Pre-Holiday Fun

We have been having fun learning about holidays around the world and finding those countries on the globe. We have learned about Saint Nicholas Day and the story behind " a baker's dozen". We have counted to ten and said " Good Morning" in French, German, and Spanish when we learned about the celebrations in France, Germany and Mexico. We also had a snowman piñata that the children had fun trying to break to celebrate Las Posadas in Mexico. We made dragon puppets to celebrate the Chinese New Year and learned that red is a lucky color in China. We saw how close Sweden and Russia are to the North Pole and that there is very little daytime at this time of year. We also learned about the miracles of Chanukah and  how to play the dreidel game.

Trying to break the piñata.

Joanne teaching us how to play the dreidel game.

Playing the dreidel game.

Pumpkin Fun

This week we learned about pumpkins. We used descriptive words to describe them, we guessed how much string would go around a pumpkin, we measured pumpkins and we had fun making pumpkin designs with glue and paint. 

We also had a visit from Nicole from Kellogg Hubbard Library. She read some monster books and then we made some monster puppets.

Apple fun

This week we used apples for many activities. We made apple prints, bowled with apples, tried to stack apples, and best of all we made apple cider. A big thank you to the Dodge family for sharing their cider press so we could make cider!

Fun with friends

This week we read some stories by author Mo Willems, My Friend is Sad and I Love My New Toy. They are great books for explaining feelings that can happen while playing with a friend. We also read the book Cleversticks, by Bernard Ashley, about a boy who is upset because he can not do some of the things his friends can do such as tie shoes or write his name, but he discovers his own special talent. We used this book to talk about how we are the same as one another and how we are different.

In our science area we have gourds, pumpkins, and corn to look at with magnifying glasses. We also painted with corn cob which was fun but very messy!

We also played in the water table.

Getting to know our friends

We have been having fun getting to know each other. Our greeting songs and activities at the beginning of the day help reinforce names of the children. We have been talking about feelings and reading books about sharing, saying your sorry, and what to do if you are mad. We also encourage children to ask for a toy by saying " Can I have it after you?" This is more positive that "Can I have that?" 

This week the children had fun exploring shaving cream. Some of the descriptive words they used were smooth, sticky, cold, soft, like whipped cream, and slippery.

We were also able to enjoy the outdoors with the sun shining and warm weather.

First weeks of school

Here are some pictures from the first days of school. We have been busy learning how to care for our equipment, meeting new friends and trying new activities.

We have been learning how we are the same and how we are different. We measured children with blocks to see how big we are. We also made Mat Man to help us understand body parts.