Pre-K’s Week Full of Discovery!

Dear Parents,

We hope this blog finds you well! In the Pre-K class, we had a fantastic week. In math, we continued working on missing numbers as well as greater and lesser numbers. In literacy, we focused on CVC words and ending sounds. Additionally, we enjoyed journaling, gymnastics, library visits, and our students' favorite activity: learning about the life cycle of a flower, which was fascinating for all, along with our art sessions.

Overall, all our students are doing great and have made a lot of progress in every area. We are very proud of them!

Large group

Our large group sessions have been such fun, as always! This week, we revised all the shapes, focusing on the pyramid and cuboid. We are glad to see how well our students have remembered the shapes we’ve covered so far, and we will continue with others as well.

Additionally, we learned about the digraph "ee”. This digraph was easy for them, and they grasped it quickly, which made it fun.

As always, we conducted our calendar and caterpillar activities. For our morning message, we related it to the daily activities to give them clues and prepare them for the day. The morning message is now enjoyable for our students because whenever they see a word that they can blend and read, they try it out. This shows how eager they are to learn how to read, and practicing digraph words also helps them as they continue in our large group.

Our students have truly grasped their class job responsibilities and have been doing amazing work, showing significant progress in every aspect of learning. They now know the routine, the classroom rules, and what comes after large group time, whether it's science, literacy, or math. They can articulate this, which shows they are really getting into the routine.

Literacy

In our first group, we continued focusing on CVC words, with special attention on words that have the letter “I” in the middle. We reviewed the letter i and the sound it makes, helping students strengthen their phonics and blending skills.

During the first session, students took turns coming up to the board to place the letter i between two consonants and create their own CVC words. They then practiced sounding out and reading the words they built, which encouraged confidence and active participation.

In the second session, students worked on a worksheet activity. They looked closely at each picture, identified what it was, and then colored the correct matching word. This activity helped reinforce blending sounds, reading CVC words, and making connections between pictures and words.

As for our second group, we continued working on ending sounds. Last week, there was a little confusion about why we brought up this idea again this week. In our first session, they did really well practicing with picture cards. We wrote simple words for them, and they circled the ending sounds. In the second session, they completed a worksheet on ending sounds, where they looked at the pictures, sounded out the words, and then circled the ending sound letters. After that, they colored the pictures. In this session, they did exceptionally well, and a lot of progress was made.

Math

This week in Math, our first group revisited the concepts of greater than and less than, and the students showed an excellent understanding of both. Building on this success, we introduced a new concept: equal to.

To begin, students chose different numbers, which we wrote on the board. Each child then had a turn coming up to the board to compare the numbers by writing the greater than or less than sign. After that, we discussed what it means when two numbers are equal, and students practiced writing the equal sign as well.

To make the learning more meaningful and fun, we compared everyone’s age in the classroom. The students quickly realized that all the numbers were the same, leading to the exciting conclusion that we are all equal in age, since everyone in the class is four years old! This activity sparked a lot of joy, and students enthusiastically compared their ages with siblings and friends around the school.

In the second session, we continued practicing greater than, less than, and equal to using the alligator craft we created two weeks ago. This hands-on activity helped reinforce the concepts in a playful and engaging way.

For the second group, we continued working on missing numbers. In our first session, they practiced how to write numbers. The reason we did this is that they understood the concept of missing numbers but struggled a little with writing the numbers. So, we dedicated the first session to practice writing. In the second session, they completed a worksheet on missing numbers, and they performed really well and showed great improvement in writing numbers. In the next session, we will practice writing numbers above 10.

Science

This week in Science, we continued building on the topic we began last week—flowers, and took a deeper look into the flower life cycle. The students learned that every flower begins as a seed. We discussed how the seed goes under the ground, where roots begin to grow, followed by a shoot pushing up through the soil. As the plant grows, leaves appear, and over time it develops into an adult plant, ending with beautiful flowers blooming.

To bring this learning to life, we went outside and explored the different types of flowers around our school. The children observed flowers of various colors, sizes, and shapes, making connections between what they learned in class and what they saw in nature. This hands-on exploration sparked a lot of excitement—many students showed a strong interest in planting and even asked if they could plant their own flowers!

Art

This week, our Pre-K class got started on an exciting art project. Since we have learned about volcanoes in our science sessions, our students suggested a volcano art project on a big canvas. In our first session, the students painted the canvas for the volcano background. They stepped out in smaller groups, waited their turn to paint, and while waiting, they drew their volcano designs on paper and colored them. After painting the background, we placed the canvas in the sun to dry. In the next session, we will continue making the volcano as a group. Our students are really excited about creating the volcano next week! This semester, we will focus even more on collaborative art projects, which everyone is looking forward to.

Exploring Construction Up Close

Under close adult supervision, small groups of students safely observed the digging, moving, and building taking place right in front of our school. Our children were fully engaged, sharing observations, asking questions, and connecting what they saw to what they already knew. Some were curious about the machines and how they worked, others noticed the depth of the soil, the loud sounds, and the teamwork involved. While a few children were cautious at first, they soon became comfortable and deeply attentive. Others were excited to explore the soil itself, enjoying its texture and appearance. This experience gave us a wonderful glimpse into their thinking and showed how real life experiences can bring classroom learning to life in the most joyful and memorable ways.

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!