Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! See you in 2011.

Thank you all for being willing to switch days this last week. Tuesday was a wonderful reunion with almost our entire family at the airport, many hugs and kisses, a big meal together and lots of catching up. I hope your holidays are filled with family, friends, good food, warm fires and maybe some snow. :) We will resume school on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011.

Here's what we did Dec. 15th and 16th. We:

• learned the "p" sound as in panda, pencil, pig, penguin, purple and pink
• made a page for our alphabet book
  
• decorated Christmas cookies (you might not have seen them, because most of the kids ate them immediately)
• completed our salt dough ornaments
• practiced writing our letters in shaving cream (in case you wondered why their hands smelled like men's cologne)
• sang "Ring, ring, ring the bells", "Guess who's beard is long and white", "We wish you a Merry Christmas", "Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer" "Once there was a snowman" and "Jingle bells"
• read "Horton Hears a Who" and "Christmas Mice" to follow our theme of compassion.
  
• completed the count down to Christmas Santa.
• practiced cutting by making strips for a construction paper chain.
• practiced shapes and colors (circle, oval, rectangle, triangle, square, star, heart, red, blue, yellow, green, orange, brown, purple).
• learned how to play dominoes with Toy Story III pictures on them

Miss Cindy teaches 3 and 4 year olds in West Boise, ID.

Alternate schedule for week of December 13-17

Remember we will be holding class on Wednesday (12/15) and Thursday(12/16) this week so our family can welcome home our missionary on Tuesday!

Here's what happened in preschool Dec. 7th and 9th! We:

• learned the letter "B" sound as in bells, babies, balloons and blocks.
• made another page for our alphabet book with paint and glitter.
• made edible Christmas trees from ice cream cones, icing and candies.
• played music with jingle bells and glasses filled with different levels of water.
• made count-down-to-Christmas Santas.
• read "The Night before Christmas", "With Love, at Christmas"(this one made me cry), "The Berenstain Bears learn to share" and "Little Racoon's One Big Question".
• painted our salt dough ornaments (they will come home next week after the clear glossy sealant dries)
• learned and sang "Ring, ring, ring the bells", "Guess Who's beard is Long and white?" and "Once there was a snowman"
• played Christmas bingo

Miss Cindy uses music, movement, stories and art projects to prepare 3 and 4 year olds for kindergarten.

November 16 - December 2

Wow! It has been very busy at our preschool. The week before Thanksgiving we dressed as Indians and Pilgrims and had a Thanksgiving feast. Ask your student about:

• dancing the Turkey Pokey and the Turkey strut
  
• singing "If you're thankful and you know it" and "Gobble, gobble, gobble, said the bird"
  
• chanting "Mr. Turkey big and fat"
• making a grateful turkey whose feathers listed our blessings
• making music with homemade instruments
• dressing up as pilgrims and Indians
• reading "The First Thanksgiving" and "Grover's book of Baby Animals"
  
• playing "Hide turkey hide"
• learning the sound for the letter "M"
  

Then this week Nov. 30 - Dec. 2, we:

• learned the letter "C" sound
• made a caterpillar for our ABC book
• read "The Kissing Hand", "The Cat in the Hat" "The Biggest Best Snowman" and "C is for Clown"
• reviewed the letters we've learned and begin making words like "cat, hat, sat, mat, fat and rat"
• played "Cootie" with a Santa face
• began making a Santa Advent calendar
• sang "Guess who's beard is long and white?" and "Once there was a snowman"
• began making salt dough ornaments which we'll paint this next week.
  

Talking points Nov. 9-11

Dear Parents,

This month we're talking about gratitude and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to spend time each week with your children. They are creative, curious, full of enthusiasm, funny and kind! I know as I've raised my own children, it has been wonderful to hear other people tell me good things about them, so I want you all to know what a great job you're doing with your own children. It's obvious they have been loved, guided and taught. Every time we meet, they surprise me with songs, stories and facts that they have learned at home that pertain to the subject we're discussing. So here's to you, the fabulous, committed, loving parents everywhere who sacrifice sleep, money and sometimes a little sanity to raise the next generation.

At preschool we:

• learned about the sound "V" van, vacuum, vegetables, violin
• made a turkey from an apple, marshmallows and toothpicks
• took a "Gratitude Walk"
• read "My book of Thanks", "Picking Apples and Pumpkins" (a Clifford the big red dog book) and "Grover's book of Cute Baby Animals"
• baked cookies for snack time
• played "Hide turkey hide" and "Turkey Strut"
• learned some Thanksgiving themed finger plays and songs ie. Mr. Turkey, big and fat, I'm going to eat you just like that.
• learned "The Turkey Dance"
• ate broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, apples, grapes and pomegranate seeds for snack on Tuesday

Also, the AM class on Thursday did an extra art project which wasn't originally part of the plan. During table time, when they were practicing writing their names and doing puzzles, I was cutting out a few pictures. They noticed and asked for some scrap paper to cut, so I gave them some and they pasted the pieces they cut on to white paper. The end products were wonderful and it reminded me once again that some of the best learning moments are triggered by the childrens' interests. See you next week




Miss Cindy teaches preschool for those in West Boise, Eagle, and Meridian.

Talking points Oct. 26-28

I hope you're enjoying the new pictures on our site! Thanks to Cathy for helping me post them.
Here's what was happening Halloween week:

• the dress up bucket
• Halloween walking (like a ghost, wolf, bat etc.)
• counting seeds from pumpkin guts
• scare crow dot-to-dot
• letter "H" sound
  
• making bread pudding (measuring, counting ingredients and eating :) YUM)
• pumpkin painting
• witches brew
• eating doughnuts without any hands
• making ghosts from suckers
• reading "It looks like spilt milk" and "Eensy weensy spider"
• Halloween memory game
• Halloween bingo

Remember this week, we'll meet only on Tuesday since it is Parent-teacher conferences in the Meridian School district and school is out on Thursday and Friday! See you on Tuesday, Nov. 2!!

Miss Cindy uses music and art to teach preschool in Boise, Meridian and Eagle Idaho

Talking points Oct. 19 and 21

Another wonderful fall week! I can't remember ever having such a beautiful fall and the kids and I loved our time outdoors, collecting leaves, listening to the birds sing, and playing in the fresh, cool air.

To get more specifics ask your cutie-pa-tootie about:

• the books "Where the Wild Things Are", "It's not a stick", "Skeleton and Mummy" or "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves"..........ACHOO!


• the song "There's mean old witch with a HAT!"


• the letter "E" sound "egg, empty (the guessing can), eyes, ears, elephant"


• writing letters in chocolate pudding (messy but lots of fun and memorable)


• the song "I am a Pizza" and "Monster Day"


• doing puzzles with lots of pieces


• using Halloween stamps to make a card
  

Next week, don't forget the Halloween party on Thursday!

Miss Cindy teaches preschool in her home in West Boise.

Halloween fun Oct. 12 & 14

What a fun week we've had! The kids imaginations were running on full speed as we took a Halloween walk. They floated around the preschool room as ghosts, howled like wolves, stomped like Frankenstein, rolled like pumpkins, slithered like snakes and crept and spun like spiders.

We also:

1. read "Harold's purple crayon" and "Quick as a Cricket"
2. learned the "L" sound as in lions, lambs, leaves, lollipops, and ladybugs.
3. learned the stages of a ladybugs life and did leaf rubbings (PM class only)
4. made ladybugs and counted the spots on their wings.
5. learned the song "I'm a mean old witch".
6. played a memory game where they had to match pictures of Halloween things.
7. played a matching game with Halloween candy.
8. built towers from marble works and talked about gravity.
9. played charades.


We had our first SUPERSTAR of the WEEK in our PM class, because she has a birthday coming up. I'll send you an email when it's your child's turn to be the SUPERSTAR, but here's what you can look forward to. They bring a poster or pictures of them as babies and growing up. It can highlight their hobbies and interests. We read their favorite book. Our SUPERSTAR'S favorite book this week was "Franklin's Halloween" and she baked cupcakes to share with her class. It was a great hit in our class and I can't wait for everyone else to have a turn.

Miss Cindy teaches pre-kindergarten and preschool skills to 3 and 4 y-ear-olds from Boise and Meridian, Idaho.

Talking points Oct. 5

October's theme is Imagination and Creativity. It's the perfect time to focus on those with the cooling temperatures, leaves falling, darker days and Halloween just around the corner . The kids loved the decorations that my daughter put up on the front porch and shared them with some of you at pick up or drop off time. They were all enthusiastic about the creativity games and activities that we did on Tuesday. It was a full day since we only meet once this week. Ask your child about:

• the letter "N" sound. (We also reviewed S, T, I, and A)
  
• his/her Halloween stamp paper (some turned them into lanterns)
• his/her cereal necklace sponsored by the letter "N"
• the story "It's not a box" (it's about a bunny that uses a box and his imagination)
• the game "What would a pickle say?"
• what was in the guessing can. (Nuts in the AM class and a nickel in the PM class. Thanks Moms for helping your child bring something with out letter!!)
• the monster song.
• making a "nest page" for our letter book and the stages of a chick hatching

I can hardly wait for next Tuesday! See you then.

Miss Cindy run an in-home preschool for 3 and 4-year-olds from Boise and Meridian, Idaho.

Talking points Sept 28-30

It was a fun and full week. We......

• had the children start doing the guessing can. They were great and really enjoyed it.
• learned the two sounds that "I" makes: i as in iguana and i as in ice cream cone.
• made iguanas, igloos and ice cream cones.
• went on a nature scavenger hunt in the backyard.
• learned about Sacagawea's bravery.
• read the book "The little old lady who wasn't afraid of anything".
• painted impressionistic paintings of sunflowers, t-rexes and other items.
• practiced writing our numbers 1-10 on special white boards that have the numbers dotted.
• played the penny game.
• played the egg carton game (putting the correct number of beans into each cup).

Remember next week we meet on Tuesday only as Meridian schools are on break next Thursday. Watch for an email with the guessing can schedule.

Talking points Sept.21-23

This week the biggest news was I introduced the helpers wheel. To their credit, all the children want to help with everything....... all the time,....... so we have a wheel now, so they know what their "job" is. They might be a line leader, a snack helper, the weatherman, pledge leader or the guessing can helper. They were all very excited to see their names next to a job on the wheel! This might work for home chores too! :)

We also:

1. Learned the letter "T".
2. Made turkeys and turtles to remind us about the sound.
3. Read "Froggy learns to swim" and "Humpty, Dumpty climbs again" which were both about overcoming fears.
4. We learned a song about "Hercules" the turtle who wants to stay in his shell.
5. We practiced counting objects and made the bean project. Your child counted out his/her own beans and after I checked their counting he/she glued them to the paper.
6. We identified pictures that begin with the letters "T, S and A" and eliminated pictures that didn't have one of those beginning sounds. All of them are quickly identifying those sounds now.

Next week we'll be learning the two sounds for the letter "I" and finishing up our month on courage by hearing stories about Sacagawea. See you all then!

Talking points

Have you ever asked your child what they learned at school that day and gotten either the shrugged shoulders or the "I don't know?" response? Well to combat that I'll post "talking points" each week so that you can know what specific questions you can ask your child that will get them talking (hopefully with excitement) about what we learned in preschool.

Here's what's happening in preschool Sept. 14 and 16th:

1. We are continuing to learn about being courageous so we read "Little Quack" about a duckling nervous to leave his nest and on Thursday we'll read "Brave Irene".

2. We are reviewing the letter "A". We made an alligator with the afternoon class on Tuesday and did apple trees with both groups.

3. We began learning the letter "S" this week and made a page for our sound book (This will be sent home later this year when we've completed all the letter sounds.) with a painted snowman. We colored on the white board the objects that start with the sound of "S"( like starfish, sun, socks, square) and left blank the objects( like tree) that don't begin with the "s" sound. On Thursday, we'll be making a snake and spider to reinforce the "s" sound.

4. We count out loud for lots of things like holding the piece of tissue paper in place while the glue dries, or how many days we've come to school, or how many children are in our class, or how many jumps they do on the trampoline or how many ducklings were on the pages of "Little Quack".

5. We used play dough on Tuesday and will be introduced to math counting rods this Thursday.

6. They all love the guessing can and I'll be contacting each parent soon to let you know when your child will have an opportunity to bring something for the can.

I hope these talking points help trigger memories for your child so they can share more of what they are learning.

Kids say the funniest things

One of the many reasons I love children is the funny things they say. They haven't developed any social filters, so whatever is on their minds, comes right out of their mouths. Just the other day, I was teaching a class of beginner swimmers. I asked them if they could show me their bubbles. One precocious little boy said, "Anything is completely possible". Another time, I was reading a story to a class of kindergarten students. I don't remember what the book was and maybe that explains what happened next since not even I was caught up in the story. One child raised his hand and I thought he wanted to comment on the story, but instead he told me he had lost a tooth the night before. Instantly five other hands flew up and we spent the next 5 minutes talking about ways that loose teeth come out. Sometimes you just have to throw a lesson plan out the window and go with the flow.

It's the start of my preschool.....but not the beginning!

Today I learned about advertising online to start my preschool for little heroes, but the idea of preschool has been percolating for 30 years since the birth of the first of my seven children. I knew someday I would have my own school while I was earning my degree in elementary education from BYU. As I taught in private and public schools, ran a swim school and homeschooled my own children the idea came into focus. So here I am learning to advertise online to share my 30 years of experience and my passion and love for children with other families.

Miss Cindy teaches preschool to children from Boise and Meridian, Idaho.