Cool Critters visited our classroom today. We have been talking about what animals lay eggs….not just chickens! We got to interact with four animals that lay eggs: gecko, snake, millipede, & box turtle. One little critter did NOT lay eggs, the chinchilla! He was so soft and adorable. I think many of them would have snuck that little one into their backpack and taken it home, if we would have let them 🙂
We continued with our second book, Making Bubbles by Bruce Larkin in reading groups this week. The children have been working hard to track each word in the repetitive text that introduces a new sight word each week. The sight word we worked on this week is the word, the. Sight words are words that are used most frequently in text. The reason that they are called “sight” words is because the goal is for your child to begin to recognize these words instantly, at first sight. These are very important to master because they account for up to 75% of the words used in beginning children’s books. These words, typically, are not words that can be “sounded out,” therefore need to be learned by sight.
Many of the students were asking to take the books home to be able to share them with you. If you would like your child to read the text for you. You can find a digital book here. Just click on “Making Bubbles” under Kindergarten Books to access the book.
Last week we learned all about the letter D and got to have fun with a lot of dinosaur activities. I am pretty sure if you are a child at the age of 3 or 4 you just love dinosaurs… no matter what! Our students LOVED everything we did this week and had a ton of fun! Part of our focus this year is to keep our curriculum very concrete and playful. We did just that and had a blast learning about the letter D while doing so!
Our early reading adventure began in K Prep this week. The focus this week was how to use their “Magic Reading Finger.” Why do we have children use their finger to track the words while they read? The reason for this practice is because our eyes naturally follow movement, placing a finger, on a page and strategically moving it down the text, a reader will naturally keep their place and be more focused. This helps readers concentrate and understand what they read making reading a more satisfying experience. They did a wonderful job!
Does your child use scissors at home? We have been learning all about scissor safety and how to use and hold scissors in preschool.
1st… Safety!
Tips for Holding and Using Scissors
We are working hard on this skill and our goal is to have this skill mastered by mid-winter!!
A phrase that is used frequently in preschool is Fine Motor. This is an extremely important skill for 3 and 4 year olds to practice and practice and practice some more! Fine Motor skills are those that work the small muscles in their hands. They are used for things that we grownups take for granted each day, for example; using eating utensils, buttoning our shirt, sipping our coat, and writing our name.
We do lots of activities each week that help our students build these skills so that we can prepare them for independent activities such as the ones listed above!
This activity is a fun one as we work our small finger muscles to pick up tiny pom poms with small tongs and transfer them without using our other hand at all! Our students loved it!
Our K Prep class worked together to create a collaborative art piece yesterday. We have been working so hard on mastering skills over the past few weeks, it was time to let our creativity soar without any thought of right and wrong answers. In open-ended art projects, there is no frustration, no anxiety, and no uncertainty. Creating an “anything goes” atmosphere during our project was a welcome relief for our amazing learners.
Collaborate art is also a great way to build community within the classroom, develop communication skills and learn from each other!
We are working hard with our letters! We are learning to recognize them, name them, give their sounds, and build them.
Before we start learning to write letters it is important for children to really know what a letter looks like, and what kinds of lines it contains. So for example, uppercase A is made of only straight lines but lowercase a is made of a curved line and a straight line.
We work hard to learn to build them the correct way, to make the transition to writing them much easier. Starting at the top and going down is always important!
Sensory play is extremely important for children to engage in! It allows them to learn and explore in a way that allows them to be successful. There are many things in life, especially at school where children can do things in a “right way” and a “wrong way.” Sensory play can be whatever a child wants it to be, and they can just be creative and have fun! Sensory play is also a great way to engage in learning and allows children to engage in multiple senses. When this occurs, children are able to learn more! Playdoh is a great resource and one that we use frequently in preschool. We mold it into shapes, letters and numbers and while we do this we are feeling the material, seeing the material become something specific and learning while having fun. We can squish it, roll it, squeeze it, and flatten it which helps us work our hand muscles.
This month we have been learning all about the square.
We learned that squares have 4 sides and that they are all the same size.
We have been building with squares, finding squares in the classroom and making square collages!
Here are some awesome resources for you to use at home to continue learning about the square!
Creative Tots has specialized in the private education of both toddlers and preschool age children for over 15 years. We began in the heart of Madeira and now also have a new Mason location. We are specifically designed to focus on early childhood development for children ages 18 months to 5 years.
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