Spring time at Funtime

I hope you all had a great spring break! One of the things I did with my boys was visit the Pirates exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. I would highly recommend it for kids of all ages - it's pretty spectacular! We also enjoyed a lot of time outside, the weather was so beautiful! The funtime kids have told me a lot of stories about playing at the park over the break, I'm glad the weather was so cooperative!

This week we focused on getting back into the routine after a week off. This group of kids had no problem jumping right back in. Our theme this week was spring.

Monday we made daffodils using cupcake papers. The morning and the afternoon class did everything themselves, put the glue on and then stuck each part on the paper. For the middle class, we put the glue on and the kids stuck the parts of the flower onto the glue. I did tell the kids where each part should go and that we were making a flower, however, what some of you got didn't really resemble a flower at all, but rather a stack of green pieces with a cupcake liner on top. It was really cute! Just remember that my philosophy is "it's the process not the product."

Wednesday, we made beautiful butterflies. The morning class only had time to paint the coffee filters, so they finished their butterflies today. And the afternoon class worked so hard on their handwriting that they did not even have time for craft... The butterflies turned out cute and the kids had fun 'painting' them. We used watered down food coloring and eye droppers to put the color onto a white coffee filter, then we scrunched it up in the middle and put a clothes pin on it, with a black pipe cleaner for antennae. It's a fun craft and the squeezing of the eye dropper is great for the kids' fine motor.

Today, Mr. Drake put out a fun obstacle course using the balance beams, chairs and baseball bases. The kids had to walk across the balance beam, go over or under the chairs and then walk on top of the rocks (bases) through the hot lava (gym floor) and start over again. We all had a lot of fun and it was a nice change from the balls. Although a few kids did ask me where the balls were today- too cute!

The pre-k class is working very hard on their handwriting, both letters and numbers, as well as alphabet & numeral recognition. We are also learning our address' and phone numbers and working on; buckling, tying, snapping, buttoning and zipping. Please practice these things at home as well, these are all things the kids will need to know for kindergarten in the fall. I am so proud of each of them!!

Next week, we will continue with our spring theme. I have been talking to the kids about the signs of spring, birds chirping, flowers popping up, etc. and I have asked them to look for different signs of spring. Each day, during circle time, we talk about what different signs they have seen. So, we you are outside with the kids, help them spot some signs to share with the class.

Short week

I don't know if it was the weather on Monday or if these kids are just ready for spring to arrive, but they sure had a lot of energy! It's always interesting this time of year, the kids start to get really comfortable with each other and because they are that much older they start to have some emotions that are new to them. The main emotion I see coming through in the morning classes right now is jealousy. It seems to happen more with the boys than with the girls. When a friend they have been playing with for most of the year starts to play with different friends, the fists tend to come out and a hitting match ensues. This is not uncommon with this age group... so don't fret if your child has been lashing out. (He/she is not the only one!) We have been talking about it a little bit in class, trying to help the kiddos understand their feelings instead of lashing out with fists. It's a hard thing to grasp and often times when asked "why did you hit her?" or "Why are you hurting your friends?" they can't answer, because they truly don't know. We will continue to talk about it in class, along with other emotions that may come up as we near the end of the school year.

Monday we talked about Mardi Gras and specifically Fat Tuesday. We referenced the movie The Princess and the Frog, because it's set in New Orleans and features Mardi Gras celebrations and parade. The kids had a lot of fun decorating masks with feathers, sequins and tissue paper. They were most excited about putting them on, they kept asking over and over, "can we put them on when we're done?" I just love their enthusiasm!

Wednesday, our focus was St. Patrick's day. We made a Pot 'o gold for craft. If only they were full of real gold! :) We read a story about Clever Tom. Ask your kids if Tom succeeded in tricking the Leprechaun into giving up his gold. Answer: No, Clever Tom got tricked by the Leprechaun. It was a cute story and the kids enjoyed guessing whether or not Tom was being tricked.

Announcements:

No School Friday or all of next week for spring break - have a great break!

Please remember to take your child to the bathroom before class. We've had a lot of kiddos who need to use the restroom during class. We will gladly take them, but it makes it difficult when half the class has to go at once. Thanks for your help!

Please continue to wash hands before entering the classroom.

Funtime this week

Another busy week at Funtime. We continued our community helpers unit and learned about different people & things who help our community.

Here are some pictures from last week and our visit from Leah Neff, dental assistant at Peak Family Dental.

On Monday we talked about safety and transportation. We made a stoplight for craft and talked about what each color meant. We also talked about crossing the street and how sometimes there is a person called a crossing guard. I was really impressed that the kids new what each color on the stop light meant, remind me to never drive with them in my car.... I don't always slow down for the yellow... ;-)
The pre-K class worked on number recognition and handwriting by writing the number 1 and the number 7.

Wednesday, the 9 am class had a visit from a very special guest! Luke's dad came and told us all about his job working for Fedex. We learned a lot about what he does and the package delivery business. His truck was big enough that we were all able to get into it and each of us got a turn to sit in the drivers seat and honk the horn. Ask your child: "what is the strangest thing Mr. Dan has ever delivered?" Answer: a piece of a whale jaw!  "what did Fedex do to help with the oil spill?" Answer: re-locate hundreds of baby sea turtles. Also, ask about his special watch. He wears a special watch that unlocks the doors to his truck - the kids were pretty amazed by this. Thank you Mr. Dan for coming to our class and teaching us about your job!

For craft, all the classes (except pre-k, we ran out of time) made a mail carrier's bag. The kids had fun putting the envelope inside and pretending to deliver the mail. The pre-k class practiced writing upper case and lower case Aa. They are all getting so good at writing their names, holding their pencils correctly and forming their letters. I am super proud of them!

Here are some pictures of Mr. Dan and the kids.

Mr. Dan and Kaylin scanning a letter into the computer

Mr. Dan unlocking the door with his watch

All the kids in the back of the truck

Friday - gym day! This is the last week of Recreational basket ball, so next week, we should be able to do something more elaborate in the gym. But for now, the bleachers are out and in the afternoon, the guys from the sports dept. come and set out the chairs and score keeper, so we can't have any big equipment out. Today, we put all different sizes of balls out and the kids had a blast running, rolling and kicking.  The pre-k kids practiced the letter Dd today.

Look at all the fun we've been having playing Dr.'s and Nurses and Vets!

Have a great weekend!