January 2012 - Cold and a trip to the dentist's office

The theme for January was RESPONSIBILITY! We talked about the things the children are responsible for at school and home such as doing their best at preschool, following the rules, obeying their parents and helping with chores and brushing their teeth........which of course led to a field trip to Dr. Robertson's dental office!

The kids loved learning to floss and brush their teeth, sit in the chair and even spray Dr. Robertson with air! Thank you so much for letting us come.

Since the beginning of the year, we had been learning two letters of the alphabet each week. We learned their names, how to write them, and the sound they make. On January 9, we learned the letter "Z". I told the kids, "Great job! Now you've learned the entire alphabet!" The next time we met several moms told me their children said they were all done with preschool, because Miss Cindy told them they knew everything now! Oops, I better be careful with what I say. :)

During the month we read "I am responsible", "I am in charge of me", "The three little pigs", "The little red hen", "Frank and Ernest" about an elephant that runs a diner while his friend is out of town, "The Snowy Day", "Clifford's family", "Hibernation Station", "If you take a mouse to school" and "The Napping House".

We learned the months of the year by singing a new song and having the children jump up when their birthday month was sung. We continued to learn the days of the week during circle time and practiced knowing which day comes before and after a given day. We made a numbers book of numbers 11-20 and practiced which number is missing from 0-30 on our velcro board. We learned a new responsibility rap (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I03JseHP1x4)

We enjoyed the cold weather by making snow our snack one day (see the pics above) and making glittery snowflakes another day. We even looked at the snow with magnifying glasses to try to see the crystals but they were too small.

February, Friends and Fun!!

Since Valentine's Day is in February, we spent the month talking about being a friend and showing love to others.

We read so many cute books like "Huggaotamus" about a little hippo that learned to hug carefully so he wouldn't hurt his friends, "I Love you Stinky Face" about a little boy asking his mom if she would still love him under less than lovable circumstances, "My heart is a magic house" in which a mom explains that a new baby expands the ability to love, "No kisses please", "The Day it rained hearts", "Corduroy", "Will you be my valenswine?", "Happy Valentines, Mouse", and "I can be a friend".

We also learned about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln since we celebrated President' day. We made 3 cornered hats in art like one George Washington wore during the Revolutionary War and a stove pipe black hat like Lincoln's.

The most exciting thing to happen in February (besides the Valentine's party) was that we began having centers every Wednesday. The children divide into teams of 2 or 3 students and rotate through four stations in about 40 minutes. They love being independent (I explain all the stations before we begin and then just float to help where needed) and are learning a valuable skill for kindergarten. The first week in February our stations were 1. Math games (several to choose from that help with counting objects and patterns) 2. Make a word by finding the letter tiles in the rice bucket (practice with letter identification and sounds) 3. Bead a friendship bracelet (increases small motor skills) 4. Alphabet soup art project (cutting, gluing, painting). Since then we've had centers every Wednesday and the kids always ask as they come in the door, "Is it centers today?" The centers also reinforced the idea that friends can aid us in learning new things.

At Miss Cindy's preschool we learn through auditory, visual and kinesthetic modalities!