Oct 29th - Nov 2nd in the Hawk Class

Jackson taking the lead!

Jackson, Rintaro, and Paige





Captain Grady with Princess Gabby

Maddox as Spider-Cowboy



Layla as Minnie Mouse



Princess Paige



Gabby

Kids Trick or Treating

The Hawks enjoyed trick-or-treating at Elm Park Preschool last week.  We talked about safety on Halloween night and practiced our manners while knocking on doors.  The kids were so excited going from door to door on campus, the looks on their faces were priceless!!

 

We made Halloween crafts and continued with our monthly themes in class.

Oct 29- Nov 2nd in the Eagle Class

Elm Park Kids trick-or-treating

Awesome treats brought
in by Hilary and Heather



Santa mixed up his holidays!!



Last week at Elm Park the Eagles had fun celebrating Halloween.  The kids practiced the protocols for safe trick-or-treating and showed off their costumes on Wednesday.  They looked awesome in their costumes!!

We continued with our monthly themes and studied -ig words.  Don't forget to continue reading their books at home!

Logan, Grady, Roway, Sydney, Abby, and Shabnam

October 15-19 & 22-26

Here is the big catch up on blogging!!

The past few weeks have been busy and gone fast at Elm Park.  Our themes have included: Halloween activities, apple orchards, apples, the colors green and brown, the numbers 3 and 4, the shape of the rectangle, and Johnny Appleseed.

The Eagles started their book "Go, Go, Go".  They've completed the book and are reading it daily.  They completed their journals, which reflected all monthly themes up to this point.  They completed a tree project, creating a trunk with fall colored leaves glued on.  They've been practicing writing their names.  They've made apple crafts, have worked on identifying numbers 1-10, and have completed a few pumpkin crafts.  We talked about -ad words (sad, mad, bad, rad, etc.).  We talked about Johnny Appleseed and made a little Johnny doll.

The Hawks made spider webs, created magic wands, and colored a spider sheets.  We talked about Johnny Appleseed and made a little Johnny doll.  The kids explored in the rice bucket, created an apple core project, and worked on fine motor skills while coloring and squishing play doh.

We all enjoyed a trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  The highlight was the hayride on the tractor, waving to scarecrows!

Parents, please send me pictures of the Pumpkin Patch so I can post them online!  Emailing them to me would be great...

:) Ms. Jen

October 8-12

Last week at Elm Park the Eagles and Hawks continued to explore the theme of traveling.

The Eagles learned the letter f.  The practiced the letter in many different ways (on white boards, paper, etc).  They continued to read the book, Fido Gets Dressed.  The book went home so you can continue to read it with them at home.  The kiddos made cameras and maps as we talked about traveling.  On Friday, they made drums that we will complete this week.  The kids matched numbers while putting spoons with dots next to its appropriate plate (with the number).  We are really working on number recognition at this point (to 10, of course).  The Eagles also cut a veggie sheet, matching colored veggies into baskets.  They are getting so patient with their seat activities.  We continued to talk about feelings and calming down when angry.  We sang travel songs and our if you're sad and you know it- feeling song.

The Hawks learned a song about caterpillars.  We also read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and then they made a blue caterpillar to take home.  We talked about the new season, fall.  The kids made a fall scene, a picture with leaves.  We talked a little about Halloween coming up and they made masks.  The Hawks also made stamp art. 

In both classes we been discussing pumpkins and our upcoming trip to the pumpkin patch.  We are all looking forward to it!!

October 1-5

Last week at Elm Park we discussed traveling.  We talked about what people pack to take on trips, different ways people travel (boat, car, plane, train, etc), and places people go.  The letter of the week was e and we are discussing the color blue.

The Eagles made suitcases and learned a song about traveling on boats, planes, trains, and cars.  They made a car headband and pretend suitcases.  We focused on the letter e, rainbow writing the letter and printing the letter e on paper.  They made the book "Fido Gets Dressed" and practiced reading it all week.  I showed them that they can put together the letter sounds to make words and we practiced -at words (fat, cat, mat, sat, bat, hat, pat, rat).  They are excited to begin the reading process.  We also did a listening activity called let's move.  We talked about feelings and discussed how it is OK to cry.  Of course we discussed situations that are "cry worthy" and times when we might be mad or sad but don't need to cry about it.  We sang the song to the tune "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands", but our words were "If you're sad and you know it have a cry, if you're sad and you know it have a cry, if you're sad and you know it, don't be afraid to show it, if you're sad and you know it have a cry."

The Hawks also learned about travel.  They made car tracks in paint and made a car/wheel scene.  The older Hawks made a car, boat, train and car sheet.  The children completed an activity called let's move where they followed directions while moving.  They painted a caterpillar which went home today.  The younger children are getting into a routine nicely.  The beginning of the year can be difficult for this age group but they are beginning to function well in our daily routine and really enjoying school.

Please pay for the Pumpkin Patch field trip if you have not already done so (and are planning to attend).  We're looking forward to a great trip to the patch!

Have a great week!

September 17-28

Observation of baby turtle

working out those little fingers in play doh

Observation of baby turtle

Abby's fish picture

Logan's fish picture



Our class next

Get comfy because this is going to take awhile!!

Sorry for skipping last week, here is the weekly blog for the past two weeks with condensed information.

 

The Hawks learned about the homes of creatures.  The children got to observe a hatchling turtle and we talked about the home (habitat) of turtles.  They also learned where fish live and created a fish scene.  I included the pictures above because I wanted you to see how instruction is differentiated in the classroom.  The younger children's fish scenes were a lot more basic, the older children colored and cut all their pictures alone.  We often cover the same topics, but the content is taught at a different level to remain age appropriate.  We also talked about bird homes- nests.  The children observed the class nest that the Eagles made and they made their own individual nests on paper.  Discussion in the class also focused on what animals live in the jungle.  The Hawks made monkey puppets on Tuesday of this week and made snakes on Thursday.  The kids got to "fish" in our water sensory table and worked their fine motor skills while working on lacing cards.  Of course we continued to talk about circles and the color red and counted every day to 10 and recited the alphabet (this happens daily).   

 

The Eagles continued on with the monthly themes and read the book "Big" and journaled every day.  Their books and journals went home today.  Please praise all their hard work in their journals and encourage them to continue reading "Big" at home to you.  They often "read" from the context clues (pictures), this is ok and is to be expected.  I want them to practice the left to right at this stage and to guess the unknown words by reading the first letter of the word.  Please have them track the words left to right with their fingers and help them guess when stuck by asking what sound the first letter of the word makes.  The Eagles talked about habitats too.  We covered the habitats of fish, birds, jungle animals, and people.  To reinforce learning, the children made the following art projects- a river scene, a nest, door hangers (for their rooms), a fish scene, a lion puppet, and a snake (to go home Monday).  The Eagles also "fished" in the water sensory table, worked their fine motor skills while lacing, and practiced identifying numbers 1-10 with bear counting.

 

Thanks to the Eagle parents for sending in nesting materials, all of the materials really helped with the projects I had planned!  I used the scientific method with the kids (minus the terminology) as we selected prime building materials and left them out for the birds to "borrow".  We guessed what would be taken and then left the tray out for two days.  The birds took a lot of our materials, then we brought the tray in a discussed the results.  They were very excited at the idea that a bird could be building a nest with our materials all the way in Mexico!  Ok, perhaps unlikely, but in theory possible.  I also started the "direction activity" with the Eagles.  In this activity I give them a picture and give directions, like "color the middle door red", or "color the biggest tree green".  The kids try to focus on the directions and color as directed.  This is always interesting the first time, but I'm sure with practice they'll be listening like champs!  I'm also in the process of assessing the students to check for Kindergarten readiness.  I will discuss results with you, and don't worry, we don't expect them to know much of it at this point.

 

We went to chapel on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  The kids LOVED the live guitar music played by Ms. Barbara as they danced around.  We're excited to be back to meeting with Father Gary and Ms. Barbara.

 

I think that's it for now... enjoy your weekend!
Ms. Jen

September 10th-14th

What a busy week! 

In addition to our monthly themes, we talked about habitats this week.  I brought in a baby turtle for the M/W/F class (now called the Eagles) and I'll bring him back for the T/Th class (now called the Hawks) to observe during this upcoming week.

The Eagle class talked about body parts as we did the hokey pokey.  We are talking about less discussed body parts like the ankle, calf, wrist, shoulder, etc.  The children learned about turtles when I brought in our new baby red-eared slider.  We discussed animals having land and water habitats, discussed the habitats of many different animals, and the kids made their own turtle.  On Friday we discussed their feelings and how to control anger, they learned that by counting to 10 they give themselves an opportunity to cool down and not act out in anger.  We also talked about what makes us happy, sad, mad, excited, etc.  They worked on subtizing (recognizing small numbers by sight without counting- ie. on dice).  They also made two books, one with animal habitats and the other called "Big".  They are getting really good at cutting skills and patient with assembling books, which requires putting pages in order, cutting, coloring, etc.  Then we practice reading books which is really exciting for the kids!  The kids have practiced the letters a and b.  We discussed fire safety this week and had a fire drill.

I encourage you, as a family to talk about what to do in a fire at your house and to pick a "safe" family meeting spot outside your home.  I meet with my boys at the mailbox which is in our cul-de-sac.  If your family knows where to go in the case of a fire (first OUT of the house, then to the meeting spot), it can help reunite your family if an emergency does happen.  And, then no one is trying to go back into the house to look for missing children.  This concept may be too much for our Hawks, but I think the Eagles can learn and remember this, especially if you take time to practice every month or so.

The Hawk class learned about turtles as well.  We also discussed animal habitats (although I called it animal homes) and they completed a sheet reinforcing this concept.  They are really learning to cut well also, with almost half of the children cutting with assistance at this point.  We worked on gross motor skills as the children tossed bean bags in to a hula hoop (called a giant circle to reinforce our circle theme).  The kids also colored circles, traced their hands as we discussed body parts, and worked with pattern bears (recognizing and predicting patterns).

Both classes worked with our parachute as we played inside during part of our play time on the extremely hot days.

For those of you who missed Back to School Night on Thursday, here is an outline of what was discussed.  Please call or stop in if you would like more information...

ELM PARK PRESCHOOL

Back to School Night

1.      Basic Educational Goals for Eagles (4-5 year olds) - Letter recognition (upper and lower case), sounds of letters, shapes, counting to 20, number recognition to 20, write name, & identify colors.  Why we don’t stress upper case letters.  Overall goal- have fun and love learning! 

2.     Basic Educational Goals for Hawks (2-3 year olds)- Social Growth, letter recognition, increase eye hand coordination, strengthen hands (pincer grip), share, take turns, follow directions, take instruction from adults, recognize name, etc.  Overall goal- have fun and love learning!

3.     Read blog and ask questions.  Blog can be found off main webpage www.elmparkpreschool.com.

4.     Assessing- Kids will be assessed.

5.     Introduce room moms- discuss holiday traditions.

6.     Picture Day- Will be set for November.  Date to be determined.

7.     Nuts and bolts

a.     Birthday Treats- please bring in small treats, limiting sugar

b.  Don't forget to sign your child in and out daily

 

c.      Sharing will be on Wednesdays (Eagles) and Thursdays (Hawks)

d.    Please have children wear loose clothing for toileting- to promote independence.

e.     Shoes (closed shoes with socks)- are needed for playground

f.       Snack- you may bring snack for your child if you prefer.  Please have Hawks practice drinking from cups.

8.      Donations- Any donations would be appreciated

a.     Snack- dried or fresh fruit, crackers, bread, veggies, etc.

b.     Wipes for the kids

c.      Paper- white copy or construction

d.     Playground equipment- balls, chalk, etc.