Group Meeting:  Today is the last school day of September.  We placed the last apple sticker on our 10 frame counting chart.  The children finished the last page in their September Math Journal.  Next week, we will start our October activities.

Small Groups:  The children received a Let's Find Out Magazine.  The topic was spiders.  The children watched a video about different types of spider webs and how the spiders capture their prey.  Following the video, the children completed the inside and back pages.

Story:  The story for today was My Leaf Book by Monica Ellington.  In this story, a girl is collecting leaves from trees in the park.  She is going to make a leaf book.  She notices that the leaves have different shapes according to the type of tree.  The Sweet Gum tree has leaves that are star shaped.  The Ginko tree has leaves that are shaped like fans.  After reading the book, we went outside to find some of the leaves.  In our yard, we have a Ginko tree, Oak tree, Tulip tree, and Maple tree.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Bb.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The morning snack was cheese sticks, grapes, and juice brought by Josie.  The afternoon snack was Rice Krispie Treats and juice brought by Kinley.  Thank you, Josie and Kinley!

Group Meeting:  For Where is it Wednesday, the children explored the Tabletop Area.  This is the area where math and literacy toys are available for the children to use.  This is also where we keep the puzzles.  A little bit later in the school year, we will be adding ipads to this area.  The ipads will be used in conjunction with the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum as well as a few other areas. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Story:  The story for today was When the Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger.   In this story, a leaf falls off of the tree and into the barn.  The leaf makes the cow sneeze.  The sneeze blows a spider onto an owl.  This leads to a chain reaction with other farm animals.  Ask your child to tell you how the story ends.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Jj.

Large Groups:  The children learned to play London Bridge.  This classic child's game was new to most of the children.  They enjoyed taking turns being the bridge and going under the bridge.  We will definitely play this one again.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was bananas, Goldfish, and milk brought by James.  The snack in the afternoon was Belvita bars and juice brought by John.  Thank you, James and John!

Group Meeting:  For Toy Tuesday, I demonstrated a toy that we have in the block area.  The toy is a set of  pieces that can be attached to wooden blocks to make animals.  The children can make an animal with all of it's correct parts, or mix the parts and make a new animal.  The children watched me make a horse and a rhinodile.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Story:  The story for today was About a Bear by Holly Surplice.  This book is about feelings. The main character is a bear.   Bear is happy when a butterfly lands on his nose and sad when it flies away.  He is curious about a turtle and bored when his friends aren't around.  After the story, we made a list of all of the feelings.  The children made faces to demonstrate these feelings.  We also talked about looking at other peoples faces to read what they are feeling. 

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Aa.

Large Group:  The morning class went to the Outdoor Classroom, but it started to rain before the afternoon class could get outside.  They sang action songs instead.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was Clementine oranges, animal crackers, and juice brought by Jai.  The afternoon class had Ritz crackers, cheese, and juice brought by Jeremiah.  Thank you, Jai and Jeremiah!

Family Night is tonight!

Group Meeting:  For Method Monday, I gave a demonstration on how to open a glue bottle and the glitter glue.  While some of the children knew this, it was helpful to go over how to close the lids when the art project is finished.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week and schedule for today is listed below.
Activity #1  (Red Group) The children are starting letter learning this week. To help me know every child's ability right now, I asked the children to make any letters that they knew in the Writing Journals. 
Activity #2 (Yellow Group)  The children were given a 10 frame with a squirrel in each frame.  The teacher selected a numeral from the pile.  The children had to make the number of acorns to match the numeral and place them on the squirrels.  Then, the children had to count how many squirrels did not get an acorn.
Activity #3 (Green Group)  The children listened to the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and did a color matching activity with the pages of the book.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today was Cc.  A note describing this activity went home with the children today.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was Goldfish, Nutragrain bars, and milk brought by Jackson.  The afternoon snack was cheese sticks and juice brought by Jayce.  Thank you, Jackson and Jayce!

Group Meeting:  For our opening, we watched a video about how to play Simon Says.  This is a little tricky for preschoolers, but they caught on well.  Try it at home!

Small Groups:  On Thursdays, we do not have Small Groups.  Instead, we complete a Let's Find Out magazine.  Today's magazine was about Autumn.  Autumn begins on Saturday.  The accompanying video was about changes that will occur once Autumn starts.   The children had to cut the magazine in half to create a book.  Then, they had to count the items on the picture and write the correct numeral in the box.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well the children could cut.  I was also surprised at how well they could print numerals.  This is pretty advanced for preschool. 

Story:  The story for today was Mat Man Shapes by Jan Olsen.  The real Mat Man is made with a rectangle body, but Mat Man can be made with any shape.  In this book, various shapes are used for Mat Man's body along with a rhyme to describe the shape. 

Large Group:  Following the story, the children drew Mat Man on a piece of paper using the song for guidance.  They could use any shape for his body.  The children glued their pictures onto construction paper.  We will display these pictures at Family Night Open House.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was Goldfish and milk brought by Finn.  The afternoon snack was carrots, broccoli, pepper sticks, celery, ranch dip and juice brought by Gage.  Thank you, Finn and Gage!

Group Meeting:  Today was Toy Tuesday.  I gave a demonstration on how to play the simple board games that we have at the Math Center.  The children saw how to select a marker piece, roll the dice, and move the markers around the board.  They learned that they could play this game alone by having the pieces race against each other or play with a friend.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in yesterdays blog.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1  Yellow Group
Activity #2 Green Group
Activity #3 Red Group

Story:  I did a reread of the story Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison.  I read this story for the first time last week.  In this story, the children spend the afternoon with their Nana while mother is gone.  One of the activities that they do together is make Peeny Butter Fudge.  I had told the children that I would make Peeny Butter Fudge.  So, after the story today, the children sampled Peeny Butter Fudge. I've included the recipe below. 

Large Group:  The children learned the song "The Ant, the Bug and the Bee" which is part of the Handwriting Without Tears program.  The children colored a paper of these insects using a color key to guide them. 

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was grapes, pretzels, and milk brought by Emmett A.  The afternoon snack was cheese sticks and juice brought by Carson.  Thank you, Emmett and Carson!

Peeny Butter Fudge

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

1.  Melt butter in medium sauce pan.  Remove from heat and add milk and vanilla.

2.  Sift sugar, cocoa powder and salt together.

3.  Gradually add sugar mixture to butter and milk mixture.

4.  Stir in peanut butter

Pour into an 8 x 8" pan lined with parchment or waxed paper.  Cool in the refrigerator.  Cut into small pieces. 

 

Group Meeting:  Every Monday is Method Monday.  It is the day that I teach the children about how to do something in the classroom.  Today, I showed them how they will sign in when they come to school.  This will start tomorrow.  The children will come in, hang up their bags, wash their hands, and then sign in.  This will allow us lots of practice in learning to write their names.

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed below along with the schedule for today.
Activity #1 (Red Group)  Last week, the children learned to draw Mat Man.  Today, they drew him in their Writing Journal.  They used the Mat Man song to make sure that they didn't forget anything.
Activity #2  (Yellow Group)  The children were given a paper with Mat Man figures.  Instead of a rectangle for a body, these Mat Men had different shapes for bodies.  The children had to listen to the teacher give the directions for coloring the shapes.  
Activity #3 (Green Group)  The children listened to the story Clifford Goes to School.  They found the words in the book that were rhyming words.  They also listed the characters that were in the story.  This is part of the Read It Again curriculum that we will be using.

Story:  The story for today was The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane DeRolf.  A girl finds a box of crayons at a toy store that do not get along.  She takes them home and draws a beautiful picture with them.  She helps them learn that even though they are different that together they can make a beautiful picture.  We had a discussion after the story about how we are all different, but together can be wonderful friends.

Large Group:  The children learned how to hold a crayon using the song "Pick Up a Crayon" from the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  After practicing holding the crayon, the children colored stars and fireflies on a paper.  The objective of this paper was to practice coloring small spaces instead of scribbling all over the paper. 

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was cheese sticks, Goldfish and juice brought by Daphne.  The afternoon snack was Goldfish and juice brought by Caden.  Thank you, Daphne and Caden!

Group Meeting:  Today was birthday day, so I identified the children that would be celebrating a birthday in September.   I told the children that we would celebrate during snack time with birthday brownies.

Small Groups:  The children made Cinnamon Biscuits by following a recipe.  The children had to take a refrigerator biscuit, dip it in melted butter, dip it in cinnamon sugar, and put it upside down on a piece of aluminum foil.  They put the biscuits on a baking sheet that I put into the oven.  We baked them for 10 minutes.

Story:  I read Corduroy by Don Freeman.  Corduroy is a toy bear who lives in a department store.  One day while shopping with her mother, Lisa sees Corduroy and wants to buy him.  Her mother says that they have spent too much already and besides, Corduroy is missing a button on his overalls.  That night, Corduroy goes on a search to find the button.  Ask your child to tell you if Corduroy finds the button and what happens when Lisa comes back to the store.

Large Group:  The children were given a paper with Mat Man printed on it.  The paper also had a circle and rectangle on it for the children to use to make their own Mat Man.

Snacks:  The children enjoyed the Cinnamon Biscuits.  They sang happy birthday to Emmett (AM class) and Brayden (PM class) and ate birthday brownies.

I have scheduled a field trip to Stone's Apple Barn for October 10th.   A note about this will be coming home soon.

Group Meeting:  Today was "Where is it Wednesday".  On this day, I have the children search for something in the room.  Since we are just starting the school year, I asked every child to find the Block Area and bring a toy back to the rug.  We talked about the different toys that we have in this area.  Then the children traded toys to see if they could put them back in the right place. 

Small Groups:  The activities for this week are listed in Monday's post.  The schedule for today was:
Activity #1 Green Group
Activity #2 Red Group
Activity #3 Yellow Group

Story:  The story for today was Quinto, Day and Night by Ina Compiano.    In this story, Quinto tells the reader about his family.  He includes how they look (tall, short, hair) and what they like to do.  Quinto has two pets.  Ask your child to tell you what pets Quinto has at his house.

Large Group:  The children drew Mat Man on chalkboards.  It was the first time that we did this activity, and the children did very well.  We also went to the Outdoor Classroom.  It was warm enough to use the water tables.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was grapes and milk brought by Clara.  The afternoon class had graham crackers, bananas, and milk brought by Brooklyn P.  Thank you, Clara and Brooklyn!

Group Meeting:  Some children brought their family pictures to school.  We will hold on to these for a day or two until a few more have come arrived.  We will take turns showing our pictures and will add them to our family tree.

Small Groups:  There is a note in your child's bag today that explains how we do Small Groups.  There was a little mix up with the notes in the morning class.  You may have gotten the afternoon class by mistake.  We will fix this tomorrow.
The activities for this week are:
Activity #1 (Red Group yesterday, Yellow Group today) The children received a Drawing and Writing Journal.  We will use this to document what we are learning in school.   The first drawing is a self-portrait.
Activity #2  (Yellow Group yesterday, Green Group today)  The children played a number game.  A large dice was rolled on the table.  The children had to count the dots and find the corresponding numeral on their paper.  They marked the numeral with a dauber.
Activity #3  (Green Group yesterday, Red Group today)  The children listened to the story Clifford Goes to School.   This book is part of a program that we use called Read It Again.  The children were told the parts of a book such as the cover, the title, the pages, words, etc.

Story:  The story for today was Peeny Butter Fudge by Toni Morrison.   In this story, Mother is going away for the day and leaves the children with Nana.  Nana has a lot of fun things planned.  After nap time, the children listen to stories, race around the yard in gunny sacks, put together a jigsaw puzzle, and have lunch.  Finally, Nana asks them if they'd like to make Peeny Butter Fudge using an old family recipe.  Ask your child to tell you what Mother says when she gets back.

Large Group:  The children assembled Mat Man.  Then they watched me draw Mat Man on the chalkboard following the directions in the song.  Tomorrow, they will draw Mat Man on a chalkboard.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was pretzels, peanut butter, and milk brought by Carter.  The afternoon snack was cheese sticks and juice brought by Brooklyn A.  Thank you, Carter and Brooklyn!

Group Meeting:   Today was Method Monday.  Method Monday is a time when we learn a new technique.  Today, we learned how to put on a paint smock and put paper on the easel to paint.  The children are allowed to paint any time during center time.  They can get their own paper and select the colors they wish to use.

Small Groups:  We started Small Group Time today.  I will be sending home a note tomorrow to explain how the small groups work and what to look for on the blog. 

Story:  This week, our stories will be about families.  The story for today was Charlie Anderson by Barbara Abercrombie.  Charlie is a cat that comes to Elizabeth and Sarah's house.  They take him in, feed him, brush his fur, and let him sleep in their bed.  In the morning, Charlie goes outside into the woods and doesn't return until night time.  One night, Charlie doesn't come home.  The girls are worried about him.  Ask your child to tell you where Charlie is. 

Large Group:  The children learned about Mat Man.  Mat Man is made using the wooden pieces fro the Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum.  Mat Man has an accompanying song that teaches the children how to assemble the Mat Man pieces and then draw a person.  We will use the Mat Man activities throughout the week.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was grapes, Triscuit crackers, and milk brought by Brody.  The afternoon snack was graham crackers and juice brought by Brayden.  Thank you, Brody and Brayden!

There is a note in your child's backpack about bringing a family picture to school!

Here are the videos from yesterday.   They took a while to download.  I hope you will enjoy them.

Group Meeting:  The children are getting into the routine of our Group Meeting.  We start by doing an action video to help us be ready to sit.  The children read the name of the King or Queen which is the person who brought the snack.  The King or Queen puts a sticker on a ten frame to help us count how many days we have been in school.  Then, the King or Queen holds the flag while we say the Pledge of Allegiance.  After that, we read the items on the message board so that we know what we will be doing for the rest of the session.

The children received a Let's Find Out magazine.  We started by watching the corresponding video about being polite.  After reading the magazine, they completed the back page at the table.

Story:  I read the Interrupting Chicken by David Stein.   Little Chicken is ready for bed.  She wants Papa Chicken to read a bedtime story.  During the story, Little Chicken gets so excited that she interrupts Papa and tells the ending.  Papa tells her to not interrupt.  He begins another story.  Little Chicken interrupts again.  After several attempts at finishing a book, Papa runs out of stories.  Ask your child to tell you how the story ends.  We used this book to start a discussion about being polite and waiting for a turn to talk. 

Large Group:  The children did the wooden piece Hokey Pokey.  This is part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. 

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was Goldfish, cheese sticks, and juice brought by Arlo.  The afternoon snack was mini pancakes and juice brought by Avani.  Thank you, Arlo and Avani!

Group Meeting:  During Group Meeting, we talked about celebrating birthdays at school.  To help us remember the date of everyone's birthday, we have a birthday cake display on the walls around our snack tables.  Today, the children helped us find the cake that represents the month of their birthday.  We put the names on the cakes and will put them up on the wall for everyone to see.

Story:  I read Wash Your Hands by Tony Ross.   This is the story of a little princess wonders why she needs to wash her hands so much.  She must wash after playing outside, after petting the dog, after using the potty, and after she sneezes.  The king and queen explain that germs are in all of those things and that they must be washed away before they can make us sick.   Ask your child to tell you when we wash our hands at snack how we do it.

Large Group:  The children were introduced to the pieces from the Handwriting Without Tears program: big lines, little lines, big curves and little curves.  They played a hide and seek game with the pieces and helped me sort them out.  The words we use for the pieces will be beneficial when we begin to make letters.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was Nutrigrain and juice brought by Addy.  The snack for the afternoon was granola bars and juice brought by Asher.  Thank you, Addy and Asher!

Yesterday, we used the big lines to sing a song called Tap, Tap.  I promised a video of that today in the car line.  However, we didn't get everything downloaded as planned.  I will try again tomorrow.  Sorry!

Group Meeting:  During Group Meeting, I introduced the children to our Job Chart.  At clean up time, each child is assigned an area to clean up.  The big areas have several children assigned to them.  The jobs will change weekly.  This makes clean up time go much more smoothly. 

Story:  The story for today was Wimberly Worried by Kevin Henkes.  Wimberly is a worrier.  She worries about everything.  It is time for Wemberly to start school.  She wonders if the teacher will be nice, if the children will laugh at her name, and mostly, if she will have a friend.  When she gets to school, Mrs. Peachum introduces her to Jewel.  Jewel is also wondering if she will make a friend.  Ask your child to tell you what happens at the end of the story.

Large Group: Max and Zoey talked to the children about walking in school.  Walking is the safest way for us to travel from one place to another.
The children learned the song "Tap, Tap".  This song is part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.  The children used two big lines (wooden pieces) and followed the directions in the music.  We will use the big lines to make letters at the end of the month.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was watermelon, graham crackers, and milk brought by Abby.  The afternoon snack was bananas and milk brought by Anaya.  Thank you, Anaya and Abby!

The children colored the title page of their Math Journal today.  Math Journals are done right after play time.   It is a quick way for us to do a simple math problem every day.  I usually do not include the math journal problem in my blog everyday.  The children will bring the journal home at the end of the month and will start another one in October.