Seeds and Mother's Day!

 We had a great week learning about seeds!

The kids were fascinated by the various sizes and types of seeds we examined: from tiny flower seeds to large avocado seeds!

 

  

 

 

 We put some bean and pea seeds in a jar with a moist paper towel to soften the outside coat so we could watch their progress as they germinate, or "start to grow."

 

 When we went outside for recess, we noticed that some of our flowers had gone to seed.  We opened up the seed pod and found tiny seeds that will grow new flowers!

 We also noticed dandelions and found where their seeds are too!

 We sorted 5 different kinds of seeds using chopsticks and tweezers.  This was a great way to practice classifying as well as strengthening fine motor skills.

 Although we continued to learn about seeds throughout the week, for our projects, we worked on getting our Mother's Day gifts ready.  These darling children were so excited to make all the pieces needed for their final gift!  And they were so eager to finally give their mom their special surprise at the end of the week!

 

  

 

 

 

 They sure love their moms!!   I wish I had a picture of each child with their mom!  Here's just a few to enjoy!  Happy Mother's Day!!

 

 

 

We moved our chrysalises to the butterfly house earlier in the week.  Each day, the children watch and wait for when they will emerge as butterflies!

I love saying the "Pledge of Allegiance" with the Pre-K classes each day!  They truly have learned so much this year and are ready and excited for kindergarten! 

Thank you to our newest assistant at the preschool: Adriana (Ady)!  She is here on an internship studying English and preparing to be a teacher back at her home.   She has been a wonderful addition to our school!

I hope you had a nice weekend and are ready for a new week!  We'll continue learning about seeds and plants this coming week.  Our end-of-year celebration/open house/fundraiser is coming up on Saturday, May 16th from 2:00-4:00!  I hope to see you all there!  Please spread the word and invite others that may be interested in the preschool this summer or fall!

Butterflies!

 We were all fascinated watching our caterpillars grow all last week!!

At the end of the week, this class was lucky enough to witness one of the caterpillars changing into a chrysalis!  It was incredible!

The kids really enjoyed acting out the life cycle of a butterfly from eggs to hungry caterpillars to still, silent chrysalises until they emerged as butterflies!

 

The kids even flew around like butterflies during Music and Movement!

Pointing to their favorite butterflies after completing this large puzzle together!

 

We worked on our matching skills while we played matching games. 

 

 Since we were learning about butterflies, we had a perfect opportunity to learn about symmetry with the Pre-K classes!  They picked up this concept really quickly and did an impressive job making their own butterflies symmetrical! 

 

 

This little girl and her mom brought in a beautifully mounted Monarch butterfly for us to examine and learn about!  We all loved looking at it up close!

 One of our Pre-K kids practicing writing her name.  These kids are ready for Kindergarten!

 We also learned about shapes this week.  Shapes are all around us!  Let your child point out shapes they find around the house and outside!

 

  

 

Recess is the perfect time to apply the knowledge these kids have learned about insects!  Everyday now they search our rosebushes for ladybugs, count their spots, and identify their symmetry!  I love seeing these children learn and grow!

 

 

I couldn't resist adding this picture of these two little buddies making music together!

 For the month of May, we'll be learning all about Plants!  

Insect Week!

This past week we learned all about INSECTS!!

 It was so fun to have Suzy Safari visit again to teach us more about animals!

Our "Insect World" was a big hit this week!  The children were so excited to dig in and get their hands dirty, literally, in an insect's natural habitat complete with rocks, branches, dirt, pine cones, and wood chips!  They were so creative with how they built the insects' homes as they rearranged the items in the dirt.

We were all thrilled when our real, live caterpillars arrived this week!!!  It has been so fascinating to watch them wriggle around and eat their food.  The kids have all been so amazed by how much they grow from one class to the next.  Next week we are focusing on butterflies--how magical it will be to witness the amazing change of a caterpillar to a butterfly in our own preschool!

We worked on colors and reading simple, repetitive lines with our "Color Bugs" books.  The Pre-K kids learned the sight words "the" and "is" which they practiced reading in these little books.  As you read to them, encourage them find and read these sight words! 

We also used pattern blocks this week to make a variety of different insects including insects the children created on their own!  This was a great way to incorporate shapes and colors and strengthen their pattern recognition and matching skills.

As we wait for everyone to finish up snack, we always have a few minutes to look at books.  This week, we looked at insect books and found some very interesting creatures!

Now that we've spent a week with each letter, we are working on sight words.  As we played sight word BINGO, the Pre-K kids traced each letter in the word to review the letters, familiarize themselves with a few sight words, and to practice writing.

Getting up and moving around and dancing to music is always one of the children's favorite music and movement activities!  It is so important for children to be able to express themselves in a variety of different healthy ways.  I love seeing how much they enjoy this time!

 

 I just want to welcome Miss Emily (not to be confused with Miss Emily who just left for her mission!) as our newest assistant teacher!  She's a current BYU student studying Elementary Education.  She is sharp as a wit, amazing with kids, and a wonderful addition to our preschool!