mouse to School
Special Activities - painting with items found in nature on the outside easel; finger-painting/cutting out butterflies; assemble butterfly projects; collecting leaves to make a leaf collage (glue, paper, leaves); contact paper leaves/tissue paper; Trike-A-Thon

The very mysterious caterpillar

2009-09-30T15:43:00.004-04:00

Last month one of the preschoolers found a very large green caterpillar outside. We put the caterpillar in a bug jar and left it on the table in the preschool class. The next morning, we had quite a surprise! The caterpillar had made a cocoon inside the bug jar. The children enjoyed checking on it each morning to see if there were any cracks in the cocoon. We waited and waited. We even heard it wiggling around inside the cocoon. Two or three weeks later we were even more surprised when a huge Luna moth finally emerged from the cocoon!

Ms. Lu Ann took the moth outside and released it. The kids were able to study the Luna moth up close. Some of the kids through the spots on the wings were the eyes. It did not fly off right away. But it was gone when the class went to check on it later.

A visit to Perfect Petals Florist in Mason

2009-09-30T15:32:00.006-04:00

In July the summercampers were able to visit Perfect Petals in Mason. Since recycling is an important part of our daily routine at Endeavor Learning Center we took some old glass flower vases to the flower shop. In exchange for the vases they gave us some lovely flowers to take back to school! The kids got a behind the scenes look and watched the florist prepare the bouquets for the class.

Snakes, Lizards, and Tortoises, Oh My!

2009-09-02T13:41:00.003-04:00

Another one of our August visitors brought in amphibians. We got to pet several snakes, a lizard, and a cool looking tortoise. A lot of us were brave and touched every one of the animals.

The Greater Cincinnati Herpetological Society (GCHS) is an organization committed to increasing the understanding of reptiles and amphibians. For more information about GCHS go to http://www.cincyherps.com/

Learning About Bugs

2009-09-02T13:23:00.006-04:00

The Cincinnati Museum Center brought their "Snug as a Bug" (Program On Wheels) lesson to teach us about bugs. We got to put a bug together and learn about the parts of a bug. We also got to wear fun glasses so we could see how a bug sees! That was cool. Our visitor brought a hissing cockroach for us to pet if we wanted and some of us heard the cockroach hiss! Then we played with bug puppets and looked at bugs that were no longer alive in some glass boxes.

June Field Trips

2009-07-14T13:41:00.004-04:00

Heritage Oak Park

Southwest Golf Ranch

Having Some Outdoor Summer Fun!

2009-07-04T16:36:00.000-04:00

Reduse, Reuse, Recycle!

2009-07-04T16:25:00.003-04:00

On June 24th we had a recycling program teach the summer campers about recycling. The children were invited to pick a piece of trash and decide whether it can be recycled, reused, or if it was trash. They learned that they could use jugs to water plants, or boxes for crafts. They also learned that plastic containers have a number on the bottom to help us know if the container can be recycled or not. In our area #1 and #2 plastics can be recycled.

Mason Health Care Center

2009-07-04T16:14:00.003-04:00

On our second visit at the Mason Health Center, the summer campers each brought their library book to read to the residents. Cece and Drew read their books to everyone! We got a chair and microphone for them and they read their version of the story to us. Great Job Guys! When they finished sharing thier books, each summer camper shared their books with a smaller group of residents.

A visit to Mason Health Care Center

2009-06-10T10:34:00.006-04:00

On June 9, 2009 the preschool class visited with some of the residents at the Mason Health Care Center. The kids played "Noodle Ball" (with swimming noodles and balloons) with the folks at MHCC. As you can see below, everyone had a great time!

Birdwatching

2009-06-01T15:45:00.003-04:00

Mike Busam, president of the Cincinnati Bird Club, stopped by last week to give us some tips on how to attract butterflies to our school and safely catch and release them. He talked to us about some of the birds that we saw and we showed him several of the nests that are around our school.

2009-05-25T12:05:00.003-04:00

The preschoolers planted seeds in their garden and some toddlers came to help too. They will take care of the garden and wait to see what grows!

2009-05-25T11:54:00.004-04:00

Cece is singing a version of 'Peter Cottontail' where she was replacing a name of one of her friends with Peter's name and then they would "hop down the bunny-trail". Cece's friends would wait until their name was called before hopping down the mulch hill. What fun!

Lesson Plan (May 2009)

2009-05-04T13:05:00.003-04:00

During the month of May the preschoolers will learn about life on the farm and farm animals.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - blocks, cars, ramps, Little People
Dramatic Play - grocery store
Manipulatives/Math - Farm short math path game, Owl Babies long math path game, puzzles, sequencing cards, lacing cards
Creative Art - farm pictures, variety of art materials in art center, paint/paper at easel, chalk/eraser at easel
Library/Literacy - farm books
Science and Nature - nature collage; collecting natural items around the school grounds
Sensory - Play-Doh
Music & Movement - Farmer in the Dell, Old McDonald
Outdoors - transporting wood chips to the infant playground, weeding flower garden, digging a hole for the new tree

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - morning circle time (calendar, weather, question & answer discussion), gathering materials from outside for nature collage, discussion: what happens on a farm?, charts: animals at the zoo/animals at the farm, SpanishFUN with Senor Doug, learning the names of the 12 months of the year
Small Group Activities - each child will work in the "Fun Thinker" book, each child will play the animal grid game with Ms. LuAnn
Story Time - Big Red Barn, Owl Babies, The Barn Owls, Farm Animals
Special Activities - watch a video about farm animals, make a nature collage, paint a farm mural, coloring and cutting out farm animals for the mural, guest speaker: Mike Busam (president of the Cincinnati Bird Club)

Painted Lady Butterflies

2009-04-16T13:39:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago the preschool class received a "Live Butterfly Garden." They put the larvae in a container with special food and watched them grow. Everyone was excited when the larvae quickly developed into little caterpillars. Right now we are watching closely to see the butterflies peak out from their chrysalises!

Update: All of the butterflies are out now! The first one came out on Friday, April 17, and the remaining three came out over the weekend. We will release them outside on Earth Day.

We "adopted" a bobcat!

2009-04-16T13:25:00.004-04:00

During National Wildlife Week last month the preschoolers voted on which animal they would like to adopt from the Cincinnati Zoo through their A.D.O.P.T (animals depend on people too) program. The bobcat was the big winner. We received a special package from the zoo that included pictures of the bobcat, a certificate, and a fact sheet about bobcats.

Bird Houses Continued

2009-04-14T15:49:00.002-04:00

Ms. Donna took some pictures of us putting our bird houses up. We asked her to share her photos with everyone. Enjoy!

"Green" Birdhouses

2009-03-31T09:21:00.003-04:00

Have you noticed the empty boxes and milk jugs hanging in the trees outside? No, our recycling bin did not blow over and scatter these items around the property...they are our "green" birdhouses!

The kids love to watch the birds from inside the classrooms or when they go outside. During National Wildlife Week the preschoolers gathered up old boxes, empty milk jugs, and other recyclable items and fashioned them into birdhouses, with Ms. Lu Ann's help. Lu Ann cut the holes and the kids decorated the birdhouses and filled them with old dryer lint for the birds to nest in and birdseed for the birds to eat. The preschoolers have been going outside regularly to refill the houses with birdseed.

Are there any items in your trash or recycling bins that could be reused or recycled to make something new?

A visit from the Mason firefighters 3/27/2009

2009-03-30T14:37:00.004-04:00

Three firefighters from the city of Mason paid us a visit on March 27, 2009. They talked to the kids about basic fire safety, such as going low in smoke, not hiding during a fire, stop-drop-and-roll, and calling 911 for help in an emergency. The kids practiced stop-drop-and-roll and asked the firefighters questions about what they had learned. The highlight of the visit was getting to go outside and check out the firetruck! Everyone got a chance to sit in the back seat and to sit in the front seat and pretend to drive. The firefighters gave all the kids their own firefighter hat and a few other goodies from the firehouse. Thanks firefighters!

National Wildlife Week

2009-03-20T15:35:00.003-04:00

On March 19th, Susan from Raptor, Inc. came to visit the children at Endeavor Learning Center. Raptor, Inc. is the association for the protection and treatment of raptors/birds of prey in southwest Ohio. Susan brought 3 special birds: a screech owl (Angel), a peregrine falcon (Lucy), and a great horned owl (Sylvester).

The children had many questions about the birds. They were curious about what the birds ate, what they sounded like, and how they got hurt. Susan did a wonderful job of answering all of our questions and teaching us many interesting things about Angel, Lucy, and Sylvester. Thanks Susan!

More pictures and videos of the visit from Raptor, Inc. can be viewed on the other ELC blogs (listed in the margin to the right).

What a tangled web we weave!

2009-03-20T09:47:00.004-04:00

It started with one of the preschoolers rolling a ball of yarn across the room. Then another child rolled their ball of yarn across the room...and before we knew it, we had THIS:

Everyone had a blast making the web as large and as tangled as possible and then had more fun trying to untangle the big knots.

2009-03-18T14:32:00.003-04:00

On March 17th the toddlers joined the preschool in making bird feeders using pine cones, soy butter, and birdseed. Then the preschool hung their feeders on the trees in the front of the building.

Community Helpers month - Officer Tanner

2009-03-10T10:45:00.002-04:00

On March 9th, 2009, the toddlers and preschoolers met with special guest, Officer Tanner. Officer Ryan Tanner is a D.A.R.E. Officer for the City of Mason. He talked about his role as a community helper and gave the children some ideas on how they can be great community helpers too.

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February 2009 Lesson Plans (part 2)

2009-02-27T09:42:00.002-05:00

The preschoolers will continue to work on letters and numbers for the remainder of the month. The class will also touch upon healthy food for our bodies and teeth in order to prepare for two special visits from a dentist and a nutritionist.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - cars, ramps, wooden blocks, people
Dramatic Play - house center (food, pots, pans, plates, cups, babies)
Manipulatives/Math - ABCs board games, matching games, magnetic blocks, puzzles
Creative Art - art center open (choice of materials)
Library/Literacy - number/counting books
Music & Movement - ABC song; using maracas to keep the beat

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - discussing letters in the alphabet and brainstorming words that begin with specific letters; compare numbers (greater/less than); counting steps; "number cloud" board game; discuss/chart foods that are good and bad for our bodies and our teeth
Small Group Activities - working with numbers 1-5, the children will count out the correct amount of Cheerios into a jar; show greater/less than with beans; charting Skittles by color and determining more and less than by amount and color
Story Time - number/counting books
Special Activities - A visit from Dr. Morris (dentist/orthodontist) and nutritionist Barb Lattin.

Video from 2/26/2009

2009-02-26T13:28:00.003-05:00

This is a short video of a typical "Circle Time" in the preschool/pre-k class. The children sit with Ms. Lu Ann for about 15 minutes each morning to complete the calendar activities, talk about the letter of the day, brainstorm words that begin with the letter of the day, discuss activities that will happen on that day, and sometimes read a book together that pertains to the current lesson plan.

A visit from Dr. Morris - 2/20/2009

2009-02-23T13:10:00.004-05:00

February is National Children's Dental Health Month. We invited Dr. Kinnith Morris, from Northeast Orthodontic Specialists in Landen, to come in on Friday to speak with the children about caring for their teeth.

The kids were excited to talk to Dr. Morris and to meet his friend, Chompers! Dr. Morris used a giant toothbrush to brush Chompers' teeth. After everyone got a chance to help Chompers brush his teeth they talked about which foods are good for your teeth and which foods are not good for your teeth. Dr. Morris taught everyone how important it is to take good care of your teeth.

Thank you Dr. Morris!

Happy Valentine's Day 2009

2009-02-13T14:11:00.005-05:00

The preschoolers had a blast playing with heart-shaped balloons in the big room this morning.

Love is in the air...and on the wall! The kids discovered that they can make the balloons stick to the wall if they rub them on their shirts or hair really fast!

February 2009 Lesson Plans

2009-02-10T10:25:00.002-05:00

The preschool class will be focusing on the alphabet for the next few weeks.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - cars, ramps, wooden blocks, people
Dramatic Play - house center (food, pots, pans, plates, cups, babies)
Manipulatives/Math - ABCs board games, matching games, magnetic blocks, puzzles
Creative Art - art center open (choice of materials)
Library/Literacy - letter and alphabet books
Music & Movement - ABC song; using maracas to keep the beat

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - discussing letters in the alphabet and brainstorming words that begin with specific letters
Small Group Activities - play the A-B-"Seas" board game (fishing for letters); play the beginning letter sounds board game; upper and lower case letters
Story Time - Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Special Activities - interactive chart for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Snow!

2009-02-10T09:46:00.003-05:00

January 2009 Lesson Plans

2009-01-19T13:35:00.003-05:00

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - cars, ramps, wooden blocks
Dramatic Play - house center (food, pots, pans, plates, cups, babies)
Manipulatives/Math - path games, puzzles, magnetic blocks, matching game, numbers game
Creative Art - markers, crayons, glue, scissors, yarn, paper, rules; at the easel - car track art
Library/Literacy - books about various vehicles
Science/Nature - car ramps (various heights to see which cars go farther)
Music & Movement - "Good Morning" song
Family and Community Involvement - Ask the families to make a map with their children, starting from their house and ending at school.

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - car ramps/measure distance, collect items form the classroom and discuss if they will roll down the ramps and how far; constructing s vehicle out of cardboard boxes
Small Group Activities - opposites/shapes/matching cards
Story Time - Reading Rainbow CD, The Bus for Us, Boats Boats Boats, Here Comes Kate
Special Activities - SpanishFUN with Senor Doug, tire track art, family activity (map from home to school; Red Light, Green Light, making paper airplanes

January 2009

2009-01-15T13:40:00.004-05:00

Month of December 2008

2008-12-11T12:46:00.002-05:00

Winter is here! The forecast for the preschool class is SNOWY! The theme for this month is snow.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Blocks - Legos (small and large)
Dramatic Play - house center (food, pots, pans, plates, cups, babies), farm, garage activity centers
Manipulatives/Math - snowman sequence game, snowflake grid game, small math path snowman game, number and recognition card game, "mitten" concentration game
Creative Art - opened art table, paint at the easel
Library/Literacy - snow and winter books, book on tape ("Hunter's Best Friend at School")
Science/Nature - ice cube/salt/string experiment
Music & Movement - 10 Little Snowmen, "Mat Man", "Count on Me" body parts song

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - discuss how many days until holiday vacation, 10 Little Snowmen felt board rhyme
Small Group Activities - introduce the new games in the classroom, work individually with the color recognition board game, work one on one with the number recognition game, play the build-a-snowman game with each child
Story Time - Penguin Comes Home, The Biggest Best Snowman, The Little Red Sled, Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You See?, The Mitten, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow
Special Activities - SpanishFUN with Senor Doug

Week of November 17, 2008

2008-11-17T13:00:00.003-05:00

Turkey time! The turkey theme will continue this week and Ms. Lu Ann will also introduce a new theme that the kids have been showing an interest in...photography.

Below is a general overview of the plans for this week by content area:
Dramatic Play - house center, farm, garage activity centers
Manipulatives/Math - puzzles, number games, "Mat Man"
Creative Art - opened art table, paint at the easel
Library/Literacy - Thanksgiving books, photography books
Science/Nature - taking pictures with a camera, examine negatives of pictures
Music & Movement - "Mat Man", rhythm sticks
Outdoors - hide & seek, Duck-Duck-Goose, painting on a large sheet with spray bottles
Family and Community Involvement - "Beary Bear" will go home with one of the children for the weekend.

Planning for groups:
Large Group Activities - discuss what they learned last week about turkeys, introduce "Mat Man", explain how the camera works, look at a picture book, talk about the pictures the kids took with their cameras, cook stuffing in the crock pot
Small Group Activities - make a paper turkey, trace hands, thankfulness project, duplicate a famous photograph
Story Time - All About Turkey, Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks, The Great Turkey Race, Over the River: a Turkey's Tale, Understanding Others
Special Activities - taking pictures of our daily activities indoors and outdoors