First Day of School

Today was our first day of preschool.  The mommies kissed their little ones at the door and said goodbye. The children took a minute to show off their back packs they were carrying with them today.  There was lots of excitement among the little ones.  The children were instructed to sign in on the white board as they arrived.  This is something they will do each week to have lots of practice writing their name.    

After signing in the children moved into the kitchen for directed play at the table.  They squished, squeezed and molded foam beads. 

They also practiced their scissor skills by cutting out pictures from a magazine. 

Next we moved on to "Circle Time".  The children were instructed to find their name on a carpet square.  This was their seat for the day.  Today we started Circle Time by learning our "Hello" song.

(Sung to: "Frere Jacques")

Hello, (child's Name) Hello, (child's name)
How are you? How are you?
We're so glad to have you,
We're so glad to have you.
Here at school, here at school.

Next we talked about our "Job Chart".  Each week the children are given a job.  This week Joseph said the prayer, Delainey was in charge of holding the Scripture Spotlight, and Max was in charge of checking the weather.  They will each have a clothes pin with their name on it, clipped on the chart next to their job.  After discussing the job chart we continued Circle Time with an opening prayer and a Scripture Spotlight, or story.   

After the Scripture Spotlight it was time to move into the calendar, where we sang about the days of the week, recited the date, counted the days, and talked about the season and weather.  Today was a rainy day.  We also took a minute to identify the letter of the day, "A". Typically next we would learn a nursery rhyme, but today the children helped me come up with three preschool rules.  They were:

#1 - Raise your hand if you want to say something.

#2 - Share

#3 - Keep your hand to yourself

We ended Circle Time today with "Show and Tell".  I instructed the children to bring something that begins with the letter "A".  Delainey brought a stuffed animal alligator, Max brought a super cool airplane, and Joseph shared his Atlanta Braves jersery.

After Circle time we moved to the carpet where the children got to choose an instrument.  I turned on some kids toons and they jumped, jiggled, and played their intruments loudly.  This gave them a chance to dance and move around.  After a little wiggle time we sang a couple songs relating to our monthly theme, transportation.

Next on the agenda was "Snack Time", where the kids ate animal crackers and apple slices.  I chose these snacks because they begin with the letter of the day, "A"!  The kiddos were thrilled to have snack time.

While the children finished up their snacks I read them a story called The Growing Up Tree.  This lead into a nice discussion about apples (which begins with "A").

Next the children made a letter "A" using Apple Jacks Cereal.  They glued the cereal, snacked on it, and Max made a pattern.   

Next our adventures took us to the "pond", where the children went fishing for things that begin with "A". They all had fun doing this.  After fishing we made our way back to the table to practice tracing ,writing, and identifying the letter "A". 

Next was "Free Play".  Today I set up transportation toys, to go along with the monthly theme.  Joseph and Max had fun driving on the race track, and Delainey enjoyed playing with the "Racing Ramps Garage".

After free play it was time to clean up, sing our goodbye song, and give all the kids their stamp. 

Goodbye, Goodbye, see you again.

Goodbye, Goodbye, see you my friends.

Goodbye, Goodbye, I had fun today.

I had fun today!

The first day of preschool was a success!