August 12th through 15th, 2019 Note…
August 12th through 15th, 2019
Hello, All!
Welcome back to each of you! Our first official week back has been good. Here is some info for you about our Monday through Thursday.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend!
Anine : )
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Arrival Time…
During arrival time each morning, the kids have either been coming straight over to the table for breakfast, or have been choosing a favorite bucket of toys from the classroom space downstairs and bringing it upstairs to share with friends until breakfast.
Circle Time…
We’ve been sitting down for between one and three little circle times each day. We’ve been singing songs, reading stories, talking just a bit about the days of the week, months of the year and “today’s date”; and we’ve been practicing spelling our names via some spell-your-name” games and activities.
Songs… Some of our songs this week have included: * Three Little Monkeys/Alligator * Three Green and Speckled Frogs * a “Number” song * Itsy Bitsy Spider * Twinkle, Twinkle * Days of the Week Chant * Months of the Year song * the Fire Truck Song * All the Little Fish * Wheels on the Bus * Baby Beluga * Down By the Bay * Good Morning Preschool Friends, How Are You? * the “Hello” Song * Alice the Camel
Books… Some of the books we’ve read included: * Brown Bear, Brown Bear * Pete the Cat: White Shoes * Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes * Superworm * Duck & Goose * Go Away Big Green Monster * The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog * The Gruffalo * Little Blue Truck Leads the Way * The Big Book of Beautiful Babies * My Dad, the Tuk-Tuk Driver * Little Blue and Little Yellow * Llama, Llama, Misses Mama * Backyard Animals * The Pigeon Has to go to School * Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? * The Earth Book * Rupert, the Wrong Word Pirate * The Big Race * Curious George’s First Day of School * Pooh’s Best Friend
While I read some of the books, I try to use special voices – the Gruffalo and the Pigeon books provide some good opportunity for that. The Pete the Cat books are so familiar to the kids that I like to let them finish sentences or be responsible for certain parts. One day this week, one friend was responsible for chiming in “Goodness, no!” each time that line came up, and other friends took on responsibility for other lines that repeated frequently. The kids liked that. And when we read Superworm, I like to give each of the kids a chance to try out a special voice on a page where a hungry crow is talking. The kids also had opportunities to participate in the Big Green Monster story, the Kangaroo/Mother story, and the Beautiful Babies story.
Planning, Reviewing…
The kids and I have taken just a bit of time early each day this week to talk about what we’d like our plans to be for the day. A couple of mornings we wrote them down and even drew little pictures to represent our plan, and the order of our plan. Just before or just after rest, we have been taking a moment to talk about what some of our favorite activities have been each day.
Backyard, Deck…
The kids have been enjoying spending time in the backyard and on the deck this week. In the backyard we have the high and the low play piece, the cozy coupes, hula hoops, mini “sand boxes” (in flower pots); and whichever special items we want to bring out to the yard with us each day. Monday and Tuesday, I had a hose out for the kids (turned on really low) and they loved using that to water plants – and to “accidentally” squirt each other! On the deck the kids have enjoyed using lots of bubble water as they “paint with water” and assorted brushes, and as they try out different “pouring” activities with cups, funnels and sieves. This week quite a few of the kids got to watch a tree get planted in the backyard, too.
Classroom Space…
Our classroom space has been a big hit this week. The kids have been loving the time they spend there, either playing on their own or sharing an area with friends. One thing that was especially popular this week was our “Veterinarian” theme bucket full of stuffed animal cats, dogs, food dishes, accessories, and even a big, soft, fluffy, real dog bed. The kids also liked our new rugs in our “areas”.
Rest Time…
We’ve been doing something fun at the start of rest time each day this week. After the kids have gotten cozy on their mats, I have positioned myself somewhere in the middle of the group where they can all hear me, even if they can’t see me; and then I have been reading maybe three more books out loud (familiar ones, so they can remember/imagine the pictures) while they relax and start falling asleep. One friend today was especially wanting us to do that again, and excitedly reminded me four times that we should do that!
One-on-One, Small Group Learning…
This week the kids and I have been working together one-on-one or in small groups working on learning activities that sound exciting to them right in that moment. I have an assortment of books for each of the kids to work from if they like, and have been asking them what they want to work on today. Some of the topics that were chosen this week included working on things like “Long & Short”, “Smaller/Bigger”, “Taller/Shorter”, “Mazes”, Spell-Your-Name, Write-Your-Name, Tracing, Cutting with Scissors, Identifying Shapes, Identifying Colors, Identifying Letters and their Sounds, Identifying Numbers.
Favorite Things…
Some of the kids’ favorite activities this week were:
* “The puppies” (stuffed animals) * “The helicopter” * “Ride!” (Cart ride)
* The doggies (stuffed animals from the Veterinarian bucket) * “I like the big people!” (Community Helpers characters/action figures in the Blocks area) * The phone
* “Camping bucket” * “I like to go on a walk!” (Cart ride) * “I just playing making some soup… and I need a fork!”
* “I like stamps” (Art with stamps and ink pads) * “I liked playing with my red helicopter” * “Cart ride. We saw crab berries (crab apples on the trees) and then we make a crab face (we talked about how crab apples are sour)”
* “Playing with the babies” * “I like playing baby dinosaurs” * “I like playing with the people.”
* “I liked stamps.” (stamps/ink pads) * “Backyard” * “Backyard – the Pirate Ship” * Hula hoops. Instead of using them in the traditional way, our friend challenged himself to get one or more of them twirling on his arm, and he challenged himself to throw one up pretty high in the air and then catch it again. (Child’s name) has also been excited about doing headstands for his friends this week.
* “Playing in the living room – the doctor bucket” * “Downstairs – the ‘Correct’/’Check’ game” (Two of the kids held clipboards and pens and asked each other made-up questions as if they were giving each other a test. Each time the friend answered a question, they would pretend to make a mark on the clipboard and announce “Correct!” nice and loud for everyone to hear!) * “Cart ride.” * When we saw the “snowball” flowers (in people’s yards) that were green and that were white * When we saw the peach on the tree.
* “Stamps” * “Play with Legos” * “Playing downstairs. Asking questions. The ‘Correct’ game.”
Meals…
Monday Meals…
Breakfast was strawberry waffles, fresh blueberries and milk.
Lunch was Quesadillas: “street size” Mission flour tortillas, ground beef, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, Kraft Deli Deluxe American cheese, Kraft shredded Cheddar cheese, steamed peas, sliced peaches, and milk.
Snack was Teddy Grahams, Original Cheerios, and apple juice.
Tuesday Meals…
Breakfast was Eggo “Wafflers” (brown sugar/cinnamon flavor), banana, and milk.
Lunch was hamburger pizza, Birds Eye brand Asian vegetable medley (carrots, baby corn, broccoli, snow peas), fruit tray (honeydew melon, watermelon, cantaloupe, fresh pineapple chunks), water, and milk.
Snack was Goldfish whole grain Cheddar flavor crackers, milk, and apple juice.
Wednesday Meals…
Breakfast was chocolate chip waffles, bananas and milk.
Lunch was seasoned ground beef, whole grain Rotini pasta, Prego Three Cheese spaghetti sauce, steamed broccoli, fresh blueberries, Country White bread/butter and milk.
Snack was Wheat Thins crackers, Kraft Sharp Cheddar cheese slices, and apple juice.
Thursday Meals…
Breakfast was cinnamon toast waffles, applesauce, and milk.
Lunch was BBQ turkey burgers - no bun (ground turkey, Famous Dave’s Sweet & Zesty BBQ sauce, Panko bread crumbs, egg, salt, pepper, onion). The kids also had steamed edamame, fresh sliced strawberries, Orowheat Oat Nut bread/butter, Kraft macaroni & cheese, and milk.
Snack was animal crackers and apple juice.
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