We started our new study about buildings and the boys and girls are excited.  They want to know how they are constructed and what people do inside them. Each child chose a picture of a building and as a class we discussed the different characteristics and features.  They varied in size, color, construction, material, function, and location. This study will offer many opportunities for our students to explore buildings first hand.

One of our lessons this week was to talk about the vocabulary words more and fewer, as well as their meaning.  After listening to the story of Rapunzel, we built our own towers using interlocking blocks to compare. I put the children in pairs and asked, “which one of you used more blocks than their partner and which used fewer.” Each child then placed their name on the graph stating their answer.  Our class is able to look at a small group of objects and identify without counting. This is subitizing. We will continue to explore concepts of more and less, parts/whole, and how many.   

Step up!  This is a game we played using our alphabet knowledge.  I showed each child a letter and asked them to step up and erase that letter on our dry erase board.  Everyone was ecstatic to come up to the board and find their letter. Preschool children’s letter knowledge is a unique predictor of growth in phonological sensitivity.

On Tuesday when we walked back from Chapel, it was freezing.   I surprised the class with hot chocolate and cookies. What a wonderful way to start your day with Chapel, hot chocolate, and cookies.

Tuesday we visited the Library for the first time.  Each child had a chance to look for a book and find a spot to look it over.  We also had story time with Chase, Able's Mom. The boys and girls enjoyed being read to so much that they wanted her to read another book.   We even checked out two books to read at rest time. At age 3, differences in children’s understanding and use of literacy skills are enormous.  Reading aloud to children appears to be one of the most important activities for building the understanding and skills needed for reading success.  Everyone was amazed with all the books!

I tried to trick the boys and girls by playing a game called What’s Missing?  Using four items, I would remove one and ask, “what’s missing?” They did so well that I had to add a fifth item.  As children develop their abilities to attend and to use memory strategies, their learning is enhanced.

The study of patterns is exciting for young children.  They first learn to copy simple patterns made with objects.  They later learn to extend and create their own patterns. The children had a chance to demonstrate their knowledge of patterns.  Each child had a bowl with 3 balls and they were paired up with another student to create their pattern. I asked them “What else can we make a pattern with?”  One child said, “our shirt colors”. Each child stood in a pattern by the color of their shirt. It’s great to see our class working together.

We also had fun using dinosaurs for a counting activity.  Each child was given a card with a number. They had to match the correct number of dinosaurs to the number on the card.  This is also a great activity you can do at home. During snack ask your child to count out a certain amount before they eat.  Learning and eating, it doesn’t get better than that!   

The best way to learn science is to do science. Using the classic story, The Three Little Pigs, the students continued their study of force and effect.  Blowing through a straw the children used their breath to move a pom pom ball like the wolf did to blow down a house. Young children are natural investigators.  They are curious about how things work and what will happen next. I enjoyed watching the boys and girls discover that the more force they used with their breath the further the pom pom ball would go.

We also danced with scarves.  Not only was this a fun way to teach children about force, but  spatial awareness, too. As they learn to navigate their environment, they learn about direction, perspective, distance, and location.  Using positional words and force, we moved our scarves around. The children loved listening to the music and waving their scarves to make different positions and shapes.   When we use positional words it helps describe spatial relationships and helps children deepen their understanding of those relationships.

Another fun learning activity was making snow for our sensory bin.  We buried magnetic letters in the snow for each child to find and then spell their name.  This activity teaches children to understand that these symbols can be grouped together to form words and that words have meanings.  The idea that written words are composed of letters that represent sounds is called the alphabetic principle.  Children’s understanding of the alphabetic principle is a predictor of future reading success. As you can see the boys and girls had a great time searching for letters in their name to place on the tray.  

We started our investigation about balls and the children are excited. They play with them in many different ways.  They throw them, catch them, kick them, and roll them with seemingly endless delight. Children learn how natural forces, such as gravity and friction, affect the movement of balls.  They enjoyed making balls, marbles, and other rolling objects change speed and direction. Like a ball, the boys and girls took turns rolling their bodies. This led to two questions.  First,“How did we make our bodies roll?” Secondly, “ What do you think it takes to make balls roll?” We discussed how using force from our muscles made our bodies roll and we needed to use force or gravity for a ball to roll.  The children paired up with each other using force to roll the ball back and forth. They had a ball!

We also talked about gravity and used a ramp to roll different balls.  I asked the boys and girls “Do you think some balls roll faster than others?”  We recorded and discussed our predictions. Using a golf ball and a soccer ball we tested out our theories.  The boys and girls were amazed with the results. Putting a ramp in the classroom gives the children a chance to interact not only with me, but the other children as well.  This type of play influences the way children approach learning and influences other aspects of their cognitive development.

Valentine's Day is approaching and we’ve been making decor for our classroom.  Using a golf ball and paint each child designed their own heart. As children draw, paint, and construct they make new discoveries and integrate what they are learning.

This week we started the second semester of school and had two new students join our class.  For everyone to get to know one another we sang a song called “Friend.” The song was written on the board with a blank space to put their name.  As each child identified their name card, they placed it on the board. The children enjoyed getting to show everyone their name and singing. Not only did the boys and girls learn each other's name, they practiced learning how to recognize everyones written name as well.  By age 3, differences in children’s understanding and use of literacy skills are enormous. When children are excited about what they are hearing and learning, they are motivated to learn to read.

We are still studying about trees, and we discussed how we could measure the trunk of a tree.  This led to teaching the children about circumference. Using yarn, we measured different tree trunks and discovered which tree had the largest and the smallest circumference.  Measuring an object with links or yarn and later measuring the same object with rods is an essential step to understanding why standard measuring tools are important for comparing measurements.  

We are glad to be back at school.