A Week of Wonders in Early Preschool!

1 day ago
4 min read

Happy Birthday Millie

Dear Parents,

We hope this blog finds you well! Here in the Early Preschool class, we have had a wonderful week filled with many fun activities! We hope you enjoy reading these updates about what your children have been learning. Please continue to practice communication and fine motor skills at home to help them grow. Thank you for your support!

Large Group

Our large group time starts with a cheerful "Hello Song" to get everyone excited for the day. After we sing, we ask the children what day it is, and one student gets to move the happy face to the exact day of the week. Then we check the weather together, and another student chooses the right picture to show the class. When we take attendance, we look around the circle to see who is missing and say their names. A student then picks up pictures of their friends and hand-deliver them to each person, which is a great way for them to practice communicating, identifying names, and knowing their friends.

This week, we read a book called Big Sister and talked all about family members, asking the children if they have a big or small sister. We also practiced our numbers and talked about animals using pictures of a cow, honey, a bee, a chicken, and an egg. We discussed how we get milk from cows and eggs from chickens before finishing our circle time with high-fives for everyone.

Art

For our art activity, we worked on creating a background on canvas for an upcoming project. We sat together and discussed what color we should use for our project. Most of the children said they wanted purple, so we chose purple to be our main color. The children did a great job painting the canvas to make the background, and they were very focused on covering the whole surface with the color they picked.

Science

In science, we have been working on a very special project that connects to our lesson about animals! We have been learning all about the relationship between the chicken and the egg, specifically focusing on what we get from eggs and how they are part of our world. This project actually started last week when the children used their hands and clay to carefully mold and shape their own eggs.

We let the clay dry, and this week we moved on to the next exciting step, which was adding color. The children used many different colors to paint their clay eggs, turning their hard work from last week into beautiful, colorful creations. This activity was great for helping them understand the process of how things are made and gave them a hands-on way to remember what we learned about chickens and eggs. The children were so proud to see their eggs finally finished and painted!

Gymnastics

For gymnastics, we had an amazing time with our session, which revolved around ball handling! We began with some fun warm-up activities to get our muscles ready and our bodies moving. Once we were ready, we focused on different ways to play with the balls. This activity was a wonderful way for the children to work on their fine motor skills and coordination as they practiced both throwing and kicking the ball.

The children were incredibly excited and showed great focus as they took their turns. While they were very engaged and did a great job, many of them are still learning the best way to aim and release, so they could use more practice on these specific movements. We want to remind you that practicing focusing and throwing the ball at home is a great way to help your child build these skills. They were so happy to participate and had a lot of fun cheering for one another!

Library

During our library session, the children practiced their social skills and their love for reading. We all gathered together and made a big, quiet circle to prepare for our book time. The children were very calm and respectful as they sat with their friends to look through different stories. It was so sweet to see them sharing the pages and talking about the pictures together. After we finished our group reading time, each child had the chance to choose a special book that they wanted to take home. This helps them feel responsible for their own learning and gives them something exciting to share with you at home!

Math Station: Exploring Opposites

This week at our Math station, we focused on the concept of opposites by exploring empty and full. To help the children understand these mathematical ideas, we used several hands-on materials that allowed them to see and feel the difference. We provided some students with water bottles and invited them to pour water inside; they were very excited to watch the water rise and proudly announce when their bottle had reached "full."

For other students, we used cups and bowls with different materials to practice filling and emptying. This gave the children a chance to compare different containers and describe what they were seeing. By using these various objects, the children didn't just hear the words "empty" and "full". They actually experienced the concept through touch and observation. This activity was wonderful for their cognitive development and helped them build a strong foundation for early math and logic, all while having fun with different textures and tools.