Are you listening?? What does it sound like?  Today we learned all about the sense of HEARING!!  The adults are pretty clear that there is a difference is hearing and listening....but to the kids, it's kinda all the same thing!!!

We've introduced some new things into the morning circle because now everyone knows the days of the week and the months of the year!  We still review them everyday, but it goes much faster now!  We are learning more specific calendar vocabulary like yesterday and tomorrow, practicing each other's last names, and even starting to talk about some letter sounds!!  I can't believe how much progress they have made from the beginning of the year!!

I know you all came to school prepared for warm, sunny weather.....but outside playground time was quite chilly today!!  There were lots of other children on the playground and it's so neat to see our classes blend in naturally.  A class favorite is definitely the bikes.....for those that can't yet ride alone....no worries....there are two-seaters available!!

Our book today was We Hear With Our Ears by Melvin and Gilda Berger.  We learned that sound travels through the air and deep inside our ear. Our ears "talk" to our brains to help us figure out what we are hearing.  We took the rest of the language circle and listened to all different kinds of sounds and guessed what animal or object produced it.  We listened to some animals, and some sirens and a even heard a song about letter sounds.  This just proves it....the kids can all listen really well....when they want to!   

After lunch, we had a special surprise!  Each child took turns and recorded a sentence video on the iPad.  When everyone was finished, the kids listened (using only their ears.....we didn't show the video part) and guessed whose voice they heard.  They were really good at this game!  The best part was watching their beaming faces when they recognized their own voice and saw themselves on the screen! 

Using our sense of SMELL!

There are so many wonderful activities about The Five Senses!  Today we started with an overview of all the senses and what those associated body parts help us do!  We read You Five Senses by Melvin and Gilda Berger during our morning circle.  This book helped us learn some new vocabulary that the kiddos probably aren't used to using.  For example, we talked about sight instead of seeing....taste instead of eating...hearing versus listening...sniffing....LOTS of new words!!  Since today was all about smelling, we challenged the children to pay close attention to their sense of smell while on the playground!

Ahhhh.....the playground!  It was so beautiful outside today!  We made everyone wear their coats outside, but it didn't take long until there were more coats on the table than on little bodies!!  We even stopped for a cold drink of water on our way inside!  I hope this early warm weather isn't indicative of the summer we have coming!!

Our book of the day was You Smell With Your Nose by Melvin and Gilda Berger.  The book talks about smells that are strong and weak, smells that are sweet and sour, and smells that are good and yucky!  The children listened to the story, but were very eager to share the things that they "smelled" outside.  I have to tell you that I personally, did not smell any distinct smells, but the children.....they smelled everything!  Flowers, sand, grass.....and someone must have been eating ice cream nearby, because we smelled that too!!!

We will be science instead of art all week!  The kids acted disappointed at first, but they LOVED today's activity so much that they quickly forgot to be upset!  We had a variety of smells, each in a ziploc bag. There was grass, cinnamon, garlic, perfume, oranges, coffee, and vanilla.  We passed each bag around for smelling, then voted (thumbs up or thumbs down) whether we like it or not!  We have some VERY sensitive noses in our class!  Our adult predictions didn't hold true....I don't know why we even make them....they are never right.....the children liked smells that they probably shouldn't have and didn't like the ones that we thought they would! 

For the record there was no clear winner on the class favorite smell!  Everyone had a different favorite!  It was a good chance to talk about how everyone's nose is different.....and nobody is right or wrong about how something smells!!

One last book for an "emotional" week!  We have learned so many new vocabulary words to describe our feelings.....our conversations with each other have really changed!!  Today's book was Brave Lion, Scared Lion by Joan Stimson.  This is the story of two twin brother lions who have very different personalities.  One afternoon, ignoring their mother's directions, they head out to the river.  One brother jumps rocks across the river, while the other brother notices all the crocodiles.....that look like rocks. The brother on the shoreline races off to help his brother to safety.  Hence the name of the book....one brave lion and one scared lion!  This was also a good story to help remind us how bad things can happen when we don't listen to grown-ups!  We can never get enough reminders about that!!

It was such a beautiful afternoon.....we couldn't possibly spend the day inside.  We took our lunches to the park for a play day and a special picnic!  Since our last picnic was inside.....sitting at actual picnic tables.....outside.....like a real picnic....was a new experience!  The kids enjoyed the bigger playground at the park.  It was nice to watch the appropriately interact with other kids at the park. 

I have to tell you a funny story from the park.  There was an unnamed boy at the park with his mother.  He was eating a snack of apples while taking a break from playing.  His mother got up to push a sibling on a swing and the little boy decided he needed another apple.  At this exact moment....several of our kids happened to be in the area watching.  The boy dropped the apple slice.....picked it up.....blew it off....and ATE IT!  The gasps of horror from our kids was laughable!  They have internalized this germ business!  They ran over to tell the adults (in whispered voices) that the boy was going to have germs in his tummy.  He was definitely going to get sick.  We agreed that eating that apple was yucky.....but none of our business!!!  I guess that's a whole different lesson we haven't taught yet!!

Hip Hip Hooray! We made it 100 days!!

Well.....our class hasn't exactly been to school 100 days yet.....but....we certainly weren't going to miss out on the opportunity to have a celebration that centers around counting!!  What could be more fun....and educational, of course!!

Our massive undertaking of an art/math project today was making 100 day hats!  They turned out really cute and the kids LOVED making them, but the adults had their work cut out for them managing 100 objects for EIGHT children!!  Ms. Ellen, Ms. Cortney, and I each ran a center that the kids rotated through.  In each center, the children put 10 of each object on a blue strip.  There were stickers, cotton balls, noodles, rice, letters, dots, and beans.  After they had been to all the centers, each child had 100 items.....and had counted to 10 what seemed like a million times!!

What great fun.....and SOOOOO much math!!

What does 100 look like???

Feelings.....Feelings.....I think that's a song.....well, today it was topic of discussion!  You wouldn't believe all the feeling words the kids brainstormed first thing this morning.  We started with words like happy and sad, but once they got going.....we ended up with nervous, silly, frustrated, angry, and sorry.  Your children may not always be able to voice how they are feeling, but it's not because they are lacking the words to use!!

Drop off this morning was especially crowded.  With CMS out of school today, we had lots of class visitors.  Connor and Hope, Ms. Ellen's children, Roya, Ms. Cortney's daughter, and Ms. Maria an intern from Germany all spent the day with us!  Susannah was super happy with the addition of two other little girls.  She made fast friends, but she wasn't the only one enamored with our guests!!  Let's just say they were VERY popular with everyone!

We read two books today.  The first was When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang.  It's a story about a little girl who gets very angry when her sister takes her toys.  She yells, stomps her feet, and throws things....all Cold Pricklies.  After a short walk, she calms down and plays nicely with her family.  We talked about things that make us angry, how we act when we get angry, and how that makes our friends and family feel.  Our second book was Ruthie and The (Not So) Teeny, Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin.  This is a story about Ruthie finding a camera, that she loves, on the playground.  She lies and tells the teacher it's hers, even with her friend claiming that it's his. The teacher gives them time to think about it at home before she decides what to do.  Ruthie gets very nervous about telling a lie, cries to her mother, and in the end, is brave and decides to tell the truth.  LOTS of emotions.....and a good character lesson all wrapped in one story!!

No shoes for Ms. Michelle today!  The kids LOVE that....it's an unexpected treat to take your shoes off at school!!  She had a sensory maze lined with bumpy hand and footprints for the kids to follow.  She even had a bumpy balance beam!  We cut up straws to practice our cutting, then strung the pieces together on yarn make a beautiful piece of jewelry.  We tried blowing through straws to spread globs of paint across paper.....and by "tried" I mean attempted for a second!  You see.....straws and for sucking....and it was hard to change that.....and once the colored paint got on the end of the straw it was hard to keep out of the little mouths.....well.....you get the picture.....it was doomed from the start!!

Art was a beginning to the 100 days celebration!!  Even though the PK kiddos haven't actually been in school for 100 days.....we are celebrating with the Green Friends!!  The kids took different color markers and filled in 10 dots in 10 pre-drawn circles.  Math disguised as art.....and they didn't even know it!!  That is success!!

I'm always amazed at how much we get accomplished in one day....I don't really notice how busy we are until I stop to recount all the activities!  Today was jam packed!  Rest up.....lots more fun planned for tomorrow!!

Ms. Kelly, Ms. Ellen, and Ms. Tiffany present at the Augmentativecommunication Association Conference in Durham.

We are building good character at TSGI preschool!  Today we took yesterday's Warm Fuzzy concept one step further and introduced Bucket Fillers!  I absolutely LOVE this idea!  If you don't have a vocabulary for "niceness" at your house, I suggest that you go out and buy one of these books and read it as a family.  It works!!

The concept is pretty simple......we all have invisible buckets that we carry around.  These buckets are filled up by the kind things others do and say.  Warm Fuzzies in action!  When we fill someone else's bucket with Warm Fuzzies, it fills our own bucket too!  When our buckets are full....we are happy.  When our buckets are empty, we are sad.  People can also be Bucket Dippers.  You dip into someone else's bucket by doing or saying things that are Cold Pricklies. 

The children were really excited about this new idea.  We have already talked about what "invisible" meant.....with the whole germs lesson.....and you all know how well they remember that lesson!  Then we added Warm Fuzzies and Cold Pricklies.  And today, it all came together beautifully with THREE books.....that's right.....THREE books about Bucket Fillers!  Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McClourd and How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath were our favorites!  What a special treat for everyone.....one book read by Ms. Kelly and one book ready by Ms. Ellen!

We made pictures of our buckets today for art to help us remember what kinds Warm Fuzzies will keep our buckets full!  Smiling, listening, hugging, following directions, and presents were some favorites. 

We will continue with the Warm Fuzzy/Bucket Filler language for the rest of the year.....and have decided that next year, it will come much earlier in the curriculum!! 

We fought the sugar highs all day today!  We wondered if you fed the children Valentine's Day candy for dinner last night AND for breakfast!!  They were very.....let's call it.....active!! Having said that....it was an absolutely beautiful day outside for us to burn off some excess energy!!  I strongly suggest that you continue you that at home.....for your own sanity!!

The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning started our discussion about warm fuzzies and cold pricklies.  In the story Owen wants to send his Granny a giant hug for her birthday.  The problem is that his Granny lives far away so he has to send his hug through the mail.  Owen hugs the mailman, who passes the hug along to the person who sorts the mail, and so on, all the way until it finally gets to Granny.  As this hug gets passed along, something starts to happen.....their attitude changes!!  It makes them happy!!

The whole class made a list of things that make us feel warm and fuzzy.....hugs, kisses, smiles, nice words, listening to our parents and teachers, and presents all made the list!  We made a pact to try everyday to do Warm Fuzzy things.  These things make us and our friends happy.  Our next list was a list of things that make us feel cold and prickly.  Hitting, punching, kicking, sticking out our tongues, ugly words.....and um.....licking other people made this list.  I just write it down folks!!  I wasn't totally surprised that the Cold Prickly list was much easier for the children to generate! 

For art, we used pom poms (Warm and Fuzzy) and the sticky side of Velcro (Cold and Prickly) to help us remember the difference.  The kids were on a roll the rest of the day, calling each other out for, either being Warm and Fuzzy or Cold and Prickly! 

We sent home a coupon for A Giant Hug with all the kids today!!  Cash it in whenever you need a Warm Fuzzy to help get you through the day!!!

Valentine's Day......oh what a FUN day at preschool!! 

As each child came in this morning, they were tasked with finding their friends "mailbox" and distributing their own Valentine's Day cards!  I predicted that they would all get distracted by what was already in the "mailboxes" or by what their friends were doing.....but as usual I underestimated the children!  They took their task so very seriously!  All business this morning!

We talked about why we celebrated Valentine's Day and came up with a TSGI consensus that I won't ever forget......we celebrate Valentine's Day to show people we love them AND to find out how much other people love us!!  Keep in mind that we only have one girl in the class, so obviously presents and cards are pretty important to the boys at this age too!!

Ms. Michelle came today.  We started with some yoga.  The kids love the picture animal cards that we try and imitate.....and today they took turns tracing letters on the back of the cards.  She also brought the white tunnel, which is always a big hit!  Ms. Michelle was in the Valentine spirit too.  She had empty heart shaped candy boxes with different patterns drawn on the bottom, just like candy.  She gave each kiddo a bag filled with brown foam "chocolates" to fit inside the drawn patterns.  A true Valentine puzzle!  Once we finished, she gave everyone a special gummy treat!! THANKS Ms. Michelle!

Our book today was The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond.  It's a cute story about a little girl named Cornelius Augusta and a special day when it rained hearts.  She collected the hearts, which were all different in a small way, and made Valentine's for her friends.  Each Valentine was special made for each friend!  After our story, we were off to deliver all the special Valentine's we made for our church friends!  What fun!  And a great way to practice talking to grown-ups we don't see all the time!

 Before we set-up for the party, we watched a quick Franklin Valentine video.  In the story, Franklin's class was having a Valentine party and they all had on Heart Hats.  We made those hats, which became known as "Franklin hats", and wore them the rest of the day!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the afternoon party!  Plates full of healthy snacks.....bags full of Valentine goodies......and big smiles all around!  I think everyone went home with little doubt about how loved they are!!  Happy Valentine's Day!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

You can't talk about healthy foods without reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. It's FULL of good foods to eat.....and when the caterpillar eats some not so healthy foods, he ends up with a terrible tummy ache!  Some of the kiddos had read this story before, which provided some good interaction!  They all joined in and helped me read the repetitive part of the story...."And he was still hungry!!".  We talked more about all the foods in the story, rather than the butterfly life cycle, but that part is always a fun surprise at the end!

We had a felt board and some food manipulatives that helped us retell the story.  We took the foods and placed them under the correct day of the week, counting each food, comparing the fruits, and putting them in order.  It was a great way to combine some concepts that we practice each day into a practical comprehension activity. 

For art, we took magazines and found all the healthy foods we could.  With a little cutting help, we made made healthy plates.  I'm not exactly sure the kids would have eaten the foods they selected for their plates, but they were colorful and pretty!!  We made a big mess in the process....but you all know how we LOVE messes!!  They usually equal fun!!

THANK YOU Atherton Mills Market!

We did read a book before we left for our trip this morning.....it seems like so long ago now! We read Now I Know Healthy Eating by Melvin and Gilda Berger. It was an easy, nonfiction text about what kinds of foods we should be eating. We learned that our bodies need lots of different kinds of foods to keep us healthy and growing! It was a great way to get our minds thinking about what things we might see at the market!

Where do you find loads of healthy foods??  At the farmer's market! Today we took an Out and About to Atherton Mills Market.  After a chilly walk along the Lynx tracks, we made our way to the, thankfully, indoor market to search for all the foods that help our bodies grow big and strong.

First item on the agenda at the market, was lunch!  We had planned a picnic.....and despite the gloomy weather....we had one!  Inside....and right next to one of Charlotte's old trolley cars!  The kids would only eat their lunch with the promise of getting to explore the trolley when everyone was finished!

They LOVED getting on the trolley!  Never mind that there was no hope of going anywhere.....they all took turns spinning the wheel (good thing it was stationary!), and hanging out the windows waving for pictures!  They were so cute.....and what a great way to begin our journey around the market!  Special thanks to Ms. Lynn for giving us complete freedom to explore and touch!

As we walked around the market we saw pumpkins, vegetables, soaps, nuts, eggs, dried fruit, honey, pickles, and SOOOO much more!  Garrett and Tucker bought us honey sticks.....a natural, good for you treat!  Everyone wanted a turn to touch the fish.....yes.....a whole fish!  The teachers were waiting with hand sanitizer right after!!  The pickle man sang us a song while he played the accordion.....he even lets us all play a note!  Each booth had something wonderful to touch and see!  It truly was a wonderful place full of excitement and memories! 

Healthy foods!  That is the theme for the week!  Healthy is a difficult concept to explain, so we spent the morning talking about all kinds of things that are healthy, and make our bodies feel good and happy, and some not healthy things, that make our bodies and friends feel sad and sick.  It was a good way to review some of the vocabulary from last week too!

Our story today was Gregory, The Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat.  In the story, Gregory, who is a goat, won't eat the foods that goats usually eat.  He only wants to eat fruits and vegetables.  His parents think he is a terrible eater!  Finally, they get him to try some "goat" foods, like tires....and paper.....and shoes....and he gets a stomach ache from eating too much!  In the end, he decides to eat some healthy foods and some "goat" foods together!

The kids thought that the book was extra funny!  They laughed when the goat family ate foods that people wouldn't even think about eating!  We definitely classified that as "not healthy"!

During lunch, we had a special treat and watched a Reading Rainbow video about foods animals eat.  First, they read our story again, then they showed us several animals and talked about the foods that are  healthy for them to eat.  After the video, we talked about how animals and people don't eat the same foods.  We all need different things to keep us healthy!

Ms. Michelle came today with some awesome new things!  First, she had a hopscotch rug.  You could immediately tell who had some prior experience with hopscotch and who was seeing it for the first time!  They all loved it.....and the progress they made in just a few turns was amazing!  Ms. Michelle also had some large cardboard building bricks.  The plan was for the kids to copy patterns that the teachers made, using the same bricks in the same positions.  BUT.....we changed it up to reinforce some of our classroom goals!  We made the bricks into all kinds of letters!  It was so much fun and worked well until the kids wanted to make letters like S and R!  Leave it to them to stump the teacher!!!  Ms. Michelle also had a tracing and lacing station.  She knows that everyone is on the verge of learning to write and she is trying to help us with that!  Such concentration in that station.....you would have been very proud!!

Goodies from Dilworth Drug!!

What do GERMS look like?

Thank You Dilworth Drug!

Ms. Jamie and Mr. Josh were wonderful hosts today!

We saw Officer Wade on our walk!

Our favorite community helper stopped to make sure we were being safe!

Our book for today, We Need Pharmacist by Helen Frost, helped us learn about the things we would see and talk about on our Out and About.  There was lots of new vocabulary.....so we made a list to help us remember what to look for while we were on our visit!

The Out and About had beautiful weather!  No coats (or rain gear!) needed!  We met Ms. Jamie and Mr. Josh at Dilworth Drug.  They gave us a bag full of goodies, told us about their jobs, and showed us lots of medicines. We even got to see all the different flavors they can use to make our Yucky medicines taste better!  Did you know they have chocolate??  We learned about a lot medicines today and how they work to keep us healthy.

Thank you Dilworth Drugs!

Once back at school, we did a really fun demonstration about how a sneeze spreads germs. I pretended to sneeze into my hand (which the kids thought was funny in itself), without covering my mouth, blowing a handful of pretend pom-pom germs all over the carpet! They went everywhere! That got the attention of everybody!  We gathered up all the germs and repeated the sneeze.  This time I sneezed into my elbow (like we've been talking about) and all the germs stayed in my lap.  It wasn't nearly as much fun, but we all agreed that I should keep my yucky germs to myself instead of getting them all over everybody else in the room!  A good, concrete experiment to remind us to cover our mouths. 

We watched some more videos and two songs about germs on the iPad. You wouldn't believe how engaged all the kiddos were!  Ms. Ellen and I had a good laugh at all their faces.  Some filled with awe and true learning.....some noses crinkled up with disgust.....some laughing and loving every minute of boy humor!  I guess that any of those is a good start to keeping them all healthy this winter!!

Wash up QUICK!

How do germs travel?

Don't get sick.....wash up quick!!  That was the slogan for the day!!  We began with this great....very kid friendly....video about germs.  Lots of places in this video where the kiddos were laughing and the grown-ups were saying YUCK and shaking their heads no!  We learned what germs are, what they can do to us, where they live, and how to get rid of them! 

Big Smelly Bear by Britta Techenrup is a story about a bear who doesn't want to take a bath. He is so smelly that none of the other animals want to be around him. There are germs and flies all around him.  One day he gets an itch on his back that he can't reach.  No one will help him because of how bad he smells.  Finally, he meets Big Fluffy Bear who tells him that if he takes a bath, he will scratch his back.  Big Smelly Bear agrees and washes all the dirt, germs, and smelliness off in the pond.

For science we did an experiment about how germs are spread.  We used sparkly silver glitter as our germs.  I pretend coughed in my hand.  There were about a million germs in my hand and on the table.  I gave the kid beside me at the table a high five.  He had germs on his hand.  That kid passed them along to the next friend.....all the way around the table!!  Then Ms. Ellen went to the door and touched the door knob.....you guessed it.....glitter germs on the door knob!  They were EVERYWHERE!!  We talked about how quickly that happened and since we had already learned that germs will make us sick.....we headed off the bathroom to wash the germs away with soapy water. 

The kids all practiced good hand washing today.....front, back, and in between our fingers.  Making lots of bubbles and rinsing the germs away!  Some kids got all the germs on the first time......and some had to take a second try to get them all!   

I didn't know that germs could be such a fun and interesting topic.....but after today......I have a whole new perspective!!  I'm hoping that we didn't create germ-o-phobics.....or maybe I'm actually hoping that we did!!