The first couple of days at school are exhausting for both teachers and students! So many routines to teach and so many learners to get to know! The most important thing I do in the first few weeks is to begin building trust and relationships with each child to that they feel safe and happy. If they feel safe and happy, our parents will feel confident in leaving their child in my care. Being able to establish relationships are essential skills for school and for success in life. During the first week, they learn how to do their morning chores, sit at circle time, get in line, eat lunch at school, wash their hands, clean up, and wait their turn.

CreativeCurriculum

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 and their friends names. This led to making names tags so we could introduce ourselves to each other.

PhonologicalAwareness

During circle time, we are demonstrating phonological awareness by learning the 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.

HumptyDumpty

We discussed how Humpty Dumpty is an egg and easily broken when mishandled. I asked the students, "Where is Humpty Dumpty, and is it a safe place for him to be?" This led to a discussion about safety and making good choices so we stay safe.

TheThreeLittleKittens

We acted out the Three Little KIttens by finding the lost mittens around the room. Once they were found, we matched them up by color and size to make a pair. Afterwards, we ate our pie and discussed where our things go in our classroom so we don't lose them (backpack, folder, lunchbox, toys).

Music

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 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.

Gallery Block

These are example images. Double-click here to replace these images with your own content. Learn more

Jelly Bean Graphing

Not only is graphing with jellybeans a yummy way to spend some time, it’s also educational; there are so many learning concepts packed into this small activity. Obviously, the main is graphing. But graphing is just the umbrella that covers several mighty and oh-so important math principles. In this particular instance, the children must rely on their color knowledge to sort and classify the jelly beans. After placing the candy on their graphs, they will use their counting skills (one-to-one correspondence) to count and match the number of beans, in a row, to its corresponding number below. Graphing also incorporates the concept of more/less/same.

Estimation Easter Basket

After each child looked at the basket full of bunnies, I asked them to give me an estimate of how many. We then counted the bunnies and discussed what was the same/difference.

Our Little Chicks

We've painted with balls and the kids thought it was funny. This week I asked them to paint a baby chicken with a fork. Their faces were priceless. Fork painting is such a fun and clever painting technique. It allows for different textures and lines and creates something far different than a paintbrush. Definitely worth giving it a try!

Children play with balls in many different ways. They throw them, catch them, kick them, and roll them with seemingly endless delight. We are learning how natural forces, such as gravity and friction, affect the movement of balls. We discussed the meaning of force and how we can use it to move a ball. Using forced air from a blow dryer, we discovered how the air can affect a balls movement. Then, I gave each student a straw and pom pom balls to move with our breath. We discussed how the ball's weight or how hard air blew made a difference in the distance traveled.

Number Wall Ball

This is a fun way to identify numbers. The children were given a number to point at and then hit it with the ball.