Opening Week

We had a great first week of preschool. The kids have been learning each others names and the names of the teachers. Everyone is getting to know the classroom rules and routines. We are getting a chance to explore with all the classroom materials and areas.
We missed Grandma Freda this week. She wasn't feeling well. We hope she will be back this week and we have to thank Rita Winegar for coming in to help. 
Here area few photos to give you some idea of how the kids have been getting used to their new preschool.

A bunch of kids discovered new sand and toys in the sandbox on the playground. They were taking turns, sharing and having a lot of fun.

The kids are taking responsibility for helping dry off the slides and bars so we can use all of the outside equipment to work on our gross motor skills of balance, running, jumping, and swinging.

The doll house is a small pretend play area in the room in which kids can work on social skills. They can plan the design of the house, make up scenarios for the dolls, and practice taking on different roles. 

These kids are putting together puzzles of different children from around the world. This helps them get to see kids of all kinds and recognize things that are the same about all kids and things that are different.


 

In the block area, kids are working on visual spatial skills when they are planning and putting together structures. They also work on persistence, matching, and math skills such as recognizing shapes and counting.

Playing in the sand allows kids to work on their scooping, pouring, and dumping coordination. They get to work with many different materials in the sensory table. As the year goes on, the materials in the sensory tables will change to provide more challenges.








The paint easel is an area in which the kids can show their creative expression. As the year goes on, their paintings will change and grow in detail, representation and use of color and more materials.

Starting Again

Another school year is getting underway. I have had a great time driving around Fairfield and meeting this year's preschoolers and their families at their homes. My new GPS sure has been getting a workout. As I start my 4th year in Fairfield, I am still surprised when I learn new roads and nooks and crannies in this town. It is a pleasure to drive around, see the farms and look at the scenery.

The purpose of the initial home visit is to let kids who will be in the class get to know their new teacher (me) in their most familiar environment. Most preschools believe this is the best way to get to know a new adult, but few actually have the time to accomplish this goal. I appreciate all of the parents' cooperation in making the home visit part of the preschool introduction work--though I know scheduling it in your busy lives can sometimes be difficult. The other advantage of this visit is that I get a sense of each child as an individual. I already know a few things that are main interests, and I have learned many of the kids' talents even before they have been in the classroom. This means I will be able to have meaningful conversations with them from the get-go. It helps with building a good relationship with all of the kids.  

We are getting the classroom all ready for the open house on Thursday morning.  That will be a nice opportunity for all of the parents to meet each other. The kids will have a chance to explore the classroom and meet new friends with familiar adults. We will have a couple of activities for the kids to do and maybe sing a few songs with the guitar. There will be a list to collect parents' emails and some more paperwork for families to complete. I am looking forward to teaching all of the kids this year.

Night under the stars

Hey everyone, I thought I would let you know about a special event that Vermont Public Radio is airing tonight. This is one of those nights you should let your kids stay up LATE!


At 9:00 pm, bring a battery powered radio outside and tune into 107.9. Mark Breen, from the Eye in the Sky forecast and Night Sky, will be guiding you as you look up at the stars. Tonight, tomorrow and Friday are the three peak nights of the Perseid Meteor Showers. People who choose to watch the skies will be treated to a lot of shooting stars (which are not really stars, but meteors). Your kids may not make it to the best viewing hours, which are after midnight, but there will still be plenty to see.

Here is a link to the video "Shooting Star" by They Might Be Giants that is a great way to share what a meteor is with your kids.


Have fun tonight.

Spring Concert

Here is a link to the kids singing in the spring concert last week. I was very proud of them. They have been working on "Goodnight Irene" since March, and "Sandwiches" since April. 
For "Sandwiches," the kids wanted to try each of the sandwiches named in the song. We had a taste test of egg, cheese, peanut butter, jam, ham and cucumber.  Here are the results:

We made this graph using Create-A-Graph online.

Summer ideas

I know I gave you all some summer ideas on the last day of school, but here is another of which I was just made aware.

The Vermont State Parks is sponsoring a summer program for you and your family to participate in outdoor activities. You document your activities with photos and then you get points for each of them. When you accumulate 250 points, you receive a free "Golden Pass" to the state parks, which includes the rest of this summer and next. 

Here is the website with all of the information:

http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/venturevt.htm

Have fun getting out there this summer!

Chester Arthur Field Trip

Here are some photos from our joint field trip with Kindergarten to the Chester Arthur Birthplace in Fairfield.

Kristen and Candy introduced us to the day. They started with a puppet show about birds and their habitats. We learned that some birds live way up high in the canopy (the roof of the forest), some live in the lower branches and in bushes, and some live on the ground. We also found out some of the things they like to eat--bugs, worms, and hawks will even eat small animals.

Kristen's taught us about how birdwatchers use field markers to identify birds. Half of the kids were the whole bird and half were the watchers. The watchers' job was to use their field markers (a color or pattern on a parts of the bird) to find their bird in the field.

Steve and Miles helped the kids put together their very own birdhouses to take home. They went together like puzzles. When they figured out the puzzle and finished the house, they decorated them with markers.

John and Candy led the kids on two different hikes through the woods. John had the kids look for different elements in the forest that he had on a scavenger hunt sheet. We found a dead log, mushrooms, a brook, an earthworm and more. Candy led us through looking for birds in the trees, bushes and on the ground.

Math - Numeracy

There are a bunch of ways we have worked on the math concept of Numeracy in preschool this year. Here are some examples and ideas that you could continue doing this summer with your children. Numeracy includes counting, counting objects, recognizing numbers, matching number symbols to number of objects, and putting number symbols in order.

When we play games with a lot of pieces, the kids are encouraged to count them for many reasons. In Penguin Pile up (seen here), We asked, "How many penguins did you get on?" or "Oh no! How many penguins fell off that time?" or "How many penguins do we have left to fit on the iceberg?" All of these encourage the kids to practice counting in the context of a game chose to play.

We use magnetic numbers, number cards, and writing numbers on our own to work on putting numbers in order. The kids get the numbers out of order and practice starting at one, then finding the 2 and 3 and so on. If kids are not yet ordering numbers, they can still work on this skill by matching numbers already printed in order with their numbers. In the bone activity, the bones were hidden in the sensory table and they each had the numbers 1-20 printed on them with a Sharpie. As they found the bones, they could match them to the piece of paper that had the bones and numbers.

Other chances to play with numbers in the classroom come through using the cash register and putting prices on items in the grocery store. At the cash register (you can also use a calculator) the kids were encouraged to label the numbers they pressed as they played. When we use calculators, we talk about both the numbers 0-9 on the calculator face, as well as the numbers that show up in the readout screen as kids explore with the buttons. When we stocked the grocery store with items, we asked "How much does this cost?" We wrote down the numbers and put prices on every item. We also invited the kids to practice writing prices themselves. 

We also work on numeracy when we do Counting Jar. We place a number of common objects in the big jar (people, plastic bugs, dinosaurs etc.) and the kids take turns counting what is in the jar. When they finish counting, they write the number on a piece of paper (we provide a number line model for those who need it). Then, they choose from items around the classroom and count their own set of the same number and put them in a plastic Ziploc bag with their name on it. We have many ways to check their work. We have done it at meeting as a whole group, counting each kids' bag. We have done pair shares, in which two kids count each others work. Kids who do not have an exact match will "fix it" at the time we check our work. We figure out if they have more than the number or less than the number. If they have more, they take the extras and go put them away in the classroom. If they don't have enough, they go get the number more that they need. 

These are just a few examples of how we have incorporated numeracy into the classroom this year.