Our Little Learners: Weekly Highlights in Early Preschool

Dear families,

This week was amazing! Our children are getting used to the routine and showing great progress. We enjoyed fun activities that supported their learning, social skills, and creativity. It’s wonderful to see them grow each day! 

Large Group

Our large group sessions were wonderful this week! We started with a cheerful Hello Song to welcome everyone. Afterwards, we took attendance and noticed big improvements—many children are now confidently recognizing their friends’ names and pictures. We then read the book “At the Park” and had a meaningful discussion about magic words, focusing on the importance of saying please and thank you.

Ethiopian Center

Our Ethiopian Center session was full of excitement! We usually have Ethiopian Center once every two weeks, and this session was very special. The children had the chance to explore the different materials we have in the center, which helped them learn more about our culture in a hands-on way.

We also enjoyed singing and dancing to traditional Ethiopian songs together. The children were very enthusiastic, clapping, moving to the rhythm, and trying some traditional dance steps. This activity made the session joyful and gave everyone a chance to celebrate and appreciate culture through music and movement.

Art

We started our art session outdoors on the grass area by setting mats and giving the children the chance to cut papers with their hands. While doing this, we observed that many of our children still need more practice with their fine motor skills, which encouraged us to plan more activities that strengthen their small muscles. Even though the rain interrupted our outdoor session, we quickly moved inside another classroom and continued the activity. The children took turns applying glue and sticking the papers they had cut, which made the session collaborative and fun.

The purpose of this activity was to strengthen fine motor skills through cutting, tearing, and gluing, while also supporting hand-eye coordination, creativity, and self-expression. It further helped children practice social skills like turn taking and sharing, as well as patience and persistence when the environment changed. Overall, the art session was meaningful, engaging, and supported both creative and developmental growth.

Gymnastics

Our gymnastics session was both exciting and practical for the children. The activities supported the development of their focus, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, vocabulary, and color recognition. The main activity involved transferring balls from one hula-hoop to another while lying on their backs, which challenged both coordination and strength. Before starting, we warmed up with simple movements such as sitting and standing exercises, running, and other engaging stretches to prepare their bodies.

Library

Our most recent library session was truly amazing! We usually have library day every Thursday, but since this Thursday was a holiday, we held it on Friday morning instead. The children were very excited and engaged throughout the session. Each of our students enjoyed reading a book, exploring the pictures, and sharing what they saw with their friends. We encouraged them to talk about the characters, colors, and stories they noticed, which helped to build their vocabulary and comprehension skills

After reading, every child had the chance to choose a favorite book to take home and share with their family. This not only supports their love for reading but also strengthens the home-school connection. We observed that the children are becoming more confident in handling books, turning pages carefully, and showing curiosity about the stories. Overall, the library session was filled with joy, learning, and meaningful discussions.

Literacy

For our literacy session, we did a fun and interactive cup stacking activity. We went outside the classroom, and each child was given four cups and a pair of chopsticks to hold and carefully place the cups. First, they started by putting one cup in the circle, then continued stacking the remaining cups one on top of the other.

This activity was not only exciting but also connected to literacy development. While stacking, the children practiced listening and following directions step by step, which strengthens their comprehension skills. We also introduced new vocabulary such as top, bottom, balance, stack, fall, circle, and careful, helping them expand their word knowledge.

In addition, the children engaged in storytelling and conversation around the activity — talking about what might happen if the cups fell or describing how high their tower was. These discussions encouraged speaking and expressive language skills. The activity also supported sequencing skills (first, next, last), which are important for both literacy and early writing.

We observed that the children were focused, patient, and enthusiastic. They celebrated when they managed to build tall towers and learned to try again when the cups tumbled down. Overall, the session combined play, problem-solving, and meaningful literacy learning in a joyful way.

Next Week’s Schedule:

     Small Group

Monday Gymnastics

Tuesday Literacy

Wednesday Music

Thursday Math

Friday Science

     Work Time

Tuesday -Art

Thursday -Library

Friday- Ethiopian Center once in two week

Reminders:

• Every Wednesday is art day, so please send your child with art appropriate clothing.

• Every Monday is 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.

Have a nice weekend!