writing letters and numbers

I encourage writing a lot at preschool - I make sure there is adequate paper, pencils, erasers, envelopes, markers and clip boards available in different areas of the room. This encourages writing, which includes scribbles and marks that are not recognizable (that's the beginning of writing and equally important), and children really enjoy pretending they are writing grocery lists, letters to a friend or family member, notes to a teacher, and with prompting, real words. In the MWF class, I'm often asked how do you spell ______? And I either write it down for them to copy or I tell them the letters verbally. Either way, I love the interest children have with writing. It is fascinating to watch this skill evolve. Along with writing comes the skill of holding the writing utensil using the tripod hold/grasp (pointer, middle man and thumb). This skill needs to be mastered first before a child can feel confident (and comfortable) writing. It is encouraged through various fine motor activities (stringing beads, finger plays, putting pegs in peg board, finger whole punchers, etc.) and emphasized during the first year at preschool, and second if needed. Once they have strengthened their fine motor grasp, then they are ready to move on to writing.

My small group activity with the MWF class this week is practicing (and learning for some) how to form letters (using the Handwriting without tears format I talked about in an earlier post) using a small chalk board and chalk (of course!). A lot of children already know how to spell their name and use capital and lower case letters. I focus on capitals first and then we learn lower case.

Can you tell what letter we were practicing? (hint: T)

Not only do I encourage writing on paper, I also have white boards available (with markers) for children to write and draw on as well. The only down side of white boards is that the picture or words get erased before I can get a picture of what they have been working on! 

Writing numbers and working together. Yes!!

Encourage writing at home as well, even if your child doesn't seem that interested. You might be surprised with what happens if you make paper, pencils and markers available. 

monkeys in the trees

A highlight for the children is when we get to go to the "rocks and trees" on campus (near the Lemons Center, across from the library). Today was such a day - a beautiful warm one to be outside for a bit. There were all kinds of sounds, swinging and climbing (and posing on rocks) that resembled monkeys. :) 

a mix of pictures

Here is a mixture of pictures from this week: TR and MWF classes!

Enjoy!!

Carefully pressing the animal sponge on paper.

Who is driving here?!

Twins!

Doctors at work!

Let me get this shot ready.

Lining up cars inside blocks

Covering up Ms. Laura's hand with sand.

animal clothes

The children have really gotten into the spirit of animals this week - they've worn animals on their clothes and one even wore an ear headband. Ms. Larisa unconsciously wore a zebra stripped dress, but no picture of me was taken....

Isn't he a cute little monkey?!

Animal shirts and a cute little ear headband to go with!

Can you see the cute little elephant on this dress?

This cutie is ready for Halloween as she told me
this was her Halloween costume.

monkey bread

The preschool sure smelled good today - as they monkey bread was baking in the oven. Most of the children already knew that's what we were having for snack. :)
Here's the simple easy recipe I used:
1 bag of frozen rhodes rolls 
1 melted stick of butter 
Cinnamon sugar 

Spray bundt pan and then dip rolls in butter and roll in cinnamon sugar then place in pan. Keep adding until almost to the top of pan, leave some room for dough to raise. Cover and set in fridge overnight. Set out a little (to raise even more). I added a few chunks of butter on top right before I put it in the oven. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let it cool a little and then lay a large plate on top of pan and flip. Then pull, eat and enjoy!

Homes for Animals

The TR class worked on building homes for the animals. Children often sort the animals by groups and pair the babies and adults together. They understand family groups at a young age. They also add animal noises into their play, which is humorous to listen to how they have the animals behave. 

Animals inside their homes

Role playing with the animals (I love the safari hat here!)

These animals were taking a ride in the school bus.


This picture has nothing to do with animals - but it is Wacky Tacky Tuesday on campus today and Ms. Molly was dressed appropriately!!
Doesn't she look like a Dr. Seuss character?!

And other types of non-animal play here:

A dump truck with signs and blocks.

This guy built little ramps that the motorcycle and construction guy used to jump onto the teacher spool. Very creative!

Color coordinated block building!

Vet Clinic part 2 (TR)

The TR group were very interested in caring for animals at the Vet Clinic. Children often imitate what they've seen Doctors or Nurses do and that is how they tenderly cared for the animals. It was just precious!

The Vet Clinic is open!

This horse was hurt by a coyote and it's leg needed a bandage. I love how this child was making horse noises while she was caring for it! So cute!!

This horse needed a shot

Gloves come first.
They figured out how to get them on without any help - they were rather large to wear, but they wore them anyway!

Gloves are on. Now it's time to groom the horse. Then out of the blue this horse started making neighing noises. Didn't know it could do that. It surprised the child and me! 

The Vet Clinic is Open!

Since we are talking about animals this week, the "house area" was transformed into a Vet Clinic. Lots of stuffed animals, doctor supplies, paper, pencils, clip boards, key boards and a phone. The children did a fabulous job taking turns being the doctor and nurse.

Checking in animal patients at the front desk.

Ms. Kathryn helped the Doctor get her face mask on.

The Doctor is getting all of the syringes ready for the patient. 

It takes two receptionists to keep things running smoothly.

Writing important notes.

This animal needed a shot of medicine. 

Letter of the week

Each week we focus on a different letter of the week. This year we are not going in rote order of the alphabet, the letters are all mixed up. (As you've probably noticed on the weekly lesson plan sheet) There's a reason for that. We use the Handwriting Without Tears -- Get Set for School for Pre-K) at preschool - it is an easy way to learn handwriting (without tears, of course!) helping children learn correct letter formation (starting at the top, going the right direction, etc.). We use the Print Capital Letter Formation format (which is available to print for free on their website). 
We began implementing this format a few years ago and have had good success with it. The children learn capital letters first (because they are easy) and master those and then learn lower case. HWT encourages teaching capital letters in a certain order based on easier letters to more difficult letters, so we decided to try it this year! Children know the alphabet by rote (A,B,C, etc.), so we aren't as concerned about knowing their ABC's, because most children do and can sing the alphabet song! 
We instead focus on the phonemic awareness (letter sounds), which is emphasized in public school. We shy away from making preschool too academic, but believe it's important to practice certain skills children will need for future school success. 

The emphasis is different for each preschool session.

• The approach with the MWF session is to emphasize phonetic awareness, rhyming, on-set rhymes, phonics, vocabulary.
• The focus with the TR session is introducing letter sounds and words that begin with that sound, visual recognition.

In the MWF group, each week 2 children take home a "letter of the week" bag to find an object at home that begins with that letter and bring it back to preschool to share with the class. The TR group will begin doing this second semester. 

If you would like more information about Handwriting Without Tears (Get Set for School- Pre-K), visit their website. There are great tools and resources for parents to use at home. Free printables!!! Be sure to click on Get Set for School - this is the Pre-K curriculum we use.  There are tools for older children as well.    http://www.hwtears.com/hwt

** We recognize that there are many ways to learn how to write. This isn't the only way to go about it; there is no right way. We use this format because it fits the best with our philosophy and program. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.  

On Wednesday's, the children think of words that begin with the letter of the week. The teacher writes them on the white board. We always count to see how many words we can think of! It amazes me what words children think of.

Comfortable with crabs

I have to say this MWF class is the most comfortable with crabs I've seen in all of my years of teaching. They actually hold them and carry them around, being brave and bold!

The crabs did not roam around circle today;
they just sat in the water the whole time. I guess it just wasn't exciting enough for them.
Well, they are nocturnal, so they were probably just sleeping.

Here they are before circle time - holding, observing
and getting comfortable with the crabs.

This is our crab lady - she checks on them everyday,
making sure they get a bath, have food
and then takes them around the room for a little walk. :) 

Have you held a crab today?! 

ladybug

We have an abundance of ladybugs on the playground. They hide in the tiniest of places on the big wood structure; they are trying to stay warm since it really cools off at night now. Children often discover them if they venture out and fly around. Children are thrilled when one crawls around on their hand or arm- it tickles them, but they still enjoy it and are disappointed when the ladybug flies off! 

Enjoying the little things in life - 

thank you God for creating ladybugs and time to enjoy them!

Day #2 - A House for Hermit Crab (TR session)

I always find it fascinating how each preschool session learns and focuses on a theme; I adapt and change how I teach in the different sessions, to fit the needs and developmental level of each group. 
Today's group spent a lot of time focusing on art (in fact we will continue it on Thursday to get everyone a chance to complete a hermit crab shell). They built some homes for hermit crabs but then moved on to other things. We also let 2 crabs be a part of our circle time and one was roaming around, which added a lot of excitement (and some squeals!) during the story!!

Here's a glimpse of our busy, busy day!

Potential hermit crab homes

Decorating our the crab shells with lots of glue and other materials.

This cutie came up to me and said,
"Ms. Larisa, look what I found in the sand (sensory table) - these cute, little things!" 

This shell was loaded with sparkles, rocks and beads - oh my!!!! 

Cutting snips and making a group collage!
Yes, we aren't afraid of using scissors, with close teacher supervision. :) 

Using stencils and making lots of pictures to take home!

Sorting colored pom-poms using tweezers. A great fine motor activity!