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.

Running for Cody's Crew

If I have learned nothing else from our preschool class this year, it is that these kids and their families are generous and really step up for a good cause. As members of Cody's Crew, we raised more than $1200 to help fight neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer that Cody called "the beast."

We completed our run for Cody's Crew today in preschool. Since Kerry will be running as many miles as she can for 32 hours (in the rain, it looks like) this weekend, we decided the kids would run as many laps as they could around the ball field in 30 minutes (yes, we really should have done 32 minutes).

We donned our running shoes, had water waiting at the dugouts when the runners needed breaks, and ran (or walked when we were tired--or our knees began to ache just a little), and ran and ran. 

We tried to make sure each classmate had a chance to run a lap with the one of the Cody's Crew flags. They did a great job sharing this responsibility. We counted the laps completed by each of the kids. It looks like we have some serious future running competitors in this group.

The kids at Main Street Preschool in St. Albans also joined our cause. They each donated $2 (which raised $75 for us) and they ran in the park today. I want to thank their teacher, Gail, for hopping on board. We loved the support.