I usually begin preschool in August when the public schools have their first day, but this school year we traveled to Alabama to be with our sixth daughter, who had her fourth little boy. So, with all this excitement of traveling and getting back to A/C that did not work (house was 90degrees) I was taking it easy and getting prepared for this darling little group of 3-4 year old boys and girls. It has been a few years since I taught this age (about 5), so I have to revamp everything, so it will be a new adventure!!
As we were waiting for every one to arrive, each of the children was given an egg carton in which each of the twelve sections was filled with something that they needed to find a match with. There were lady bugs, pom poms, little cars, dinosaurs, ninja soldiers, etc. One thing, these children can do is match things. When we do it again, we will discuss colors, numbers, differences, but for this time, just matching was good.
Then we proceeded with the things that we would be doing each day. The first of which was to salute the flag. One of the children said, "I have never done this before, I don't know what to say." I assured them that they would have most of it learned by the end of the school year and that if they would recite it with me each day, they would learn it. So, this is our flag!
If you will notice, on the thumb of the right hand of each child we have drawn a smiley face so that they will remember which hand they are using. Because they will salute with the right hand, it is necessary for them to use their it. I am not sure which website I saw this suggestion, but I thought this could also help them tell their parents what they had learned--what is right!!
Sammy shows his right hand
Hyrum looks very thoughtful about his
Janaye looks a little doubtful
I just recently saw this idea and liked it so much, that we will be using it to learn our numbers this year. They slip the vest over their heads and for the week, they will be the number that appears on the vest. Today Janaye was number one which means that she would be helping with the number one job (will show their helping hands later) They did not seem to mind using them, but we removed them when we went for snack time and playtime as they would get in the way.
Above is their punch card for behavior. As you can see, Hyrum has three stars. First, he completed his egg carton activity, then he stood to do the pledge, and then he finished coloring the monster with its rule on it.The object is to get the card filled by doing acts of kindness as well as finishing their work. When it is full, they are able to pick a "treasure" from the box. Parents, be aware, that I do not allow them to open their packages until they are on their way home so they don't get so involved in it that they forget what else needs to be done before the day is over.
The picture below is the calendar. This is to help them learn the months, the days and the years. We sing the song with the tune of the Adamms family These are the words: Clap Clap--Days of the Week (clap, Clap) There's Sunday, and there's Monday, There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday, there's Thursday and there's Friday, and then there's Saturday (clap, clapp) Today Joey was in charge of the calendar and his job was to put the three on Tuesday, use the pointer to show the days, then the month.
We discussed some of the things that we need to do when we are listening
Now, here are our little "monsters" who did not know the rules for preschool. The children helped with the rules and I wrote them , then had them colored, and put them on the wall. As you can see, most of them liked the color "blue"
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| That passed the first hour and then they were given a tour of the girls and boys bathroom. They learned that the girls are on the left and the boys are on the right. They learned that they were to get their hands wet, then put on the soap, make bubbles with the soap, rinse their hands, turn off the water and dry their hands. This is something they need to do after they use the toilet, and before they go for snacks. | Then they proceeded into the kitchen where they had their snacks. After snacks, Miss JoDee took the children to the playroom and I called one by one to come back to the kitchen where we rolled out their sugar cookies, pressed the hand shape into the dough, and put the cookie onto the cookie sheet. We put the beginning letter of their names on them so that they would be able to tell which one was theirs. Then Miss JoDee read them the story of the Kissing hand by Audrey Penn.
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This is a good time for the children to learn how to sit still while someone reads to them.
The hand also had a heart in the middle and these are some before they were baked
Yummy frosting
Look at these puffy little hands These two are the Johnson brothers
Finished product. Did your look like this??
These were for those of the children who were afraid they would not get a cookie to eat
I hope that the cookies got home safely and that the moms and dads enjoyed them.
I think that we accomplished what we needed to today. this will be a fun school year for me and I hope it will be for the children, But, I have to admit, I was just plain tired when the last child had his/her shoes and socks on, their backpacks collected, and their cookies for their moms or dads, in their hands.
Thanks for this chance to be with your children. I love teaching PreK!!
I would love to hear from you mom's about any suggestions that would make this blog more informative for you.
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