During the first week, we focus on “What names we need to know at school?” It's important that we get to know each other and begin building trust and relationships so we can feel safe and happy. To help them feel comfortable at school, we took a tour of the campus and met the Administrative Staff. Being able to establish caring relationships and to enter successfully into ongoing social interactions are essential skills for school and for success in life. We also discussed expectations as well as building a strong classroom family.

The boys and girls loved learning the nursery rhymes: Humpty Dumpty and The Three Little Kittens. These nursery rhymes teach them phonological awareness, or phonological sensitivity, which 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. They hear the words "wall" and "fall" have the same end sound, just like "ball" and "tall." Then we say these words: "call," "hall," "wall," and "fall." We are learning that these words rhyme because they all end with the "-all" sound.

We also discussed what we could learn from Humpty Dumpty and The Three Little Kittens. Humpty Dumpty is an egg and can be 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. When asked, “Why did the kittens lose their mittens?” The children said “they lost them because they didn’t take care of them.” This led to a discussion about taking care of our things in the classroom and at home. We talked about where things go in our classroom so we don’t lose them(backpack, folder, lunch box, toys).

While we are doing all these fun things, a lot is taking place. Following instructions, learning to socialize with others, working on gross motor skills, and spatial awareness are some of the skills we are learning without even realizing it.

Although it is a hectic time of year, it is the time when I most realize how blessed we all are to be a part of this school and community,. It has been a year full of learning, growing and sharing.  It is hard to believe how quickly the school year has come and gone.

Our Spring Program was this week and each child received a certificate for completing the class.  I’m confident that their year at St. James Day School has taught them both academically and spiritually.  Congratulations to the Class of 2019!

We are ending the school year with our annual Fun Fair.  The festivities include painting, potting flowers, crawling through tunnels, bubbles, and ice cream.  The boys and girls are excited for the event.

I would like to thank you for your faith, trust, and commitment to St. James Day School.  We realize the sacrifice each family makes to send their child/children to our school. We share in your commitment and want to continue to be your partner in molding faith driven leaders with a spirit of service.  I can’t wait to see everyone next school year. Have a happy, safe, and fun summer. Enjoy your family and friends.

We started our new study about reduce, reuse, and recycle.  The boys and girls are excited! This study offers opportunities for children to explore a topic that not only interests them but allows them to gather information, become more aware of the world around them, and solve problems.  Our class is observing, gathering data, exploring our community, learning new information, and proposing solutions to problems. One of the ways the children decided to help, was to make a recycling center in our classroom. They enjoy sorting  and reusing the trash collected.

A wonderful book that we’ve been reading is The Paper Bag Princess.  Princess Elizabeth is excited to marry dreamy Prince Ronald, but then a dragon attacks the castle, kidnaps her prince, and burns all her clothes. In resourceful and humorous fashion, Elizabeth uses a paper bag, finds and outsmarts the dragon, and rescues Ronald—who is less than pleased at her unprincess like appearance. What’s a modern-day princess to do?    Using shipping paper and paper bags the children made their own clothing to re-enact the story.  We compared the story to others where the hero outsmarts the villain, for example Three Little Pigs.  This story also teaches us conflict and resolution, what makes a good friend, and practice for our public speaking skills.

During our discussion about Earth Day and how to reduce, reuse, and recycle we decided to make a collage.  We used old newspapers to paint a picture of earth and recyclable items we collected. Preschoolers need three separate skills in order to make a collage: ripping, cutting, and gluing. These skills are "process oriented" art skills and the child’s final product is often just the part of that process.  Children should be encouraged and praised not only for the final product but also for their progress in handling scissors, coordination in ripping, and the ability to use glue.

Our question this week was, “What are buildings made of?”  We examined samples of flooring and each child shared with the class the characteristics.   This allowed the students to learn the social rules of communicating. As each child spoke, we had to listen, be a polite audience, take turns, and speak so the listener understands.  Some of the characteristics said were soft, hard, smooth, and flexible.

We also discussed, how other materials are used to build things.  Using plastic cups and popsicle sticks, I asked the boys and girls to build a bridge like the one in our book The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  Each child built a bridge to get the goats to the other side.  You would have thought it was Christmas morning. They were so excited!  Children solve problems by using available resources and materials to overcome obstacles and achieve goals.  Positive evaluative feedback from adults helps children persist with difficult tasks.

After each child presented their bridge, we used the popsicle sticks to make stick letters.  A young child's alphabet knowledge, especially their ability to rapidly name letters in random order, is a strong predictor of later reading, writing, and spelling ability.

Working on our fine motor skills, the boys and girls used sandpaper to make the wood smooth.  As each student develops physically, they master increasingly sophisticated tasks and are able to meet more of their own physical needs, such as dressing themselves.

Another activity the children love to do is play in our sensory bin.  Sensory bins are more than just fun, they’re an important part of any early childhood learning experience.  When children can see, smell, touch, and even hear something, the learning experience is more meaningful to them, and therefore more effective.  Sensory bins let a child explore, discover and create play using practical life skills (dumping, filling, scooping, measuring.) Through the use of sensory bins, valuable play skills are learned.

This week will be our last week to study buildings.  We will be moving on to our recycling unit. I can’t wait for you to see the activities I’ve planned.

How We Use The Story of The Three Little Pigs.

Children talk to express feelings, gain information, make requests, understand concepts, and share ideas and stories.  With lots of practice over time, children develop the ability to speak clearly and to tell personal stories as they describe objects, people, and events that are familiar.  Last week, we read The Three Little Pigs and discussed what each pig used to build their house.  This week, each child chose what house to draw and I asked them to recreate it using crayons.   The boys and girls had to closely examine each one of their houses and draw what they saw.  Each child then shared their drawing with the class and spoke about the details. Narrative talk is great because it requires our class to use more complex language.  

I also presented a story problem using three pigs.  The pigs were hungry and we needed to feed them. After feeding them, one pig went to take a nap.  I asked the children “How many pigs are left?” They all shouted two! Taking away is a common separating operation that makes a collection smaller and answers the question, “How many are left?”  Children can often solve subtraction problems before they can solve addition problems. We also use this concept during our snack time.