Preschool Newsletter

 Last week was exciting because we each had a turn for show and tell. We enjoyed bringing in favorite toys from home and listening to our friends’ comments and questions about them.  Many of us also passed around our show and tell objects for others to explore.  The guessing bag has helped expand our vocabulary so we could make many great observations during show and tell, such as the color, size, and texture of the object we were exploring. 

 We did many activities relating to literacy and letter recognition last week.  We explored our alphabet activity kit, matching the outlines to the correct letters and placing the letters of the alphabet in the right order.  The students also did a new activity with a song called “Marching Around the Alphabet” where we marched around all the letters of the alphabet and picked up a letter and identified it when the music stopped.  The preschoolers have been writing thank you letters to various people and organizations, such as Tracy Martin (our Flynn creative movement teacher), Mrs. Leavitt (one of our volunteers), Lake Champlain Chocolates, and Rock Point School.  We drew pictures or included pictures of ourselves and wrote several key words in the letter, such as “Dear” and “Thanks.”  

Preschool Newsletter

We have been very busy the past few weeks with preparations for parent-teacher conferences, our literacy workshop/parent committee meeting, and spring vacation.  In the weeks leading up to the vacation, we did a lot of different building activities.  These included making Mat Man, exploring gears, and building with blocks. 

 

We have been doing a lot of fun activities outside recently.  We also got new water bottles, thanks to Ms. Esther.  We have been playing broom ball, swinging, acting out the song “Jack in the Box,” and playing musical instruments.

 

 Before vacation we studied birds.  We did several art projects, one where we made birds, eggs, and nests out of popsicle sticks, yarn, feathers, beads, and bingo dabbers.  We also painted different types of beaks.  The preschoolers used chopsticks as their pretend bird beaks to hunt for fish and bugs outside in the sandbox and inside in the sensory table.

Preschool Newsletter

The students explored literacy through a variety of activities last week.  The children have been practicing their letters and spelling thorough the use of our new magnetic letters, engaging in a literacy activity center, matching them on our letter wall, writing them on Magna-Doodle boards, and completing an alphabet puzzle.  Esther has also led us in several engaging read-alouds and in utilizing our dry-erase/chalkboard easel for spelling words related to our curriculum.

We explored dramatic play in a variety of ways last week.  In one of the books we read, Handa’s Surprise, a little girl from Kenya balanced a basket of fruit on her head to carry it to her friend.  After we read the book several of us tried balancing fruit on our heads too.  We also played with the dollhouse.  We had a lot of fun dressing up last week.  We also read two books related to Japanese culture.  After reading Yoko we made (vegetable) sushi like the main character’s mother.   Some of us really liked trying it.  Small groups and individuals have also enjoyed reading Suki’s Kimono  during free choice time and then dressing up in the kimonos we have in the dramatic play area. 

 

 

 

Please note that we have spring vacation from April 21st– April 29th.  We return to preschool on Monday, April 30th and parent-teacher conferences will begin that week. 

Preschool Newsletter

The children have been doing a lot of building  and designing over the last few weeks.  They have been exploring colored straws, bristle blocks, and foam magnets.  The students also designed and made beaded bracelets with Linda.

 

We have also been working on our literacy skills for several weeks.  We got a new letter activity center that we have been using to find all our letters.  We recently got a new comfy chair that we use in the reading area if we want to quietly read a book by ourselves or with a friend.  Chris worked with us in small groups to read a Max and Ruby ABC book and complete an alphabet puzzle. Esther taught us how to view each word in a song separately and not rush during a circle activity.   Many of us recently became interested in writing each other letters so some of us have been practicing writing our classmates’ names as well as our own.  Finally, we recently got the books on tape/CD out again so we have been enjoying those with friends as well.