Thursday, October 27, 2011
FINALLY a Sunny Day....
We broke the curse!! Today was beautiful! Our Out and About simply couldn't have been better! We arrived at the pumpkin "patch" to find ourselves all alone! In true Speech Garden fashion, we turned it into our very own learning playground! The kids were running around touching the pumpkins, trying to pick up the pumpkins, yelling at each other to come look at this pumpkin, and even sitting on the pumpkins. Since the owner was no where in sight.....we let the children explore however they wanted. It was great! We found a jack-o-lantern that had withered in the sunshine. We found a pumpkin with a mysterious hole in the back of it. We found pumpkins that looked like green apples.....little pumpkins.....big pumpkins.....pumpkins that rolled around.....pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere! It was SO much fun!
Our class worked together to pick the most perfect pumpkin for our journey to the park! It was really hard for everyone to agree on just one.....but with some persuasion.....we did it! Thank you to Ms. Tiffany's mom, Mrs. Lorraine, for driving all the back packs and our special pumpkin back to school! Seven blocks is a long way to carry a pumpkin!!
The walk to the park was full of things to talk about.....a bike club waving at the kids, trucks blowing their horns, people in cars waving.....we sure do get a lot of attention while we are Out and About! At the park we used descriptive words to make sentences about our pumpkin. Everyone took a turn holding it and trying to pick it up. THEN.....we (or I) cut it open to see what was inside! I wish you could have seen their faces! We had spoons to get the seeds and the pulp out, but mostly everyone just used their hands! All the insides went into a bowl that was, after we finished, full of a super slimy and bright orange mixture! Of course, we didn't stop there! We gave our pumpkin two triangle eyes, a triangle noise, and a happy mouth! The kids all watched with amazement as the pumpkin turned into a jack-o-lantern!
After all that hard work, we couldn't leave the park without stopping for some fun playground time! The kids love that playground! Big slides, swings, bouncy toys, a huge jungle gym, and LOTS of room for running around! There is no complaining and I think that we could stay there all day! But....when the big kids from the elementary school head down the hills, it's time for us to grab the rope and go home!
When we got back to school, we only had time for lunch and Show and Tell. The kids are typically tired and quiet after a long walking Out and About, but today, with our jack-o-lantern as a table centerpiece, there was so much to talk about! And when Evan announced that he had Halloween treat bags for everyone, it was a fabulous way to end a great day! Enjoy the weekend and the Halloween holiday!
Our class worked together to pick the most perfect pumpkin for our journey to the park! It was really hard for everyone to agree on just one.....but with some persuasion.....we did it! Thank you to Ms. Tiffany's mom, Mrs. Lorraine, for driving all the back packs and our special pumpkin back to school! Seven blocks is a long way to carry a pumpkin!!
The walk to the park was full of things to talk about.....a bike club waving at the kids, trucks blowing their horns, people in cars waving.....we sure do get a lot of attention while we are Out and About! At the park we used descriptive words to make sentences about our pumpkin. Everyone took a turn holding it and trying to pick it up. THEN.....we (or I) cut it open to see what was inside! I wish you could have seen their faces! We had spoons to get the seeds and the pulp out, but mostly everyone just used their hands! All the insides went into a bowl that was, after we finished, full of a super slimy and bright orange mixture! Of course, we didn't stop there! We gave our pumpkin two triangle eyes, a triangle noise, and a happy mouth! The kids all watched with amazement as the pumpkin turned into a jack-o-lantern!
After all that hard work, we couldn't leave the park without stopping for some fun playground time! The kids love that playground! Big slides, swings, bouncy toys, a huge jungle gym, and LOTS of room for running around! There is no complaining and I think that we could stay there all day! But....when the big kids from the elementary school head down the hills, it's time for us to grab the rope and go home!
When we got back to school, we only had time for lunch and Show and Tell. The kids are typically tired and quiet after a long walking Out and About, but today, with our jack-o-lantern as a table centerpiece, there was so much to talk about! And when Evan announced that he had Halloween treat bags for everyone, it was a fabulous way to end a great day! Enjoy the weekend and the Halloween holiday!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Our book today, Brooms are for Flying! by Micheal Rex, was full of action words. We got to practice putting -ing on the ends of words in simple sentences. More fun was when we practiced the actions from the book about Halloween characters getting ready for the holiday! There were bats flying, brooms flying, mummies reaching, and feet stomping! We made a lot of noise out in the hall laughing and being silly! We even practiced saying "trick or treat" loud enough for people to hear!
We made sock bats for art. The kids used some fine motor skills to stuff the socks with paper towels to make the bat body. We added eyes, a mouth, wings, and some scary teeth.....well, kinda scary! The kids had great fun flying their bats around the classroom. Ms. Tiffany and I were holding our breath that they made it home in one piece!
Ms. Angela came today and we continued practicing kicking and trapping soccer balls. We did finally get to go outside, which is SO much better for kicking, but it sure was muddy out there! That added a whole new element to running around chasing soccer balls! We worked a lot in partners today, and even though it's hard when we don't get the partner that we want, working together is a good part of being a team! I think that everyone's favorite activity of the day was kicking into the goals! As always, Ms. Angela is a really bit hit!
In calendar and centers, we continue to work on basic counting skills, learning the days of the week, and letter recognition and identification. The kids are getting the hang of the question and answer schema, and are becoming more independent every day!
The kids all got a special treat from Mr. Gary, who works at the church. His wife made Halloween pins for our preschool and, at the end of the day, each child got to pick the one that they wanted. There were ghosts, and witches, and jack-o-lanterns. It was a nice way to end a very fun day!
We made sock bats for art. The kids used some fine motor skills to stuff the socks with paper towels to make the bat body. We added eyes, a mouth, wings, and some scary teeth.....well, kinda scary! The kids had great fun flying their bats around the classroom. Ms. Tiffany and I were holding our breath that they made it home in one piece!
Ms. Angela came today and we continued practicing kicking and trapping soccer balls. We did finally get to go outside, which is SO much better for kicking, but it sure was muddy out there! That added a whole new element to running around chasing soccer balls! We worked a lot in partners today, and even though it's hard when we don't get the partner that we want, working together is a good part of being a team! I think that everyone's favorite activity of the day was kicking into the goals! As always, Ms. Angela is a really bit hit!
In calendar and centers, we continue to work on basic counting skills, learning the days of the week, and letter recognition and identification. The kids are getting the hang of the question and answer schema, and are becoming more independent every day!
The kids all got a special treat from Mr. Gary, who works at the church. His wife made Halloween pins for our preschool and, at the end of the day, each child got to pick the one that they wanted. There were ghosts, and witches, and jack-o-lanterns. It was a nice way to end a very fun day!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Back to a regular schedule today! The kids were all so happy to be back at school again! And we were happy to have them back! It's just not as much fun without them!
Pumpkins and gourds of all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures were in the Touch and Feel pool today! Lots of language as we explored and shared with our friends.
Ms. Michelle came today and had some seasonal fine motor tasks for us to complete. We did leaf rubbings, which requires some significant fine motor control and strength. Then, Ms. Erin led us around the courtyard on a gross motor leaf hunt. We hopped.....picked up three leaves.....galloped.....picked up three more leaves.....marched.......picked up five leaves.....and then ran to the finish line! We took the leaves we collected and glued them to our leaf rubbing pictures to make a beautiful masterpiece! The last activity was a big hit! Ms. Michelle had a big bowl of cooked pasta with toys hidden inside. We had to use our hands to dig around and see what we could find. The pasta was very cold.....and very sticky! It was very fun to feel the spaghetti on our fingers!
Our book today was It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall. The story told us how pumpkins grow. The girl and boy in the story planted seeds that grew into vines with yellow flowers and tiny green pumpkins on them. As the pumpkins grew they turned yellow, then orange. When they were big enough, they picked out the perfect pumpkin to take home. When Halloween came, their parents helped them turn the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern! We sorted big and little for a language building activity and talked about all the things that a pumpkin needs to help it grow!
We made our own jack-o-lanterns during art today. Everyone colored the pumpkin orange and then we added eyes, nose, and a mouth! The kids had fun practicing saying jack-o-lantern and trick or treat!
During our center time, everyone took a turn sharing about the pumpkin they decorated at home! Some people used paint and markers, while other people used stickers. Even though there were many obvious budding artists in the group, the class agreed that Susannah's Princess Pumpkin (with pink yarn hair, pink feathered hat, and blue jeweled eyes!) was the most representative of her personality! The kids so enjoyed showing off their projects they made at home!
Pumpkins and gourds of all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures were in the Touch and Feel pool today! Lots of language as we explored and shared with our friends.
Ms. Michelle came today and had some seasonal fine motor tasks for us to complete. We did leaf rubbings, which requires some significant fine motor control and strength. Then, Ms. Erin led us around the courtyard on a gross motor leaf hunt. We hopped.....picked up three leaves.....galloped.....picked up three more leaves.....marched.......picked up five leaves.....and then ran to the finish line! We took the leaves we collected and glued them to our leaf rubbing pictures to make a beautiful masterpiece! The last activity was a big hit! Ms. Michelle had a big bowl of cooked pasta with toys hidden inside. We had to use our hands to dig around and see what we could find. The pasta was very cold.....and very sticky! It was very fun to feel the spaghetti on our fingers!
Our book today was It's Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall. The story told us how pumpkins grow. The girl and boy in the story planted seeds that grew into vines with yellow flowers and tiny green pumpkins on them. As the pumpkins grew they turned yellow, then orange. When they were big enough, they picked out the perfect pumpkin to take home. When Halloween came, their parents helped them turn the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern! We sorted big and little for a language building activity and talked about all the things that a pumpkin needs to help it grow!
We made our own jack-o-lanterns during art today. Everyone colored the pumpkin orange and then we added eyes, nose, and a mouth! The kids had fun practicing saying jack-o-lantern and trick or treat!
During our center time, everyone took a turn sharing about the pumpkin they decorated at home! Some people used paint and markers, while other people used stickers. Even though there were many obvious budding artists in the group, the class agreed that Susannah's Princess Pumpkin (with pink yarn hair, pink feathered hat, and blue jeweled eyes!) was the most representative of her personality! The kids so enjoyed showing off their projects they made at home!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Curse of the Out and About
There are no fancy words to describe our walk to the grocery store, so I will just tell the truth.....IT WAS RAINY!! Real rain! I can't be certain what the passing motorists on East Blvd. thought of us, walking with small children in the rain, but I like to think that they were admiring our commitment to learning.....no matter what!
When we finally arrived at Harris Teeter, the Out and About dramatically improved. The produce manager, Mr. Dave, met and welcomed us to the store. We wandered around in search of fruits and vegetables of every color. We found familiar things from our Touch and Feel pool, like carrots, and corn, and potatoes. We found some of the same things that came in many different colors, like red apples, and green apples, and yellow apples. We found things that came in different sizes, like big pumpkins and little pumpkins. We found vegetables with long, funny names, like cauliflower and zucchini. We weighed onions using the scale and watched as other shoppers pushed their carts around the store. It was a great trip!
Mr. Dave sent some fresh treats home in a bag for each kid. An apple, a banana, a pencil, and a baby pumpkin were some of the things that you will find in the bags that we sent home today. Everyone was so thankful for their treat bag.....Ms. Tiffany and I were thankful that we didn't have to carry SIX bags of fruit home in the pouring rain!
I almost forgot to mention Ms. Angela.....it seems like days ago since we saw her, even though it was only this morning!! She had some really fun things today to help the kids practice trapping and kicking a ball. First, we trapped (stopped) a really big ball with our hands, then the balls got smaller and smaller. It was harder to stop the smaller balls because you really had to pay attention. Then, we trapped the ball using one foot. This meant that we had to use those great balancing skills we've been practicing the last few weeks. It takes a lot of coordination to watch the ball with your eyes and "catch" it with one foot! Ms. Angela saved the very best for last.....kicking. Every child took a turn kicking the ball into the goal.....and every child took a turn being the goalie and trying to trap the ball before it went into the goal! The fun part was that these two things happened at the very same time! One kid was kicking and one kid was guarding the goal! Talk about some serious faces!! We clapped and cheered for everyone!
We did find a way to read a book today.....it was called Vegetables by Cheryl Ryan. It described several different vegetables. We used it to help us navigate the grocery store and we made extra sure that we saw everything from the book while we were there. I think all the kids got exposed to some new fruits and vegetables today and it was a good chance to practice descriptive words in a real setting.
We won't see you again until Tuesday....that seems like a long time! Rest up and enjoy the extra time with your children! There are SO many fun things planned as we approach the holiday season!!
When we finally arrived at Harris Teeter, the Out and About dramatically improved. The produce manager, Mr. Dave, met and welcomed us to the store. We wandered around in search of fruits and vegetables of every color. We found familiar things from our Touch and Feel pool, like carrots, and corn, and potatoes. We found some of the same things that came in many different colors, like red apples, and green apples, and yellow apples. We found things that came in different sizes, like big pumpkins and little pumpkins. We found vegetables with long, funny names, like cauliflower and zucchini. We weighed onions using the scale and watched as other shoppers pushed their carts around the store. It was a great trip!
Mr. Dave sent some fresh treats home in a bag for each kid. An apple, a banana, a pencil, and a baby pumpkin were some of the things that you will find in the bags that we sent home today. Everyone was so thankful for their treat bag.....Ms. Tiffany and I were thankful that we didn't have to carry SIX bags of fruit home in the pouring rain!
I almost forgot to mention Ms. Angela.....it seems like days ago since we saw her, even though it was only this morning!! She had some really fun things today to help the kids practice trapping and kicking a ball. First, we trapped (stopped) a really big ball with our hands, then the balls got smaller and smaller. It was harder to stop the smaller balls because you really had to pay attention. Then, we trapped the ball using one foot. This meant that we had to use those great balancing skills we've been practicing the last few weeks. It takes a lot of coordination to watch the ball with your eyes and "catch" it with one foot! Ms. Angela saved the very best for last.....kicking. Every child took a turn kicking the ball into the goal.....and every child took a turn being the goalie and trying to trap the ball before it went into the goal! The fun part was that these two things happened at the very same time! One kid was kicking and one kid was guarding the goal! Talk about some serious faces!! We clapped and cheered for everyone!
We did find a way to read a book today.....it was called Vegetables by Cheryl Ryan. It described several different vegetables. We used it to help us navigate the grocery store and we made extra sure that we saw everything from the book while we were there. I think all the kids got exposed to some new fruits and vegetables today and it was a good chance to practice descriptive words in a real setting.
We won't see you again until Tuesday....that seems like a long time! Rest up and enjoy the extra time with your children! There are SO many fun things planned as we approach the holiday season!!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Was there a full moon today? Everyone was a little cranky this morning. Lots of wiggling bodies and distracted faces makes for a VERY long day!
Ms. Michelle came today and we finally got to go outside again! First, we took off our shoes and popped bubble wrap with our feet. It was really cool to feel. We took turns walking, running, and jumping down the bubble wrap path. She also brought some really cool things for us to touch and feel with our hands. We divided into groups and half the group found jewels hidden in a tub of beans while the other friends found animals hidden in moon sand. If you've never felt moon sand, I highly recommend it. It's one of those things that you can't stop touching. It's soft and squishy and sticky and.....very difficult to stop touching! Before we left Ms. Michelle, she mixed up a glue/orange paint mixture and the kids made pumpkins. We started out using paint brushes, but everyone really wanted to get their hands involved, so we gave up the fight and finger painted for a while!
Our book today was Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. The kids learned about all the wonderful vegetables we eat that grow in gardens and on farms. They all had comments about the vegetables they liked and didn't like to eat. We even learned about some new vegetables we had never heard of like cabbage and zucchini and onions.
Did I forget to mention that the Touch and Feel pool today was filled with CORN! Each child got an ear of corn to shuck. We talked about the husks and the silk was part of the corn, but we only ate what was on the cob. Important to mention to the children.....you cook the corn first!! We learned that after several of them tried to take a bite!!
We used the corn from the Touch and Feel for our art today. We made corn pictures using all the parts of the corn to paint. The cob became a roller that made neat patterns, the husks made long paintbrushes or pencils, and the silk gave our picture some nice texture. We will send them home tomorrow after they have had time to dry.
I'm glad we got all the wiggles out today.....tomorrow is full of activity! The kids will be too busy to wiggle.....and our day is too exciting to be distracted!
Ms. Michelle came today and we finally got to go outside again! First, we took off our shoes and popped bubble wrap with our feet. It was really cool to feel. We took turns walking, running, and jumping down the bubble wrap path. She also brought some really cool things for us to touch and feel with our hands. We divided into groups and half the group found jewels hidden in a tub of beans while the other friends found animals hidden in moon sand. If you've never felt moon sand, I highly recommend it. It's one of those things that you can't stop touching. It's soft and squishy and sticky and.....very difficult to stop touching! Before we left Ms. Michelle, she mixed up a glue/orange paint mixture and the kids made pumpkins. We started out using paint brushes, but everyone really wanted to get their hands involved, so we gave up the fight and finger painted for a while!
Our book today was Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. The kids learned about all the wonderful vegetables we eat that grow in gardens and on farms. They all had comments about the vegetables they liked and didn't like to eat. We even learned about some new vegetables we had never heard of like cabbage and zucchini and onions.
Did I forget to mention that the Touch and Feel pool today was filled with CORN! Each child got an ear of corn to shuck. We talked about the husks and the silk was part of the corn, but we only ate what was on the cob. Important to mention to the children.....you cook the corn first!! We learned that after several of them tried to take a bite!!
We used the corn from the Touch and Feel for our art today. We made corn pictures using all the parts of the corn to paint. The cob became a roller that made neat patterns, the husks made long paintbrushes or pencils, and the silk gave our picture some nice texture. We will send them home tomorrow after they have had time to dry.
I'm glad we got all the wiggles out today.....tomorrow is full of activity! The kids will be too busy to wiggle.....and our day is too exciting to be distracted!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Lowe's Out and About!
In case you didn't realize it.....let me be the first to tell you.....Lowe's Home Improvement Store is a VERY large store! I think that it took everyone a while to adjust to being dropped off for preschool at Lowe's. Even with the preparation from yesterday.....it just didn't seem right.
Mr. Ben (the manager) met us outside to welcome us to his store and see if we needed anything. All the store workers were very friendly and talked to the children as we walked around. Making our way to the greenhouse area of the store was probably the most difficult part. It's hard to compete with Halloween directions and Christmas trees, no matter how interesting you are!
Ms. Tiffany had made a scavenger hunt book of things to look for on our trip. We found plants, dirt, gloves, seeds, pumpkins, and a shovel. There were so many things to touch and explore. Wind chimes, bird baths, rakes, bird feeders, hoses, watering cans, and wheel barrows. Well....I'm sure you've all been to Lowe's, but it's different when you are looking around through little people eyes! After a final walk down the "HO HO" aisle, we prepared for our walk back to school.
I thought I had fully prepared myself to walk in the rain, but I definitely wasn't ready for the very hard drizzle (downpour sounds so negative) that happened on the first 10 minutes of the walk. I planned on singing songs to keep the kids engaged, but amidst "Hold the rope", "Keep your hood on, it's raining", "Yes, it is raining", and "We will have lunch when we get back to school", we didn't make it through too many verses. Someone important must have been watching, because as we got to the halfway point, the clouds cleared and the sun started to shine. The walk improved dramatically with the weather! It didn't take nearly as long as we all thought to get back to school. We definitely picked up speed on the downhill stretches....uphill is hard work!
Back at school, we had an early lunch to ease the transition. During lunch, we reviewed our scavenger hunt book and talked about our favorite things from the trip. The gloves and the watering can easily won out, but I think that had something to do with getting to actually try them both out!
Our book today was Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. The story is about planting a flower garden with all the different colors of the rainbow. We spent center time identifying and naming colors of objects from the classroom. We also tried to get everyone to say a complex phrase of adjective + noun when naming things to build sentence structure.
The kids love Out and About Days. They are long and we don't follow our typical schedule, but it is so much fun to see and touch the things that we learn about each day. It's also neat to give them opportunities to interact with people out in the community. The most important learning we do happens outside of a classroom.....those are things we don't forget!!
Mr. Ben (the manager) met us outside to welcome us to his store and see if we needed anything. All the store workers were very friendly and talked to the children as we walked around. Making our way to the greenhouse area of the store was probably the most difficult part. It's hard to compete with Halloween directions and Christmas trees, no matter how interesting you are!
Ms. Tiffany had made a scavenger hunt book of things to look for on our trip. We found plants, dirt, gloves, seeds, pumpkins, and a shovel. There were so many things to touch and explore. Wind chimes, bird baths, rakes, bird feeders, hoses, watering cans, and wheel barrows. Well....I'm sure you've all been to Lowe's, but it's different when you are looking around through little people eyes! After a final walk down the "HO HO" aisle, we prepared for our walk back to school.
I thought I had fully prepared myself to walk in the rain, but I definitely wasn't ready for the very hard drizzle (downpour sounds so negative) that happened on the first 10 minutes of the walk. I planned on singing songs to keep the kids engaged, but amidst "Hold the rope", "Keep your hood on, it's raining", "Yes, it is raining", and "We will have lunch when we get back to school", we didn't make it through too many verses. Someone important must have been watching, because as we got to the halfway point, the clouds cleared and the sun started to shine. The walk improved dramatically with the weather! It didn't take nearly as long as we all thought to get back to school. We definitely picked up speed on the downhill stretches....uphill is hard work!
Back at school, we had an early lunch to ease the transition. During lunch, we reviewed our scavenger hunt book and talked about our favorite things from the trip. The gloves and the watering can easily won out, but I think that had something to do with getting to actually try them both out!
Our book today was Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. The story is about planting a flower garden with all the different colors of the rainbow. We spent center time identifying and naming colors of objects from the classroom. We also tried to get everyone to say a complex phrase of adjective + noun when naming things to build sentence structure.
The kids love Out and About Days. They are long and we don't follow our typical schedule, but it is so much fun to see and touch the things that we learn about each day. It's also neat to give them opportunities to interact with people out in the community. The most important learning we do happens outside of a classroom.....those are things we don't forget!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)