Tuesday, May 25

 Group Meeting:  We have one day left of school.  All together, we have had 131 days of preschool.  It sure went by fast.

Story:  The story for today was Knuffle Bunny, Too by Mo Willems.  Trixie is old enough to go to preschool.  She is taking Knuffle Bunny with her to show to her classmates.  She's sure that he is one of a kind.  However, when she gets to school, she finds that Sofia has a bunny, too.  The girls don't get along well after that causing the teacher to take both bunnies and put them up high until school is over.  Then a mix up occurs.  Ask your child to tell you what happens and how this story ends.

Scavenger Hunt:  The children walked down to the park to look for items on a scavenger hunt paper.  We found just about everything.

Letter Learning: Jj

Snack:  The snack for today was crackers, juice and water.

We are looking forward to a fun last day of school tomorrow!

Monday, May 24th

 Group Meeting:  The count down has begun.  We did our last King/Queen show and tell today.  This year has gone by so quickly!

Story:  The children really liked the Pigeon books that we read last week, so I got out the other Mo Willems books that I have.  Today, we read Knuffle Bunny.  Trixie is a toddler who goes on an errand with her father to the laundromat.  Trixie takes her favorite stuffed animal, Knuffle Bunny.  When they leave the laundromat, Trixie realizes that she has forgotten Knuffle Bunny, but she doesn't have the words to tell her father.  Ask your child to tell you how this story ends and what Trixie's first words were.

Writing and Drawing:  The children were given paper and crayons and were asked to draw their favorite thing about preschool.  We mounted them on colored paper and put them on our bulletin board.  We are hoping to share these with the new children that are coming up!

Letter Learning:  Yy

Snacks:  The snack for today was peanut butter, jelly, bread, juice and water. 

The party for Thursday has been changed to Wednesday due to weather!  Thank you for being so understanding!

Thursday, May 20

 Group Meeting:  Today was summer Birthday Day.  We celebrated June, July, and August birthdays as well as any birthdays we missed during the school year.

Story:  The story for today was Don't Let Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems.  The bus driver reappears in this story.  He is going to brush his teeth and asks us to watch Pigeon while he is gone.  We are to make sure that Pigeon does not stay up late.  Pigeon tries everything to get convince us that he is not tired.  Ask your child to tell you what happens at the end.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  The magazine today was about helping children distinguish between things that are living and nonliving.  We started by watching a video that explained that living things eat, drink, make new living things, change and grow, and die.  The magazine was about living things and nonliving things on the farm.

Letter Learning:  Kk

Snacks:  The snack for today was quesadillas made with corn tortillas and cheese.  The drink was juice and water. We had birthday brownies as well.

Please read the note sent home today concerning masks.  I had a few parents ask if we would be exempt from the new law being that we are a private school.  We are not exempt and must follow the law just as other schools.  We will respect everyone's wishes concerning masks.

Wednesday, May 19

Group Meeting:  The children are bringing home their T-shirts today.  We took a look at everyone's faces.  We think they look great!

Story:  The story for today was Pigeon Wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems.  Pigeon wants a lot of things.  Now, he wants a puppy.  However, as we read this book, he doesn't seem to know what a puppy is all about.  Ask your child to tell you how he planned to take care of this puppy.

Beginning Sounds Relay Races:  The children were given toys from our Letter Learning Kits, D, T, and M.  They had to race accross the room and put it in the correct bin according to the beginning letter sound.  They did a great job!

Letter Learning:  Ee

Snack:  The snack for today was apples, peanut butter, milk, and water.  Tomorrow is Birthday Day for all of the summer birthdays and for the birthdays that we missed during the year. 

Tuesday, May 18

 Group Meeting: The children made something out of recycable items last week.  We are getting ready to show these things to you next week.  I'd tell you about it, but it's a secret 😊

Story:  The story for today was Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems.  Duckling asks for a cookie and gets one, but it has nuts in it.  Pigeon sees that Duckling has a cookie and wants to know why he didn't get one.  Instead of asking for a cookie, he throws a little temper tantrum and pouts.  Ask your child to tell you how this story ends.

Making Groups and Counting:  After the story, the children were given a picture of Pigeon and a cup of cubes.  They dumped the cubes onto the Pigeon picture.  The cubes that landed on Pigeon were put into one group.  The cubes that did not fall on Pigeon were put into another group.  The counting the amount in each group and compared the groups.

Letter Learning:  Gg

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

Monday, May 17

Group Meeting:  This week, we will be reading books by Mo Willems and be doing some activities with the characters in his books.  

Story:  The story for today was Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems.  At the beginning of the story, a bus driver asks the readers to keep an eye on his bus while he leaves for a while.  Most importantly, he asks that we not let Pigeon drive the bus.  As soon as the driver leaves, the Pigeon starts asking to drive the bus.  He pleads, cries, and tries to make a deal with us.  Will the Pigeon get to drive the bus?  Ask your child to tell you!

Writing Journal:  After the story, I asked the children to think of something else that the Pigeon should not drive.  The children drew pictures of different vehicles that the Pigeon should not drive.  

Letter Learning:  Dd

Snacks:  The snack for today was carrots, ranch dip, milk, and water.

Thursday, May 13

 Group Meeting:  Today was May Birthday Day.  We made a snack that goes with our story for today.

Story:  The story for today was Pigeon Finds a Hotdog by Mo Willems.  Pigeon loves hot dogs.  He finds one and is excited to eat it.  His friend Duckling comes along to ask him about hot dogs and what they taste like.  Pigeon does not want to share the hot dog.  Ask your child to tell you what happens next.

Mo Willems is another one of my favorite authors.  I didn't have time to squeeze in his books during Reading Month, so we'll finish out the school year reading his books.

Cooking:  The children made Pigs in a Blanket.  The took biscuit dough, flattened it, and wrapped it around a hot dog.  After baking in the oven, they could choose ketchup and/or mustard.

Letter Learning:  Aa

Snack:  The snack for today was Pigs in a Blanket, juice, water, and Birthday Brownies.

Wednesday, May 12

 Group Meeting:  The children are bringing home a note about the last day of school.  We discussed it today.  They may be a little bit excited about that :)

Story:  The story for today was Don't Lose It-Reuse It by Nancy Noel Williams.  This book gives children a lot of ideas for reusing items that they would normally throw away.  Paper towel tubes could become musical instruments.  Buttons and beads could be strung to make decorations.  Boxes could be turned into forts or race cars.  

Let's Find Out Magazine:  The magazine was about recycling.  The video showed what happens at a recycling center.  The last page encouraged the children to make smart choices of reusable items verses items that we throw away.

Letter Learning:  Tt

Snacks:  The snack for today was blueberry Fig Bars, juice and water.

Tuesday, May 11

Group Meeting:  We are continuing our study and are focusing more on recycling and reusing.   The children shared what they had learned yesterday from our visitor, Kurt Liske, from the Scott County Recycling Center.

Story:  The story for today was Sam Helps Recycle by Judith Bauer Stamper.  The family dog, Sam, is helping with the recycling.  He notices that his dog food cans are in the recycling bins.  He hopes they are empty cans.  He also sees his bowl in the bin.  Will he get a new one?  This book covers what we can recycle and what happens to it when it leaves the house.

Study:  After the story, I hid pictures of items that can be recycled.  The children had to find them and sort them by metal, glass, paper, and plastic.  There was one item that cannot be recycled at the recycling center.  See if your child can remember what it was.

Letter Learning:  Ww

Snacks:  The snack for today was whole wheat bagels, cream cheese, milk and water.

Thursday, May 6

Group Meeting:  On Monday, we will have a special guest speaker from the Scott County Recycling center give a presentation.  The children and I talked about what we could ask our visitor.

Story:  The story for today was Something from Nothing by Phoebe Gilman.  Joseph has a blanket that was made by his grandfather.  As Joseph grows, his mother thinks that he should throw it away.  Joseph takes it to his grandfather who saves just enough of it to create something else.  The blanket becomes a coat, vest, tie, handkerchief, and button.  When Joseph loses the button, his mother thinks that it is the end of the blanket, but Joseph has an idea.  Ask your child to tell you what Joseph does next.

Let's Find Out Magazine:  The magazine for this week was about the American flag.  We watched a video on how to treat a flag with respect.  

Letter Learning:  Vv

Snacks:  The snack for today was Goldfish, juice, and water. 

Wednesday, May 5

 Group Meeting:  As I was selecting a movement video for us to do, the children saw a favorite Halloween video.  So, we danced to a Halloween video today.  It doesn't seem like Halloween was that long ago, but here we are!

Story:  The story for today was Hush, a Thai Lullaby by Minfong Ho.  This is a book written in the rhythm of a lullaby.  A mother has laid her baby in a hammock to sleep.   The animals are calling to each other.  The mother is telling them to hush so that her baby can sleep.  The animals in this book are animals that would be native to Thailand.  

Study:  Yesterday, we held a discussion about garbage and why we need to collect it.  This led to a discussion about litter and littering.  We went on a walk to the park down the hill from the preschool.  The children looked for litter.  When they found something, the teachers would pick it up and put it in a garbage bag so that we could dispose of it properly. 

Letter Learning:  Ss

Snack:  The snack for today was Rice Chex cereal, milk and water.

Tuesday, May 4

Group Meeting:  We have started to count down the days until the end of the year.  I have a feeling that May is going to go by quickly.

Story:  The story for today was I Stink by Kate and Jim McMullen.   This story is told by a garbage truck as he goes on this daily route.  He loves to eat garbage and of course he stinks!  This is a great story for explaining how a garbage truck runs it's route and collects garbage so that we can have a clean community.

Study:  Where does the garbage go after the garbage truck picks it up?  We watched a video which explained how garbage is taken to the landfill and what happens to it once it is unloaded.  It also explained how people are trying to find new ways to dispose of garbage so that we aren't filling our landfills so quickly.  Some things can be reused and recycled.  We'll learn about that next week.

Letter Learning: Oo

Snacks:  For our snack today, the children could choose between and orange and an apple.  We also had cream cheese fruit dip, milk, and water.

Monday, May 3

Group Meeting:  We are starting a new study.  During the next two weeks, we will be learning about Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  

Story:  The story for today was The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch.  This story is about a princess whose castle is destroyed by a dragon.  The dragon also captures the prince that she is going to marry.  The princess' clothes were destroyed by the fire so she found a paperbag to wear as a dress.  She manages to outwit the dragon and save her prince.  However, this story has a different ending than you might think.  Ask your child to tell you what the prince says as he is saved from the dragon and how the princess responds. 

Study:  What is in the trash?  This is a question that we answered today by dumping out the garbage can.  I used gloves to sort out the things that were in the garbage can under my desk.  We found coffee cups, wrappers, papers, tissues, plastic zip-lock bags, and bags from toys.  We had a discussion about things that we throw away and where it goes once it leaves the school.  This week, we will be learning about where the garbage goes and what would happen if we didn't put garbage in it's place.

Letter Learning:  We are reviewing some letters and putting them into words that we can read.  Today's letter was Cc.

Snacks:  The snack for today was ranch Wheat Thins, cheese sticks, milk, and water.