Our PreSchool Blog

A great way to support independence at school and home is teaching your preschooler ways to take care of themselves. Ownership of tasks and responsibilities helps a little one feel proud and accomplished. Everyone should have received a magnet today with the steps of The Preschool Flip. Ask your preschooler to show you how to put their coat on, they are all very proud!

After practicing The Preschool Flip we learned how to hang up our coats. We search for a Magic Loop and hang our coat around the yellow hook. Then we hang up our backpack on the bigger hook. This keeps our coats and backpacks from falling off the cubbies.

Today the Toddlers started talking about life on the farm. During group time we read “Color Farm” by Lois Elhart and sang “Old McDonald had a farm”. The boys and girls love chiming in on the animal sounds that they knew! The letter this week is “O” for October and owl. Our thematic vocabulary was incorporated into our art center today. The children made handprint owls using pink and blue paint. We reviewed those colors and practiced hooting like owls as we worked!

Today we started October with our book of the month, Color Farm by Lois Elhert. We went on a shape hunt on each page. The illustrator created animals from the farm out of shapes. Next we practiced our glue stick skills and shape recognition while creating a rooster.

Today our preschoolers explored and discovered triangles in all kinds of ways! We first learned about the shape during groups. Click on the first picture to watch The Shapes Song with your preschool.

Next we counted the sides of a triangle. We used triangle shaped sponges as stamps.

During Yoga Relaxation today we used our bodies to practice Triangle Pose. Integrating new skills and knowledge with any physical activity is a really fun way to help preschoolers memory.

While focusing on developing our fine motor skills this week, we practiced ripping paper and using a glue stick to create our very own ocean! We talked about how we pinch the paper in our fingers and pull to rip it. Then on Friday we practiced holding our glue sticks and learning how to put glue on the pieces of paper and sticking it in our “ocean.” The skill of ripping paper is a great exercise  in gaining fine motor control, and we can always use more practice learning how to glue!

The boys and girls look forward to music and movement every day. They love to “shake out their sillies” and “drive in their cars”. Once a week we have the pleasure of having Ms. Joanie and her special guest, Elmo play music with us! Music helps children develop memory skills and language and literacy skills. Music and Movement helps develop listening skills, auditory discrimination, and concentration. Young children use this time to express feelings and emotions while increasing self esteem. Check out the children using their fine motor skills to strum the guitar as they sing along to some of their favorite songs!

While learning about the animals and habitat of Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean we watched a video of a starfish on the ocean floor. The preschoolers made their own starfish while strengthening their fine motor muscles. Any activity that requires tearing, scrunching, folding, or twisting of paper is wonderful for the muscles in preschoolers little hands and fun to do!

The Toddler class was able to spend some time outside today… enjoying the amazing fall weather! The playground is a natural place for physical development as well as for social and emotional development. Young children need challenging playground experiences to develop early self-confidence along with large muscle skills and coordination. The boys and girls are learning to share and take turns… they’re making new friends along the way!