A Week of Stories, Senses, and Creative Expression in Early Pre K

4 days ago

4 min read

Dear parents,

This week was filled with opportunities to explore experiment, create, and learn through hands-on experiences. Our Early Pre-K class enjoyed discovering new concepts and expressing their creativity through a variety of engaging activities.

Large Group

During our large group time, we began by talking about our morning and sharing what we did before coming to school. We sang our Good Morning Song, checked who was here and who was absent, and reviewed the days of the week and months of the year. We then explored primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. Our students were especially engaged when we asked, “Who is wearing blue?” and “Who is wearing yellow?” and looked around the class to find the colors on their friends’ clothes.

Afterward, we practiced counting together and reviewed our Zoophonics sounds and actions. We also began talking about family and what the word family means, sharing ideas about the people who are special to us and how families care for and support one another. We read There’s No Place Like Home. Our students enjoyed listening to the story and talking about what makes their own homes special.

Small group

Math

During our math session, we had the opportunity to practice counting loud up to 15. We then focused on the number 2, helping them to recognize and identify it among other numbers. Our students were given a worksheet with different numbers and were asked to find and circle the number 2. They enjoyed searching for the correct number while strengthening their number recognition skills.

In our other math session, our students were introduced to AB patterns. We explained how a pattern can repeat in the same order, such as one color followed by another color. Using colorful pompoms and teddy bears, our students created their own patterns by arranging two different colors in a repeating sequence. This hands-on activity helped them practice recognizing, continuing, and creating patterns while developing their observation, concentration, and early mathematical thinking skills.

Literacy

During our literacy session, we began by reviewing the Zoophonics sounds and recalling our previous lessons on beginning sounds. This helped our students strengthen their understanding that letters represent specific sounds and that these sounds can be heard at the beginning of words.

For our journaling activity, our students were given the opportunity to express their ideas through drawing. They used crayons and other writing materials to create their own pictures and share what they had drawn. Journaling encourages our students to use their imagination and express their thoughts while also developing their fine motor skills, pencil control, and confidence in communicating their ideas through pictures.

Science

During our first science session, our students made their own sensory bottles using water, pompoms, beads, glitter, and plastic bottles. As they explored the materials, some of our students enjoyed counting the pompoms and beads, while others were interested in touching and feeling the different textures. They carefully observed the materials as they moved through the water and enjoyed creating their own colorful sensory bottles. Once they finished making their bottles, we connected the activity to our previous lesson about floating and sinking. Our students remembered what we had learned and talked about which materials can float and which ones can sink. This gave them an opportunity to connect a previous science concept with a new hands-on experience.

During our next science session, our students explored a variety of textures. They touched and felt different materials, noticing how some felt soft, rough and smooth. This sensory exploration encouraged our students to use descriptive words, make observations, and become more aware of how different materials feel.

Art

During our art session, our students worked in pairs to create drawings together on large chart paper using the standing easel. Working side by side gave them the opportunity to share space, exchange ideas, and enjoy the creative process together. This activity encouraged creativity, self-expression, cooperation, and fine motor development. Using the standing easel also allowed our students to practice drawing with larger arm movements while developing confidence in expressing their ideas through art.

Gymnastics

During our gymnastics session, our students took part in an exciting movement activity using colorful hula hoops. We connected the hula hoops together in a straight line, and our students moved through them one by one, stepping or crawling into each hoop before continuing to the next. After completing the hula hoop activity, they moved on to jumping on the musical dots. These activities gave our students opportunities to practice coordination, balance, body control, and gross motor skills.

Library

During our library time, each of our students chose a doll and selected a book to read to their doll. They enjoyed pretending to be the storyteller, looking through the pictures, and sharing their ideas about the story. Afterward, our class chose one book to read together. This activity encouraged our students to develop their love of books, storytelling skills, vocabulary, and confidence in expressing their ideas, while also practicing caring and nurturing behaviors through pretend play.