Friday, September 28, 2012

Bears, families and things that are blue oh my!

The week was very busy.  We started our new reading unit, The 3 Bears.  4's have been working on the concepts of over and under as well as sizing from large-small.  We have been using big, medium and small.  Ask them to put cans or boxes in order at home.  Change it around and have them sort all the big things in one spot, the small things in another.  They love learning this way.  3's continue to work on scissor skills and writing their names this week. All are learning about similarities and differences, the letters Cc and Dd and the color blue. We even celebrated our artist this week, Picasso, by studying his BLUE period!

In Religion, we have been talking about families.  The children shared their families and we talked about how we thank God for our families.  Next week we will start to talk about Joseph and how important he was in the Bible.

Our unit on corn was a POPPING success! Wait until you see the great things we did.  They watched a harvesting video which showed seeding and sowing through the fall harvest.  It was a great kick off to this season.  Next week we will talk continue our discussions on fall, broadening the subtopics.  Over the next couple of weeks we will discuss hibernation, acorns and pumpkins.

Please remember as the weather gets cooler to send a jacket for recess.  I would also suggest sending pants for "accidents" if you originally sent shorts.  The shorts part of the dress code ends in a couple of weeks. 

There is no school Oct. 4,5 and 8.  Please remember this and enjoy your extra time together!  I will get new photos up this weekend!

Until next week...
TB

Monday, September 24, 2012

Come and see what's we have been up to!

Jackson Pollock

First Friend of the week!

They are so sweet with the babies!

letter identification

Thanks to DF for bringing in the biggest sunflower I have ever seen. What a great impromptu science center it has made.

Taking his time, absorbing Van Gogh's complex colors

Music Class

Our next friend of the week

Johnny Appleseed!

a little apple pie


and a little apple sauce
The Ipad has been wonderful for numbers, shapes and letters!



Thursday, September 20, 2012

Mid Quarter Already?

Yes indeed! We are half way through the first quarter. Mid Quarter reports will be sent home tomorrow, 9/21.  They are just brief notes and an assessment that was done the first week of school. You will be amazed at how much they will grow in the next few weeks. I am already so proud of how engaged and excited they are.

We are tying up our Unit on Little Red Riding Hood.  The packet of work will be coming home on Friday or Monday.  They did great and are learning amazing concepts like over, under, across and left to right.  These are all crucial as they start to recognize and work with print concepts more. The 3's are working on their names, shapes and fine motor activities during that time.  We collect bits and pieces of "work" to show growth and it will be kept in their own personal portfolio.  You will see these at conferences and get to take them home in June.  Next week we move on to Unit 2: The 3 Little Bears along with the letters Cc and Dd and the color yellow.

In Religion, we started talking about Abraham and the idea of faith and trust.  Next week, Abraham and his wife will have a child Isaac.  We will talk about the importance of family and how families are all different.  I would like each child to make a family collage and bring it in by Wednesday 9/26.  We will share these on Thursday.

Science will begin next week with VZ.  We look forward to sharing some new ideas with new parents.  Stay tuned next week to see photos and hear all about it.  Do be sure to ask your child on Wednesday night how Science went. I am sure they will have a lot to say.

I hope you have all had a chance to check out the fast direct website.  If not, try to sign in soon. lunch orders and future field trips can be paid for on there. For this upcoming trip, just send it in to me via check or cash.  Remember ALL prek students are encouraged to come even if it is a day off.

I will post photos later because I truly have some great ones.  Check back Saturday and I should have them up by then.  I appreciate your trust in me and if you have any questions about the midquarters, feel free to email me!

Blessings.
Tanya Boyle


Thursday, September 13, 2012

What's Red??

Why not ask your child? We have been talking a lot about the color red and all the things that can be or are red.  They were also introduced to the letters A and B. Some great ways to reinforce this learning at home is to go on a scavenger hunt for the letter or the color or let them look through a magazine or junk mail to find things you ask for. 

The 4's have begun working in the new series called Happily Ever After. We are on the Little Red Riding hood unit. The focus of this unit is not only the color red, but the learning of concepts such as underlining, listening to directions, drawing a line across and matching.  Most work from this series will come home in a packet at the end of the unit which will be next Friday.  It is a great discussion tool to use.  While we work on this, the 3's are busy working on strengthening up fine motor skills and name recognition skills with Ms. Munoz. 

In Religion, we just finished How God Created the World.  Next we will learn about Abraham and how God blessed him. The children are learning songs and doing very well in chapel as well. Please remember no jeans on Wedensdays due to chapel.

This week our Artist was Jackson Pollock and his splatter/drip painting.  We recreated a piece outside.  Ours has some leaves stuck to it, but other than that, it is great. The kids had a blast doing it. 

NN was our friend this week. He brought a very neat book for us to use in November for Day of the Dead.  Next week our Friend of the Week is BT. 

Next week we will be learning all about apples. We will talk about the different kinds, do a graph, eat yummy applesauce and so much more. We will even "meet" Johnny Appleseed through an online visit.

FINALLY...MRS. HOFFMAN had her baby! Details to come, but he is a healthy baby boy born on 9/12/12 at 2:30 pm. Thanks for your prayers, she is doing great.


Friday, September 7, 2012

We are on a roll!

Things are going very well and the children are doing really well with their routines.  We started actively using the stoplight behavior poster. Please remind your child to have a green day. If they stay on green for most of their day, they  get a sticker. If they are having a hard time they do not.

*In Religion, we are talking about Genesis 1, how God created the world. We are spending 2 weeks on this.

*In reading and writing the 4'sbegan working on our new series Happily Ever After. The first story is Little Red Ridinghood and our major concepts are Red, underlining and the letters A and B.  the 3's are working with Ms. Munoz on fine motor skills doing a variety of activities.  By now you have received the correct alphabet.  When teaching or practicing letters at home, refer to this so we continue on the same path.

*Special classes went well. Library books may be kept at home until the following Tuesday. Late books are $.10 a day.  They did super in chapel and music. Our artist this week was Wassily Kandinsky.  He was quite significant in the art world. We found his home on a map and recreated his favorite shape:circles.

*we had IPad, computer and SmartBoard time this week. They are learning to manipulate the board very easily.  The IPad has been a big hit. The children are being patient taking turns.

Housekeeping:
We are set for 2 upcoming field trips. Please look for slips coming home.
Their blankets came home for washing. Please be sure to return on Monday. They are very restless without them.
Car wash pledges and money willbe due next week! Let's see if Prek can win a pizza party!
Friend of the Week starts with NN next week. (I use initials, never names!)

Many blessings on your week,
TB

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

A first look into our room in action....

A view of our Home Depot donated aprons at work.
 




 
our class pets

puzzle fun


scissor practice to strengthen up those fine motor muscles

Interactive Exploration

Writing books and practicing our story telling skills.