Paper Planes & Picnic Snacks :)

The weather was amazing today! We started the day off with Sean's dad helping us all make paper airplanes. Then we decided to take them outside for a little test run! We got some new table games with neat straws and connectors that we built a giant house with...it even had an elevator! We were going to have lunch outside but it was really windy so we had a picnic afternoon snack instead! (Ice cream , yum yum!) What a great way to end the week! Have a great long weekend!!

A Busy Day in Pre-K

We were very busy people in Pre-K today! We really enjoyed the warm weather outdoors and we can't wait for warmer weather tomorrow! We talked about having an outdoor picnic lunch tomorrow to celebrate Friday! We all agreed it's a good idea! :)

A Beautiful day in Pre-K

We are really enjoying all of the nice weather this week. We hung a prism in our window and watched it make rainbows when the sun hit it. It was really neat!We have also been having lots of fun playing outdoors. We can't wait to start planting our garden!

This is the way we brush our teeth...

On Tuesday we had some friends come from the community college that are enrolled in the dental hygiene program. They taught us how to properly brush our teeth and floss. They brought some really neat dinosaurs for us to practice on!

Reminders:)

We finally got some sun today! Yay! Just a few reminders for the rest of the week...If you are able too, please sign up to bring in a piece of fruit for our Rainbow Pizza that we will be making on Thursday and Friday so all the children will be able to enjoy it! We are also in need of hangars to do a project this week..If you have any spare ones lying around, please send them in! Thank you very much in advance for all your contributions. Also, I will be out all next week (taking a fun trip to Florida to visit my mom) so Kayla will be in Pre-K for the week!! Hope you all have a good rest of the week!

Hope you are all having a great weekend! It's a beautiful day out...so enjoy the sunshine because who knows how long it will last! Just a couple of reminders for this week..Red Sox day is tomorrow! If you have any red sox apparel, please wear it!! We will be having a special afternoon snack and playing a game of baseball! We will be making Rainbow pizza on Friday. A sign up list for fruit needed for the cooking activity will be posted on the sign in sheet. Thank you in advance! We are still collecting water bottles, soup cans with no lids and cereal boxes for activities this month. Thank you to all those who contributed so far. I will see you all tomorrow!

Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS: Participate in activities that generate response (Five little umbrellas), share their ideas and experiences in small groups (ideas about rainbows), create representations (drawings/paintings of rainbows, clouds or rain) about their ideas and describe them to others, explore a wide variety of printed materials about subjects that interest children (story books, dictionaries, factual and informational books), use finger plays, games, poems and stories that include rhyme and alliteration to develop an awareness of differences in spoken words, syllables and sounds (songs about rain, clouds and rainbows), take home a class-made book and describe the story and illustrations to family members, explore themes that grow out of children's interests/experiences, describe something learned about a topic (rainbows, clouds, rain) verbally or through representations.

MATHEMATICS: Follow visual or rebus recipes (rainbow toast and rainbow pizza), participate in finger plays and action rhymes that associate number concepts with concrete action (umbrellas, finger plays, Rainbow colors), eat snacks cut in various shapes, create represent shapes (using Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners), follow or use directional language related to daily routines and activities, take part in creating and discussing surveys (child's favorite color in the rainbow).

SCIENCE: Ask questions about materials and the environment (Why do we have rainbows? How come the rainbows have that shape? Where does rain come from?), test predictions through concrete experience to confirm or refute them (use eyedroppers to mix food colors with water), create representations to illustrate what they learned about materials or the environment (a rainbow, a rainy day picture), explore the properties of water in its natural state as found in the daily environment (puddles), observe characteristics of clouds and make representations using finger paint, easel paints, shaving cream, walk in the rain, record observations about the weather (cloudy/rainy days, number of rainbows seen after the rain), observe colors created by sunlight through a prism hung in the window, experiment with "magic mixtures" of common materials (flour, baking soda, cornstarch, water, salt, vinegar, food coloring).

HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE: Identify positive characteristics observed in classmates' behavior in daily routines, discuss what could happen when children are not considerate of one another when a situation arises, talk about the consequences of negative behavior, take responsibility for cleaning up after their own activities.

HEALTH EDUCATION: Use materials on vertical surfaces, use a hand hole punch on materials of increasing thickness to punch as many holes as they are able; squeeze squirt bottles (to make a rainbow on a large white sheet), use eye droppers to squeeze drops of colored water onto coffee filters, cut materials with a range of resistance, string beads, straw segments, cheerios (to make rainbow necklaces), create puppet shows with finger puppets, have a food tasting party with samples of a wide variety of nutritious foods (Rainbow Salad), act out what can be done if someone hurts your feelings (Second Step).

ARTS: MOVEMENT & DANCE:

-change one part of a simple movement sequence

- play traditional games and dances

-use balls, hoops, beanbags to explore the concepts of over, under, around, in front of, behind

MUSIC:

-sing finger plays (Five little umbrellas)

-create hand-made instruments (rain shakers)

-explore the sounds make by various rhythm instruments

-use musical instruments to enhance story telling

-make up songs about their experiences or make up new words to familiar songs

THEATER ARTS:

-use movement, gesture, voice and facial expressions to convey characteristics or roles of a character

-create group constructed murals (paint on a large piece of paper) for use as a backdrop

VISUAL ARTS:

-use a variety of painting techniques and tools (various size brushes, sponges, cotton balls, Q-tips and finger painting)

-combine primary colors to discover secondary colors using tempera paints, watercolors, or food coloring

-talk about how different colors make them feel

April Newsletter

Dear Pre-K Families,

Welcome to the month of April! April showers bring May flowers! Let's hope the warm weather is soon to follow. The children have been asking many questions about rainbows and why/how do they form after it rains. It's Raining Rainbows will be our theme for this month. We will be exploring the world of rainbows and rainy weather. This coincides with the Science Preschool Guidelines of recording observations about weather (cloudy/rainy days, number of rainbows) as well as exploring the properties of water in its natural state as found in the daily environment (puddles). Please feel free to bring in umbrellas, rain boots, jackets and hats. We will be trying to go on walks in the rain if the weather brings us April showers.
We have many creative science and art projects lined up throughout the month. We will be in need of hangers, soup cans with no lids, plastic soda bottles or water bottles and cereal boxes. If you have any of these items, please send them in with your child. We will also be talking about recycling and how to make the earth a safer and cleaner place to live on Earth Day, April 22nd. We will start a recycling box set up in the classroom where the children can sort through their lunch items and recycle. Attached are a couple of kid friendly articles about recycling that you can share with your child.
On April 6th we will celebrate opening day for our favorite team the Red Sox! If the children have any Red Sox apparel, please feel free to have them wear it to school. We will enjoy a special Fenway snack of popcorn and English muffin pizzas as well as play a game of baseball outdoors. We will be having a class snack of Rainbow Pizza on Friday, April 10th. We will be posting a sign up sheet for fruits needed for our snack, if you can please sign up and bring in a piece of fruit that will be greatly appreciated. On Earth Day, April 22nd, we will be taking a litter walk along the bike path (that's where the cereal boxes come in handy) to pick up trash and recycle items found outdoors. Our monthly trip to Heritage will be on Friday, April 24th. On April 30th we will be taking another walking trip to the Falmouth Public Library for story hour. We will be leaving the center at 9:15 that morning . There are many dates to remember so a sign will be posted on the clip board a couple of days prior to our outing. If any parents or grandparents would like to join us on any of these trips, we would love to have you come along.
Just a few quick reminders:
*Please check your child's basket located in the bathroom to update their stock of extra clothing.
*Please check the mailbox daily for important notices and events.
*If anyone would like to come in and share an interest, hobby, or story, please see me and we can set up a time. The children really enjoy having visitors come into our classroom.
*If you have any books on rainbows or prisms please feel free to share them with the class.
We would like to thank Abigail's mom, Pam Neubert, who graciously does the face painting on our friendly celebration days. The children work hard to be kind to one another and do helpful things throughout the day.
If you ever have any questions or concerns about your child, please feel free to speak to me at any time.
Pre-K Riddle: What do you call a fly that falls into kitty litter?
Thank you,
Alicia

Connecting Generations...a trip to Heritage!

Today we went to the Heritage to share songs and special cards with our elderly friends. We had a lot of fun...we thought it was pretty silly that the fire alarms kept going off (because they were being tested.) It was a fun trip! Thank you to Mike Neubert for coming along with us!

Reminder...

We are going to Heritage Assisted Living Tuesday (tomorrow) the 17th. We are leaving the center at 10:15am! Please have your child at the center by then. Thank You!

Library Story Hour

Today we went to the Falmouth Public Library to join story hour. Mrs. Donna read us three books and we got to play musical instruments. After the stories we go to do a craft. It was a lot of fun!

"Caps For Sale"

Today Shannon's Nana came in to share a book called "Caps For Sale" with us. Some of us knew the book and some of us did not! Afterwards, we got to make our own caps out of paper and decorate them. A big Thank you to Shannon's Nana for coming. We really enjoyed it!

"We all live in a yellow submarine.."

We were very busy in Pre-K today! We have finished our yellow submarine!

We grew our own sea animals!

We finished decorating the front entrance...and we added some really cool painted seaweed!

We also had a "sea creature puppet show" that all the kids participated in! Lots of fun in here!

Underwater...

It was a fun filled rainy indoor day today in Pre-K! We got to play with beach sand, shells, seaweed and even salt water! We also did lots of work on our "yellow submarine" and made jelly fish for the front entrance (Don't forget to check them out!) In the afternoon we created our very own obstacle course followed by rhythm sticks and dancing! What a day!!