Weekly Learning Highlights- Early Preschool

Negede T. Aligaz
19 hours ago
4 min read

Dear Parents,

We’ve had a fun and busy week in Early Preschool, full of learning and excitement! The children enjoyed exploring new activities, singing songs, reading stories, and practicing their movement skills. Each activity helped them grow, learn, and build confidence while having lots of fun together!

Happy Birthday Joel and Leul

Large Group

Our large group session began with a warm greeting as the children gathered in a circle. We started by asking the students who was missing from the circle today. Many of them amazed us with how confidently they identified their friends. After that, we moved on to our daily weather check. The children observed the weather and helped us choose the correct weather picture to stick on the whiteboard.

Next, we sang our “Good Morning” song to set a cheerful and positive tone. Our attendance routine was a little different this week. After sticking their own picture on the board, each child picked the second picture and walked around the circle to give the picture to the friend it belonged to. They said the friend’s name and made sure they handed it to the right person. This created a sweet moment of connection and encouraged communication and social skills.

We then invited 3–4 students to help with counting activities. They practiced counting the pictures of students who were present, the ones who were absent, and the number chart displayed on the wall. This supported number recognition, counting, and confidence in speaking in front of the group.

After that, we read the book “Say Please, Little Bear”, which the children enjoyed as they listened and looked at the illustrations. Following the story, we took a short water break to refresh. We ended our large group session with the fun action song “This Is My Face”, which the children happily joined in and sang.

Literacy

Our literacy session continued with the activity of copying hand signs, and this week we added two more pictures to build on what the children have already learned! Introducing the new signs made the activity more meaningful and provided just the right level of challenge. The children were highly engaged as they observed each hand sign carefully and tried their best to copy the shapes with their own hands.

Many students focused with great concentration, comparing the pictures to their own hands and adjusting their fingers to match the signs correctly. This activity supported their fine motor skills, visual attention, and hand–eye coordination, while also encouraging them to follow directions and build early literacy awareness. It was wonderful to see how motivated and excited they were, especially when they successfully copied a new sign.

This session was productive, engaging, and the children showed persistence, curiosity, and confidence as they practiced the new hand signs.

Gymnastics

Our gymnastics session focused on practicing balance and coordination through an exciting activity using the balance beam. Each child took a turn walking carefully across the beam while holding rollers, which added an extra challenge and helped strengthen their core and body control.

The children were very focused as they placed one foot in front of the other, keeping their eyes forward and using the rollers to help maintain balance. Some students surprised us with their confidence and even chose to hold three rollers at once, showing great determination and enthusiasm. It was wonderful to see how proud they felt after completing their turn.

This activity supported the children’s gross motor development, balance, coordination, and body awareness. They also practiced patience as they waited for their turn and encouraged one another along the way.

Art

Our art session focused on creativity, fine motor skills, and body awareness. This week, the children worked on an activity where they stuck small pieces of paper onto different body parts that were already drawn on the paper. Each child received a simple outline of a body, and their task was to carefully place the small colored paper pieces on the correct parts.

The children were very focused as they picked up the tiny pieces, applied glue, and pressed them gently onto the drawing. This activity encouraged them to use their pincer grasp, strengthen finger control, and improve hand–eye coordination. It also helped reinforce their understanding of basic body parts.

They enjoyed choosing colors, placing each piece intentionally, and seeing their artwork slowly come to life. Many children showed excitement as they completed their pictures and proudly pointed out the body parts they decorated.

Science:

Over the past two weeks, our science sessions focused on exploring the hand and understanding how we use it in our daily activities.

Week 1 – Handwashing Experiment

In the first week, we introduced the importance of handwashing. We used a glove and added marker “germs” on it to help the children visually understand why washing hands is needed. The students were very excited and fully engaged. They enjoyed seeing how the “germs” disappeared when they washed the glove with water and soap. The activity was fun, hands-on, and helped them connect the concept with real life.

Week 2 – Feeling Different Materials

On the next session, we explored how hands help us feel textures. The children touched different materials such as soft, rough, smooth, and bumpy. While some students were able to describe what they felt, many of them struggled to identify the sensations. We will continue working on this skill by offering more practice and repeated exposure to sensory materials in the coming sessions.