Children's Bliss Preschool

MONTH AT A GLANCE--JUNE

2011-06-07T07:56:00.001-07:00

This year has been rewarding. The program grew with the addition of the Enrichment Day at the studio and the Family Nights.This month we are reviewing in all of the areas of study. We will end the year with a graduation celebration for family night at the Lacey community center and a play day at the park(studio for a rainy day) on the last day of school. There are several new families who have brought joy to our lives and we have several five year olds who are moving on. We will miss their talents and leadership in the classroom. Thank you to all of our families for a good year.

GEOGRAPHY..Back to discussing all of the continents. We are comparing the climates,the people and the animals in each area of the world. For many of the new students it is and introduction to the world so we are including the land and water forms.

BOTANY..The most basic thing that we have emphasized is the plant life cycle. We are comparing living and non-living things.

ZOOLOGY.. the comparisons of living and non living cross over between the two sciences. Classifying all the different animal kingdoms that have been discussed is interesting for the children too. Ms Sandi has provided living creatures for the children to touch and see to make this area of learning come to life.

LANGUAGE ARTS..We are reviewing the letters and their sounds. The older children are putting the sounds together and reading words and phrases. Ms. Sandi loves good Children's literature,which she shares with the children and adds a hands on experiences to reinforce what they are learning.

MUSIC..rhythm and melody are the foundation of music so we are drumming and singing every day.We dance and move to make sure the music sinks in all the way down to their toes. During our African Unit we were introduced to the Brain dance. We incorporate the moves in a sequence that stregthens connections in our brains.

ART...The lessons that we have had from Ms. Julie in the areas of sculpture,shape and cubism have been interesting for the children. Now we are making gifts and decorating tee shirts with autographed hand prints of the preschool friends.

MONTH AT A GLANCE--MAY

2011-04-28T02:20:00.000-07:00

The intense green lawns,the popcorn like tree blossoms and the colorful flowering bulbs seem to be dramatically welcoming my favorite season..Spring! We celebrated Earth Day this year with our fellow Olympians dressed up like forest folk in the Procession of the Species Parade. The monthly studies have been centered on Australia, Caring for our classroom environment and making music instruments.

GEOGRAPHY... We have been discussing the location and weather differences compared to our lives here in the Northwest. The color code for helping us to remember the name of the continent is brown. We are also reviewing land and water forms since Australia is a very large Island.

ZOOLOGY...Ms. Sandi brought part of and Octopus leg that her husband found while scuba diving as part of her lesson on this underwater creature. She also taught animal life cycles using baby chicks for an example. As many of you have noticed the children are totally fascinated with digging for worms, giving the teachers another opportunity for conversations on life cycles.

BOTANY..Plant life cycles are taught naturally with all of the changes from the season.The Children have been digging in the garden preparing the soil for planting. the first plants to go in the ground this year were strawberries. Next comes chives and peas.

MONTH AT A GLANCE--FEBRUARY

2011-01-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

February seemed to come to us very quickly. This is the "Random Acts of Kindness"month and in many Asian cultures the New Year is celebrated. We will focus on both of these and enjoy the Valentines and play practice.

GEOGRAPHY--We just flew into Asia..the largest continent in size and population. All of the continents have a color code in the classroom environment. Yellow is the color code for Asia. We will use that same color for our color of the month. Asia will guide the curriculum themes in the rest of the subjects of study so that experience this part of the world with all of our senses.

ZOOLOGY--Since this is the year of the rabbit we are studying rabbits. We will go over their classification in the animal kingdom and the parts of the rabbit. We have two friendly rabbits to care for in the classroom,named Doki and Umi.

BOTANY--Bulbs are nestled in the ground waiting to peer out. It is a good time to study the parts of a bulb and how they grow. We will plant more bulbs on the warm days in the front yard and in the garden boxes.

LANGUAGE ARTS..There are several children who have been word building and some children who have recently discovered that they can read. This has motivated the younger children even more to learn their sounds. Miss Sandi is using stories from Asia or with an Asian theme. The first book they read was about toothpick soldiers. Then they made their own soldiers or sculptures with toothpicks,gumdrops and marshmallows.

MATH..Fractions can be fun during a month when we are talking about kindness..We can cut snacks, or paper or play dough and share with our friends. The counters in the classroom will change to match the valentines theme.

JAPANESE..This is such a fun month for Sensei, we are totally supporting her language studies with crafts, cooking and music activities. She already made a tasty stir fry and they practiced their Japanese writing.

PRACTICAL LIFE..The environment will have folding clothes and fabrics. We will use our chopsticks for tweezing and sorting. The cutting that was mentioned in math will include Bananas and vegetables.

MUSIC..We have some beautiful instrumental music to listen and move to. The children are comparing the different instrument sounds. They continue to practice Japanese and program songs.

MONTH AT A GLANCE--JANUARY

2011-01-30T18:35:00.002-08:00

January is the perfect month to focus on science. The weather is more extreme which brings more inquiries from the children and there is more time spent indoors to observe science experiments. Right after Winter break we start the year off reviewing classroom rules and routines. Then the teacher gets to enjoy the sudden burst of "desire to learn" that occurs from children who are settled in their environment and comfortable with their relationships at school

GEOGRAPHY--Antarctica is our destination for this month. It is the land of extreme weather that is inhabited by scientists and unique cold weather tolerant animal life. It's position on the globe makes for interesting discussions about the seasons.

ZOOLOGY--We studied Penguins again this year. We can learn a lot from their behaviors in the groups or communities that they live in. The children enjoy watching the penguins on the computer from the live webcams set up by the scientists.

LANGUAGE ARTS--Books that match the curriculum themes are read and the children continue working at their individual pace on phonics using objects,sandpaper letters and pictures to match up with the words and sounds that they are learning.

MUSIC--We are learning songs for our spring performance. On enrichment Fridays we dance and move in the dance studio. We use drum circles to learn rhythm and we sing to the top of our lungs filling the big space. More creative movement activities like dancing with scarves,following the leader and moving like animals gives the children a chance to experience the music through their body movements.

JAPANESE--Sensei has new music for the children to learn and more words that match the curriculum for the month.

PRACTICAL LIFE--This is another area that is very important keeping little hands busy in the winter time. The food prep like peeling carrots and making toast are reviewed again,especially for the younger students. Grating soap and using the powdered soap for hand mixing practice is a favorite activity.

BOTANY--Since we are indoors more at this time the focus is plant care using indoor plants. The needs of the indoor plants are compared to that of the outdoor plants.

MONTH AT A GLANCE--NOVEMBER

2010-11-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

November came upon us quickly. The fall weather is beautiful and the children are adjusting nicely to the classroom routines. Friday enrichment days at the studio are wonderful. The children are getting plenty of physical activity and soaking in the academics taught on those days. Family nights are interesting and they give us the much needed bonding time with family and our school community.

GEOGRAPHY--We are flying back to North America,into the United States. We will color maps and study the continent as a whole,then several of our activities will focus on how our country is a melting pot for so many different cultures and traditions.

ZOOLOGY--Birds are the main focus for this time. How their bodies work for flying,where they live and what they eat are a few questions that will be answered. We added a Love bird named "Amigo"as a pet to our room for observation.

BOTANY--Leaves are changing and falling. We are looking at the parts of the leaf and then in the spring we will go into studying Leaf shapes.

LANGUAGE ARTS.--Practicing beginning sounds and building words phonetically is on going. Ms. Sandi ignites the children's interest in reading by bringing in well written books to read and discuss. Then the children make pages for our own books.

MATH--Counting in different ways and learning Place Value are the foundations that we are building on before we go on. A few of th older children have discovered adding.

MUSIC--We are studying music to celebrate the Holidays. We will perform some of the music numbers at our gathering for family night and cookie exchange in December. Bells that are color coded are being used to to teach sounds then we add posters with color coded symbols to help us remember the notes.

JAPANESE--The everyday greetings, colors and numbers are well ingrained in many of the children's memory. They are using Japanese words for familiar American games such as "duck duck goose" and "red light green light." Words from the monthly class themes are incorporated into the weekly lessons.

MONTH AT A GLANCE--OCTOBER

2010-11-04T23:52:00.000-07:00

What a fun Month. We started with a field trip to Lattin's Farm for the animal tour and the pumpkin patch. Almost all of the families came and enjoyed cider donuts, feeding the animals,and picking out "orange" pumpkins.(A lot of pumpkin patches had problems with their crops because of the rain.) Then the children "flew" to Africa on Bliss Airlines. They were greeted by Bethany and Bill Sweet with an interesting well prepared presentation. Another highlight for the month was the family night. We were greeted by the spicy smells of the different dishes that families brought. After a tasty meal we danced and played and drummed African style,led by a very talented Musician and Teacher,Kerri Lynn Nichols. We finished the month dressed in costumes for a Halloween party,assisted by fun moms.

Geography--The continent studies are all about Africa. Coloring maps,playing games and experiencing the culture from parts of this large continent,through traditional music,stories and food.

Botany--The leaves have been amazing this year so we started looking at the changes and studying the parts of the leaf.

Zoology--Insects whats and hows and whys,especially those from Africa. Joseph Stanger our Jr Scientist shares his insect collection which included a scorpion,tarantula, millipeed, and hissing cockroach. There were caterpillars and slugs to handle.

Language arts--Sandi Stanger is doing in depth language studies with the children. She Reads with them. Then they create pages that can be bound into book.She chooses themes that match the classroom study topics.

Music--Rhythm and Drumming are the focus. The children sing and dance continually with casual songs and some that can be used for future programs. They are in the process of learning a dance to celebrate the seasons.

Japanese--Christie Carlson,who the children call Sensi,has been teaching basics numbers, colors and small conversations. They have been enjoying her creative movement games that match the themes and are just fun to play.

Art--This year's art studies are based on the continent that we are in. One example is African Adrinka symbols and patterns which were introduced,then they decorated their drums with their own designs.

Summer School

2010-07-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

It is definitely the good old summertime. The mild summer is wonderful for teaching. I am really enjoying the children. New friendships are forming and other relationships are getter stronger which will give the class a strong foundation for Fall. We have had the pleasure of including some of the older siblings. Our theme for the summer is Water Eco -Systems. We are studying about the land and water and the creatures that live in the water. The Puget sound is a natural classroom for this. Each week a different Eco system will be covered with an accompanied field trip.

Summer is also a good time to focus on patriotism. Each week there will be lessons that teach love and respect for our country.

GEOGRAPHY..Learning about Land and Water forms and how the land and seas are formed.
We continue to trace and paint maps of the world.

BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY... Each Eco system supports a different range of plants and animals who's lives intertwine. We will learn about each of them individually then see how they are all supporting each other such as ponds, lakes, rivers, tide pools, and oceans.

SCIENCE ... We have our own team of science teachers, Joseph Joel and Jacob Stanger. They will bring in science experiments and new research on the science topics that we are studying. Joseph's first experiment about molecules using the bottles that look like ocean water was a hit!

MUSIC,ART AND THEATER...These three will support our water Eco system theme but our main focus will be patriotism. Our first few songs that we are working on are "The Grand Old Flag" written by Cohen, and "My Country" and "My Flag" from The Children's Songbook. Art projects include painting and drawing animals from the ecosystems. At the end of the summer classes there will be a small performance t0 share our patriotism with our families and friends.

LANGUAGE ARTS.. We are learning phonics and beginning reading rules. We will practice reading together along with the phonics practice. A lot of emphasis is placed on the beginning short vowel and consonant sounds and word building for those who know their sounds. Please practice this during your family reading time and the children will progress twice as fast.

MATH. Main focus is counting and learning basic accounting skills and the value of money.

JAPANESE...We review our basic numbers colors and greeting phrases. Jamie Stanger, our guest Japanese teacher, will bring in new words and phrases for us to learn from time to time this summer.

BUSINESS

We are adding the registration info to the Blog and calendars so that you have a better chance to see the whole summer for planning purposes.

There is a calendar with the summer class and special events information on the blog now.

We have cubbies now for the children. Each child needs a pair of slippers or house shoes to change into for classroom time. The slippers and a gallon zip-lock with a change of clothes can be left at the school or carried back and forth in backpacks, whatever works for your child.

We are adding emergency packs for each child now. As part of our Disaster Preparedness program, every student is asked to have a Personal Emergency Preparedness Kit provided by their family. These kits will be stored at the school for emergency use only. A list of necessary supplies for the kit is provided below.
3 small cans of Juice
1 small box of Cereal (individual size)
1 small (5 0z) Pudding
1 small can of Beans, Tuna or Chicken as a protein source (8 0z)
1 Granola Bar
1 Candy Bar
3 Plastic Spoons and Napkins
1 - 1 Gallon zip-lock bag to hold the above items
If your child has allergies or special dietary needs, please adjust the emergency items to their needs.

MONTH AT A GLANCE--MARCH

2010-03-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

Winter is sneaking out and Spring is peeking in to see if it is time to appear. With the seasons playing their game of hide and seek, we are coming upon my favorite time of year. Along with the changes in nature we see our relationships blossoming in the classroom too. We seem to be gliding through each day using up every minute with our works and activities.

GEOGRAPHY--The continent studies for this month are all about Africa. We are talking about the land, the people and the animals of this large area of the world.

BOTANY--We will continue talking about bulbs and other plants that grow from roots called rhizomes. Garden preparations begin. We are choosing favorite fruits and vegetables that grow in the Northwest. If you have pictures or seeds to share. We will have a graph set up for everyone to cast their votes.

ZOOLOGY--There is an animal that can be heard singing beautifully by the numerous ponds in the neighborhood..You guessed right..frogs. We are studying amphibians with an emphasis on frogs. Maybe we will have a frog pond in the classroom..if we can stand the smell..It might have to go on the back patio which will be opening up soon.

SCIENCE--We are talking about the seasons and changes in the weather and doing experiments together. It's time to start preparing for a mini science fair. I have the presentation boards and several experiment ideas. Start looking for ideas that look interesting to you and your child. Each child, with the help of the family, needs to find a simple experiment and prepare it for a public presentation. We can practice in the classroom together, then we will have a science night that we share with friends and families. There is a sign up sheet on the parent board that we can use to write down which day each child presents for the class.Then, once everyone has presented, we will gather at the end of April.

MATH--Time to present odd and even and counting in 2's, 4's, 6's or whatever group of numbers the children would like to put together. Remember, at this age number skills can be developed with objects and hands on activities. The paperwork supplements, but is not the center of what they are learning.

LANGUAGE ARTS--The older children are making a word book which is like a big dictionary. I am putting more into beginning sound sharing again with new sharing bags. Watch for the sounds handouts again. Our author studies will continue with Eric Carle and we will talk about another childrens book author who uses collage and painting for her art, Lois Ehlert.

ART--The theme for art is still collage and painting. The lessons come from our childrens book artists. The color of the month is green! I am having a hard time letting go of the "making purple paintings" since it is my favorite color. I will just have to start "thinking green" and pull out the new paints as quickly as possible.

MUSIC--Ms. Sandy has taken the music to another level with having the children play the bells. We are color coding the music so that they can play the same music on the piano and the recorders. We have introduced the keyboard and will alternate lessons every other week with the bells. We are singing songs about spring and listening to African style music.

JAPANESE--Sensei keeps the Japanese lessons interesting and fun. She has introduced writing numbers 1 to 5 and a few words like mountain and river. We practice during the week until the children start asking for new words. Her new words usually match our monthly themes.

Dates to Remember:

Green Day Party March 19 or trade a Fri for a Wed
Easter egg hunt April 2 Friday
Science fair April 23 Friday Evening family and friends invited

Taking care of business
New Playground area! Now when you come to school go out to the playground for 15mins, then come in for circle at 9:15 for morning sessions or at 12:oo noon for afternoon session. The teachers will make sure that the children change into house shoes. Then we will go out for recess at the end of the session. Children will be ready for parents when they arrive. On stormy days we will do pre-circle activities inside and we will do inside recess. Children will then change shoes upon arrival. The teachers will have everyone ready at the end of the session.

I will send out the new registration forms for next year this week. If you are coming back next year, I want to make sure you are on the list before others sign up.

Remember bonus day. Some children already came this last week. Thank you for all of the great classroom behavior and cooperation from everyone.

Welcome new student Cadence McCutchan and his family. He is attending Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings. His Mom is a homemaker and his Dad has a Roofing business. He has a little brother Echo. He loves going to the park and playing games.

MONTH AT A GLANCE--FEBRUARY

2010-02-02T01:08:00.000-08:00

GEOGRAPHY..Continent study is ASIA..the color code for Asia is yellow.Japan will get the most attention with the help of our wonderful Sensi,Christie Carlson.

ZOOLOGY..Reptiles and amphibians,what are the differences and similarities? We have a new classroom pet,red eared slider turtle, and our red footed tortoise,Missy Milo to help with our studies.

BOTANY..Bulbs are a traditional subject for this time of year. Watching how bulbs grow in our forced bulb containers and learning how to plant them in the garden will be our highlight.

SCIENCE..What's the weather,which continues our hot and cold and molecule studies.

LANGUAGE ARTS..Vowels sounds and different combinations that change the sound of the letter will be the topic for discussion.The rest of the sounds for the week continue in order. Week one-K,week two-L,week three M, week four N. Children are excited about continuing sharing time.Sharing days will be on any day but Friday. Bring objects or pictures of letters. The advanced readers will recieve their lists of words or they can bring items that match the letters.

MATH..The children are loving math. We will continue with the counting and number recognition or place value work. New sorting activites and edible math counters start this month, just for fun.

MUSIC..At circle we are learning all new songs that support the curriculum.Sandy Stanger our Music specialist will bring in more instruments for the children to experiment with, mainly recorders and the bells.

ART..Color experiments with purple and pink! Lots of cutting and gluing,including mod podge.
Eric Carle will be our Artist/Author mentor for technique and inspiration.

PRACTICAL LIFE..Each month a some of the "jobs" on the shelf stay and just change with the theme like playdough,stringing beads,pouring and spooning. Then new ways of taking care of ourselves are introduced. We have replaced paper products at snack time with new snack dishes, giving us a chance to learn how to learn dishwashing. While we are washing we will do the tables and windows too.

Dates to remember.

February 12 Valentines Party in the classroom. It simplifies things for this age group if you have them just sign their names on the valentines. If they don't write thier names yet have them trace or draw small pictures. If families would like to bring treats like sugar cookies we will eat some and send some home. Fun party foods are welcome.

February 15 and 16 Winter break. (no make-ups for this break or spring break)

Taking care of business.
Checks can now be made out to business name Children's Bliss Preschool.
Computer fixed,back to communicating through blog,email and facebook.
New phone number 360.588.6313.I have callere ID so that I can screen calls while I am teaching.Texting my cell phone works great or calling my cell phone if you don't reach me on the home phone.I will check messages every morning and after every school session.
I will have the door locked while I am teaching then unlock it when it is time for the parents to arrive for added security.
New time for the afternoon session...12:45 --3:45pm

School Starts Wednesday..

2010-01-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

We are finally ready to start class on Wednesday with newly remodeled classroom. We have a new raised floor area that can be used as a stage for program practices. Steve and I are putting the finishing touches on tonight and tomorrow. When we have group gatherings Nikki (Kaden's mom) helped me track down some spaces that won't cost a lot,but have a fun atmosphere. Friday afternoons are now available. You can choose whether to come Friday morning or Friday afternoon. There is a one day a week class available on Friday afternoons. If you know of anyone looking for preschool I can take children as young as two and a half and as old as Kindergarten age. Recruiting bonus, $10.00 off one month's tuition for any of your referrals that sign up. Half off enrollment fee this month and new sibling discount. I know we are going to have a great time in 2010!

MONTH AT A GLANCE--JANUARY

2009-12-30T08:20:00.000-08:00

January cold always makes me think more about science. Hot and cold,molecules, and weather are good topics for science experiments. The winter theme will be a thread throughout the month in each of our areas of interest.

GEOGRAPHY..Antarctica is our continent for the month. We will look at the shape of the continent and its landforms.Then we will figure out what life is like there for the animals and people.

ZOOLOGY..We are moving from farm animals to Penquins. We will compare the animals in the northern arctic region to the southern polar region.

BOTANY..Plants that grow indoors. We will learn what types of plants live indoors and how to care for them.

LANGUAGE ARTS..The basic phonetic lessons will continue. The authors studies will be Mary Englebrit and Jan Brett. We will read and analyze writing and art techniques. The sound of the week sharing will start with the letter g then progress in order each week. Week 1 G,Week 2 H, Week 3 I, Week 4 J.

MATH..Place value introduction! After each child will been introduced to decimal street they will get to work with the colored squares counting, learning how to connect objects to symbols, or addition. Everyone at individual level.

MUSIC..Since all of the people living in Antarctica are from countries from all over the world we are going to listen to music for children from around the world.

ART..Sculpture and paints with new textures..especially finger paints will be our new art experiences.

COOKING..We have a theme for cooking this month..Ice cream! We will study the the history of ice cream and how to make it. We will make a few other cold treats too.

PRACTICAL LIFE..The practical life section is back and and better. We will be learning the new routines for the new area.

JAPANESE--Sensi is introducing new words that match the season.

yuki-snow

saru-monkey

suki-(ski)-like

Counting to five...ichi-1, ni-2, san-3, shi(yon)-4 ,go-5

The children are getting comfortable with colors and conversational phrases with Sensi and Aiko

DATES TO REMEMBER

January 15 Black and White day..wear,eat play with black and white colored art supplies.

January 18 Martin Luther King Holiday. Monday Children come on Tues or Thurs.

January 22 Field Trip to Hands on Children's Museum. (9:30-11:30)Meet at school at 9:00a to set up rides and car pools. After playing at the museum walk down to Wagner's Bakery for snack or lunch. Then return to school if neccessary. Cost is 4.95 per child. Cannot use memberships for field trips.

2009-12-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

December 14 is no school due to icy rodes.

MONTH AT A GLANCE--DECEMBER

2009-11-29T23:15:00.000-08:00

This is the month of creativity.We have spent a lot of time learning the work routines now we are adding projects. The holidays will be celebrated with a program that we will perform a couple of times. We will enjoy arts and crafts more. The subject themes are listed in order.

GEOGRAPHY..Still learning about the the continent that we live on..North America.We continue reviewing the continents of the world.

BOTANY Trees..They show us the seasons and we can discuss the plant life cycle from a different perspective.

ZOOLOGY..It is our last month for studying farm animals. We will focus more on horses and cows.

LANGUAGE ARTS. We on the sharing time themes of all about me and reviewing the letters that we have been working on. The author for the month is Jan Brett. She has written several children's books for the winter season.

ART.. The children are doing a really good job of taking care of the watercolor paint and brushes. Time to make simple sets for our play. Big brushes and more permanent paint. We will let you know on which days so that the children can wear painting clothes.

PRACTICAL LIFE..Setting the table and washing dishes. The practical life area is temporarily smaller while the stage is being built.

DATES TO REMEMBER.
December 5 430pm Play rehearsal..6:OO pm dinner,then performance.
December 18 10am performance for Mother Joseph's. Meet at school. A few mom's needed for carpool to the nursing home and back to the school for donuts and hot chocolate.
December 18 Last day of school. We are on the North Thurston school schedule for break.

The snacks are coming in regularly. Having the calendar sign ups works well so that there is some protein or fresh fruit on that day.

Note to parents. The children need simple biblical style costumes. Mainly town people and angels. There are a few animals too. Monday we will finalize the parts and let you know what your child's character is.

I am adding professionals to the blog. If you have a job that would benefit the other families, let me know so that I can post it.

Update

2009-11-17T22:14:00.000-08:00

This Friday(November 20)there will be an in house field trip. special "Fireman" presentation by Tim Housh ...Kaden's Dad. Christie will have her weekly Japanese time and then we will follow up with crafts and snacks all centered on fire safety and being a fireman. These activities will replace brown day.

Next Wednesday November 25 we celebrate Thanksgiving with a potluck meal and fun family activities.Families bring a main dish or side and the children will make dessert. The children will have school time until 11:00 am. Families bring food and we eat and play a few games and visit until 12:30. Thursday and Friday will be Thanksgiving Holiday..No School.

The Usbourne book Fair ends Monday November 23. I emailed the information if you would like to place an order. The books that are earned will go toward the school library.

December 18 the children will present a small Christmas program to Mother Joseph's. We will arrive at school at regular time,warm up get organized then head over to the est home by 10am. We will perform then enjoy craft time with the people staying there,then come back to the school by 11:30 for cocoa and donuts or muffins. That day is the last day of school before Christmas break. The other performance date for the families will be announced soon.

There are few odds and ends that we need for projects. If you have any these
items to share bring them in right away.
large appliance size boxes
old bike tubes or inner tubes.
old Halloween costumes
fabric and craft supplies that your not using
shoe boxes

Halloween Party

2009-11-06T10:31:00.001-08:00

We had such a fun Halloween Party! All of the kids dressed up in their COSTUMES!

Fun Characters We Had:

Cowgirl
Witch
Greek Goddess
Princess (3)
Wizard
Spiderman (2)
Anakin Skywalker
Wonder Woman
Fairy
Pirate
Cowboy

While there were some school projects going on we did have a lot of fun! We also played "Musical Tombstones." We played just it just like a cake walk and whoever did NOT have a tombstone to stand on got a mini cupcake. Eventually all of the kids figured out that if they didn't stand on a spot they got a treat! ::This was the only sugar the kids had at school, Nikki brought in Brain Dip (guacamole) for snacks::

We also got to have a Japanese lesson! It was really fun to learn some Halloween words in Japanese!

**Check the sidebar for the slideshow**

MONTH AT A GLANCE--NOVEMBER

2009-11-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

This year the fall season has been beautiful. A perfect canvas for teaching. We will take advantage of this beauty and the natural environment we live in for our November studies.

GEOGRAPHY..Now that there has been an introduction to the continents of the world we will begin our journey around the world from one continent to another. The beginning of our travels will be the land we live on, beautiful North America. There will be studies about the people and traditions, and activities to reinforce the land forms and the continent shape.

BOTANY..Leaves!! There are leaf shapes and the leaf's job in the plant life cycle.

ZOOLOGY..Farm animals continued..

LANGUAGE ARTS..We are using the sharing bags to learn sounds and letter combinations.On Fridays we will hand out the sound of the week for the following week. The children search for objects that match the sound and put them in the bag to share with others at circle time.They have the option of finding pictures and gluing onto the handout and sharing or they can do both. Some of the children are learning beginning sounds..C,D,and E. The beginning readers are learning three letter short vowel words ending in..an,at,ap. One week out of the month there will be an "all about me" handout coming home for the children to do with their families. That will be extra fun for them to share.

MATH..The children are on all different levels of counting. We will work in a progression with each child. A few examples of the progression. Counting in different directions,with objects and pictures.We will add matching the objects to symbols. Then we will work with different number combinations and addition.A few examples of are...odd and even,counting by twos and looking at graphs to see what is more or less.

MUSIC..Jazz was fun. Now we are learning Folk Songs. We will compare the instruments used in folk and in jazz and the different rhythms and voices. We also dance and move to a variety of creative movement songs.

ART..There is a new day added to the calendar called color day. Once a month we will have a day that we all wear the same color,then all of the activities for that day will be centered around that color. Even snack will match the color. This month's color is BROWN. The color day is Friday the nineteenth. More information on the artists will be posted later.

PRACTICAL LIFE..A few new everyday skills that are being introduced are...washing tables,vacuuming,cracking nuts, and taking care of plants.

The dates to watch for this month are for holidays and special events are..
Nov.11 Wed. Veteren's Day- No School
Nov.13 Fri. Usbourne Book Fair. Books displayed for ordering. The points that are earned from orders will go toward the school library.
Nov.20 Fri. Brown day at school.
Nov.25 Wed. Everyone together for a Thanksgiving Celebration.
Nov.26 and 27 Thanksgiving Holiday-NO School

For future planning Christmas vacation starts on Dec.21. School starts again Jan.4

A big thank you to all of you. You are all following through with snack and payments and keeping sick children home. I feel a strong support that keeps things running smoothly. Special thanks to Nikki,Sarah,Jacquie and Christie for helping with the Halloween party.

If you have any concerns or suggestions send me a note in my e-mail or we can set up a time to meet together before or after school.

Month at a Glance

2009-10-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

Each month different information in the same subjects are introduced at circle,then new activities to support that theme are created and put on the shelf. The children then explore and practice individually or with a partner these "jobs." Here are the subjects and what is being taught in each subject for the month.

GEOGRAPHY..We started by introducing the earth being made up of land and water. We will continue with land and water jobs in the classroom. Now we are studying the seven continents which are color coded to help us remember. Here are the colors for each continent..North America-orange,South America-pink, Europe-red,Asia-yellow,and Australia-brown,Antarctica-white. We also have a song that goes with learning the continents...we will share that one with you later.

BOTANY..The plant life cycle is our emphasis. We are studying seeds and watching each step of their growth.Then we have each planted a couple of flowers and pulled a few weeds so that we learn the difference between the good plants and not so useful plants. Now we are caring for our seeds and our flowers. We will be looking at different seeds and what they produce for the next few months. Starting with apples, pumpkins and sunflowers.

ZOOLOGY..After several discussions about living and non living we went into learning about farm animals. We started our studies with a trip to Lattin's Farm. Farm animals are a good way to introduce the life cycle. The day of the field trip we were fortunate to see a newly hatched egg. There were younger goats and birds too.
One of the fun parts of the field trip was feeding the animals. Goats like to take bags right out of our hands so we had to hide them behind our backs with one hand while they ate from the other hand.The donuts and apple cider were good too.

LANGUAGE ARTS..First we introduced the alphabet and the sound that each letter makes. Now we will learn about the different sounds and sound combinations. There will be a note on Fridays to announce the new letter for the next week. There is a sharing bag to put the items that are found to match the sounds,then the children bring the bags in to share their ideas.The letters for each month will be posted also. Our language studies have been reinforced with storytime and playing with the puppet theater.

MATH.. It is time for counting and matching objects to the number symbols. When we do science experiments there have been introductions to weight,measurement and graphs.

MUSIC..Jazzz!!! is our music theme. It is fun taking simple songs like Old McDonald had a farm and the ABC song and changing the beat,or "SCAT" singing. Listening activities include picking out the different instruments that are used for Jazz music.

ART..The children are learning how to use the art easel, brushes and paint. They get to experience different paint textures by use water colors and (washable) tempura paints. When they paint they are also learning when to mix colors and when to keep the colors clean. The first artist that is an example of enjoying color is Georgia O'Keefe.

PRACTICAL LIFE ..The area of the classroom that has a variety of dishes and trays and kitchen utensils is called practical life. The basic skills taught in this area help children become well rounded while reinforcing academic skills. A few highlights from this area are grating,using a hand mixer, cutting bananas and Pin-pushing or Froebling.This is a new challenge that helps strengthen the hands and memorize whatever shape that are making. Including the children in family preparations,such as cooking and cleaning helps reinforce these skills.