Busy Minds at Work in Pre-K!

Dear Parents, 

We hope this blog finds you well! This week in Pre-K was fun, engaging, and full of exciting activities. In math, we focused on simple subtraction and comparing bigger numbers. In literacy, we continued practicing digraph words, reading sentences, while the other group worked on reading CVC words. 

We also enjoyed journaling, gymnastics, library visits, and science: our students’ favorite subject. We also learned about the continents. 

Overall, the class had fun and participated enthusiastically. Students worked together and independently without competition. Read on for more details…

For the morning message, we connected it to the day’s activities to give clues and help prepare the children for the day ahead.

Our students continue to do amazingly well, and we are very proud of all they have achieved so far.

Large group

Our large group sessions were so much fun, as always! Our students love to sit together and sing, read books, have conversations about different topics, complete classroom job responsibilities, and learn from each other. These sessions help boost their confidence because they are all sitting together and participating.

This week, we continued to review the shapes we’ve covered up until this point in the school year.

This week’s sight words were “who, that, are, and or”. They caught on so fast and really enjoyed the activity. These sight words help them learn more words for reading simple books.

As always, we completed our calendar activities and caterpillar work, along with classroom jobs.

Literacy

For literacy this week, in the first group, our sessions focused on reading. Students engaged in reading activities at different levels. Some students strengthened their ability to read CVC words, while others progressed to reading simple sentences. In the second session, students practiced their reading skills through a worksheet, where they read words and matched them to the correct pictures. Other students read sentences and matched them with the appropriate images. For the second group, they continued practicing reading CVC words to become more familiar with them. Then we provide them with a worksheet that has the missing vowel “a”. After that, they practiced reading the words. They have made amazing progress, and we are so proud of them!

Math

In our first math group this week, we introduced the concept of subtraction. Students explored this new idea using a variety of hands-on materials, which helped them clearly see what happens when we take something away. Through counting objects and physically removing them, they began to understand that subtraction means “taking away”. We also practiced counting backwards to support this understanding. These activities helped build a strong foundation for recognizing subtraction as the process of finding how many are left after some are taken away.

For the second group, we compared big numbers. Last week, as we know, we worked with small numbers. This week, they compared two numbers and circled the one that is larger on the worksheet. In the second session, they practiced writing a number independently to strengthen their fine motor skills and to practice number recognition.

Social studies

In social studies this week, we focused on introducing different kinds of flags, with special attention to the countries our students come from. The children were highly engaged as they explored and identified a variety of country flags. They showed great excitement in recognizing their own flags and learning about their friends’ countries as well. We also connected this learning to our continents topic, helping students understand which continent each country belongs to. This made the learning more meaningful and personal, as students were able to relate it to their own backgrounds and experiences.

Art

This week in art, our creative Pre-K class worked on another art canvas project! This time, inspired by their love of nature, they decided to depict a flower. First, we discussed the project together. We talked about what kinds of flowers the students enjoy looking at the most, where we see flowers in nature, and more. Then, our students got started! They were incredibly focused as they brought their flower idea to life on the canvas.

Before anything else, they painted the background of the canvas white. For the flower’s middle, they used bubble wrap and painted it yellow, adding an element of tactile interest. After that, they stuck the bubble wrap flower onto the canvas. Finally, they added leaves, placing them around the circle to finish up the flower form. Everyone did an amazing job, and they had so much fun throughout the whole process!

Next week's schedule

Small group

Monday: - Science, Literacy

Tuesday:- Library, Math

Wednesday:- Science, Literacy

Thursday: - Math, Journal

Friday:- Music

Thursday: - Literacy

Our Special

Monday: - Ethiopian center

Tuesday:- Library

Friday:- Art

Reminder

Every Tuesday is our library day, so we will be sending a book that your child picked from our library, which will be returned after a week on library day.

Every Friday is our art day so please send your child with art-appropriate clothing.

Thank you for your time!