Saturday, December 19, 2020

Holiday Activities






















Our holiday celebrations for both Hanukkah and Christmas continued this week.  On our blog friends are playing with special holiday toys brought in by the teachers.  One friend is using a Hanukkah game to set up family figures exchanging gifts, eating latkes, and lighting a menorah while also listening to Hanukkah music.  Another friend is playing with a magnetic Christmas tree to decorate and count down the days until the holiday.  Not shown but also offered over the week were holiday domino games, memory games, lacing cards and coloring sheets.  All stories read this week were holiday themed except for the ones with the letter "L" in their titles as this was the letter of the week.

For Hanukkah the class created a potato latke game.  Here you will see some of the children cutting out a frying  pan and latkes.  The goal is to get an extra latke in the pan.  While the game brings lots of fun and laughter, this set up is great for eye-hand coordination.  The book titled "The Runaway Latke" was a big hit as the Whole Notes repeated the rhyme about catching the latke-similar to the rhyme in the "Gingerbread Man" story.  There is a photo of a friend listening to Latke Larry, a musical toy talking about eating latkes.

For Christmas we read "The Littlest Elf" and the "The Christmas Penguin" and made Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer puppets by tracing and cutting our hands for antlers which was not an easy task.  We also learned a lot about reindeers and their habits and how they live.

You can see JJ with the letter box.  The cut out of lightening and drawing of lips were class favorites for the letter "L".  JJ told us his Mom helped him.  Margot brought us cupcakes for her fifth birthday.  The blue frosting in particular was popular.  Much socialization is happening as the youngsters finish Margot's special snack.  She gave the class treats in beautiful jungle print bags.  Happy fifth birthday to Margot!  Martina is featured ringing up items on the cash register.

That is it for the week!  Remember vacation begins at days end next Wednesday.  If your preschooler will not be here for all three days this upcoming week, please let us know.  The teachers want to be sure that everyone receives their little gift bag.

This is the last blog for 2020.  Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to all of our families.  Please be safe.

Rolene and Jackie





 


 












 

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Treasures




















The Whole Notes have spent this week finishing up their holiday treasures to give to you.  They will come home this coming week and you can decide whether to place the package next to your menorah or under your Christmas tree.  Of course your youngster may not be able to stand a wait and will have you unwrapping it immediately.  He/she may even do the honors for you.  That is fine too.

On the blog you will see friends painting their hands, folding and cutting snowflakes and using fingers to create the appearance of a snowstorm.  Cards to accompany our presents are being created.  Gifts are being wrapped.  Preschoolers ponder over choices of colors of wrapping paper and which ribbon should be chosen.  All of these pictures shown will come to life after you receive your gift.  Much hard work and love was put into it.

Also on the blog is a view of words being printed to tie in literacy on our new holiday bulletin board.  Zayden celebrated his fifth birthday.  He is passing out "goodie bags" kindly sent in by his Mom.  At the tables, the class is enjoying his delicious chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. It is fun to watch our group eat them.  Some lick the frosting first.  Others leave it for last.  Still some children eat with the paper still on.  There are many different approaches for this snack.

Noah is holding the letter box for "K".  He was very proud of his endeavor and is showing his kitten.  Noah told us his brother and his Mom helped him.  A new toy is featured in the first photo which helps us to recognize lower case letters which we practice in our alphabet books.  But this time the missing letters in the game are teaching us the sound at the end of the words rather than at the beginning.  Takuma is showing us what he constructed with pipe builders.  He is most interested in design and perhaps will grow up to be an architect.  Finally you will see the class sitting in front of our zoom meeting set up for mandarin lessons.  It was another very busy week!

On a side note, the weather is changing.  We need to take a lot of time to help everyone dress up in snow pants, boots, coats, hats and mittens.  Therefore our circle will begin at 9:00AM rather than at 9:15AM.  Please try to bring your youngster on time.  This is when "the meat and potatoes" of the day takes place-information on our topic, reading new words, completing the calendar and more.  We cannot repeat this meeting over the day. Your child misses out if he/she comes late.  Our program at this time encourages reading readiness.  Another goal for us is teaching independence.  You can help reinforce this task by giving your preschooler clothing that he/she can put on by himself/herself.  Thank you for your ongoing cooperation.


 

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Saturday, December 5, 2020

Patterns























Our focus this week was on creating patterns which is a beginning math skill.  We read a book titled "Patterns" and looked for  patterns on our clothing and around the room.  The toys out over the week could be used to create patterns.  These included for instance a shape sorter, unifix cubes for counting, creation cubes for building, pattern blocks with matching cards and plastic chains for measuring.  Projects involved completing patterns created by the teachers with shapes, numbers, letters and pictures.  You may have seen one of these projects that came home.  The subject for the journal page this week was on finishing patterns.  The class as a whole did very well.  These kinds of activities are featured on our blog.
To create a holiday bulletin board for both Hanukkah and Christmas the Whole Notes connected paper chains which could be done in patterns.  These chains will be magically turned into a menorah and Christmas tree.  The board right now is a work in progress.  Making the chains is shown here also.
Another project involved the "over and under" of weaving which is difficult for this age group but lots of fun.  With teacher help, some beautiful patterns were made. This smattering of information is all we will tell you as a holiday surprise is in the works.
Our friend Lucas did a wonderful job with the letter box for "J".  He is showing us a picture of our class member JJ which his family borrowed from one of our blogs.  What a great idea!
There are a few pictures of our group on the playground.  The children love the new structure and sandbox.  Finally there is a class photo of all of us under the big tree near the front entrance to our school.  This is the meeting place for the entire school after we evacuate the building during a fire drill.  Actually this time our class was on the playground when the "fire bell" rang  but did well in following our directions to this tree.  Takuma actually told us that the fire drill was so much fun!
Next week we will focus on the upcoming holidays.  Please watch for another email which will be forwarded to you from the mandarin teacher.
Rolene and Jackie