2-9 : Valentines Week!

H is for heart!  We had a really fun day today. In circle time we sang songs, read books about Valentines Day and learned about the letter H.  We discussed the meaning of the word love and played several games.  One was a thumbs up or down game with cards - do you love ice cream? Do you love bumble bees?  Then the children would give me a thumbs up or down and we categorized the cards.  Here are some pictures of the rest of our day.  :)

We finished our ducks on the pond craft from last week and did a letter H writing practice sheet.  Then we made heart necklaces.  

They were so cute talking about who they were planning on giving them to.  

I told them that they could eat the broken ones and suddenly there were broken fruit loops everywhere.  Lol!

Then we went upstairs for centers.  I have changed them out.  The kids were sad to see that our cow was gone but excited at the new activities.  

I leave a few of the same centers out all the time so that they don't get overwhelmed but then replace a few to follow the theme. 

This was a fun center based on pattern differentiation.  They have to sort the patterned hearts into the right bags.  

This center is ABA and AABAA patterns.  

The kids were glad to have the kitchen and dress-ups back.  This type of "real life" play is very important.  In Montessori it is called the Practical Living area.  

In the sensory area I tried something that looked fabulous on Pinterest and turned out looking like an anatomy class experiment.  Lol!  These are supposed to be pretty frozen hands with candy inside.  

The children use warm water to thaw the hands and reveal the candy.  Yup, the ones on Pinterest looked WAY better.  Oh well!  The kids were interested.  

In individual instruction we did some cutting practice.  Please keep working on this at home along with practicing writing their name.  

After we cleaned up from centers we decorated a heart with Valentine stickers.  

This is fun but is also really good for developing fine motor skills.  

So cute!  

Remember next week is our Valentines party.  Please send valentines to share and something for your child to keep theirs in.  Thanks!

2-4 : last day of farm theme!

Q is for quack!  We learned about ducks today.  I taught the kids a new song called, 5 little ducks.  After we learned it we acted it out.  It's a great math song.  

This is our circle time board where we discuss the shape, color, number, season, and day of the week.  

These are Montessori letter cards.  The letter has the texture of sand paper.  The children take turns tracing it with their finger.  

We went to the table and discussed the habitat of a duck.  Then we painted ponds for ducks to swim in.  They weren't dry by the end so we'll finish that up next time.  

Upstairs in individual instruction we made  duck puppets.  They did a great job.  

Centers. Each one focuses on a Montessori skill - language, math, dramatic play, sensory integration, etc.  

We went to the park to play and have our snack but it was a bit too cold so we hurried back and sat around the fire to warm up.  

Another great day!

2-2 : farm theme

I decided to extend the farm theme one more week because there were just too many more things I wanted to do with them.  Also the kids are feeling some anxiety about Bessie (our cow) going away.  Lol.  Anyway here are some snapshots of our day.   I'm afraid I didn't get very many today. 

It was cold outside so we started our day with playdough instead of outside.  

After everyone arrived we had circle time, music and story time. 

Then we went over to the table for a little discussion and experiment.  We discussed milk and then tasted 3 different colors of milk, decided which one we liked most and made a graph.  

Then upstairs to centers.  

In individual instruction we made toilet paper roll cows.  Cutting with scissors is something they all need to work on.  If you could have them practice at home that would be great!

We put on some farm themed puppet shows today.  :)

1-28: farm theme

Wow!  What a day!!! I am still shocked at how quickly the time went by.  We had so much fun and before I knew it, moms were back to pick them up.  It's crazy that this day went faster than a regular day.  It's probably because I was trying to squeeze two days into one.  We did about half of what I had planned.  Lol!  

Here are some pictures of your sweet little kiddos.   

Our letter of the day was "M" for milk cow.  

Our color was black, our number was 6, and our shape was a rectangle.  

We learned a fun new cow song.  I sent a copy of it home.  It's on the back of their do-a-dot M.  

We finished making our piggie noses and played the three little pigs.  So fun!  The noses are in their backpacks.  

We did our do-a-dot.  

Then we went to the park and then had our snack.  They love going to the park.  

We went back and went upstairs for centers.  In individual instruction we made spotted cows.  

We also made footprint cow heads.  I am in love with this craft!  So cute!!

Centers!

After centers we came downstairs for lunch.  They did great and everyone was happy with what they had.  :)

We cleaned up from lunch and then made some sugar cookies.  I had pre-made the dough so we rolled it and cut out the cow shapes.  What a workout! Lol! 

I was so excited when this cookie cutter arrived.  I think it's adorable!

Thanks for your patience waiting for your kids.  Honestly we could have played all day.  I am loving being their teacher.  Thank-you for this opportunity.  This has been an enormous blessing to me and my family.  I am starting sign ups for next year.  I would truly appreciate you spreading the word for me.  

Thanks!

Miss Becca