Thursday, November 29, 2012

November catch up



Sorry that I have not posted for a while, but my computer stopped reading my camera disc and so I had to have the "guys" in the family figure out what I could do and finally came up with this little devise I hook into the computer.  So, this is my first try at this since we got it.  Here's  hoping. . . .
The first of November, we talked a lot about the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving and that included the letter I, and T, and F, which included words like ice, igloo, tom tom,and frogs. The following are a few of the pictures I was able to catch:

This year we used  large oatmeal boxes, small oatmeal box and baby formula cans. Before the kids got here, I wrapped the brown construction paper on the boxes,and  wrapped rubber bands on to hold the paper When the kids got to prek they removed the rubber bands, and started to get the top fixed by cutting out a circle to fit the lid and then decorating it.  I copied a number of pictures for them from the "Native American" designs and they started their decorating.
As you can see by the above, they used wolf paw prints, stars, turkey, birds, animals clip art

Obviously, these are originals!! 
 I found these turkeys and on the back of each one I put the upper case and lower case letters that we have learned so far. They would turn one over, and if they got it correct, they would take it.  The one who had the most letters, got a reward.
Isn't this a cute little turkey??  The game worked, the challenge of who can remember the letter and where it was located.
Then for our cutting practice, we cut out boxes with the spelling of the pictures on the page.  There was a cat, a cot, a doll, gas, a log, and a glass.  These are all letters that we have learned that spell words.
They are also learning how to use a glue stick, as well as how to cut out little squares.

On Wednesday, the kids worked with me rolling out dough into a circle, then we placed the dough into an emanada press, put some pie filling in, squeezed the press shut, cut the dough from the edges, then put them on a cookie sheet, punched a few holes into the crust with a fork, and put them into the oven. Hmmm.  In 20 minutes they came out of the oven and after a few minutes we brushed a glazed on them and they cooled. While I worked with one child at a time, the others had a triangle turkey who needed its feathers colored and pasted on to its body.  Then they filled in the spaces with the real feathers of many colors.

This brings us to today.  Our letter was "F" and  they were first given some fruit loops and needed to place the fruit loops on to the proper colors on this worksheet.  When they had done that, we counted each color and wrote the number beside it.  Then, of course, they got to gobble up the fruit loops.

Then we read a book about frogs, and the kids were each given  the cycle of a frog, from egg to tadpole

, to tadpole with legs, froglet and adult.
There was some discussion about how different each of them did things, so I pulled out this little book about differences.  We took the time to talk about our differences, our likes, dislikes, the way we look, dress, and other ways we are different.  Another "teaching moment" instead of an argument.
We had our snacks, and headed to the playroom, where at least one child has to be be in a costume to scare the others and get everyone running around before they settle down with a village, houses, circus, etc.
 I put on the white siberian tiger costume
 Then back up to the school room and Show and Tell  Here C tells about his Mario folder
 A shows how pleased she is listening to C
 I has an otter to show
B has one of his dads old phones, which he "loves"

It was a good day and B and S both got to pick from the "prize" box today and that made them happy.  They are obeying the rules, getting their work done, and showing good citizenship.  Gosh, it is fun being a PreK teacher.






Saturday, November 3, 2012

We are now into November and three months are now gone.  We will just be used to saying the year as 2012 and it will change to 2013
Thursday was kind of laid back, but I wanted to be sure that the kids know the safety rules, in the event of an accident, of fire.  It seemed to frighten a couple of the kids, but they did have fun when I had them crawl through the house on their hands and knees.  We went out to the front of the lawn next to the neighbors house which is where the kids would go if there was an emergency.
We called 911 and some of the kids got to be the caller and some the operator.  they stated the emergency and were given instructions of what they should do  We also read some safety cards and figured out what we should do if /. . . . . . You might want to quiz your kids 
                     Crawled out front door

The kids are always anxious for their show and tell day and B brought her glow in the dark butterfly, which we had to see how it worked We went into the dark room and had a real glow in the dark experience


 A showed us her new tooth brush and told us about her Dad's experience at the dentist
 There are many ways to play matching games and I have this game board that uses cards.  They had a good time trying to match spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs.



 B brought his whirring whistle and it was fun to listen to the first few times, but alas it got annoying to all of us and had to be put away until time to go home




 I am trying to teach them that a lollipop lasts much longer if you suck on it instead of chewing on it.  Well, it wasn't long before we heard crunching and the fingers began to point.


We also talked about the practical reason that there is paper on a lollipop.  I showed them how to turn the top to expose the lollipop, then turn it down to the stick.  Then if they get tired of it and want to save it for later, the paper can be pulled up, twisted, and saved without all that sticky candy to worry about.
We liked this book because it taught us that we need to stay near our parents when we go to the mall or other shopping store.  They were asked to hold hands, but Papa bear said he did not need to.  Guess what?? Papa bear got lost, but Mama knew just where to find him

These are our new sight words   Please go over them with your kids

 
 The states we are learning are Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and of course my home state Pennsylvania

Another week finished and a good week at prek.








Hallwoeen Fun 30 Oct 2012

Halloween is always fun and this was no exception.  I sure had a lot of fun with the kids, and I think that they did too!  Well, let's see just what kind of spookey things arrived at prek this day?
 Harry Potter and his magic wand  B sure likes that want
 I was a soccer girl   B a Barbie princess  with beautiful hair
 Spider man C
 Halloween princess
Scarey Ghost, SWork before play.  Another glue practice.  This time on that daub of glue the kids put skeletons, witches, spiders, ghosts and monsters  They all seem to hit the dot when there are dots, but. . . . .







 It's Pumpkin Mouse,  a great little book and a read along
 We played a skeleton dice game similar to cootie  6 as head, 5 the body, 4,3 arms 5,6 legs



 The kids took pictues of this scarey looking thing
 Now comes the fun, bobbing for donuts. 








 We tried to make mummies, but there was too much movement and the paper kept breaking
 Introducing the Halloweek gang!
Another fun day at preschool!!