Summer Ideas

I'm sure many of you may already have summer plans, but here are some fresh ideas for summer fun!! 

http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2016/ten-rainy-day-activities

http://www.mericherry.com/2015/04/10/let-paint/

https://www.care.com/a/101-fun-things-to-do-with-kids-this-summer-1305030150

www.teachpreschool.org

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/get-ready-summer-ideas-teachers-share-families#online

www.pbskids.org

(We used pbskids.org for computer games this year in preschool and the children really enjoyed it!!) 

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/collection/outdoor-activities/fun-sun-activities


http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/  (added this one on 5/5)

http://www.hwtears.com/hwt (added this one on 5/5)
Excellent resource for handwriting tools - free printables for parents!!

Enjoy your summer. I will try to post things on the blog, but it may not be as frequent. 

Enrolling for FALL!

We have openings in the MWF session (For children entering Kindergarten Fall '17). 

Contact Larisa for more information.  (620) 327-8161 or larisa.lawrence@hesston.edu

Tanganyika!!

Thankfully it was only cold with no rain for Zoo day. 

Great ending to a fantastic year!!

Here are quite a few pictures I took.....

The cheetah is hiding in the grass. He lifted his tail every once in awhile.

What a great turn out!!!

Running around and jumping off of this rock seemed to be
just as enjoyable as seeing the animals. 

 THE HC shirt pics 

(sorry, I didn't catch everyone!)

The giraffes are so amazing and grande!

Beautiful animal!!!

Animals have a mind of their own.
The zoo keeper was holding this piece of lettuce trying
to lure this guy out and then he finally just threw it on the ground
and walked away. The tortoise immediately came out and
promptly munched it all down the hatch!

Thanks for a great Zoo day and year!
Have a most wonderful summer!!

Let your light shine!!

Even after all of the times we practiced this song for Family Night, the children still request to sing it. Today we sang it again and added other verses, When we go to Kindergarten, I'm going to let it shine. When we go to Tanganyika, I'm going to let it shine. When we leave preschool, I'm going to let it shine. They kept coming up with more verses. We also discussed what it means to "let our light shine" - talk about abstract thinking. Not an easy one for young children to understand, but they did have some interesting insights about it. And as we come to the end of the school year, a great song to take with you and remember!

We are very thankful for all families that choose to have their child attend Hesston College Preschool. I've just completed 11 years here and have thoroughly enjoyed this community and getting to know all of the families through the years. One bonus of my job is getting to know numerous families and especially those who have several children attend - some up to 6 years! 
Again, it's kind of sad when those eras come to an end. 

Thanks to you all for your commitment and support of our preschool program but mostly, for desiring that your child(ren) receive early childhood learning experiences. The Hesston College's tagline is, Start Here, Go Everywhere and we believe that is true for the children who start preschool here - they will go everywhere! (This was not an intentional plug for the college..... :)) 

Many blessings for future learning and success!

http://www.hollychristine.net/

Last day of MWF

Happy trails to you, until we meet again. 

Saying goodbye to the MWF class is always bittersweet for me. I've had most of the children for 2 years, some just 1 year and I know they are growing up and moving on, but we've shared special times together and it's sad to see them go. It is such a privilege for me to teach - facilitating learning at preschool! I don't want this to sound cliche, but this truly is my best job ever. 

This day was full of "lasts" and the children were very aware of this -- busy trying to fit everything in -- one last time. 

"teaching" at the same time. Ms. Danielle had to dual focus.

group hug for Ms. Meredith - she had to leave early for Bel Canto practice.

Please come visit the preschool anytime! (except this Summer)

Last of day of TR preschool!

It's kind of strange to think about summer break already when you have tornado threats one day and wearing jackets the next. Gotta love Kansas weather. All but 2 from the class will return to preschool next year. 
Here is what we did on the last day of TR preschool -- 

Snipping strips of paper and putting on sticky paper for art. 

Some house area play.

Busy play in the block area.

A selfie stick pic to close the day.

Have a great summer - see you in August!!

switching roles

Children become teachers and teachers become children. 

A good switch, right? I typically have children who imitate being a teacher and today that happened again, and there were teachers who were willing to become children. The switching of roles always fascinates me. The (children) teachers pretend to write on the white board, hold a book and "read" the story, and "tell the children what to do...." Today was no different except that they wanted the iPad too, to watch animal videos we've been watching during circle times. 

In this case,
there are 2 teachers and they shared the role
quite nicely. Each taking a turn.
And the (real) teacher was asking
the child teacher great questions about the
animal video they were watching.
Super. Super Cool!!