We had a great week talking about friendship. We did a lot of fun role play with what it means to be a good friend. The best part is seeing the kiddos be great friends in our everyday preschool life. Their little conversations, complements, and hugs are so sweet. 

We talked about the letters Vv and Xx this week. We have almost covered the whole alphabet. They are growing so much. For letter V we talked about volcanos. They loved to make the letter V out of lava (aka paint sticks). For letter X we made a box of friends. The kiddos got to practice writing each friend's initial letter. It is amazing how well they are learning not just their own names, but their friends' names as well. 

Our circle time focus in math was on the numbers 8 & 9. During our math centers the kiddos got to make friendship stew. They got to read the recipe and count different items to put in their stews (i.e. hearts, flowers, love bugs, cards, friends, etc.) This allows them to practice identifying and counting numbers. They also practiced counting and identifying numbers using puzzles. They could choose to practice writing the numbers as well. 

Our sensory table this week was really fun and really messy. Have you heard of pluffle? Me either. :) It is pretty much shredded up foam. But it makes for a great sensory play experience. The table had rainbows, hearts, and letters mixed in. The kiddos could make patterns or spell their friends' names. They had a great time. They can also choose to use the whiteboard during this center. They had so much fun dressing their pictures up in different outfits. It was fun to hear them giggle together. 

Our carpet center had a variety of books about friendship. The class favorite was titled, "A Friend for Milton." It was about a cat that needed a friend. He kept trying and finally found a friend. The kiddos also got to make friendship bracelets. They had a great time making them for each other. I put out a new thing of toys each day  for them to play with the friends in their carpet groups. 

During playtime I have given them an option to color or free write. It is fun to see what they draw and write. They continue to explore and strengthen their friendships in class. 

Week 15: Christmas/Holiday Traditions 

What a fun week?! We talked all about Christmas time. We talked about some of favorite traditions. We read a lot of fun books. We also focused on two new letters this week, Ww and Yy. We talked about our Christmas wishes. 

We also had a fun time pretending to be Santa. I asked the kids some fun questions about what they would do if they were Santa Claus. They had a so much fun drawing their Santa bodies. 

We played a fun ABC stocking game. They got to pick a stocking that was missing from the ABC lineup. They got to identify the name and sound. For an extra challenge they could put it in the correct missing spot. They loved this game. 

We also continue to practice writing our names. Some of the kiddos are still working on getting the first couple of letters. Some of the kiddos are practicing both their first and last names. 

This week each center had some fun Christmas themed activities. We practiced with numbers 6 and 7 (Yes, I heard 6-7 every 5 minutes). The kids got to practice identifying, counting, and writing these numbers. They also loved our Christmas String Light Uno game. They got to draw a black string. Then they grabbed an uno card to see what color and number of lights (circles) they could draw (i.e. yellow 3, blue 4,etc.) They loved doing this activity. 

Our I-Spy table (sensory) was a Christmas stew. It was full of so many fun things. The kiddos got to use their imaginations. I heard some of them creating stories using the toys. Some of them sorted the objects by colors. Some of them did some patterning. 

The carpet had a fun homemade Lite Brite activity. :) They got to match colored lights to the colors on the trees. They also got to weave Christmas shapes with string. They are allowed to look at all of our Christmas books at the carpet as well. They can pick with activity they want to do. 

We continue to practice our listening and speaking skills during Show and Tell. I have my whiteboard handy during every show and tell. We always guess what letter each of our objects start with. We also make any theme/focus connections.

Playtime continues to be a favorite for the kids. I love watching them resolve conflict and strengthen their friendships. 

We ended the week with our long awaited Christmas Pajama Party! We had the best time doing some fun Christmas activities before we watched The Grinch. We made ornaments and Christmas cards. Listening to them giggle as we watched the Grinch was my favorite. We also got out our bells to sing Jingle Bells one more time for the week. It was a wonderful time! 

Week 14: Winter 

We had a great time exploring winter time this week. The first day of winter is coming so soon. We read a bunch of books that taught us about winter. We talked about different animals that hibernate or fly somewhere warm during winter time. We also talked about different activities we do in the snow. This was great because we focused on the letter s on Wednesday. 

This week our letters were Ee and Ss. E uses his ear e-e-e. S snake slithers s-s-s. We made books about letter E. Our younger kiddos make elf puppets. On Wednesday we made a snowman while talking about letter S. We used our whiteboards to practice writing letter S. Then we got to create our very own snowmen. They had so much fun. 

In math we practiced our counting skills. We practiced writing the numbers 4 and 5. We got to make "winter stew." The kiddos got to follow winter recipes. They mixed ice blocks, polar bears, seals, snowballs, fish, and penguins. Delicious! :) 

Our I-spy table (sensory table) was so fun! They got to play with pretend snow (conditioner and cornstarch). They had the best time building snowmen and playing with the winter animals. They all wanted to go to this center. 

During the carpet center the kiddos got to play snowmen tic-tac-toe. They got to read any of our winter books. They also got to make letters out of sugar cubes and sugar (That seemed to be the favorite activity of our carpet center). 

For art we got to paint salted glue snowflakes. I had glued and salted snowflakes on paper. The snowflake absorbs the watercolor right up. It was fun to hear the kiddos giggle in amazement as the snowflake absorbed the colorful watercolor paint. 

Our show and tell continues to be a great activity for them to practice their listening and speaking skills. They take great pride in showing their favorite things to their friends. 

We had inside recess again this week. They absolutely love four corners and the Elf Freeze Dance video. They are given the choice of dancing or playing with toys. Some of them prefer playing with toys. Providing choices for preschoolers is essential in their learning development. 

Week 13: Nutrition & Health 

This week was all about ways to take care of our bodies. We talked about foods that make us healthy and strong. We talked about exercises that we can do to strengthen our bodies. We also read a lot of books that helped us learn about nutrition and health. The kiddos favorite book was, "I'm hungry." The monster in the story decides to eat a bunch of non-edible things (i.e. chair, table, plate, etc.) The kids were rolling in laughter. I wish I could have captured it in a video. 

Our letter focus was Ff and Nn. We made frog puppets and fed him healthy foods. We also made letter Nn books. They got to practice their writing and cutting skills. We talked about things that start with F and N. During circle time we have also been using Heggerty to practice our phonemic awareness skills. Each Thursday we do a review of the letters we have learned so far. The kiddos love using the white boards to practice our letters. 

For art we created our very own scissor salad. The kiddos got to strengthen their cutting and gluing skills during this activity. This was great for their fine motor skills. 

We also played a game to teach us the importance of exercising. The kiddos took turns rolling a die to see what exercise we could do. They loved it and kept flexing their growing muscles. :) 

Our math focus was reviewing numbers 2-3. We practiced writing, counting, and adding these numbers. We also talked about cubes and how they are made of squares. The kiddos got to play with the cubes after they practiced writing the numbers 2 and 3. They loved using the stamps this week as well. 

Our sensory (I-Spy) table was a cold one this week. We talked about water and how important it is for us to drink lots of it. We talked about how ice is just frozen water. I froze a bunch of small food toys in ice cubes. They got to melt the ice and say what food items they found. They talked with their groups about the food, and whether is was healthy or not. We also talked about the food groups (vegetables, fruits, protein, grains, and dairy). It was fun to hear them say, "This is a fruit!" etc. 

Our carpet center had a few activities to choose from. The carpet is a great center for the kiddos to practice playing together. They got to play "Yeti Spaghetti." There were also a bunch of food puzzles to put together. They also got to pretend they were shopping at the store. They could buy a bunch of different food. 

We continue to build relationships and strengthen our social skills.. We have also had a great time doing a short inside recess before snack time. The kiddos favorite things to play include four corners and freeze dance party.

Week 12: Thanksgiving & Gratitude 

What a special week?! We had the best time talking about what it means to be grateful. These sweet kiddos had a great time naming things they were grateful for. We talked about the meaning of a feast. We talked about how in America we celebrate Thanksgiving. It is a special time of year that we gather with loved ones to share a feast. To prepare for our preschool feast we made little turkey placemats. 

We focused on letters Bb and Rr. Our circle time had lots of practice with both letters. For math we practiced writing numbers 1-6. We made marshmallow pumpkin pies. They had fun rolling the dice and counting how many marshmallows their pies had. Eating the pie was their favorite part. 

They also practiced counting and writing numbers by making turkeys. They pulled a card that told them how many feathers to add to their turkeys. 

Our sensory table was all about pies! The kiddos had a great time making pies. This center required them to identify and count numbers. There was a variety of recipes they could follow. They got to make up their own pie recipes as well. 

Our color focus was rainbow! Our carpet center had a fun activity that the kiddos could build a rainbow. It was fun to see them build the rainbows. They also got to read some really fun books about Thanksgiving and gratitude. They also had a game where they could match capital letters to the right turkey. 

We ended the week with our Thanksgiving feast. The kiddos had a great time helping prepare the feast. They got to roll their own turkey/ham rolls. They got to mash their own potatoes. Our rule was they needed to take a least one bite of our different foods. It was fun to see them try new things. I could not have done this without the parent helpers. They were amazing. We ended our feast with sharing one thing they were grateful for. We have much to be thankful for. 

Week 11: Questions

Questions, questions, and more questions. We started the week by defining what a question is. We talked about how questions help us learn and grow. We learned how to answer questions. We learned how to look for questions. We looked for questions in everything we watched and read this week. The kiddos got so excited when they spotted a question mark in our songs and books. Below are some of the books we explored this week. Each week we also read books that align with our letters for the day/week. 

We are moving right along in our letter learning. This week we focused on the letters P and U. We learned the actions to our phrases P pops popcorn p-p-p, and U's under the umbrella u-u-u. During circle time we practiced reading words that start with our letters. During centers we continued searching for our letters. We got to practice writing them as well. 

We continued learning our numbers. We focused on the numbers 19 and 20. We spent time counting and writing our numbers. The kiddos had a fun time using the overhead project (blast from the past for some of us). We talked about why some things could glow on the projector and some couldn't. They need to be transparent (see through) to glow. I asked them to explore and ask themselves the question, will it glow? They had fun putting things on the projector to see if they would glow. 

Is it magnetic? Our sensory table was fun this week. We talked about how to test if something is magnetic. Our table was full of rice, bells, magnetic counters, etc. The kiddos used their magnetic wands to connect the things that were magnetic. 

Our carpet center was full of activities to practice our letters. They worked together to match letters. They also loved our "magic" water mats. They used their water markers to discover and write letters. This center is also where they get to read/look at our books for the week. 

We tried something new for art this week. I had them color on tin foil. I asked them if they thought we could use that to color our paper. They didn't think so. I asked them what if we sprayed it with water. Do you think it will move to the paper now? Some of them said yes and some said no. We tried it and it worked! We moved our colors from the tin foil to our papers. Our paper said, "Questions help us grow!" It is very true. When we ask and answer questions we learn so much! 

We played a fun question game. Each student got to put a picture card on their head. We gave them clues and they had to ask, it is a _______? They had so much fun guessing what their picture card was. 

Here are some sweet pictures that I captured during our playtime this week. They continue to strengthen their social skills and learn how to problem solve. 

Week 10: Transportation 

We had a great week learning about things that go! We had fun reading, singing, and exploring. We started the week with practicing our names by making name trains. We also focused on the letters J and K this week. J just jumps j, j, j, (make the sound). K kicks karate k,k,k (make the sound). 

During our math center we got to practice tracing numbers with our writing tools. Then we got to use cars to trace the numbers. We also used our dot markers to make numbers. 

When the kiddos go to the carpet center they get to read from a variety of books that focus on our theme. We also read some of these books at the end of each day. They get to practice their social skills at this center. I will always have manipulatives and toys for them to play together. This week they got to play with a variety of means of transportation (i.e. cars, planes, boats). 

Our sensory table was full of multicolored motors. There were boats, cars, and planes. They got to use their imaginations and play with the manipulatives. Some of the kiddos sorted them according to color. Some of the students sorted them into types of transportation. They can also use our whiteboard during this center. This week they could use little circle magnets to make our letters and shapes for the week. 

For art this week we got to create our own transportation scenes. The student glued on boats, cars, and airplanes. Our color of the week was white. They got to paint white into their scenes. They painted clouds next to the airplane. They painted the white lines on the road. They finished painting white waves into the water by the boat. They loved painting. 

Before we do centers we have playtime everyday. This time is essential in preschool. I am teaching them to be problem solvers. I am teaching them to use their words to express what they need, like, and don't like. They are building friendships and learning how to interact with one another. 

We also started using our whiteboards during circle time to review some of the letters we have already learned. They had so much fun testing their knowledge. :) 

Week 9: Halloween

We had such a fun week. We practiced with the letters Tt and Ii. Our phrase for t is "T taps his toes, t, t, t(make the sound). The phrase for I is, "I is icky, i, i, i (make the short i sound). 

The kids had a great time at our math center this week. We focused on the numbers 15 & 16. Then they got to make witches brew. Each card had a recipe that helped them practice their counting skills. 

During our carpet center they got to play with the Jack-o-lanterns. They loved the song of the week, "5 Little Pumpkins." They recreated the song using the pumpkins. They practiced balancing them on the "gate" (toiled paper rolls). They also got to make letters out of "bones" (cue tips). We also had a big selection of Halloween books they could look at. 

They got to melt ice cubes at our sensory table. The ice cubes were filled with Halloween surprises. They had a great time using warm water to melt the ice. 

They also had fun making a "5 Little Pumpkins" hat. 

We finished our week with our long awaited Halloween Party. Thanks to some of our moms we had a blast. We got to play Don't Eat Pete, Hat Ring Toss, and Pin the Spider on the Web. We got to decorate our own sugar cookies. We also got to make beaded pumpkins. We ended our party with a disco light dance party! 

Week 8: Pumpkins 

We read a lot of fun books during our pumpkin week. Here are a few of our favorites. 

Our letter focus this week was on Mm and Hh. Here are the phrases that we say to help us remember. It may be helpful to remind them at home. Letter M's phrase is, "M munches muffins, mm mm mm." Letter H's phrase is H is hot, hh hh hh." Ask your kiddos to act each of those phrases out for you. This helps activate your child's kinesthetic memory. It is a great way for them to remember the sounds. I will start adding these to the blog each week. 

Everyone is getting more comfortable using our writing and cutting tools. We got to make letter M and H books this week. 

We also had fun using shaving cream to write our names and letter Mm. 

The kids got to work together to glue scraps of paper to our large pumpkin. The goal was to fill up all of the white space. We got pretty close. They also got to use the flashlights to discover what letter was hidden in the pumpkin. They had fun doing that. 

Our math center was a hit this week. The kids practiced writing and counting the number of the day. Then they got to use the hammers to hit tees into pumpkins. This was great for their fine motor skills. They also had the choice to do our pumpkin shape kits. I try to give them a variety of choices at each center. 

At the sensory table they got to make their own pumpkin patches with sand. There were little green and orange gadgets that they pretended were pumpkins. They love when sand is in the sensory table. 

Our magnet wall was fun. I printed their faces off and they got to dress each other up in different costumes. They thought it was so funny. 

We also played a fun game to review the letters we have learned so far. They got to take turns hiding a little bug behind one of the pumpkins while one student stepped outside of the classroom. Then the student got to try to find where the bug was hidden. They had a great time playing this review game. We will definitely play this again. 

Week 7: Leaves 

We had a wonderful week talking about all things leaves, autumn, and fall. We read some great books that talked about fall time. Our class favorite was, "The Leaf Thief." The kiddos loved going on an adventure with squirrel to figure out who stole his leaves. You will have to ask your student who the thief was. :) I linked a read aloud of the book if they want to listen to it at home. They also loved the book, "There was an old lady who swallowed some leaves!" 

This week we focused on the letters Qq and Ll. We had fun using playdough to help us build the letters (great for our fine motor skills) . We also used our writing tools to practice writing the letters. I was able to capture some pictures of our letter box. The kids take turns reaching inside the box to discover objects that start with our letters. They love doing this. 

We continued learning our numbers. This week we focused on identifying and writing numbers 11 and 12. Our math center also had an apple counting game. The kids got to look at the apple to see the number. Then they could string that number of beads onto the apple. They also got to use stickers to count up to 12. Peeling those stickers can be tricky for their little hands, but great for their development. 

The carpet center is a great place for them to work together. This week they got to play leaf letter matching. They also had blocks they could use to build tree trunks. There were little pinecones and leaves to add to their trees. They could do patterns as well. They also get to look at any of our weekly books during the carpet center. 

Our sensory (I-spy) center had a mix of fake and real leaves. Hidden under the leaves were rocks with uppercase letters written on them. They got to find the rocks and place them on top of the matching lowercase letters' cardboard. It was fun for them to feel the difference between the real and fake leaves. 

I was also able to capture a few pictures of our show and tell. We have been doing show and tell for quite some time. They are getting better at taking turns, listening to their classmates, and speaking in front the whole class. 

We also had our first inside recess due to all of the rain we've been getting. We played some fun games. One of their favorites was four corners. They each took turns counting to 20, while the others had to quietly hide at one of our centers. The person who was counting then picked one of the centers (without looking). Whoever was at that center was out. They loved it! 

For art we did a fall tree scene. We traced their hand and forearm to make the trunk and branches of the tree. Then they used our dot paint markers to fill their trees with leaves. For the final touch they used fall leaf stickers. 

Each day we begin with free play. They continue to build relationships and strengthen their social skills. This week we added free write/coloring. Some of them loved using paper to draw whatever they would like. 

Week 6: Emotions 

We enjoyed talking about our feelings during Emotions Week. We read books that talked about our feelings. Here were a few of our favorite books. 

We also continued learning new letters and numbers. This week our circle time focus was on the letters d and g. Those 2 letters still work with the magic c letter formation rule. The picture below shows the rules. This can help them with the formation of letters o, a, d, g, and q. They all begin by creating a c first. They got to practice this using the magnetic chips and wands at the carpet. 

We learned how to write numbers 9 and 10. They got excited when they realized that we made it to 10. During our math center they practiced identifying 9's as well as how to write 9's and 10's. After they finished that they practiced counting using our number pegs activity. 

This week the kids got to sort the emotions into colors at the sensory table. The scribble spot story labels emotions by color (i.e. red-angry, yellow-happy, green-peaceful, orange-confident, etc) Our I -spy table had a bunch of spots that needed to be put with each other. The kids got to sort the pom poms according to color. When they were done they got to act out that emotion before dumping their bowls back into the sensory table. They had fun with that part! :) 

Small group with Ms. Michelle is a great time for me to help them individually, and differentiate my instruction based on their levels. During this time we practice different skills. We all got to do the letter d page. It gave them great motor skills practice. They used their writing tools, scissors, and glue. They also identified whether the picture had the initial /d/ sound. 

At Ms. Michelle's center we also talked about our scribble spots (list of emotions). We all feel a variety of emotions. Sometimes we feel more than one. That is when our spot becomes a scribble spot. It is important to spot our feelings to help us express ourselves. We practiced spotting our feelings by saying, "My spot is ________." We did a fun little art project. We used paint sticks to color each emotion in our scribble spot. On the back we got to pick one emotion to spot.

As always, we continue to practice great social skills. Their little relationships are blooming. They enjoy the time they get to play and learn how to be a good friend. 

Week 5: Farm 

We had so much fun on our first fieldtrip to Wheeler Farm. The rain tried to stop us, but we made it out just in time. :) We had a wonderful tour guide, Payton. First she took us on a wagon ride. We got to feel the autumn breeze while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Next, we got to see a bunch of farm animals. The pigs were the class favorite.  We also got to visit the blacksmith to see how tools were made. We ended at the milk house. We learned how they used to milk the cows. 

We had a great time talking about our field trip. We sang "Old MacDonald had a Farm" and compared Wheeler Farm to Old Macdonald's farm. We also started our letter of the day. We talked about magic letter C. Once we learn how to write lower case c it will help us be able to write lowercase o, a, d, and g. All of those letters start by writing a c. This week we learned Cc, Oo, and Aa. 

We also practiced the formation of numbers 7 and 8 at our math center. We also got to play a dice game that helped us with our one-to-one counting. 

We started doing our "sound box." We have little toys that start with our letter of the day hidden inside the box. The kids get to pull one toy out. We say the name of the toy and say what sound it makes. For example, on letter C day these are some of the things we found in our sound box: computer, cow, comb, cookie, etc. The students got to play with those at our carpet center. We also had a variety of books about farm life. They could also play with any of our farm animals and/or crops. 

Our sensory table was all about squares, patterns, and building. We talked about squares this week. The kiddos got to use the cubes and squares to build and make patterns. They had a great time. They could also go to the whiteboard station. This station had pictures that start with our letters of the week. They got to sort them in the correct sections. If they were unsure about our letters' sounds they could push our sound buttons for help. 

We continued to have a great time getting to know each other better. We are getting so good at names. It has been  special to see them make friends. During play time I brought out the whiteboards. This was just an option for them to free write. I wasn't sure if they would pick that over the toys. But, I was wrong. They had the best time with the whiteboards. I will make sure they are available during playtime from now on. 

Week 4: Bears 

We had a wonderful week exploring lowercase letters while talking all about bears! We read a lot of books with bears as the main characters. We also talked about real life bears. We learned some fun facts about brown, black, polar, panda, and grizzly bears. At snack time we do a question of the day. The kids each take a turn answering the question in a full sentence. This helps with their speaking and listening skills. One day they got to pick which bear they would like to be. The white polar bear was the favorite. We sang the song "Going on a Bear Hunt." The kids had a great time doing the actions and showing how brave they were while going on a bear hunt. 

We had a great time using cue tips to paint the lowercase letters. We practiced using our "baby shark" (ask your preschooler to show you) grip. We used our color of the week (yellow) to paint each lowercase letter. 

We also practiced our lowercase letters using magnetic counters. The kiddos got to make each shape of each letter using the counters. Then they used the magnetic wand to pick them up. They also used stickers to cover lowercase letters. This was great for their fine motor skills.

Our math table had little bears that the kids could count. They also played a dice game that helped them with counting and color sorting. We practiced finding the numbers 4,5, and 6. We also practiced writing the numbers. 

We had fun practicing our cutting skills. We cut out triangles, our shape of the week. We also practiced gluing them onto a big triangle. 

Our sensory table was another fan favorite. This week they got to find little colorful balls hidden in rice. Then they could sort them according to color. 

We read the story, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" The kids got to make their own brown bear puppet. They also got to color all of the animals that are in the book. They can use their puppet and pictures to retell the story to you. I will link a video read aloud of the story. They can use that to retell the story if you don't have the physical book.

Week 3: Weather 

We had a wonderful time exploring the weather and talking about capital letters. We also started our numbers, shapes, and colors. We learned the proper way to write the numbers 0-3. We talked about circles. We went on a circle hunt through the classroom to find as many circles as possible. We even got to use our hammers and plastic nails to poke holes in paper to make a circle. This was great for their fine motor skills. At our math table we got to make "Weather Stew." The kiddos followed recipes to make weather stews. This helped with their one-to-one counting. Some recipes called for 3 suns, 2 rainbows, 1 snowflake, and 3 raindrops, etc. They had a blast mixing the recipes together

We continued to talk about letters. We explored how letters are made of little, big, and slanted lines and curves.  We were able to use line and curve magnetic manipulatives. They had a great time trying to make letters with the lines and curves. We also practiced with our writing tools (markers) to make lines and curves.

We finished the week with our weather craft. The kids made weather pictures out of circles (our shape of the week). We glued a circle sun. Next, we glued circle clouds for each letter in our names. We practiced our cutting skills when we cut the grass for our pictures. At the end, we used our writing tools to add more weather details. 

We had a fun time exploring different types of weather, minus our picture book that mentioned tornadoes. That wasn't a big hit. :) We continue to practice our routines, procedures, and rules. We are learning how to share, use our words to express how we feel, and how to be kind friends. We are having the best time!  

Week 2: All About Me