We ended the week with talking about a raccoon that missed his mother in the book, "The Kissing Hand." The kids learned that when the raccoon's mommy kissed his hand he would always feel her love. The kiddos got to make their own kissing hand. We talked about the difference between toys and tools. We learned how to use our scissor tools. They each practiced by cutting little red squares to glue in their kissing hands. 

Week 2: All About Me! 

We had the best time getting to know each other better during week 2. We practiced learning the letters in our friends names. Each center focused around the letters in our names. We got to do some sticker headbands. The kiddos were able to find each letter in their names and stick them on. We also reviewed how we hold our writing tools. They got to practice writing their names. We practiced cutting our name letters. We glued them in the correct spelling order. 

The I-spy table is a big hit. The students got to strengthen their fine motor skills while spelling their names in the kinetic sand. We had a chart next to the table so they could spell their friends names too. They got to string letters at the carpet center. Our math center focused around our birthdays. They got to put candles in the birthday cakes for how old they are. Then they could count and do different amounts of candles for each cake. Some of them sang Happy Birthday to each other. It was adorable. They also used colored paper candles to work on patterns.

Each student brought a "Me Bag," that had 5 things that told us something about them. They were able to practice good speaking and listening skills while we shared our bags. We read a lot of stories about how special it is to be themselves. We are all unique and special in our own way.

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 hammer and plastic nails to poke holes in a perfect circle. This was great for our fine motor skills. At our math table we got to make "Weather Stew." The kiddos followed recipes to make their stews. This helped with their one-to-one counting correspondence. 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 just made of little, big, slanted lines and curves. They 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 practices with our writing tools (markers) to make lines and curves. 

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

We had a fun time exploring different types of weather, minus the picture in one of our books on tornados. That wasn't a big hit. :) We continue to practice our routines, procedures, and rules. They are learning how to share, use their words to express how they feel, and be kind friends. We are having the best time.