Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Ms. Monica's 3's Classes are having fun in the Forest Room!

In the Forest room we are enjoying our Handwriting without Tears activities. We are learning about the four types of lines that we use to make letters. We learned that there are big and little lines and big and little curves. We enjoy playing games like stacking and sorting as well as doings song to learn what you can do with our lines. We especially like doing Tap. Tap, Tap and Mat Man.

 
 
 
We enjoy our singing time with Ms. Sherri. Singing "If You're Happy and You Know it" is a special treat. Here we are roaring like a Lion. We are wonderful singers.
 
Learning all about our body was super exciting. We learned how our heart, brain, lungs, intestines and bones help our body work. We made life-size bodies and did lots of exercises so we could be healthy.
 
In science we discovered the magic of Magnets. We experimented to figure out what they would and wouldn't pick up. We also learned how to make other magnets jump. The thing that delighted us the most was passing magnets and metal objects from our magnet stick to our friend's magnet stick.  It would make us laugh every time they jumped.
 
One of our favorite mediums is shaving cream. We have driven our cars in "snow", written our first initial, and shaved our "daddy's face" with shaving cream.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Learning through play, song and movement!




Ms. Dessie's students are ready to learn this year!  All classes have shown great skills already.  We have enjoyed singing with Ms. Sherry and moving with Coach John.  Mostly, we have enjoyed getting to know one another and getting familiar with preschool procedures and routines.  We spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year becoming very familiar with our Zoophonic friends.  We are learning the sounds so well that we have already begun to pick out the sounds when we try to spell simple CVC words.  It is so exciting to see the connection students can make so early!  We are also working hard on our Capital letters in handwriting.  We are now getting to the harder letters, like M and N.   Practice makes perfect is true with our handwriting.  But the best thing we are learning is how to be a friend that is a great "bucket filler".  Getting along and learning how to use words to communicate our feelings and wants and knowing when to speak and when to listen are the best life skills we are understanding.  Those skills will always be used throughout life.  It is going to be a great learning year together!

Monday, August 12, 2013

We Had a GGGRREEEAAATTTT First Week!!!

I am so pleased to announce, that our First Week here at the Jungle Room Pre-K was a GREAT one!  I already feel like I've been with these students longer than just a week!  I am absolutely shocked at how much these kids know!!!  Alot of my students have been here at Totspot for the 3's class, or even the 2's class!  I even have several younger siblings of past students.  That is really fun! 
We started this week by going on a classroom safari!  We made binoculars at Meet the Teacher and used them for our safari! I am super impressed on how fast these kiddos learned the rules an procedures of the Jungle Room!
Classroom Safari!
 We have begun to talk about our Names and Birthdays this week!  We will be showing off our All About Me posters in our room all year!  We will also be showing off our names!  I feel such a special bond with these students already!


We also read a book called, "Have you Filled a Bucket Today?"  that talks about filling other people's buckets by doing and saying nice things to them.  We don't want to be bucket "dippers" who dip into others good feeling by making fun of or being mean to them.  We will be using this theme to help remind the children to be bucket fillers all year long! 


Sunday, July 28, 2013

MEET THE TEACHER Night

 

Wednesday, July 31st

 

and

 

Thursday, August 1st

 

from 5 to 8pm.

 

 

We will see you there!


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

What is the difference between an Alpaca and a Llama?

Farmer Sean from Carter's Farm visited last Wednesday.  He brought a Llama, an Alpaca, and the piglaets from the week before.  We learned a lot about these animals.  For one, Alpacas and Llamas do not get along very well.  The two that were brought to our school had to be kept separate because they fight.  It is hard to tell the difference between llamas and alpacas when they are separate but when they are together it is much easier.  One obvious difference is that Llamas are bigger than Alpacas.  Another difference is their ears. An Alpaca's ears are straight but a Llamas ears are shaped more like a banana and turn back and forth so they can hear very, very well.  It is hard to sneak up on a Llama. 
A llama will also defend the herd it is living in, whether it is a herd of llamas, goats, or sheep.  An alpaca isn't as brave. If danger arrives they all scatter and it is every alpaca for himself.  We don't eat llamas or alpacas but use their fur to make fabric just like a sheeps wool but it is much more expensive.  They really don't make great pets, they are ornery and like to spit a thick green mucus on you. (YUCK!)  Luckily none of us got spit on and the kids each got a chance to pet the animals if they wanted to.  Some students were very brave while a few preferred to just watch. 
Farmer Sean also brought back the baby pigs from the week before.  They have grown so much.  Miss Meghan loved holding the baby pig while the kids got to pet him.  This week Farmer Sean brought in chickens, ducks, a turkey, and baby chicks.  And the black baby pig came back to tag along as well.  He was wandering the halls at TotSpot having lots of fun.  Next time Farmer Sean comes we will be bring ponies with him!  There are so many other fun things during the week for our students to do. 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Meet the Teacher and First Day of School is coming up!


School starts on Monday August 5th.  We will be having meet the teacher on Wednesday July 31st from 5-8 for our am classes and Thursday August 1st from 5-8 for our pm classes.  It is come and go so come whenever you can and bring your child to meet their teacher.  We can't wait to see you!

Having fun with Farmer Sean

The students squeal with delight when Farmer Sean comes to visit our school each Wednesday.  We have had a baby pig (2 weeks old!), a rabbit and a sheep. Pictured below is the baby goat only 2 days old!  Don't worry, mama goat came too.  Farmer Sean is just one of our fun summer activities.  The children AND the teachers are having a great time at summer camp.  So bring your kiddos in for some educational fun and beat the heat this summer.