Kindergarten Adventures: Week 3!

5 days ago

7 min read

Dear Family, How did your weekdays go by? If you’re wondering how ours went, we’ve got all the details ready for you! Take a little peek into our week and see for yourselves through the pictures attached below each of the sessions we had.

Large Group

Besides getting our calendar fixed, helping our Number Caterpillar grow, singing songs in between, and reading our Large Group book to settle into our day and start together in a circle, we always have a Large Group topic that we practice throughout the week. This week, our main focus was spelling words and practicing writing them. Our children took turns coming up to the board to spell and write different words, giving them a chance to practice their letter formation while also thinking about the sounds that make up each word. We also practiced writing two digit numbers on the board. It was a great opportunity for our children to build confidence with their number formation and get more comfortable writing numbers independently.

“I went to the playground, Family amusement park and then we go to the restaurant with my sister Nia we went home and then I played at my house and I was eating pizza and my sister Nia went home with my aunty” -Layan

“In the weekend we went to a pizza shop and we ate pizza and I played a little there and we went home and we also go to a shop with my mom and bought a scooter that actually makes noise” -Gigi

“Yesterday was my dad’s birthday and we went somewhere to celebrate and eat and then the cake came and I blew the candle for him and then when we came home I sat on the couch and rested for so long” -Kian

“I was in Zambia for 2 weeks because I spent two Saturdays there and I left, daddy coming back in October, I swam, I jumped in the deep, I swam to the shallow, swimming pool, I get stones with a snapper, I didn’t play football though” -Lubono

“I play with my brother and we play animals” -Arthur

“I swim and I learned how to swim and to also write number with my brother and sister” -Elion

“Yesterday, we went to the burger shop and then I ate burger and me and my dad bought the biggest burger ever with sprite and my brother got Fanta and my mom and my dad got coca then my dad went to century and we bought Oreo and everything and took it home and I also called Ruaansh with my mom’s phone and we talked with video and he showed me his TV” -Noam

“I put white slime on my clothes and I clean it and I played with with it too and then I put water and it become new and I played with blocks with my mom”

-Samaria

Literacy

Speaking of spelling words and writing, we continued practicing our names again this week, but of course, we had to make it fun and hands on! For our first session, we went to the Art Room, where each child had a chance to write their name and then decorate it with paint all on their own. They enjoyed being creative while practicing their name writing and making their work their own. For our second session, we headed to the Zen Den and used the light box with sand for some sensory writing! We took turns, and each child got a chance to write their name in the sand using their fingers. They were so excited about it that even after everyone had finished their turn, they didn’t want to stop! They started writing whatever they wanted in the sand together as a group, turning the activity into their own little writing time.

Math

Thinking… why not make Math a little more hands on? This week, we had lots of fun using everyday materials to practice our math skills! For our first session, we played “which lid fits” We placed different containers on one side and their lids on the other, then took turns trying to find which lid belonged to which container. It may have looked like a simple matching game, but there was lots of Math happening! Our children were practicing matching, comparing, observing, problem solving, and understanding size and shape while having fun at the same time. For our second session, we continued with our Brain Math and introduced a new word; estimation! We placed different materials on the board and invited our children to choose one. Before counting, they had to make their best guess about how many pieces they thought there were and write their estimation on the board. Then came the fun part; we counted the materials together to see how close our guesses were! We talked about how mathematicians don’t always need to know the exact answer right away. Sometimes, we can look, think, make a smart guess, and then check our answer.

“This is too easy for me I know all the lids” -Noam

“This is for this one yeah? Can I close?” -Arthur

“This is the pot’s lid yeah?” -Gigi

“Ten markers” -Samaria

“I said 25 and I’m correct” -Elion

“I think there are 51 color pencils inside. Wait no actually it’s 32” -Kian

“And I think there are 16 thin markers there.” -Lubono (and he got it right)

“But Phi, I didn’t get any correct I want to try again; there are 22 pencils” -Layan (and it was the closest guess)

Science

Since the colors in our Caterpillar ABC patterns were chosen by our children and happened to be our primary colors, we thought, why not become little color scientists and explore what these three colors can do? We started by talking about our primary colors; red, yellow, and blue and how these three special colors can be mixed together to create many of the beautiful shades and colors we see around us. For our first session, we became little scientists and experimented with color mixing using clear cups. Our children took turns adding and mixing the colors together and watched closely as the colors changed right in front of their eyes! They were so excited to see what new colors they could create. Then, we thought, if colors can change when we mix them, what else can we discover when we experiment? So, for our second Science session, we moved from exploring what happens when things mix to exploring what happens when things meet water! We investigated Sink or Float! We chose different objects, made our predictions about whether each one would sink to the bottom or float on top, and then tested our ideas by placing them in water. It was a great opportunity to practice predicting, observing, testing, and talking about what we discovered!

“Look my red and yellow are mixing orange” -Elion

“I choose yellow and blue and I get green” -Arthur

“Yellow, blue, and green” -Nai

“The cotton is sinking and the blocks are sinking too cause it’s heavy not light” -Lubono

“The domino float and sink, it’s different” -Samaria

“My observation is the rocks are sinking because they are heavy” -Layan

“The puppets sank because it’s heavy” -Noam

“The sponge blocks are floating cause they are very easy and light” -Gigi

“The ones on the top guys are floating and the ones at the bottom are sinking”

-Kian

Art

Since we’ve been exploring our primary colors in Science, we decided to bring the same idea into our Art session and let our children get creative with color! We started by giving them the three primary colors; red, yellow, and blue and let them experiment with mixing them together. They watched as the colors changed and created different new shades right in front of them. Once we finished our little color mixing experiment, we gave everyone a fresh piece of paper for some free painting. This time, there were no instructions or specific colors to make they were free to mix, blend, and create whatever they wanted.

Gymnastics

We started our first Gymnastics session of the year by focusing on something very important for our Kindergarteners; strengthening those little hand muscles! Since Kindergarten comes with lots of writing, drawing, cutting, and other activities that require strong and controlled hands, we wanted to help our children get those muscles ready for the year ahead. So, we made our own Oobleck using cornstarch and water! Our children squeezed, pressed, poked, and played with it using their hands, giving their fingers and hand muscles a fun little workout while exploring its unique texture. It was a messy and playful way to build hand strength and fine motor skills while having lots of fun.

“I need more water mine is so solid now” -Lubono

“If it’s solid that means you’re doing a good job” -Kian

“Can I have more corn starch please it’s too watery” -Layan

“I need more water please I need more” -Arthur

“My hands are tired. I’ll tell my mom and we will do this at home too” -Gigi

Next week’s schedule:

Monday – Math, Literacy

Tuesday – Literacy, Science

Wednesday -Library, Math

Thursday - Science, Music

Friday - Library

Specials:

Monday- Art

Tuesday - Gym

Thursday - Ethiopian center/ clay

Reminders and notes:

* Please make sure that our children are wearing suitable clothes on Monday as we have art class and activities get messy sometimes.

* Every Wednesday and Friday is library day. Our children will be bringing home a book of their choice in their library folder, so please make sure to read the book with them over the weekend. Please return the folder the following Wednesday so they can get a new one. 

* Every Tuesday, we have gymnastics, so please ensure that our children come dressed in comfortable and loose fitting sports attire to facilitate their exercise.

* Every Friday, we have football, so please make sure our children wear their football jerseys if they have them, or any comfortable shorts.

We’re so proud of how much our children are settling into their routines and enjoying every part of their Kindergarten journey. We can’t wait to see what next week brings!