F is for Family

Today at school we learned about families...and had a lot of fun doing it!

We started the day with some letter work...F for family, of course!

Since Lainey was a little late, Owen got to sit in her seat for a while.  Obviously, he was pretty excited.

During calendar time we talked about Adam and Eve, the first family on the earth!  For show and tell, the kids each brough a picture of their family.  

We hopped right into a math lesson, counting how many people are in each family.  Then we counted how many girls/ boys are in each family, and made a little graph.  We found out that Delainey has the most girls in her family and Max has the most boys!

We had fun reading This is my Family by Mercer and Gina Mayer.  It's such a cute book, and talked about how each member of a family is special.  It was perfect for our group!

We also talked about how each person has their own role in a family...mommies, daddies, and kiddos, too!  We talked about how we need to help eachother and show love, and dicussed specific ways to do both.

For our snacks, we made "family trees" out of green grapes and pretzel sticks.  Joseph the genius impressed me by making his trees three dimensional, with the pretzel sticks standing upright...it was pretty cute!

While the kids ate, I read All Kinds of Families by Mary Ann Hoberman and MArc Boutavant.

For our craft, the kids each made their own family trees.  Using the picture they'd brought from home, each child (with a little help) cut out the members of their family, glued them on some apples, and attached them to their very colorful trees.  I love how they all turned out!  

For playtime I set up a few "family responsibility" stations around the family room so the kids could role play.  They had a lot of fun and it was cute to see them trying out some new chores!

Max and Joseph tried their hands at swaddling babies.  I think Max is changing his baby's diaper before he wraps him up!

Joseph must be singing his baby a lullaby...

While the men took care of the babies, Delainey whipped up some yummy food in the kitchen...

...before getting to work with her tools.  I wonder what she was building!

Once Max got his baby to sleep, he tackled the ironing.  

(I later found the babies wrapped up carefully and stuffed under the pillows on the couch...I guess those two need a few more lessons in babysitting!)

Valentine’s Day!

February 14th was Valentine’s day so we talked about…wait for it…valentines! That morning Joseph had run a fever and was feeling yucky so he wasn’t able to make it. : ( It sure was strange not having him there! (Max thought it was so funny though that he got to do two jobs during circle time. “Sarah! I just said the prayer and now I am holding the scripture story! HAHAHAAA!”  It was funny.) During singing time we played a musical hearts game, where Delainey and Max would dance around like crazy to a song, but when the music stopped, they had to run to a heart. Each heart had something funny on it to do like…blast off like a rocket, spin around 3 times while singing the ABC’s, etc.  They thought this was pretty fun!  I had initially planned for them to make valentine hugs for someone in their family, but we all decided we wanted to make them for Joseph instead to help him feel better…so we traced their hands, cut out their hands, and then measured their wingspan with yarn.  We connected the yarn to the hands and then put those “paper hugs” inside cards that they decorated. For snack time we dined on bananas and whoopie pies with pink icing. (The icing didn’t turn out as good as I had hoped but they liked them so that’s what matters!)  For our lesson we talked about estimating, and they enjoyed estimating how many hearts were in various sized containers, and then counting them. We also estimated how many hearts would fit in their hands.  Then I traced their hands and they glued those hearts on. The last fun thing we did was that we played sight word Bingo…for prizes! I made some cards in Photoshop and they both did surprisingly well for neither of them having played bingo before—although Max grew tired of the game after he won his prize haha!  It was a good activity though and I will have to remember and do it again when Joseph is with us because I think he would like it too. We sure did miss Joseph…and look forward to preschool next week when hopefully the trio will be back together again!

 

L is for Love

As is appropriate with Valentine's Day in February, we are learning about love and families this month.  In addition to some fun math activities, today we talked a lot about how to show "Love" towards others.  

We started the morning off with handwriting practice at the table.  Then the children transitioned into a matching game on the floor.  They had to put broken hearts back together by matching a number to the correct number of hearts.  They did this quickly.  

We then moved back to the table for a little math lesson on sorting and graphing.  The children counted the different colors found in a conversation heart candy bag, and then sorted them all out by their different colors.  The children were making observations while sorting.  They could quickly tell that there were a lot of green hearts.  They were very engaged with this activity.  I was impressed with how hard they all worked on the task at hand.  Once we sorted the hearts, we counted each color.  

After our sorting and counting, we used our data to create a graph.  We talked about what color we have the most of, the least, and which colors were in the middle.  

After all their hard work, the kiddos got to sample one of each color heart.  

Finally we moved into circle time where we talked about the Good Samaritan and how he showed love.  We learned a cute rhyme and several songs about "Love".

Heart

I put my hands together,

This is how I start.

I curve my fingers right around,
And I can make a heart!

I then red them a story called  I Love You, Good Night.  In this book the characters compare their love to things like blueberry pancakes, how vines love trees, how boots love splashing in puddles, and like strawberry milkshakes.  So, guess what we made for snack?

Strawberry Milkshakes!

After snack we read another book called Franklin Says I Love You.  This lead us to a discussion of what we can do to show our love to others.  Then the children made gift certificates for their parents, for something they could do to show their love.  This is what they came up with... 

Max said he can show his love to him mom by "Changing Owen's Diaper".

Delainey said she can show her love to her dad by " Playing a game of animal match".

Joseph said he can show his love to his dad by "Helping him cut the grass and giving him lots of hugs".

We had a super fun day at preschool!  

Everyone did FANTASTIC!

Animal Search Field Trip!

On Tuesday, January 24th, we had our first field trip of the new year!  Because we had been learning about animals during the month of January, (and because the zoo seemed a bit too far to go when it’s winter…waiting till the spring!) we decided to go to the NC Museum of Life & Science.  They have quite a few animal exhibits there.  Because I knew Joseph, Max and Delainey had all been to the museum before and just sort of played and ran wild, to make this more of a “field trip” I made a little book for each of them.  The first page had a map that showed which animal exhibits we would be going to that day. Then there was a chart of 8 different animals we hoped to see. As they saw each animal, they drew an X over it’s picture. Once we had discovered each of the 8 animals on the chart, we could ride the train!  After the chart there was an activity worksheet on each of the 3 concepts we had covered in January: Defense/Camouflage, Hibernation/Migration, and Habitats.

While we waited for the first animal exhibit to open, the scholars started working in their activity books. They had to match different animals with their habitats, circle which animals hibernation and which animals migrated, and color different animals to help them blend in with their surroundings. They did such a great job!

We were lucky to be able to see all of the animals on our chart.  Bears, lemurs, red wolves, snakes, owls, butterflies, etc. 

After the animal search came to a close, our students were very excited to ride the train…and so were the mamas! : ) It’s nice to just sit back, relax, and take a little ride!

After our train ride we enjoyed a nice lunch at the new café, and then we all headed home for naps and what-not. It was a beautiful day for a field trip, and I was so proud of Joseph, Max and Delainey for doing such a great job on their animal search. January sure was a fun month! : )

H is for Habitat

Today we learned about animal habitats and the types of homes they live in!

As always, we started the morning with some letter work.

We also got a head start on a later activity by coloring a few pictures of animals and animal homes.

During calendar time, we talked about Daniel in the lion's den.  I think they might have had the same scripture spotlight the week before, but they didn't let on!

We also read this cute poem by George Cooper...

What Robin Told

How do Robin's build their nests?

Robin Redbreat told me -

First a wisp of yellow hay

In a pretty round they lay;

Then some shreds of downy floss,

Feathers, too, and bits of moss,

Woven with a sweet, sweet song,

This way, that way, and across;

That's what Robin told me.

For show and tell, the kids each brought a picture of their own homes.

We then read a selection from A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman, a favorite from when I was little!  

We then played a matching game I made by cutting apart a copy of Eric Carle's My Very First Book of Animal Homes.  They had a lot of fun and did a pretty good job!

For snack time we made bird's nests out of chow mein noodles, chocolate chips, and sunbutter.  We even found some early Easter candy and added a few Cadbury eggs!  Yum!

They were VERY messy...

...some of them were a little wary of getting dirty...

...and others dove right in :)

After snacks, we headed outside to make our own animal habitats.  I gave each child a tiny toy animal  (a lion, a zebra, and a giraffe) and a basket. 

They each had a few minutes to gather their building supplies...pinecones, sticks, rocks, pinestraw, etc.

Then they spread out and went to work building their animals a home.  Joseph's was pretty legitimate.  He used pinecones to build walls.  Max and Delainey just dumped the contents of their baskets on top of their plastic animals and called it a day.  Perhaps Joseph should go into zoo construction.  And perhaps Max and Delainey should not. 

And, of course, I brought my assitant out with me so he could keep the kids in line.

After we came back in, we did one last activity, this time matching different animals with their correct habitat.  We then talked about how animals each have specific needs that their habitat has to meet.  

As always, we had a great time learning about animal homes and habitats!

Migration & Hibernation

(migrating whales)

Last Tuesday we had an exciting day centered on learning two animal-related concepts: Migration and Hibernation. After working on writing the  letter “M” and then working on an animal graph, we transitioned into circle time. Here we talked about Daniel in the Lions Den, talked about it being winter, and learned a rhyme for rhyme time about a bird. Then for show and tell the children each shared something that keeps them warm in the winter—Joseph—a shirt, Delainey—a scarf, and Max—leopard print ear muffs. : )

(Cute Max and his buddy, cute Sallie. She doesn’t look happy here, but she was the one initiating the contact. Max was a good sport though!)

This lead into a discussion…We just talked about different things that can keep us warm in the winter. Do we need those things in the summer? Is every season the same? What changes during the seasons? What do you think happens to an animals homes/food when the season changes? (Some animals need to move/go on a trip until after winter. This is MIGRATION.) Some animals that migrate: BIRDS, WHALES…But for the animals that don’t migrate, or move for the winter, some of those that stay behind do something else. They SLEEP. This is called HIBERNATION. Some animals that hibernate: BEARS, BATS, FROGS.

Then we played a game where I would call out an animal, and the kids had to act out what they would do in the winter:  sleep (hibernate) or move (migrate). They were SO good at this and were so funny to watch!

Next we talked more about migration…and how some birds migrate…or move away for the winter. But not all birds do. For the birds that stay behind, they may find it hard to find food in the winter. So we made bird feeders that they can put bird seed in and put outside their house. Then you can observe, or watch, what birds come to feed! These birds probably didn’t migrate.

(Sweet Lainey painting bird houses for our bird friends that don’t migrate!)

For singing time we sang:

Hibernation Song (Tune: Are You Sleeping)

Bear is sleeping, bear is sleeping. In the cave, in the cave. I wonder when he'll come out, I wonder when he'll come out? In the spring, In the spring.

Birds are flying, birds are flying. In the sky, in the sky.  I wonder when they'll come back, I wonder when they'll come back, In the spring, in the spring.

Teddy Bear Teddy Bear Song

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground. Teddy bear, teddy bear, reach up high. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the sky. Teddy bear, teddy bear, bend down low. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch your toes. Teddy bear, teddy bear, go upstairs . Teddy bear, teddy bear, say your prayers. Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the light. Teddy bear, teddy bear, say goodnight.

Next we watched a short video of the Cat in the Hat singing about Hibernation. It’s cute and the kids thought this was a fun treat. Then it was snack time! We had craisins (berries) and goldfish (fish) to mimic what bears or birds might would eat.  

(Cute Joseph hard at work on his bird house!)

During snack time I read them Blueberries for Sal, and then we continued story time in the living room with the books, Time To Sleep and Old Bear. I just love these stories and couldn’t not read them. Plus, they are short and the kids were attentive. Next we practiced coloring in the lines, cutting and gluing by making a bear cave out of paper bags and tissue paper. Then  it was playtime where we played “hibernation match” and then clean up time, and stamp time. Joseph, Max and Delainey each got two stamps.

(Max sporting those animal-print ear muffs…what would thomas say?)

Delainey, Max and Joseph were all SO SO GOOD. Our best day of preschool at Severn Grove Drive yet! We had so much fun learning about hibernation and migration, and are excited to learn about HABITATS with Mrs. Emily tomorrow!

Hooray for our fascinating animal friends! : )

C is for Camouflage

In January we are learning about animals.  The first week we learned about how animals use camouflage to blend in with their surroundings.  During circle time the children loved acting out our rhyme for the day, which was:

Camouflage!

By Tamara

Montgomery

On the glacier of ice

You have to look twice

For a big Polar Bear

Might be sleeping somewhere!

On the top of the snow

Can you find a black nose?

Against the cool ice

Can you see two round eyes?

How about big black claws

Tucked within great big paws?

If you can – you’ve uncovered

His camouflage!

Sh!

Be quiet!

He’s awake!

Do not speak!

Our Polar Bear is slowly creeping…

(ROAR)

Run! I see his teeth!

During our lesson time we read a book about camouflage, looked at pictures of animals that use camouflage, and played a couple of hide and seek games.  Then the children made a polar bear craft, because polar bears use camouflage!  Our preschool day went quickly today!  We all had fun learning about how animals use camouflage.

Look at how well the children are writing their names - I see improvement!

A polar bear uses camouflage and blends in with the snow