Hello preschool families! This month is flying by, seems like April vacation will be here before we know it! I hope you are enjoying what is hopefully the last of the snow we will get and spending lots of time soaking up some much needed sunshine outside. In the preschool room, we have spent the past two weeks exploring nursery rhymes and fairy tales! As it is our school-wide literacy celebration, the preschool students have joined in by learning about some of the most simple stories- classic nursery rhymes. Students built walls for humpty dumpty in the block center, retold classic nursery rhymes with puppets and story boards, and created humpty dumpty projects where humpty was put back together with Band-aids! We have read many classic nursery rhymes and paired them with fun songs and videos to engage the children.
This week we moved onto fairy tales and celebrated all the fun fantasy in our own fairy tale castle! Our kitchen center transformed into the perfect tea party spot where students practiced their best manners pouring tea and acting like princesses and princes. Students also learned about the fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs and built their own houses of straw, sticks, and bricks in the block center. Students have really been practicing their engineering skills with all these fun STEM activities! Though it's not really a nursery rhyme or fairy tale, students have really enjoyed singing along and doing the finger plays for 5 little ducklings and 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed. I'm sure many of them could sing you the song at home if it's not already one of your family favorites! As Spring begins to peek it's way out of the snow our class will begin exploring weather, flowers, plants, gardens, and insects! Please remember to keep packing snow gear for the students until all the snow has melted from our playground as they can get pretty wet from just the leftover slush. I hope to see you all at Literacy Night on Thursday, March 28th, at 6pm! I have a fun activity in my room appropriate for our youngest learners! Thanks for all you do :) Ms. McKay
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Hello preschool families! I hope you all enjoyed a restful February vacation and have had an easy start back to the daily routine of school again. I know I am feeling very excited for the start of spring and some warmer temperatures so that we can get back outside for recess finally! Students have been enjoying indoor recess where they get to use iPads, but we took a special field trip to the gym to try out some of Mr. Hilbert's fun gym equipment like hula-hoops and soccer balls.
This past week, students had the chance to explore the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss. We made our own truffula trees from the world of The Lorax. We counted and sorted rainbow goldfish from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. We created zany recipes in the Cat in the Hat kitchen. And we also practiced our STEAM skills when we made giant towers and structures with the cats' hats (solo cups). We spent a lot of time exploring rhyme through small group activities, songs, and a sensory bin. Students learned the song/chant Wibbledy, Wobbledy, Woo which turns the beginning letter of their name into a W (ex. Wam for Sam) and has children listen carefully to figure out who's name rhymes with the silly word. Our sensory bin was a big hit, as it usually is, as it was filled with orbeez water beads and figurines of items that had a rhyming partner in the bin, like dog and frog. Rhyming is a key early predictor of future reading ability, so it's great to practice rhymes with your child anytime! In the coming week, I'm excited to teach children about leprechauns and their tricky ways for St. Patrick's Day. Students will have a chance to build their own imaginative leprechaun traps, count with gold coins, create a rainbow fizzing cauldron, and explore colors through various rainbow activities. Please feel free to contact me with any questions, and as always, thank you for all you do in helping your children become little learners! :) Ms. McKay |