Thursday, February 25 Building Study Celebration

Group Meeting:  Today was the end of our Building Study.  We planned a few activities to make it a fun day.  The warm, sunny weather certainly helped.

Story:  The story for today was Pizza at Sally's by Monica Wellington.  Sally owns a pizzeria.  She grows tomatoes, buys flour from the miller, and cheese from the dairy.  She makes the dough and puts on the toppings.  People come to her store to eat with their friends.  Some people take pizza home or have it delivered.

Study:  We went on a walk to see if the construction crew was working on the building down the street.  Unfortunately, they were not, but they had completed the roof.  The children noticed the shingles on the roof right away.  We'll keep an eye on this building!

Letter Learning:  Vv

Let's Find Out Magazine: Our magazine was all about shadows today which fit perfectly as we observed our shadows when walking outside.  We did not have a chance to finish the back page.  It will be a little difficult for some but can be completed with a grown-ups help.

Snack: To celebrate our Building Study, the children made pizza like Sally from our story.  They were given an English muffin, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni to put on any way they wished.  We put it in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.  It was delicious!  We also had Birthday Brownies.  We didn't have any February birthdays and didn't want them to go to waste 😀

Wednesday, February 24

Story:  The story for today was Let's Go to the Hardware Store by Anne Rockwell.  A family has moved into a house that needs a few repairs.  Dad and the children go to the hardware store to get everything that they will need to make the repairs.  Mom asks them to remember to get something.  Ask your child to tell you what it is and if they remembered.

Study:  Tomorrow will be the last day of our Building Study.  Today, we made a list of everything that we have learned about buildings.  Please read the note that was sent home today about our plans for tomorrow.

Letter Learning:  Tt

Snack:  The snack for today was bananas, milk, and water.

This weekend, the staff was allowed to get the first Covid vaccination.  We will be able to get the second dose in two more weeks.  I thought I'd share my picture.  I'm smiling in case you can't tell!

Tuesday, February 23

Group Meeting:  Since the beginning of the school year, we have been counting the days that we have been in school.  We put a sticker on a 10 Frame chart to help us count.  Today, we added sticker number 82 to the chart.  We can count to 82 by ones and by 10s.  This year is flying by...

Story:  The story for today was Corduroy by Don Freemann.  This is a story that we read at the beginning of the school year.  I read it again today because it takes place in a department store.  After reading the story, we talked about the different departments that Corduroy visits in the store.  We also talked about the escalator that takes Corduroy to the furniture department.  

Study:  I asked the children to pretend that they were construction builders and that they could build anything that they wanted.  I asked them to draw a picture of what they would build in their Writing Journal.  It took a while for the children to realize that they could be very creative with their building ideas.   Ask your child to tell you what they would build.

Letter Learning:  Pp

Snack:  The snack for today was Cinnamon Belvita bars, juice and water.

Monday, February 22

Group Meeting:  This week, we will be learning about things that happen inside of buildings.  On Thursday, we will celebrate buildings with some special activities.  

Story:  The story for today was Shopping with Dad by Matt Harvey and Miriam Latimer.  A girl and her dad have been sent to the grocery story to get the items on mom's list.  Dad puts the girl in the cart so that she doesn't get into any trouble.  However, her nose begins to tickle, and she let's out an enormous sneeze. This starts a chain of events that leads to the knock down of a pyramid of cans.  Who will pick up the cans?  Ask your child to tell you how this ends.

Study:  Around the room, I placed pictures of buildings that the children would be familiar with such as McDonald's, Target, Duncin Donuts, etc.   I gave the children a clip board, pencil and paper.  The children walked around the room and wrote down the first letter of the name of the business in the building.  

Letter Learning:  Kk

Snack:  The snack for the morning class was Goldfish, juice and water.  The afternoon class had Cheerios, juice and water.  

I used the children's folders to send home the March calendar and a class list.  Please return the folder tomorrow.  I will use them to send home special papers.

Thursday, February 18

 Group Meeting:  February is Dental Health month.  Our activities were all about keeping our teeth healthy.

Story:  The story for today was The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss.  This book tells of the three things for which we need our teeth.  We use teeth to eat, talk, and smile.   It told us things to do to keep our teeth healthy and things that we should not do with our teeth.  Ask your child to tell you one thing to do to keep teeth healthy and one thing that we should not do with our teeth.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  Our magazine was also about dental health.  We watched the video and cut the magazine to create a book.  Their are more activities available online if you are interested.  Go to letsfindout.com click on the student log in, and enter redeemer as the password.

Letter Learning:  Jj

Snacks:  The snack for today was Cheerios, juice and water for the morning class. Goldfish, juice and water was served for the afternoon class.

Wednesday, February 17

Group Meeting:  We started the class by doing some yoga to help us stretch.  Gross motor activities help get our minds working!

Story:  The story for today was The Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.  A girl has an idea of something that she wants to build.  She makes a plan and gathers the materials that she needs.  After building for a while, she realizes that what she has created is not what she had in mind.  She tries building again and again until she becomes frustrated.  She decides to go for a walk and think about it.  When she comes back, she is able to build something that is close to what she planned.  Ask your child to tell you what it was.  The moral of this story was to try, try again.  

Writing Journal:  The children drew pictures in their journal of what they might want to be when they grow up.  Before drawing, we talked about all of the different things we could be.  The morning children thought that if I didn't want to be a teacher any more that I should be an astronaut.  The afternoon children thought a monster truck driver would be better :)

Letter Learning: Dd

Snack:  The morning snack for today was peanut butter, jelly, milk, and water.  The afternoon class had Cheerios, milk and water.

Tuesday, February 16

Group Meeting:  Today almost felt like the first day of school again!  The children introduced themselves by saying their name and their favorite color.  It will take a little while to learn everyone's names.

Story:  The story for today was Going Up by Sherry J Lee.  In this story, a girl and her father have been invited to a birthday party on the 10th floor of their building.  They live on the first floor.  They get into the elevator and push the 10 button.  On the way, the elevator stops at the other floors and more people get on.  They are all going to the party.  Ask your child to tell you who is celebrating a birthday.  At the end of the story, we noticed that one of the ladies was in a wheelchair.  We talked about how wheelchairs cannot climb stairs and how important it is to have elevators and ramps in building.

Building Study:  We had a discussion about building foundations.  The foundation needs to be sturdy so that the building does not fall down.  We watched a video by SciShow Kids about stacking cups so that they will not fall down.  After watching, I gave the children cups to try on their own.  We found that if the cups are stacked on top of one cup, the building will fall, but if the cups are stacked like a pyramid, the building will be more stable.

Letter Learning:  We are starting the alpahbet again.  This time, we will be learning them according to how we make the letter sound.  Today's letter was Bb.

Snack:  The snack for today was Belvita bars, milk and water.

We had a good day today.  We are having to learn a few new routines, but I think the children are going to blend well with each other.  

Thursday, February 11

  Group Meeting:  We took a few minutes to look at everyone's pajamas.  Everyone looked so cute and cozy.  

Story:  The story for today was Piggies in Pajamas by Michelle Meadows.   The piggies are supposed to be in bed, but Mama is on the phone.  Will the piggies get away with play time in their pajamas when they are supposed to be sleeping?  Ask your child to tell you where all of the piggies end up at the end of the story.

The rest of our day was spent doing Valentine activities.  We measured cupids arrows with candy hearts, made a Valentine to give to someone, played musical hearts, and ate a Valentine snack.  At snack time, the children ate popcorn, pretzels, and marshmellows while watching a Valentine movie staring Curious George.  We had juice boxes for our drink.

At Home Learning

Story:  Happy Valentine's Day Mouse by Laura Numeroff  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upKmtdfnIRY  Mouse wants to make Valentines for all of his friends.

Valentine Graph:  Start by coloring the hearts on the graph the color indicated.  Sort the candy hearts by color placing the candy in the squares.  Which color had the most amount of hearts?  Which color had the least?

Math Journal:  Pretty Petals

For the morning class, you will find papers from last Thursday and this Tuesday.  I don't expect all of that to be done by next week.  I included them to work on when you have time.

Please read the note in the folder concerning the return to 4 days of preschool.  No School on Monday!

Wednesday, February 10

 Group Meeting:  We took a few minutes to look at everyone's pajamas.  Everyone looked so cute and cozy.  

Story:  The story for today was Piggies in Pajamas by Michelle Meadows.   The piggies are supposed to be in bed, but Mama is on the phone.  Will the piggies get away with play time in their pajamas when they are supposed to be sleeping?  Ask your child to tell you where all of the piggies end up at the end of the story.

The rest of our day was spent doing Valentine activities.  We measured cupids arrows with candy hearts, made a Valentine to give to someone, played musical hearts, and ate a Valentine snack.  At snack time, the children ate popcorn, pretzels, and marshmellows while watching a Valentine movie staring Curious George.  We had juice boxes for our drink.

At Home Learning

Story:  Happy Valentine's Day Mouse by Laura Numeroff  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upKmtdfnIRY  Mouse wants to make Valentines for all of his friends.

Valentine Graph:  Start by coloring the hearts on the graph the color indicated.  Sort the candy hearts by color placing the candy in the squares.  Which color had the most amount of hearts?  Which color had the least?

Math Journal:  Pretty Petals

Please read the note in the folder concerning the return to 4 days of preschool.  No School on Monday!

Tuesday, February 9th

 Group Meeting:  This week, we will be taking a break from our Building Study to do some Valentine activities and have a Pajama Day.  

Story:  The story for today was The Bears Valentine by Eve Bunting.  Mr. and Mrs. Bear have never celebrated Valentines day because they are hibernating.  This year, Mrs. Bear sets her alarm so that they can share this special day.  When she tries to wake up Mr. Bear, he keeps sleeping.  Ask your child to tell you how she tries to wake him up. 

Writing Journal:  The children drew pictures of people that they love in their journals.  

Let's Find Out Magazine:  Today's issue was about being an astronaut.  It told the story of Mae Jamison who was the first black female astronaut. 

Letter Learning:  Yy

Snack:  The snack for today was inspired by a song that we learned last week called "Peanut Butter and Jelly".  The children could choose bread, peanut butter, jelly, milk and water.

At Home Learning

Story:  The story for Tuesday is Love is... by Diane Adams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EbKmLf47EQ   Be sure point out to your child that on the title page of the book, a duckling is wandering away from his mother.  The girl in the story finds it and takes care of the duckling.  After reading the story, compare her love for the duck to the love that a parent has for a child.

Letter Learning:  Letter Xx is from last week when we missed school on Thursday.  I've also included a board game to play to see how many letters your child can identify.  The die can be returned when your child if finished.

Math Journal:  How Many Hearts? and  Happy Hearts Day from last week.

Thursday is Pajama Day.  Read the note included in the folder.

Tuesday, February 9

 No morning preschool classes today due to the weather. Afternoon class will be held.

Monday, February 8

Group Meeting:  This week, we will be taking a break from our Building Study to do some Valentine activities and have a Pajama Day.  

Story:  The story for today was The Bears Valentine by Eve Bunting.  Mr. and Mrs. Bear have never celebrated Valentines day because they are hibernating.  This year, Mrs. Bear sets her alarm so that they can share this special day.  When she tries to wake up Mr. Bear, he keeps sleeping.  Ask your child to tell you how she tries to wake him up.  After reading the story, we played "Are You Sleeping Mr. Bear?"  Ask your child to tell you how this game is played.

Writing Journal:  The children drew pictures of people that they love in their journals.  

Let's Find Out Magazine:  Today's issue was about being an astronaut.  It told the story of Mae Jamison who was the first black female astronaut.  The morning class completed the back page, but the afternoon class ran out of time.  They can do it at home.

Letter Learning:  Yy

Snack:  The snack for today was inspired by a song that we learned last week called "Peanut Butter and Jelly".  The children could choose bread, peanut butter, jelly, milk and water.

At Home Learning

Story:  The story for Tuesday is Love is... by Diane Adams. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EbKmLf47EQ   Be sure point out to your child that on the title page of the book, a duckling is wandering away from his mother.  The girl in the story finds it and takes care of the duckling.  After reading the story, compare her love for the duck to the love that a parent has for a child.

Letter Learning:  We will finish the last letter, Zz, on Wednesday.  For today, play the board game in the folder.  You will need something to use for marking your places while taking turns.

Math Journal:  How Many Hearts?

Wednesday is Pajama Day.  Read the note included in the folder.

Snow Day, Thursday, February 4

This is the second day in two weeks that we have had to cancel due to weather.  As much as I don't like driving in bad weather, I was disappointed that the Tues/Thurs class had to miss another day.   So, here are a few things to do at home if you are searching for some fun things to do.

Story:  The story for today would have been Froggy Builds a Treehouse by Jonathan London.  You can link to the YouTube story here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whea6ALoclA Froggy and his friends build a treehouse.  His friend Frogilina wants to help, but Froggy says "no girls allowed"  What does your child think about that?  

Study:  So, we can't go outside to build a treehouse.  How about a blanket fort?  A snow day is a great day to drag out some blankets and see what you can use to build a blanket fort.   This requires some engineering and perhaps a little physics to make it work.  Take some books inside for a cozy spot to read.

Letter Learning:  The letter for today is Ww.  Provide the letters for your child to trace and try.  What can you find around the house that begins with the letter W?

Math:  How many mittens do you have in your house?  Line them up and count.  How many mitten pairs do you have?  If you're like my house, you may find some mittens without a match!

We will reschedule our walk to the building site when the weather is warmer.  My  plan is to check it out occasionally to see how it progresses.  Just getting outside yesterday was great.  We really need to do that more often!

Thursday, February 4

No preschool classes today due to the weather.  I will post a few activities at 9:00 for anyone who would like to participate.

Wednesday, February 3

Group Meeting:  The question for today was "What tool would you choose to use?"  The choices were hammer, screwdriver, and saw.  At play time, I had two hammers, nails, two screwdrivers and screws for the children to use on a large plank.  The children wore safety goggles while they used the tools.  The goggles were sanitized inbetween uses.  

Story:  The story for today was Froggy Builds a Treehouse by Jonathan London.  Froggy wants to build a treehouse in his back yard.  His friends come to help.  After a day of building, the friends order pizza to eat in the treehouse.  Ask your child to tell you what Froggy wants on his pizza.

Study:  The children walked down the sidewalk to look at the new construction.  The workers were on the roof putting felt paper on before the shingles could be put on.  They used hammer staplers to make the felt stay on the roof.  They had to shovel the snow off of the roof first.  We discovered that the windows were going to be square and the doors will be rectangles.   We saw a sign in the yard that said the building is going to be an office building.  It looks like it will have bricks on the outside.  We are going to keep watching the building to see the changes that take place!

Let's Find Out Magazine:  The issue for this week was about Abraham Lincoln.  We watched the video that told about how Abraham grew up and what he did as President.   The magazine went well with our building study as it described the inside of a house that was similar to what Abraham grew up in.

Letter Learning:  Ww

Snack:  The snack was applesauce, milk and water.

At Home Learning

Story:  If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic1Y_mJlAlQ&t=48s

Ask your child to tell you what they would like to have in a house if they could build one themselves.

Study:  Construction Memory-the cards for this game will need to be cut apart by a grown-up.  Mix up the cards.  Lay them face down on the table.  Take turns turning the cards over two at a time to find two pictures that match.  Talk about the jobs that these pictures do in building.

Letter Learning:  Xx

Math Journal:  Happy Hearts Day

Tuesday, February 2

 Group Meeting:   The question on the sign-in board for today was "Which of these construction jobs would you like to do?"  There were three things to choose from: a carpenter on the roof, a crew pouring a concrete driveway, and a carpenter carrying wood to make the frame of a house.

Story:  The story for today was Build it From A to Z by Trish Holland.  The author of this book uses the letters of the alphabet to describe different aspects of building, such as A is for architect, B is for bulldozer, etc.  

3D Shapes:  When we look at pictures of building, the children point out shapes that they see.   Today, we learned that these shapes actually have different names when we can see all of the sides of the building.  For example, a triangle is actually a pyramid when it is on a roof.   To help us learn the names of these 3D shapes, we played "Hot and Cold".  The children worked in pairs.  One child hid a 3D shape.  The other child had to find it while listening to their partners directions of "hot" meaning they were close, and "cold" meaning they were far away.  

Letter Learning:  The letter for the day was Uu.

Snack:  The snack was cheese sticks, Basil and Tomato Wheat Thins, juice and water.

At Home Learning

Story:  Building a House by Byron Barton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcMqJm7Xoms&t=40s

Lego Patterns:  For this activity, you are going to need Legos, Duplos, or colored blocks and the pattern pages in the folder.  Ask your child to create the patterns they see on the paper.   If you do not have Legos or blocks, perhaps you can find something else in which to make patterns.

Math Journal Page:  It's Cold Outside

Letter Learning:  Vv

Monday, February 1

Group Meeting:   The question on the sign-in board for today was "Which of these construction jobs would you like to do?"  There were three things to choose from: a carpenter on the roof, a crew pouring a concrete driveway, and a carpenter carrying wood to make the frame of a house.

Story:  The story for today was Build it From A to Z by Trish Holland.  The author of this book uses the letters of the alphabet to describe different aspects of building, such as A is for architect, B is for bulldozer, etc.  

3D Shapes:  When we look at pictures of building, the children point out shapes that they see.   Today, we learned that these shapes actually have different names when we can see all of the sides of the building.  For example, a triangle is actually a pyramid when it is on a roof.   To help us learn the names of these 3D shapes, we played "Hot and Cold".  The children worked in pairs.  One child hid a 3D shape.  The other child had to find it while listening to their partners directions of "hot" meaning they were close, and "cold" meaning they were far away.  

Letter Learning:  The letter for the day was Uu.

Snack:  The snack was cheese sticks, Goldfish, juice and milk.

At Home Learning

Story:  Building a House by Byron Barton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcMqJm7Xoms&t=40s

Lego Patterns:  For this activity, you are going to need Legos, Duplos, or colored blocks and the pattern pages in the folder.  Ask your child to create the patterns they see on the paper.   If you do not have Legos or blocks, perhaps you can find something else in which to make patterns.

Math Journal Page:  It's Cold Outside

Letter Learning:  Vv