Thursday, October 27, 2011
updated photos
our first time singing in chapel
our pumpkins are as different as we are!
the bravest goo remover!
they all tried it
he was pretty brave too. 
our SHAPE OLANTERN!
the pumpkin carvers 
Look for our ornaments at the HIP in late November
Friend of the Week 
Blubber fun
Thanks Mrs. B and RB
creepy crawly spidersThe end of the 1st Quarter is here!
Can you believe it? Here we are the end of the 1st quarter. I have seen such growth in your children. I hope you have seen it too. They are feeling confident and proud of their work too. I simply LOVE this age. You see so much in such a little time.
We have been continuing our work in integrating some basic Spanish. They love to throw in a color or quiz me on occassional words. We will do this all year. By then end of the year, they should have quite the phrase vocabulary.
Ee, Black, rhyming patterns of -at and -op words have been this weeks focus. If you have 5 minutes each night, play the rhyming game. Ask them to tell you rhyming words for those patterns. They can ABSOLUTELY be made up at this age. I have been really proud of them these last 2 weeks. I do write them too so the older ones in particular pay attention to the rhyme pattern.
Nocturnal. Ask your child what that means. They should not only KNOW the definition, but be able to tell you 3-4 animals that fit into that category. They love talking about this subject. They love learning BIG new words. Embrace and encourage vocabulary at home. They can and do understand and learn to use these words correctly.
We have been talking about Moses this week. This will carry over into next week when we talk about Moses and the 10 commandments. As of now they know he had to be hidden because the Pharoah declared NO baby boys to be born. We discussed why as well. We continue to practice the Christian pledge. After Christmas we will be doing Luther's Morning Prayer. Some have already begun reciting from listening to the prayers in the am.
Science was Flubber today. Pics of that will go up later. The kids LOVED it. Anything goey is great fun.
Next week is P/T conferences. If you have not signed up, please do. They are Thursday afternoon and evening and Friday morning until 1:45. If you cannot make it, email me for a different morning before 8:30.
Finally Monday we will wear pajamas. We encouraged all children to donate a few coins for our pennies for pies collection. Since we are doing so well, we decided to reward them/you with a pj day. It is halloween and we are not "celebrating". We will have a small fall fest on November 15th. More info to come.
I think that is all for now. Until next week....
Tanya
We have been continuing our work in integrating some basic Spanish. They love to throw in a color or quiz me on occassional words. We will do this all year. By then end of the year, they should have quite the phrase vocabulary.
Ee, Black, rhyming patterns of -at and -op words have been this weeks focus. If you have 5 minutes each night, play the rhyming game. Ask them to tell you rhyming words for those patterns. They can ABSOLUTELY be made up at this age. I have been really proud of them these last 2 weeks. I do write them too so the older ones in particular pay attention to the rhyme pattern.
Nocturnal. Ask your child what that means. They should not only KNOW the definition, but be able to tell you 3-4 animals that fit into that category. They love talking about this subject. They love learning BIG new words. Embrace and encourage vocabulary at home. They can and do understand and learn to use these words correctly.
We have been talking about Moses this week. This will carry over into next week when we talk about Moses and the 10 commandments. As of now they know he had to be hidden because the Pharoah declared NO baby boys to be born. We discussed why as well. We continue to practice the Christian pledge. After Christmas we will be doing Luther's Morning Prayer. Some have already begun reciting from listening to the prayers in the am.
Science was Flubber today. Pics of that will go up later. The kids LOVED it. Anything goey is great fun.
Next week is P/T conferences. If you have not signed up, please do. They are Thursday afternoon and evening and Friday morning until 1:45. If you cannot make it, email me for a different morning before 8:30.
Finally Monday we will wear pajamas. We encouraged all children to donate a few coins for our pennies for pies collection. Since we are doing so well, we decided to reward them/you with a pj day. It is halloween and we are not "celebrating". We will have a small fall fest on November 15th. More info to come.
I think that is all for now. Until next week....
Tanya
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Does your child have allergies? Check this out!
I think this sounds really amazing for children with food and bee allergies!
http://www.allerbling.com/
http://www.allerbling.com/
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Spiders, Spanish, circles, blubber and rhymes oh my!
We have been busy learning about spiders. They should be able to tell you some important facts. Ask them how many body parts? how many legs? how many eyes? what do they use their silk for?
We started shapes today. Those that can already ID a circle are working on DRAWING and cutting circles and labeling them with the word. Those not yet ready are tracing and learning to ID.
Although preschool does not have a specific Spanish program, I am teaching them words and phrases. We have been doing this for a few weeks. You may hear them say some random words at home. They know YES, THANKS, VERY, GOOD, HOT, COLD, SIT DOWN, STAND UP, PLEASE, RED, BLUE, YELLOW AND ORANGE. Ask them to fill you in! Send them on a Spanish color hunt.
Rhyming is always fun. We have started -at words. Right now this is all oral. I want them to hear the sounds. I write the words they say so they can see the same ending letters. Try a fun game of rhyme at home.
RB and his mom did "Blubber Glove" today in Science. It was really cool and Mrs. B did a great job including God into this project. She was able to explain to the children that God gave cold weather animals blubber to protect them. Then she and RB showed a great experiment on how well that blubber works. Ask your child if blubber floats or sinks!
Saturday night the children will be singing in the choir at St. Paul. We hope to see you there. They will be singing what they sang yesterday in Chapel. They did very well. If you can not make it, we understand. By the way, we are continuing to work on the Christian pledge and some are also catching on to Luther's Morning Prayer. We will focus on ALL memorizing that prayer after Christmas.
HOUSEKEEPING:
It's cold. Please dress your child in appropriate weather. If your child is not dressed warm enough, he or she will miss out on recess. Also, remember to try and stick to wearing gym shoes until it snows. After Thanksgiving or about, I will send home info about shoes/boots situation.
Don't forget that change for our "Pennies for Pies" fund! Let's teach the kids a lesson about giving.
Until next week...God bless you and your children!
TB
We started shapes today. Those that can already ID a circle are working on DRAWING and cutting circles and labeling them with the word. Those not yet ready are tracing and learning to ID.
Although preschool does not have a specific Spanish program, I am teaching them words and phrases. We have been doing this for a few weeks. You may hear them say some random words at home. They know YES, THANKS, VERY, GOOD, HOT, COLD, SIT DOWN, STAND UP, PLEASE, RED, BLUE, YELLOW AND ORANGE. Ask them to fill you in! Send them on a Spanish color hunt.
Rhyming is always fun. We have started -at words. Right now this is all oral. I want them to hear the sounds. I write the words they say so they can see the same ending letters. Try a fun game of rhyme at home.
RB and his mom did "Blubber Glove" today in Science. It was really cool and Mrs. B did a great job including God into this project. She was able to explain to the children that God gave cold weather animals blubber to protect them. Then she and RB showed a great experiment on how well that blubber works. Ask your child if blubber floats or sinks!
Saturday night the children will be singing in the choir at St. Paul. We hope to see you there. They will be singing what they sang yesterday in Chapel. They did very well. If you can not make it, we understand. By the way, we are continuing to work on the Christian pledge and some are also catching on to Luther's Morning Prayer. We will focus on ALL memorizing that prayer after Christmas.
HOUSEKEEPING:
It's cold. Please dress your child in appropriate weather. If your child is not dressed warm enough, he or she will miss out on recess. Also, remember to try and stick to wearing gym shoes until it snows. After Thanksgiving or about, I will send home info about shoes/boots situation.
Don't forget that change for our "Pennies for Pies" fund! Let's teach the kids a lesson about giving.
Until next week...God bless you and your children!
TB
Monday, October 17, 2011
Halloween Questions
A few of you had some questions about Halloween. It has been brought to my attention, that the school in general does not celebrate Halloween. There will be no candy/trinket exchanges or costumes. We will allow halloween color shirts or socks. We will plan a little fall celebration midway between Halloween and Thanksgiving that will be done in our rooms. It will not be a grand party, but a little treat celebration with some games.
Thanks for understanding.
TB
Thanks for understanding.
TB
Friday, October 14, 2011
PHOTOS!
Reverse Volcano
Computer Time
Pumpkin Exploration
Fireman Mark
Yes, an egg can float
The visit from Norwood Fire Department
The Ear Guitar
"quizzing" each other on sounds
Pumpkin Farm Group
Listening to the farm tour
Feeding the animals.Thursday, October 13, 2011
More Pumpkins and Safety was the theme of this classroom this week.
We continued with our theme of pumpkins this week. We have had a variety of centers and work centers that revolved around pumpkins. One was counting pumpkin seeds and matching them to the number symbol. Think about doing this one at home! We also set up a science station with gourds and pumpkins that were available at all times for observing and recording what they see. Today, we wrote a book TOGETHER as a class. They came up with titles, illustration ideas and of coarse the words for our book. It will now become part of our library. We are carving our class pumpkin tomorrow! Photos are coming!
We were overjoyed when Luther North decided to bring their play Aladin to LUSA. Both East and West were able to enjoy this in school field trip. The children were all very engaged and talked about it a lot this week.
Today's Science lesson with Dr. J and Mrs. C went very well. The kids got a chance to make an egg float AND sink. They learned about the word SOLUTION and what a solution is. Ask them about that when they get home.
As I am sure you heard, we did a fire safety unit this week. We had Fireman Mark come by to give us the basics of what to do when there is a fire in our homes. The children listened attentively and all received hats, stickers and coloring books. You even received an emergency booklet too. Remember to thank Fireman Mark (C) on the black top when you see him. Tomorrow, the Fire department is coming for a drill and a bit of truck exploration for the children.
Last week, I did start the differentiated instruction. You will be seeing a variety of work coming home. Some children will have more or less and they might not all have the same work. If you have specific questions, please ask. This week, for those who already know their colors are moving on to identifying the WORD name of the color as well as spelling it. They are also working on some letter sounds. Others are working on the importance of Left to Right, lines and color identification. When you read to your child, you can always show the imporance of left to right by following the words with your finger tip. It is also a way to keep your child focused and engaged.
The next friend of the week is MC and the scientist is RB. Please notice the use of initials. This will be the process now for all electronic information, even personal emails. We won't be using your name NOR your child's name in any emails or blogs. They will be referred to by their initials for their safety.
Book orders are due Tuesday. Again feel free to email with questions or comments. Until next week, thanks for sharing your child with us!
Tanya Boyle
We were overjoyed when Luther North decided to bring their play Aladin to LUSA. Both East and West were able to enjoy this in school field trip. The children were all very engaged and talked about it a lot this week.
Today's Science lesson with Dr. J and Mrs. C went very well. The kids got a chance to make an egg float AND sink. They learned about the word SOLUTION and what a solution is. Ask them about that when they get home.
As I am sure you heard, we did a fire safety unit this week. We had Fireman Mark come by to give us the basics of what to do when there is a fire in our homes. The children listened attentively and all received hats, stickers and coloring books. You even received an emergency booklet too. Remember to thank Fireman Mark (C) on the black top when you see him. Tomorrow, the Fire department is coming for a drill and a bit of truck exploration for the children.
Last week, I did start the differentiated instruction. You will be seeing a variety of work coming home. Some children will have more or less and they might not all have the same work. If you have specific questions, please ask. This week, for those who already know their colors are moving on to identifying the WORD name of the color as well as spelling it. They are also working on some letter sounds. Others are working on the importance of Left to Right, lines and color identification. When you read to your child, you can always show the imporance of left to right by following the words with your finger tip. It is also a way to keep your child focused and engaged.
The next friend of the week is MC and the scientist is RB. Please notice the use of initials. This will be the process now for all electronic information, even personal emails. We won't be using your name NOR your child's name in any emails or blogs. They will be referred to by their initials for their safety.
Book orders are due Tuesday. Again feel free to email with questions or comments. Until next week, thanks for sharing your child with us!
Tanya Boyle
Thursday, October 6, 2011
AMAZING, ENGAGING and EDUCATIONAL!
That is what this week has been! We had so much going on I don't know where to start. Let's start with today. The trip was great. The children were engaged the entire time. There were no injuries or bee stings. They went on a farm tour, hay ride and got to bring home their pumpkins and more. I hope you ask them about all they learned. We will continue talking about harvest time, life cycles of different fall foods etc.
My anticipated future field trips are:
March: CSO Once Upon a Symphony (3 parents)
May: Dupage Children's Museum (ALL parents will be welcome)
Field trips are not just FUN! They are an extension of what we learn in class. We appreciate the "fun" attached, but it is more important they make a connection between school and these extended activites.
We continue to talk about punctuation each day. I hope you are asking them at home too. We have been practicing the Christian Pledge. They seem to be getting it, so if you are practicing at home, thank you.
Science was all about vibrations. Remember the old "telephone cans"? Well, YS and her dad presented the ear guitar with fish wire, 2 yogurt cups and paperclips. EASY BREEZY! The kids loved it.
Next week we will move on to the color orange and the letter Dd. I have begun differentiating more frequently within the week. You may get some random pages with a note on the top to practice at home. You do not need to return. The note at the top will tell you WHY I am sending it home.
Tuesday we will have the priviledge of seeing Aladin at LUSA West. It is in the afternoon presented by Luther North HS. We will then have Mr. C joining us Wednesday after lunch for fire safety chat. Thursday is picture retake day and Friday afternoon is our visit from the fire department to show us all the important tools and vehicles they use.
The children will sing at St. Paul on Oct. 22 at the evening service. Don't forget to add us on FB and share the site with your friends and family. If you have not picked up a yard sign, you can get that in the office too. The more you spread the word, the better it is for the school! We appreciate your help.
I am sure I am missing something and if I remember I will make another post. Until then, many blessings to you all!
TB
My anticipated future field trips are:
March: CSO Once Upon a Symphony (3 parents)
May: Dupage Children's Museum (ALL parents will be welcome)
Field trips are not just FUN! They are an extension of what we learn in class. We appreciate the "fun" attached, but it is more important they make a connection between school and these extended activites.
We continue to talk about punctuation each day. I hope you are asking them at home too. We have been practicing the Christian Pledge. They seem to be getting it, so if you are practicing at home, thank you.
Science was all about vibrations. Remember the old "telephone cans"? Well, YS and her dad presented the ear guitar with fish wire, 2 yogurt cups and paperclips. EASY BREEZY! The kids loved it.
Next week we will move on to the color orange and the letter Dd. I have begun differentiating more frequently within the week. You may get some random pages with a note on the top to practice at home. You do not need to return. The note at the top will tell you WHY I am sending it home.
Tuesday we will have the priviledge of seeing Aladin at LUSA West. It is in the afternoon presented by Luther North HS. We will then have Mr. C joining us Wednesday after lunch for fire safety chat. Thursday is picture retake day and Friday afternoon is our visit from the fire department to show us all the important tools and vehicles they use.
The children will sing at St. Paul on Oct. 22 at the evening service. Don't forget to add us on FB and share the site with your friends and family. If you have not picked up a yard sign, you can get that in the office too. The more you spread the word, the better it is for the school! We appreciate your help.
I am sure I am missing something and if I remember I will make another post. Until then, many blessings to you all!
TB
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
The Importance of Art in Early Childhood Education
For those of you that think art is a means to just do "busy work", please read. There is a valid and extremely important reason!
http://tiredneedsleep.blogspot.com/2011/10/maryann-kohl-discusses-importance-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TiredNeedSleep+%28Tired%2C+Need+Sleep.%29
http://tiredneedsleep.blogspot.com/2011/10/maryann-kohl-discusses-importance-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TiredNeedSleep+%28Tired%2C+Need+Sleep.%29
Monday, October 3, 2011
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