Graphing and Sorting

We used gummy bears today to sort by color and graph.   Every child participated at their own level whether it was matching, sorting, distinguishing most, least and the same (and using that language) or even answering the question "how many do you have altogether."  Every child was successful and of course had a tasty treat when they were finished.

Teddy Bear Picnic

As you know we've been learning about bears.  To have a little fun, expand our learning and to have an opportunity to share we will have a “teddy bear” picnic in our class on Thursday and Friday.  Please allow your child to bring in his or her favorite stuffed animal to school on Thursday we will share about our animals and eat teddy grahams and drink juice with our animals. 

                   

Bears, bears and more bears!

This week we focused on bears.  Two main themes and books stood out to be of most interest to the children.  First, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was a hit.  The students enjoyed listening to the story and watching it retold with props.  Many students spent much time in the dramatic play center with the story props.  Our sensory table will be full of dried oats next week (porridge) and we will continue to expand on the story.

Here are some of the props available in the dramatic play center!

                                                           Scarlet and Goldilocks.

                                          Ellie is using the story props with the felt board.

 Bear in a Square was also a favorite this past week.  The students especially enjoy the activities to go along with the book.  We play a game where the bear gets hidden under a shape and the students take turns guessing which shape it's hiding under.  During this time we aren't just working on shape recognition but also on turn taking, predicting, using full sentences (i.e. "The bear is under the blue diamond"), color recognition etc...  The students have had a blast playing in our large group activity time but also with each other during center choice time.

                                              We made shape collages this week!

                                                 Zander beginning his shape collage.

                        Our name chart.  Everyday students place their name on the chart as part of attendance.  This promotes name recognition, participation and counting (we count who is present).

Even snack time is educational!

Check out how we use pretzel sticks. 

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a fantastic winter break.  I apologize to my Wed/Friday class for missing school on Friday.  My surgery time was moved up and it could not be postponed.  I did hear that a good time was had by all.

We welcome Mrs. Brandi Moore to our class.  She is a U.C. student teacher studying Early Childhood Education.  She will be in our class every morning until March.

We also welcome Donnie to our Wednesday/Friday class starting January 11th!

I'm very excited about the plans for this month. We will start our month off with some classic stories with some new twists.  We will read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs   Do you see a theme?   Not only are these stories favorites of many students they also incorporate so many ways to expand learning.  For example in Goldilocks and the Three Bears we get to learn all about comparing and contrasting (large, medium, small etc...).  Each story lends itself to go in many directions for learning.  It's my philosophy in early childhood to allow the students to help guide the learning.  Meaning my role as a teacher is to incorporate the content standards based on the student's interest.  This way the students are more invested in their learning.  Play is the a young child's work after all.  I look forward to seeing where these stories take us.

-Remember our class is a peanut and tree nut free class.
-Nap items need to be returned.

Wed/Friday class change of plans.

Dear Wed/Friday class.  I'm sorry for the short notice in the change of plans for our party.  We have had to move our party time up to 10-11 a.m. due to an appointment I must keep in the afternoon.  For selfish reasons I wanted to make sure I could be at the party.  You should have received a note about it yesterday.  Sorry for any inconvenience. 

Updates!

We welcome Kaley to our Wed/Friday class.  We are all very excited to have a new friend!

Santa's workshop is going on all week.  This is a place where you child can shop for people in your family.  You received a note about it last week. 

Winter Wonderland is being held this Saturday.  See flyer in your child's folder for more information.  My husband, son and I will be there for the last half hour.  Hope to see many of you there.

Holiday Parties!
Next Thursday and Friday from 1 p.m. -2 p.m.
You are invited to join us for some play time in the classroom.  We will have a special snack, participate in a craft activity and sing some songs. 

Currently we are reading Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.  Our dramatic play center is a bakery.  We are acting out the story using masks.  Photos to come soon! 

We will continue to go outside to play when weather permits.  Please make sure you dress your child accordingly.

Remember never hesitate to call, write or email with any questions!