Our PreSchool Blog

On Friday we did a lot of fine motor development activities! {group #1} We used play dough to mold the shapes of the letters on our cards. {group #2} Each child got a card with 5 letters on it. They had to search through the magnetic letters to find the letters that matched the letters on their card. {group #3} art show surprises. 🙂

{Ms. Sarah}

Wednesday in early 3’s small groups: {group #1} We worked on our fine motor development as we strung beads on pipe cleaners. For this activity, the children had to practice their number recognition skills by looking at the number on the top of the pipe cleaner then stringing the corresponding amount of beads onto the pipe cleaner. {group #2} We worked on our hand-washing skills. This is the next step of our routine each day: washing our hands. Knowing how to wash hands correctly and for the right amount of time will help the children stay healthy –especially at this time of the year. {group #3} We worked on developing our cognitive skills by working with patterns using colorful monkeys that stack.

{Ms. Sarah}

On Monday in the Early 3’s class, we practiced our fine motor skills while practicing our letter of the week: “Q”. We glued “quilt-looking” squares onto our Qs. They look so cute! 🙂 In our other small group, we practiced our routine of hanging up our bags and coats …along with the “preschool flip.” (A special technique for putting on a coat or jacket.) By practicing these routines, the children will become more independent. In the last group, we worked on our patterning and fine motor skills. The children followed the pattern on the strip of paper by putting wooden shapes on the pegs above the pattern. We answered questions like, “Do you know what a pattern is?” (We looked on our shirts for patterns –to apply patterns in our every day life.) “What would come next in the pattern?” “Is this a pattern?” (gave various examples)

{Ms. Sarah}

Ms. Joanie came to our class on Friday, and we just had a blast singing songs and swirling scarves around!!

{Ms. Sarah}

Ms. Joanie is just the best 🙂

Today we started two new things! 🙂 During whole group time, I introduced the class to the clip system –which is used in the preschool room– for choosing a center. The children are to choose a center, take a clip off of the sign, clip it onto their shirt/dress, and play at that center. When they are finished, they clean up their mess, remove their clip, place it back on the sign, then choose a different center with clips available. This keeps the room calm, and the popular centers are not overcrowded. After I talked about how the system worked, I had the children, who are in the preschool room in the morning, demonstrate how to put on the clip and remove it when they are finished. The preschool children are now my official “teacher’s helpers” –whether it’s helping the younger children with clips or reminding them to use/take off their clips.

We also used clips for another activity. When the children arrived this afternoon, they had to find their mounted photo {with their name on the bottom}…then place clips {with the letters in their name on each clip} on the matching letters of their name. {See the last 4 photos for an idea of how it works!} 🙂

{Ms. Sarah}

On Monday in our Early 3’s class, we started off the day by having the children find their names then use a stamper to follow the lines/curves of each letter in their names. During group time, we reviewed our rules and procedures for our classroom. During small groups, the children worked on two different art show projects. The third group made “N” is for “Night” by putting stars and a moon on a black cut out of an “N”.

We hope you had a relaxing break! Welcome back!!

{Ms. Sarah} 🙂

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

In small groups today, the children practiced their number recognition and fine motor skills by clipping clothespins onto circles with numbers on them. Whatever number was on the circle cut-out, the children had to place the corresponding amount of clips around the edge. In our other small group, the children practiced writing letters with play-dough. In the last small group, the children painted white paper with red paint using marbles. The paper will be cut out in a candy-cane shape and sent home on Friday!

We had a blast during whole group. We have been reading the story “Dream Snow” by Eric Carle. The children have so much fun guessing which animal is hiding behind the snow. I made up my own rendition of the book for an activity. I have all of the children shut their eyes then I throw a sheet over one of them and carry them to the center of the group. I have all of the children open their eyes and look around. They have to figure out who is missing then guess who is under the “snow”/sheet.

Hoping you all are having a fantastic week so far!!

{Miss Sarah}

In Early 3’s on Monday, we practiced our matching skills. The children would pick a card with a mitten on it. They would look at the mitten cards laying on the floor and find the match. We  continued to work on our number recognition by giving the children cut-outs of snowmen with numbers (1-6) on the bottom of the snowmen. The children had to place the corresponding amount of buttons on their snowman.

{Miss Sarah}

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to two of our Early 3’s friends!!!

Unfortunately, I do not have any photos of our Early 3’s activities on Monday –my camera was tied up with a special project we are working on. 🙂

Ms. Sarah 🙂

This week in the Early 3’s class we have been learning the letter “K” and the shape “Star.” The children worked on their “K” is for “Keys” page to go in their alphabet book. We are also learning about cutting with/holding scissors, while talking about scissor safety. The children have enjoyed our whole group activity of “Find the Shape!” I would call a child up and ask them to identify a shape (“Find the green star.” “Find the purple triangle.”) This activity helps with reviewing shapes and colors at the same time.