Boo Boo Day!

You would not believe what happened in our classroom during letter "B!"  Our students had some terrible accidents and ended up with several boo boos!  We had houses falling on people, stars hitting people in the head, tiger attacks, dinosaur bites, people falling down the stairs, and so much more!  Lucky for us, the ambulance and fire department came and took care of all of our boo boos.  We had a great time as Matt Ketteler, Tyler Mitchell, and Curt Gotschall came and spoke to us and showed us some of the equipment.  The kids got to see the firemen in their full dress, learned what to do in the case of a fire, and then they got to see the fire trucks and climb aboard.  They also got to see the ambulance and some of the equipment and then learned about what might happen during a rescue call.

Matt Ketteler talking to the kids.

Tyler Mitchell in his fire gear.

The kids feeling the heavy fire coat material.

Trying on the fire coat.

Feeling how heavy the fire coat is.

Curt showing the inside of the ambulance.

Looking at all the equipment in the fire truck.

Walking across and jumping down from the fire truck.

Thank you so much to the Atkinson Fire and Rescue for coming and talking with us, and thank you for all you do!

Techncial Difficulties

My computer containing pictures from the school year is down, so I am unable to post recent pictures from activities.  I am praying that if we get the computer back, I will be able to get the pictures and update the blog.  Thank you for your patience!

Johnny Appleseed Day

Johnny Appleseed Day was a fun day for all classes!  Of course all classes enjoyed the apples for snack. The 3-4 year old class was talking about the color green, so we talked about the green trees and what a tree needs to grow.  The kids then enjoyed cutting out their trees and then painting the red apples on them. 
The Pre-K class was discussing the letter A in school.  The kids brought apples to school.  We cut them open and found a star in the center where the seeds are kept.  We enjoyed making hand print leaves and then used our apples and did some stamping with red paint to make the apples on the tree.  The next day at class had us talking about the four seasons, and the changes that an apple tree goes through in each season.

 3-4 year old class making their finger print apple trees.

Making hand print leaves.

Apple stamping red apples onto the green leaves!

A Tree For All Seasons!

Red, Blue, and Green

The 3-4 year old class has also been very busy in school.  They continue to become familiar with school, and are enjoying the many skills learned in preschool.  The favorites still tend to be cutting, gluing, and painting.  We started the school year out learning about red things, and the kids enjoyed making hand print crabs with red.  Blue and green had us finishing the crabs by painting blue water and green sea weed. 
If you are looking for things to do with your child at home, work on writing their names, and work on cutting on the lines of objects.  The kids are getting good at using scissors, so the next step is cutting on lines to cut things out.

A couple of the finished crab pictures.

Cowboy Day - Reminder!

I realized that after the pre-k left on Monday that I had forgot to give them their reminder about Cowboy Day on Thursday, October 11.  Your child is invited to dress in cowboy/girl clothes.  Thank you for your cooperation and I apologize for my forgetfulness!

Library Day!

For the Pre-Kindergarten we will be going to the library this year.  The kids are able to check out a book and then are allowed to take it home, but I ask that you please return the books to school in a timely manner!  If the books are not returned, we will not be able to take the books home.  Thank you for you cooperation!

Nursery Rhymes and Fun

So, I apologize that these are so late.  I had some technical difficulties, and am delayed in updating you on our monkey business!

We continue to have a lot of fun in our room.  The pre-kindergarten kids started the year out with a Nursery Rhymes.  We did rhymes like Jack and Jill, Mistress Mary, Hickory Dickory Dock, Humpty Dumpty, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hey Diddle Diddle, Old Jack Sprat, and Little Miss Muffet.  Mistress Mary had us turning into silverbells (ring ring), cockleshells (ahhh), and pretty dudes all in a row (as we didn't have enough girls to be maids!).  We turned the calendar area into a giant clock for Hickory Dickory Dock, and we ran around the clock with the mouse.  Old Jack Sprat had us putting our wife in pumpkin shells, and Jack and Jill had us rolling down hills.
We also had some water fun with Jack and Jill.  The students were invited to bring in something that floated in water, something that sank in water, and something that suspended in water.  The kids enjoyed showing off their results, and we had fun dipping into the water!

I hope that the students remember their nursery rhymes, especially as they help with future reading and language skills.

 Our Clock on the Floor for Hickory Dickory Dock!

 

Movable dioramas of Jack and Jill.

 

 Suspended turtle.

 Doing Jack and Jill water experiments.

Floating, suspending, and sinking objects in the water.

Welcome Back

Welcome back to another year.  School has started off once more.  We are jumping right in with our color study, and the Pre-K class is doing a Nursery Rhyme study as well.  We have a new room, with new friends, and new adventures!  Swing on in and have fun with us! 

 

Door to our Classroom!

 Another door in our classroom which is explains what we are doing everyday!

The welcome back to school bulletin board!

 A view of our room showing calendar/story area.

The sand/art area.

House Center

Hoping that this is the kind of year we will have!

PROGRAM!!

Don't forget our end of the year program will be Monday, May 14, 2012, at 7:00 PM at the KC Hall.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  The children have been hard at work preparing for this program, so I encourage all to attend.  Hope to see you there! 

Also, don't forget our last day of class for the Pre-K will be Monday the 14th, and the last day for the 3-4 year olds will be Tuesday the 15th.  Thank you!

X-Periments

Letter "X" turned out to be a difficult letter to come up with activities that started with the letter "X."  We talked about X-rays and our bones.  We also did some exercise that included us stretching and then following a treasure map with "X" marking the spot (we found treasure at the library)!  On Wednesday we enjoyed doing some experiments.  The students saw an experiment as to why our bones break (inertia), and then they did their own experiments with balancing and using invisible ink.  We had a lot of Ex-citement during the week.

Doing our X-Ray Pictures in Invisible Ink

     

Experimenting with Balance

"N" is for Newborn

As many of you are aware, we have been working our way through the alphabet in the 3-4 Year Old Classroom.  When we reached the letter "N" our class had a special visitor.  Ian brought in his newborn brother Holt.  The class was very excited to have such a special visitor, and they had many questions for Ian and his mom.  Thank you to Ian and his mom for sharing this exceptional show-and-tell for the letter "N."

The Class Meeting Holt

 

Our New Books!

The Friends of the Library Foundation were very generous to our preschool classes by donating a Nursery Rhyme book to each student.  On the Pre-K's last visit to the library, Judy Hagan read some books to us, sang some songs, and did an interactive story with us.  At the end of the visit, each child was given their own Nursery Rhyme book.  Judy then came and visited our 3-4 year-old classroom and read stories to us and sang some songs.  At the end of the visit, she also gave each student a book.  The students were all excited to get their own books, and we give a huge thank you to the Atkinson Public Library and the Friends of the Library Foundation for their thoughtfulness and generosity.
(Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me the day we went to the library, so I do not have pictures from that!) :( 

     Judy reading stories to the 3-4 Year-Old Class

3-4 Year olds with their new books

                                          

Watering Wildflowers

For the letter W, we learned about spring, planting flowers, and what plants need to grow.  Then the students were each given a flower pot.  They decorated the pot, put dirt in it, and then planted some wildflowers.  The students have been watering their flowers everyday.  The flowers are beginning to grow, and I think the students are all excited to see the green!

Decorating the flower pots and planting and watering the seeds.