Surprise!

Imagine my surprise when I returned to work after a sick day and 2 snow-days to find a precious little party waiting for me!

It appears that while I was out my best buddies had been making big plans.  They planned the colors, the presents and the menu. We dined on babies in a blanket, baby carrots, fruit, powdered donuts, pink lemonade and curly noodles.  

Each child presented me with their favorite book when they were babies. 

They signed their names on special book plates that will ensure I remember each one.

It was so sweet to find out what their favorite books were and to now have them to read to Hattie.

We used this opportunity to practice the manners we have been learning at preschool.

We placed our napkins in our laps...

remembered to eat first, talk second...

and passed the cheese around the table, serving each other first. 

Each day I find myself more and more smitten with this fantastic group of children!

I also am SO thankful for the big people in their lives who helped them surprise me.  

T is for Transportation

With a room FULL of boys you have to keep the block center BIG, the ideas fresh and the pace quick!  This week is right up their alley- transportation. We are learning about the many "Ways to GO".  Our literacy centers for the week are full or transportation fun as we learn how people and things move around our community.  

Our first teacher led center has children writing their "Ts" with trucks!  We taped markers to the backs of the trucks and asked the children to drive them around their papers.  

I love that the activity forces them to think about the individual strokes involved with making each letter. The words for making each letter are sort of like a map for the trucks: Big line down, little line across...  If you follow the map, you get to the right place! I also love that a child that is struggling with fine motor development can experience great success in this exercise.  Driving the trucks with the markers attached called for movement more from their shoulders and elbow, rather than the small muscles in the fingers. 

 I thought this would be more of a challenge for them, but it wasn't at all.  In fact, it was so easy for them, they ended up writing their names and sight words.  

Our second teacher led center had us stamping license plates for the state of NC.  

This group was tasked with writing the 3 sounds they could hear in each word.  We did the first one together.  We isolated the sounds, and stamped them one at a time.  Once I was comfortable that they were ready, I turned them loose.  

I was then able to help each child with their individual needs: for example, understanding why we put "c" with "a" in cab, instead of "k", or helping differentiate the /u/ and the/o/.  I treasure this small group time when I can challenge the kids in the just right way.

Our independent group for the week is making traffic signals.  Their job is to put those pincer grips to work and tear paper into small pieces.  

Then they squeeze the glue with all their might and fill in the circles.  

Remember, please don't tell them they are learning, they think they are having fun!

Meanwhile, we watch them develop small muscles, sort, complete a spatial visualization task, use teamwork, make a plan,  and think about their place in the world around them.  

Tomorrow we rotate and everyone does a new center!

*For my teacher friends, I made the NC license plate CVC template.  I also made one for my beginning readers who are just now hearing beginning sounds.  It provides the medial and ending sounds, leaving one blank for the beginning sound.If you would like a copy, just let me know. Happy to share.  The objects were picked knowing that it was be a teacher led center, meaning that I would be there to make sure they spelled cab instead of taxi, and jet instead of plane.  

Mouse's First Valentine

This week at preschool we read Mouse's First Valentine.

After story-time we recalled the things Mouse used to make her Valentines.  Then we made a list of her supplies. List making together is a great way to share with young learners the importance of print, and how we use it on a day-to-day basis.  

We decided to make our own Valentines.  We went down our list, collected the items we needed, and got right to work.  

Our Valentines turned out to be super sweet!

As an added little bonus, we got to use our word wall to write messages to our friends and family.  We also did a little experimenting with silent e, which elicited many laughs.    

Hooray for early literacy FUN!

Valentine Mailbags

This week we made Valentine mailbags.  

We love open-ended projects that let the children "choose their own adventure".  

We provided them with plain bags and a variety of pre-cut hearts.

Cutting hearts is a lesson that we will have. I know that they can cut straight and curved lines, so they could cut hearts, however we didn't want them to get bogged down with that task.  This "Coyote" is a prime example of why!  I am not sure that the designer could have made his amazing coyote, complete with bloody teeth and pointy ears if he had had to focus on cutting ALL the hearts necessary to make a Valentine Coyote!

Open ended left us with such a precious variety of mailbags.

We had a lizard, a robot, and a frog...

a love bug with a hair bow...

an elephant, and many, many more.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentine's Day with our Fours

My first Valentine of the day!

We have studied the meaning of Valentine's Day and learned that when we share our love for one another, we also share God's love.  We know the signs and symbols of this day, as well as the colors and traditions typically associated with it.  

Following tradition, we shared Valentines with our friends.  We asked each child to write their own names, and to address their Valentines as well.  They also delivered their own Valentines!

Look at those bags, stuffed to the brim with LOVE!

Time to celebrate!  The party families treated us to a delicious snack.

Then we made these precious little seed packs to "spread love".

We also made these adorable melted crayon sun-catchers.  

Finally, it was a good old-fashioned game of throw candy hearts everywhere!

Really more like a relay,where the boy and girls moved candy hearts from one side of the room to the other using little spoons, with the intention of filling the jars.  They eventually got the hang of it!

And its just not a party without a photo booth!  

Can't wait to see how these all turned out.   

Thank you to all who helped make this day another amazing one at SDS!