Getting To Know One Another and Chester Hunt

We spent our first week getting to know one another and learning our class and center rules. All of these activities are teaching the children to participate cooperatively and constructively in group situations. Functioning as a member of a group requires an understanding of the feelings and rights of others and the ability to balance personal needs and desires with those of other people. The foundational skills for being a productive member of social and learning groups are established during the early childhood years, and they are important for early school success.

You will hear me talk about fine motor skills all year. Fine motor skills involve grasping and releasing objects using fingers and hands, as well as using both hands together and often coordinating these movements with the eyes. They require hand and finger strength and dexterity. The children had to choose a pattern card and make a chain that matched the pattern.The grip children use when connecting links together is similar to that used when writing. This activity helps students gain hand strength while they practice hand-eye coordination and patterning.

We attended our first Spanish class. The children practiced introducing themselves in Spanish and learned that a ball is called pelota.  We also had music class. Each child was given an instrument and they are learning how to hold it in the resting position. Children learn to appreciate different kinds of music and become comfortable with different forms of musical expression when they listen to recordings, create melodies, learn songs as a group, talk about sounds, and explore musical instruments.

We have been reading The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. This sweet story of affirmation is about Chester Raccoon and each night as he goes to school, his mother places a special kiss in his hand as a reminder of her love.

Our first week ended with a surprise scavenger hunt. Chester Raccoon left us clues to search for him. After looking all around campus, his heart clues led us back to the Pre-K building. To our surprise, we noticed Chester's paw prints leading us back to our classroom. Once inside the room, we discovered that Chester had left us heart shaped cookies! His note said that he'd already hopped back in the book, but to enjoy the cookies! What a fun 1st week!!