Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Ms Gillian's PM 3's


We have had such a fun couple of weeks learning all about Pumpkins!  In Science and math we were weighing, sorting, comparing and counting pumpkins and seeds.  The kiddos loved digging out all the seeds from our pumpkins but the favorite with almost everyone was hammering the tees into them!

They also loved playing with our pumpkin pie scented play dough which smelt delish - all sorts of wonderful creations were being made out of it!
 The kiddos also got the chance to taste roasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin muffins - they went down a treat :)










Today we had a fun time at our class Halloween party was just adorable seeing all the kiddos come into school in their cute little costumes.  We started our party with some singing and dancing to songs such as 5 little pumpkins and the skeleton dance... We then got our hands dirty making the cutest little pumpkin craft. Trick or treating with our friends was next which the kiddos had a blast with. Then we finished our fun day by making super yummy spider treats. All in all we had a great afternoon full of fun and laughter just how we love it in the forest room :)








 











Now looking forward to our Fall Festival next Friday (November 8th) - it is going to be awesome can't wait to see you all there :)

Monday, October 28, 2013

Miss Wandy's Afternoon 2's Class in the Farm Room

                                       
                                       The kids love to have free time and play with each other.


                         In the Farm room we enjoy learning about colors and letters while having fun.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Welcome Back!!!

I hope that everyone had a great Fall Break and is ready to rock and roll!  We had such a great start of school this year!  Here are a few highlights:
Learning our HWT wood pieces


Aprons are for A!

Flying Paper Airplanes

Landing Airplanes in their Hangers

Listening Ears

Miss Kylie as a Fire Fighter!


All about our Names!

D is for Dinosaur!



 We've had super fun so far!  We have also had great celebrations such as Grandparent's Day and Donuts for Dads!  Check out how much fun we had!






Yay for our Grandparents and our Dads!  Thanks for spending some of our preschool day with us! 
We are ready to jump into our next quarter, starting off with a field trip to Fry's Grocery Store!  We can't wait to spend our G week learning about all the healthy things we can buy at the grocery store.  We also have Halloween, the Fall Festival and our Christmas Program coming up fast!  Can't wait to begin the ride! 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Mrs. Nettie's Pre-K MWF Afternoon Class

       Welcome to a wonderful journey filled with adventure, laughter, exploring, happiness and a love for learning! Here we are approaching the holidays and we have so much to share with you that has been happening in our classroom. 

       I am so excited to introduce to you the most amazing, caring, dedicated children that I am honored to spend my days with. The children are so excited for exploring time when they arrive and I enjoy watching them build friendships and practice communication skills during this time.  We soon are ready to enter into circle time to learn the letter of the week and review our calendar.  Some fun assessment games are taking place during circle time to reinforce letter sounds, letter recognition, number identification and number value. We also have been introduced to "place value" by counting each day that we attend school. I am so amazed at how quickly the children are learning how to "add on" to a number. Our printing is improving with each day and I'm so happy with the progress I see in our writing journals. 

       I truly enjoy Mondays when the children share about their weekend and I get to share about my adventurous weekend as well. It usually includes a story about my 165 lb French Mastiff, Luigi :o) I look forward to creating many fun memories and crafts during the most festive time of the year as we prepare for Kindergarten.  

Hugs from Ms. Nettie and Ms. Lisa




Having some fun while learning a song to help us remember the months of the year and days of the week. 



The children enjoying "center time". 



Grandparent's Day is always a joy for everyone involved.  Mrs. Lisa and I really looked forward to meeting all the special Grandparents that arrived that day.  






Exploring at our Science Center with "eruptions" for the letter "E" and some "moon sand" that instantly dries when removed from water. The children really enjoyed the experiments!





Blooming minds in progress!





Ending our day with some fun and laughter :o)


Thursday, October 10, 2013

Afternoon 2's Class in the FARM


Down on the Farm with Ms. Wandy

 
We've had a great first quarter of school at TotSpot Preschool! I am so proud of all of the kids in the classroom. They are so amazing! They have been enjoying learning their Zoo Phonics sounds, shapes and colors. They are doing a great job learning during the time we spend together at circle time.
 
 
 
The children have gotten to know our school pet, Radar. He is a really chubby guinea pig. They love when he gets to come visit our classroom. They have learned how to hold him and pet him using their soft and gentle hands.
 
 
The kids really enjoyed our special guest last month. We had a firefighter visit our farm classroom and he taught us about safety and emergencies.

 
 
 
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your child's learning experience. I am so proud of each and every one of my students!

Monday, October 7, 2013

Director Recommends Puterbugs Computer Class for Students

 

Director's Observation & Review of

Preschool Computer Class

October 7, 2013

Mr. Ken with Future Kiddie has been offering a computer class "Puterbugs" at TotSpot Preschool for some time. I know it is a popular class and I have heard very positive feedback from parents and students about the class, but since it's Fall Camp and things are moving at a little slower pace, I had the chance to actually sit down and observe the Puterbugs class and here are my honest thoughts about what I saw......

We usually see Mr. Ken (or Ms. Linda) at TotSpot for our Friday class each week. They are always enthusiastic about what they are teaching. They start with a very short circle time to explain the week's Puterbug "mission". This, of course, gets the kids really excited and engaged. Each week, the mission also involves teaching the kids about various technological terms. Today, they learned the words "web cam" and "microchip", among others.
 The kids also focused on their listening skills as they had to wait for Mr. Ken to tell them to begin their Puterbugs mission.
 Another thing that is so great about this class is that it is completely individualized and every student has their own laptop! This is why it is perfect for any toddler, age 3 - 5, at any level. They can move through the Puterbugs mission at their very own pace - getting comfortable with both the keyboard and the mouse.....all while following directions and listening carefully to their mission which is described for them on their laptop.
 What I noticed as I watched carefully is that not only is this computer class introducing and practicing essential computer & technology skills (which these kids are going to need in this fast paced, technologically driven society), the program is very structured and reinforces many of the preschool concepts that we work on here at TotSpot; colors, letters, size comparisons, patterns, and matching, just to name a few. The program began today with each student matching the letter on the screen with the letter on the keyboard. 

 
WOW! Overall, I have to say, I am impressed! I can very comfortably recommend this computer program to all of our students. I forgot to mention, that as you can tell, EVERY child ENJOYED the class and were completely engaged. It is always a win-win situation when you find something educationally beneficial AND fun for the kids....that is what TotSpot Preschool is all about and that is why the Puterbugs Computer Class fits right in here! So Thank you Mr. Ken & Ms. Linda for bringing it here and keeping it here.

If you would like additional information about this class you can contact Mr. Ken at Futurekiddie@futurekiddie.com or the website:

http://www.futurekiddie.com/

The classes are held at TotSpot Preschool EVERY Friday at 11:30am. Space is limited


Shannon Powell, Director
TotSpot Preschool