Last week Luna’s mom and dad volunteered to take the Pre-K3 classes for a nature walk on our school trails. Luna’s dad, Clint, is the Southern Arkansas Project Manager for The Nature Conservancy's Arkansas office.  Since 2005, Clint's focus has been on habitat restoration for the entire southern portion of Arkansas, working with both private and public land partners to ensure lands and waters are protected and restored.  We were fortunate to have Clint help educate our boys and girls about nature. During our nature walk Clint talked to us about why leaves fall off of trees, pine cones, fungus, and algae.  He discussed why trees get sick, what animals live in trees, and showed us what deciduous and evergreen trees looked like.  What an adventure!

A fun game we played was called Feely Box.  I collected several items from trees and placed them in a box so that the children couldn’t see them.  Each boy and girl had a turn to reach inside the box, feel the item, and describe it. Everyone tried guessing what was in the box.  Then we passed the item around for the children to examine. After discussing the five senses, we tried describing the item by the way it felt.  As they used their senses to explore things, they learned about shapes, colors, textures, weight, temperature, and how things move and change. As teachers talk with children about the properties of objects and materials, children develop vocabulary and important background knowledge.

On one of our nature walks the boys and girls collected sticks to make letters.  Each child picked one letter in their name that used big and little lines. They had to count the lines to see how many big or little sticks they would need.  Knowledge of letters is an important component of literacy. The children are learning that written words are composed of letters that represent sounds.

We are still studying the collection of clothes and how clothes come in many different patterns, shapes, and sizes.  Halloween day we dressed up in costumes and discussed the different materials everyone was wearing and how they felt.  We also had a costume/fashion show for our family. Afterward, we sang Halloween songs and had a party. The children put on a great show!

Hippity Hoppity, Hippity Hoppity, How Many?  What a fun game we played!  Being a productive member of a group involves complex interactions.  Children must gradually learn to cooperate, negotiate, lead and follow, and express their feelings and ideas in socially acceptable ways.  The game began with one child setting out five pumpkins. The boys and girls covered their eyes while he/she took some away. At the end of the chant we opened our eyes and had to say how many pumpkins were left.  The boys and girls did a great job taking turns at being the leader.

Next week we will start are new study about trees.

Clothing is a perfect way to express your unique personality.  There are many features of clothes that make them unique. This led to one of our questions, what are the features of clothes?  Each child stood up and showed the class features on their outfit. We discussed pockets, buttons, logos, shapes, colors, and size.  I asked them, “Do you think everyone wears the same size clothes?” Most of them said yes, so I tried to put on one of their jackets and had them put on my jacket.  They all laughed and we decided to put the clothes in order: small, medium, and large.

The children also learned a variety of ways to measure items.  Through the essential process skills of problem solving, reasoning, communicating, making connections, and representing, children learn mathematics content.  In groups of two the boys and girls measured the length of clothing items. We used a tape measure, ruler, blocks, and our feet. We then put the clothing items in descending order.  The children had fun!

We then discussed how to classify buttons in our sensory bin.  The children had a chance to sift through rice to look for buttons.  Once they found a button, they used a tong to put it into the matching colored container.  Working with tongs helps children learn to grasp and release objects using fingers and hands.  It also helps by using both hands together and often coordinating these movements with the eyes.  This requires hand and finger strength and dexterity.

As you can see, there are a lot of fun educational activities to do with clothing.

One of the focus questions we discussed in class was,  “What are rules and why are they important?” The children shared rules they followed at home, and then we decided to make our own class rules.  No running in the room, no pushing, and stay together in a line, were a few they came up with. They discovered that rules can help keep them safe.  

We also read The Gingerbread Man and discussed the many choices he made.  The boys and girls even came up with their own ideas about how he could of stayed out of trouble.  The highlight of the week was when the children made their own gingerbread man cookie. After pouring, measuring, and mixing, the gingerbread man was placed in the oven.  However, when we went to check on him, he was gone! After searching throughout the school, we finally found him back in the room ready to decorate and eat. What a yummy experience!

Gingerbread cloud dough was made by the boys and girls for our Sensory Bin.  The children took turns adding each ingredient. We discussed the importance of following a recipe in order.  We also discussed what might happen if we didn’t.

I also introduced geoboards to the class.  What a great hit! Using rubber bands we made shapes such as triangles, squares, and circles.  Geoboards are used to help develop fine motor skills, as well as understanding spatial relationships and shapes.  All of this helps build the foundation for geometry later on.

This week we started our Clothing unit.  We’re already learning about clothing and the many features different clothes have.  The boys and girls will be featured in a Halloween fashion/costume show on October 31st.  The weeks ahead will be very busy learning fun Halloween songs and poems.

Check back in a few weeks to find out about more fun Pre-K3 activities.

Ms. Amanda  

The first couple of days at school are exhausting for both teachers and students! So many routines to teach and so many little learners to get to know!  The most important thing I do the first few weeks is to begin building trust and relationships with each child so they can feel safe and happy. If they feel safe and happy, their parents will feel safe and happy leaving their child with me each day.  Being able to establish caring relationships and to enter successfully into ongoing social interactions are essential skills for school and for success in life. For most of our little learners, this is the FIRST time they have been to school. Most have no idea how to sit at circle time, get in line, eat lunch at school, wash their hands, clean up, or wait their turn.

The focus question for the week was, what names do we need to know at school?  The children quickly decided that they needed to know my name, as well as, their friends name.  During circle time we are demonstrating phonological awareness by learning the following nursery rhymes:  Humpty Dumpty and The Three Little Kittens. Phonological awareness, or phonological sensitivity, is the ability to discern the sounds and patterns of spoken language.  Phonological awareness is an important skill in learning to read. Children become phonologically aware through experiences such as reciting poems and nursery rhymes, singing, and clapping the syllables of chanted words.   

We discussed how Humpty Dumpty is an egg and easily broken when mishandled. Once cracked, an egg shell can't be put back together. I asked the students, "Where is Humpty Dumpty, and is it a safe place for him to be?" This led to an entire discussion about safety and making good choices so we stay safe.  

We acted out The Three Little Kittens by going outside to find their mittens.  Once we found all the mittens we matched them by color and size to make a pair.  We talked about where things go in our classroom so we don’t lose them (backpack, folder, lunch box, toys).  

As you can see, we’ve been busy!  Check back with us in a couple of weeks to see what else we’ve been learning in Pre-K3.