Feb 13-17

This week at Elm Park we learned about the letter r and the number 5.  As usual the kids wrote the letter r all week in many mediums.  They practiced doing 5 things (clapping, stomping, etc) and picking out groups of 5.  We searched for the letter r in sentences and created lists of r words. 

We finished up our Arctic/Antarctic studies with the Arctic fox.  The children made a preference chart with the animals that we've learned about and voted on their favorites.  With this we discussed the concepts of most and least (and fewer and greatest).  We played an Arctic fox game where the students tried to get the most berries.  We also played a review dice game where the children had to do different tasks, for example, stomp to something red, or fly to something white.  We talked about transportation in the snow and ice, specifically ice skates, snow shoes, and sleighs.  The kids made ice skates and caribou hats.  Kids tomorrow will make dog pulled sleighs.

We had an awesome Valentine's Day party and the kids loved decorating cookies and eating them!!

The older children continued to read their books; Big, Go Go Go, and Can She Go.  These books will be coming home so you can continue to practice with them over the break.  They are reading really well!

We will have next week off as we follow the district calendar of Poway Unified School District.  Enjoy your little ones for the week and we look forward to their return on Feb. 27.



The children built a pirate ship with pride!!



Valentine's Day party

Valentine's Day party

Another party pic

Our little caribou!



Sydney sharing the letter J.



Feb 6-10

At Elm Park last week we worked on the letter q.  We practiced writing the letter q on paper and white boards.  We also searched for the letter q in sentences. 

We made lots of Valentine crafts in anticipation for Valentine's Day.  The kids painted heart macaroni pasta, painted and decorated picture frames, made a hand print heart card for parents, decorated Valentine bags, made "luv bugs", bookmarks, and more!  They also made a heart counting sheet.

The kids made squares and colored red things in their journals.  We continued with the colors of red and white and learned & practiced the number 4.  The children made a polar bear/fish counting game.  Feel free to continue to "fish" with them at home!

Britney and Ryder take the temperature of water in cups

We have been talking about the Artic area and Antarctica, learning about the animals found in both areas (penguins, polar bears, and caribou).  Next week we'll finish up with Artic foxes.  The kids have learned about the vegetation in these areas and about dressing for the extreme cold.

We did an experiment on whether clear, white, or black coverings helped keep water warmer.  The kids love the process of experimentation!

January 30- February 3

At Elm Park this week, the children learned about the letter P, the number 3, and we continued to reinforce the colors of white and red.  The children wrote in their journals (the big kids), practicing the letters o and p.  We picked the letter P out of a sentence, wrote Ps in raisins, and practiced Ps and 3s on the white boards.

The kids made a mountain with a sled going down and made penguins.  We talked a lot about Emperor penguins this week, discussing the hard task that the father penguin has while holding his baby egg on his feet for two months with no food.  The penguin that the children made has an "egg" (cotton ball) in the cup to reinforce our learning.  We used sequence cards with penguins to reinforce the concepts of first, next, and last.

The children skipped as long as they could while counting and then wrote the number on their Artic guy.  They then dressed the Artic guy for the cold weather.

As a class, we acted out "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" The kids loved holding the animals and saying their own parts.

Tomorrow the older children will be making and reading the book "Go Go Go", doing an experiment on keeping water warm in the sun (with different colored cloth covering each cup), and we will be creating silly stories with our imaginations!

Keep your eyes open for an email from Hilary (Abby's mom) about our upcoming Valentine's Day party!

Penguin made in class

Britney making a P with raisins

Rowan, proud of his long puzzle!!

Abby circling the letter P

Has everyone seen Ryder's new haircut??

Keitaro finding the letter P

Sydney at the board



Lia at the board



Grady searches for Ps