April 16-20

This week the Elm Park kiddos learned about the role of worms in gardens, the life cycle of a frog, the life cycle of a caterpillar, the number 11, the letter X, and the difference between wants and needs.  We sang songs about butterflies and caterpillars and wiggled to a worm song on the ground!

We continued to monitor the plants that we planted.  The grass is growing nicely and the flowers have struggled a bit.  They are so excited to check the growth each day. 

The older children continued to read their books, worked on identifying the first sound in a word, and practiced their letter writing.  We all worked hard to find X words (not an easy task).  And the whole group practiced the letter X on the white boards and on a sheet of paper.  The children cut out a sheet of wants & needs & money and had to "buy" the needs.  For the most part they got the concept, although some viewed toys as needs!! 

Just a reminder, summer school sign-ups have begun and the price for our summer program will go up in May.  Hope  you are all having a wonderful week!!

Ms. Jen

April 9-13

This week at Elm Park, we began a new unit on plants and life cycles.  Other new themes for the month include the colors brown & orange, the shape of a diamond, and the social concept of patience.  This week, we focused on the letter W and the number 10.

We planted grass this week and talked about the parts of a plant (seed, stem, leaves, flowers, and fruit) and discussed what a plant needs to survive (dirt, water, and sun).  We also planted flowers right before the spring break so we are monitoring our plants daily for any new growth.  Each week of the month, we will discuss the life cycle of another creature.  This week we discussed frogs and each stage in their life cycle.

We learned a new game where someone describes an object while the other children guess what it is.  We're working on descriptive words and deductive reasoning.  We also began discussing opposites.

For months now, I've encouraged the kids to make letters with their hands, bodies, with food, etc, etc, etc.  Now that we've established this learning environment, it warms my heart to see them do it automatically.  Below I've included a picture of the kids making the letter W with goldfish.  Smart kidlets!!

March 26-30

The end of March at Elm Park Preschool, we finished up our unit on dinosaurs.  The children created watercolor/crayon pictures of a triceratops, created dinosaur scenes with a volcano and a dinosaur, made dinosaur foot prints, and created a class book on dinosaurs (they also wrote themselves a postcard of their favorite dino).  We reviewed all concepts for the month, including the colors purple and green, the numbers 6-9, and the letters S, T, U, and V.  We made our letters in food, white boards, crayons, and paint.

The kids planted seeds in anticipation for our April theme of plants and life cycles.  We've really been focusing on the beginning letters of a word and the children are amazing at identifying beginning sounds and letters.  The older children created and read daily a new book called "Out".

The children made Easter crafts and we had an egg hunt/party on the last day before Spring Break.  The kids enjoyed the crafts and candy!!



Makena and her dinosaur scene





Easter Egg Hunt




Ryder, Makena, and Britney make a dino picture





Keitaro and his puzzle







Easter Egg Hunt

Class Easter Party

Egg Hunt - Day 2