Two weeks of Funtime

Since the last 2 weeks have been short weeks, I decided to combine them into one post. Even though each week was short one day, we sure did get a lot of fun stuff done!

I'd like to welcome all the new students and parents. Usually I post once a week to let you all know what we did during 'school', because I know you don't always get the full story from your preschooler. :-) I will also put any reminders or important information in the posts. Please feel free to email or catch me before or after class with any questions/concerns.

Last week we continued with the Spring unit by focusing on birds. We had a lot of fun using bird seed for 2 different crafts. On Monday, we made bird feeders out of toilet paper rolls, using Crisco to adhere the bird seed to the cardboard. It was messy! But we had a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed talking about the tree they were going to hang it on and what birds they thought would come eat the food.
Wednesday we made cute pictures of birds by their bird houses. The kids glued all the pieces on and then added some glue where they wanted to bird seed to go, I went around and added the bird seed, because I didn't want it to be too messy.... famous last words! I made a pretty good mess all by myself. There are a lot of things I love about teaching preschool, two of my favorite being, playing and making a mess! The pre-k kids are still working hard on learning to write their letters and we sent home some homework over the long weekend.

This week our theme was bunnies and chicks. We have Easter marked on our calendar, so we did talk a little bit about it. Mostly we talked about the preparation for it, dying eggs, getting baskets and the Easter Bunny. Some of the kids were excited to tell me about the egg hunts they were attending. It was fun to see how excited they all are. For craft we decorated a chick who is hatching out of it's egg. The idea was to decorate the egg with tissue paper to make it look like it had been dyed and then put feathers on the chick. The first step was to paint the chick with watered down glue, then add the embellishments. Of course, it's about the process, not the product, so what some of you saw looked very different from what the goal was. Some chicks had tissue and no feathers and some had feathers and tissue... they all were very cute! The pre-k class worked on the letters Pp & Bb. They work so hard everyday and seem to be really focused on learning their letters - I am so proud of them! We also continued to work on memorizing addresses and phone numbers. They are getting closer....

Because there was no school last Friday, today was our first gym day of this new session. Ms. Amy set up a really cool obstacle course for the kids to do. (She makes the best obstacle courses!) The kids has a blast navigating the various obstacles. In the 11 o'clock class, some of the kids preferred to run in the middle of the course, while others did a few of the things and then ran a little. The morning class and the pre-k kids had fun challenging themselves and practicing somersaults on the mats.
For Earth Day today, the morning and pre-k classes discussed some things we could do to help the Earth, here are a few things they came up with:
Clean up trash and throw it away
recycle
turn off the lights (got to this with a little prompting from me)
turn off the water when brushing their teeth (this one took prompting as well)
take care of the cats
take care of the dogs
Go to the park
ride the bus, bike or walk to the park (ok - that was my contribution)
They had a lot of good ideas about protecting our Mother Earth -I am very proud of them! The morning class went home with some homework to look for leaky faucets and tell their parents if they find any leaks so that they can be fixed and not waste water. They also vowed to turn off the water when they are brushing and the lights and TV when they are done.
The pre-k class made a really neat craft (that I stole from Ms. Jenn - the Curious 2's teacher). We used Q-tips to paint a coffee filter with blue and green liquid water colors (it really looks like the Earth as seen from space) then they glued it onto a piece of paper that said "Earth Day 2011".

Next Weeks Theme: Space

Please remember to have your child use the bathroom and wash hands before coming to class.

Fun Kid Quotes from this week:

"Ya, I don't like spiders either, they are really creepy and really crawly and just creepy"

"You're the princess and I'm your Prince" (After I put on some princess accessories during the 11 am class)

These little cuties just make my heart sing! Thank you so much for sharing your children with me every week!

Our last week of the session

This week our focus was spring weather and more specifically, wind. I think this weeks weather ran the whole gamut of spring weather, rain, sun, wind and even a little snow. We had fun dressing weather bear this week, for the first time in 2011 he got to wear his rain boots, jacket and hat. The kids were very excited about it!


On Monday the kids decorated paper kites with chalk and put a beaded tail on them. They had fun pretending to fly them and we heard all kinds of stories of kite flying or attempted kite flying. My boys both got new kites this year and we have yet to get them up in the air for  an extended length of time. The wind has just been too gusty this spring. The pre-k class worked on writing their numbers. They are getting so good at handwriting and number recognition!


Check out Kites in the Park
Sunday 4/17/2011
10am-4pm
Spring Canyon Park
FREE




Wednesday's weather was gloomy! Although I am glad for the rain for the sake of my plants and lawn, it makes it really hard to get out of bed when the sun is hiding behind the clouds! The kids all looked so cute in their rain gear! For craft today we made wind socks out of paper bags. The kids attached streamers to the bags and then used stickers to decorate the outside of the wind sock. The original plan was to take them outside to run with them, so they could see how they work. However, with the rain, we had to scrap that plan, but the kids had a lot of fun decorating their wind socks and talking about which tree they were going to hang it on at home. I love how kids can just go with the flow!
The pre-k kids worked really hard on their letter writing and even did a complicated review of the Alphabet. They were given a worksheet that had most of the alphabet letters written on it, with a few missing, they had to go through the alphabet and write the missing letters in. Not only did they have to remember the alphabet, but they had to remember how to write each letter we have learned up to this point. They did an awesome job and I am very proud of them!


The kids have been asking for the big balls for the last couple of weeks. So for gym day on Friday, we decided to go for it and the kids were so excited to see the balls! They ran and played and had so much fun. The morning class and the pre-k kids came up with a couple of different games both using the balls and not. It's so fun for me to watch them and see the different things they come up with.


Our last session before summer starts on Monday. I understand that quite a few of you did not get signed up in time - I wish I could accommodate everybody. Unfortunately, our classroom is just not big enough! I look forward to seeing those of you who won't be with us for this session, in future classes.


Summer Recreator will be out on April 25th. The NEW fall Funtime schedule will be in it and registration for fall Funtime will be open.


Please remember to have your child use the potty and wash their hands before coming to class!


Have a great weekend.

Spring has sprung

Funtime has been cancelled for the rest of the semester - the kids have learned all they can and Amy and I are taking some much needed R & R. See you all in the fall. APRIL FOOLS!!
(sorry - just couldn't resist)

The kiddos have been excited this week to tell me all about the signs of spring they have seen. This morning when I stepped out of my front door for my morning workout, one of my trees had the beginnings of leaves! Now, if only the wind would go away....

Our theme this week was spring. On Monday for craft, we made spring trees. One tree had popcorn kernels as the buds and the tree next to it had popped popcorn for the flowers. The kids loved using popcorn for craft and surprisingly nobody ate it!
The pre-k class worked on writing their numbers.

On Wednesday the kids made flowers using recycled egg cartons (thanks to all my wonderful parents who have and continue to bring the recyclables in). They painted the piece of the carton inside and out, because "flowers have color all over them." Little cuties - I just love the things they say! As we did this craft, they were reminded of all the flowers they have seen popping up lately. More daffodils and now the tulips are starting to come out. In my yard, my iris' and poppies are greening up, getting ready to make some gorgeous flowers. I love this time of year, a time of renewal.
The pre-k kids continue to work hard on their handwriting, this week we focused on Gg and Jj. The tricky part of these letters is making sure the tail points in the right direction. We are also working on learning address' and phone numbers. Most of the kids recognize theirs when I say it, but they cannot say it back to me. Please work on this at home as well, my goal is to have them all being able to recite their address' and phone numbers by our graduation in May.

Today for gym we got the soccer balls and goals and the basket balls and hoops out. The kids had so much fun kicking the balls, chasing the balls and trying to score a goal. They also worked really hard to try and get the basketballs through the hoops. It was to watch them try to work out how they were going to get the ball up that high and through the hoop.
Instead of gym time, the pre-k class took advantage of this beautiful spring weather and walked over to Boltz Middle School and played soccer and freeze tag in the grassy area by their baseball field. It was so wonderful to be outside running around. I am so proud of the kids, they stayed together as we walked and obeyed the rules of outside play. Kudos!

Have a great weekend - get outside and enjoy the weather!