11/5 - autumn unit: A is for Autumn

We had a great day today.  We are continuing to learn about Autumn.  This week is a study of the letter A.  Today was all things Autumn.  They did really well!

 These are a couple of the books we read today.  The children really enjoyed them.

 I found these adorable autumn colored sixlets in bulk so the kids had fun identifying the colors and eating them of course.

 I am in love!  They have sixlets in holiday themed colors!  These will definitely be making an appearance on my Thanksgiving table!

 We continued discussing Johnny Appleseed and his selflessness

 Centers are always a hit.

 At the end of the day we did an art project.  We made a fall tree on our wall.  The children painted their hands in finger paint and then placed it on the branches of our tree.  I love how it turned out!

P.S.  I have added a page to the side entitled: Preschool Calendar 2015.  Please refer to it for any calendar question.  Thanks!

11-3 Autumn Unit

A is for Apples!!!!
I had so much fun today.  I have to admit, I loved this theme so much that I prepared way too much. We will continue with apples on Thursday.  As soon as everyone arrived we headed to the park to enjoy the day.  This time we took buckets, cups, and spoons so that everyone could play in the sand.  They had so much fun!  Sorry if they came home a little sandy.

 After we played at the park we had our snack.  It's so nice outside now it's just too hard to resist a picnic when we can.  

Then we went back and had circle time where we were introduced to the new theme, shape, color and letter of the week - A.  Our Autumn unit start with a study on apples.  

This is the book we read.  

 We also learned about Johnny Appleseed who was so kind and shared his talents with the pioneers by planting apple seeds.  I really tried to emphasize that he planted the seeds for others - this month is all about sharing and gratitude.  

After circle time we went over and tried three different colored apples - red, green, and yellow.  Then we made a graph!  Each child placed a square on the board according to which apple they liked best and then we discussed it.  I was so proud of them.  The lights definitely went on.  

After we discovered that red was liked by the majority we discussed how apples could be used differently - they can be cooked, squeezed, etc.

We tasted applesauce and then we tasted apple juice and talked about the different consistency.  

We looked in the core of the apples and pulled out the seeds.  

 This was our craft for the day - Johnny Appleseed hats!  

Centers are always fun!

 We have playdough and soft pom poms to play with at the sensory table.

 I put out some different toys in the free play area and they all liked them.  

 We made and served lots of delicious food in the practical living area.  They are so cute!

It was a fun, full day and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.  We will continue learning about apples next time.  

Halloween Party - 10/29

 Our Halloween party was today and we had a great time!  Our littles came all dressed up.  :)

 Because of the rain we were not able to go to the park so we played inside instead.  They were a little bummed about that - so was I, but that's ok.  We had fun anyway.

 After circle time we watched a movie.  It's perfect for this age.  It is an animated version of the children's book, "Room on the Broom."  They loved it.

 You can see here how we do circle time.  The children sit on a colorful mat and we discuss the weather, color, shape, number, letter, season and day of the week.  We also use this space to sing songs, dance, and story time.

 After the movie the children came over and decorated bat sugar cookies.  They did a great job.  With a little help we got them all decorated.

 Yummy and a good learning experience.  This would be great for you to work on at home.  Have the children start spreading things - peanut butter on toast, butter on crackers, etc.

 Then they put candy eyes on the bats and black and green sprinkles.  Spooky!

 After our cookies we went upstairs for centers.  In individual learning I made this fun activity where the children place pumpkins on the mat and then count them.  It' fun because there are magnets on the back of the pumpkins and when you put it on a cookie sheet they stick.  It's a simple concept but it keeps the children's interest.  Please work with your children on counting from 1-10.

 Also at the sensory table we did cutting.  They got to cut a foam ghost shape.

 The girls were having a lot of fun in the dramatic play area.

 Lots of sensory and center time fun!

 These pincers are great for developing muscle strength in the hands and fine motor skills.  You can usually find them at the dollar store.  I highly recommend picking up a couple of pairs (they can break somewhat easily).  Have your children pick up cotton balls or other objects.  This is a great pre-writing skill.

 Then we had a craft - we made bats.  It's just cardboard egg carton sections but when it's painted black it looks like a bat in flight.  Unfortunately they weren't dry in time to finish them so they  will have to wait until next time.

We had some singing and dancing time downstairs and then it was time to go home.  :)