Visits to our Class Page

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Miss Jeannie Visits.....

This week I have had my best friend visiting.  Jeannie is a wonderful nanny and previous elementary teacher.  We met as room moms when our oldest sons (age 31) were in first grade together.    We both have a love of teaching and children.    Miss Jeannie brought our class a present - a new, bigger parachute!  We ended our class by going outside to try it out.


The best part each of the children took a turn being underneath the parachute.
Learning to use a timer. 

New baby dolls for our class play!

Taking care of our projects!
Working on patterning.
Circle time Letter Leader



Thursday, March 26, 2015

Ladybugs Inside and Out!

We now have a couple of ladybugs running around in our net.  Several are still in the pupa stage.  We will soon release our ladybugs and ants in our butterfly garden.  Next week we will be seeing mallard duck eggs.  We will go in a dark room and using a flashlight will see the baby ducks growing inside the egg.  We all can't wait to see what they look like upon hatching.  
Look closely in the ladybug net and you will see our first ladybug.

  Marcus took a puppet and rolled it up in his hands.  He said he made a ladybug "pupa"!  How exciting to see how they learn.

                                                   Gross Motor activities outside!






BUDDY TIME READING!





New Developments!

The reason I became an early childhood teacher is that one, I love children, but two....I love to observe them and the stages of development.  This week especially I have observed some amazing things in our classroom.  Their minds are growing and they are so imaginative.  Brains are firing at lightening speed; the children are developing their minds and how they feel about the world.   All this is happening in addition to academic skills that will set them up for the future.



A Look at Centers......
People often observe my classroom and say "they are just playing", but something very magical is happening.    My centers are very strategically set up.  Blocks: Blocks are a staple in any classroom.  Children learn to build, solve problems, interact with others, pattern, sequence, and more just with blocks.  Tangagrams are cut out shapes that  a child can build "pictures" with.   They must problem solve and choose shapes to make other shapes.  They are like a puzzle without the board.   I love these because they are a basic for math.
Magnetic Board/Wipeoff Board:  This board is used for writing practice with large markers for little hands, which help build fine motor skills.  The magnets used are for patterning and counting.
Letter matching:  Children match soft letters to the alphabet rug or use bean bags to match colors.
Table work:  Our exploring table rotates with fun activities like puzzles, patterning with erasers, chain links, forming letters with sticks, play insects, magnets, kaleidescopes, games, weighing scales and more.   Writing and Art:   Each day the children rush in to see what is new in the classroom!  We usually do our "work" like letter writing, copying words from a board, cutting, and more.  Art projects and painting with different items allow the children to express themselves through art.  Some projects teach skills as in letters, but the art expands their thinking to new areas.
Pretend Play:  The puppets, baby dolls and dress-up clothes help children in cooperative play and expands their imagination and communicative skills.

So, as you can see.....Children learn through hands-on PLAYING!   The skills they need to learn for entering Kindergarten are still taught throughout our time together in circle time and daily routine.
I am so blessed to be able to help prepare your child for their formal learning years.
                                           Tangagrams                           Patterning
                                                                      Puzzles
                         Pretend Play                                          Snack Math

                          Forming Shapes                                     New Spring colors



Thursday, March 19, 2015

Spring has Sprung in our Classroom!

Spring Break was fun, but I missed my little friends!  We have started with learning about the stages of a ladybug, and how ants make a colony.   There is much excitement and it will take some patience until they progress.
More news for upcoming weeks; we will have caterpillars and learn the cycle of the Butterfly.
Right now, incubating in our workroom are Mallard Duck eggs.  As soon the shells thin, we will begin to see the veins of the duck when we hold the egg up to the light.   We will watch them closely in the weeks to come.

New friends have joined my classes and it always amazes me how easily children can meet and make friends.  We all could learn a few things from them about reaching out to others. :)
 During reading time, the children share books together and make up stories, a very important part of language development.  I also work with my readers during reading group on MWF.

St. Patty's day was fun for a first day back from vacation.  We went looking through the lobby for the tiny leprechaun and sure enough, we found gold coins and treasure!

                  

We have new blocks in our room and our little builders have been very busy!  In fact, for those that received a picture of my cruise ship last session, have been trying to build the boat.  Take a look at the amazing job they have done!
Proud Captains!

Blocks teach children math, sizes, shapes, problem solving, cooperative play and so much more!  They are a given in any classroom I have taught in!


Writing and Art table is one of the class favorites.  Today was green collages, stringing beads, and practicing tracing.  Writing our ABC tracing was done after snack!


Snack time!  "Put your hands in your lap, in your lap.  Put your hands in your lap, in your lap.  Put your hands in  your lap, then you get a snack, put your hands in your lap, in your lap."

Gross motor activities!  Parachute play and acting like Bugs!
Till next time!