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. 

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.

Having fun in Ms. Monica's 3 Year Old Class

We had a wonderful time with our letter W and wiggly worms. We each got to take some home to put into the soil around our flowers and plants.

This past week our focus was seeds and flowers. We learned how a seed becomes a flower. We discovered the many parts of a flower and what each part does to help the flower grow.  This is our class flower shop. They made wonderful floral creations and sold them for the affordable price of one hug or magically invisible money. They were so creative!

Caterpillars to Butterflies unit. We learned all about Metamorphosis. The children were caterpillars that munched their way around the classroom. Here they are wrapped up in their chrysalis' waiting to become butterflies. Our little friend to the left is just emerging and getting his wings to work. 

The butterflies flew around the classroom to find flowers and get a sip of nectar.

We had an EGGciting Easter week. We did several experiements with eggs and did our own Easter eggs dying pr

ojects. When we got ready for our class Easter egg hunt. We practiced counting to six and each of the children took 6 eggs to hide. I explained that they should put each egg in a different spot in the classroom. I gave them many ideas of places that would be great "hiding spots."  I turned them loose to do their hiding magic and this is Easter egg hiding 3 to 4 year old style. Can you find any eggs???

Radar, our class pet, continues to be a special part of our class. The children look forward to feeding him fresh hay everyday and keeping him stocked with plenty of water. He happily squeeks and interacts with each child.  When we did our unit on vegetables they shared some carrots and celery with him. They have become a very responsible class.

We are Having a BLAST in Pre-K!!

    We are really close to finishing up our Preschool year!  With only a few weeks left, we are having a blast finishing up our Alphabet Stars of the Week!  
     After Spring break, we enjoyed a week of Easter Celebrations!  We found Easter Eggs and graphed them, used shaving cream and food coloring to swirl our eggs, and made bunnies out of envelopes!  We really enjoyed that week! 

Shaving Cream Swirl Eggs!!!

     After Easter, we found Umber Umbrella, (which is actually a real bird...we watched a video of it in action!) and worked on many Uu words!  Umbrellas,  underground, up, uniforms and many other words were discussed and then "played" with during centers!  They also loved talking about Uu's different sounds...long and short!  Our Show-n-Tell was amazing!!  

Show - n -Tell Uu!  Amazing!

      We have also finished up Ww - Willie Weasel - and loved playing and petting our pet worms in our sensory tub!  I was so proud that many of them were so very brave to touch the worms!  We watched them like scientists, observing and recording them.  We also explored watermelons and even got to plant our own to take home and watch grow!  The last couple of weeks have been so much fun!  I love being a part of their learning!  

Worms!

Worms!

And More Worms!

Summer School Registration is going on now!

We are soooooo ready for Kindergarten!

Lunch at the Zoo!

       Well, I can't believe that we are only a quarter away from my students graduating preschool and moving on to Kindergarten!  It makes me so happy, yet so sad to see them leave me!  I have seen such great things from these students over the past few months when I've been able to be their teacher.  The skills that they've gained and the learning that has taken place has been crazy awesome!  I love teaching this age because you can see their growth each and every day.  It's amazing!  I have the best job in the world!
      A few things we have done over the past few weeks  have involved our "Stars of the Week" and a great field trip to the zoo!  That was a lot of fun seeing these kids absorbing all they see at the zoo.  The weather was perfect and the animals were out, loving the sunshine!  What a fabulous field trip!!!
       We have been busy working on our last few letters of the alphabet and one of my favorite weeks was Timothy Tiger's week.  We actually had him visit our classroom and teach us all sorts of words that begin with his letter.  We sang his favorite number songs (2 & 10) and he even danced a little.  We painted with tire tracks, brushed vampire teeth with toothbrushes and "toothpaste", decorated spring trees with popcorn as blossoms, and had a monster truck race game!  All of these hands-on activities are making concrete connections to these preschooler's brains, not just for the letter name and sounds, but also for critical thinking, fine & large motor, and social skills as well.  This is the best age for these kiddos to explore and absorb all the things they see, feel and hear each day!

Timothy Tiger Visits!

Tire Track Art

Dr. Welch teaching us how to take care of our Teeth!

We had Dr. Welch come for a visit during our Timothy Tiger Week and taught us about our teeth.  He is a pediatric dentist and was so great with the kids.  They just loved him to pieces!  He taught them the good and bad things to eat and do for our teeth.  What a fun day!  Thank you Dr. Welch!!!