pictures and stories from 1.23.08

There are more pictures of last week to share! I wanted to show and tell you more about our morning activities and routine. The children are in the wonderful habit of coming into the preschool room and choosing an activity out of the "Activity Cupboard"...it is so wonderful to watch them happy, at work, and interacting with other children but really focused on the activity they have chosen to do! Studying shapes this month has allowed the children to use their morning activity time to talk about and reinforce the shapes that are "ALL AROUND US!". The children enjoy identifying the shapes and even singing the songs as they work with the different activities. When they put together what they have learned during our lesson time to what they are doing in "real-life" events, they are making strong connections, and are showing the understanding of concepts

and material that we discuss and work on. It is so exciting to see! The children usually work on something alone, unless it is an activity that they haven't done before. I then have one-on-one time with them to give a "mini-lesson", watch them try out the new knowledge as they work independently and to make sure they understand the concept and are ready to work on and eventually master the activity on their own. There are activities that the children can work on in pairs if they desire --- and today we tried 3 children on one activity...I remembered why it's a better idea to limit such activities to two children! They enjoyed themselves a lot - which is what I want to happen while they are working! -- however when more children work together it is harder to remember that we use inside voices so everyone can concentrate and enjoy the quiet time of gathering in the morning...

having 3 happy friends together was much too tempting although the giggles that came from the table were so fun to hear, but even better was when they all started to "practice" their song, 'I Am a Child of God' - that was incredibly precious! The above activity I switch around between having these beads to "thread" onto pipe cleaners or having large polished rocks that the children spoon from a main big bowl, into small dishes/bowls. Whatever is in the bowl, the activity works on hand-eye coordination, small gross motor skills, and when the children are interested they can begin to count the rocks/beads or put them into patterns...all beginning math skills! I'm going to use the next two children, and their activities, as examples of what we work on and how the children work on mastering the desired skills, and then once mastered how we will extend the activity so they continue to progress and move onto another level that will continue to stretch their abilities, imagination, and overall desire to keep learning and exploring!:

Ella has chosen other activities throughout the past month, but she works on these pattern blocks and pictures at some point each day. At first she was able to do one or two pictures during the time she set aside to work on these, but now because she has chosen this activity multiple times, she is able to pick and choose the shapes and identify where they go much more quickly, so that she has all 6 picture boards done well within the activity time. The next step will be to show and encourage her how to take the shapes and using her imagination and creativity to create pictures without the ideas and shape-matching provided from the picture boards. This will allow her to create and work on geometric shapes - which she won't realize that is what she is learning, when she is creating and enjoying seeing all her new and interesting shapes! Learning is SO cool!

Zack has discovered and LOVES this Thomas the Train puzzle. He usually starts out with some other activity, but inevitably he will take this puzzle over to the train table and spreads it out to work on it. The first few times I stayed with him, talking through and having a "mini-lesson" on how to look for pictures that are separated...when you see pieces that have the same color, or have pictures that look like they belong together we would try to put them together, trying different ways to hold the puzzle and fit it into the openings. Sometimes he had success and other times he began to realize that there might be multiple pieces that are the same color and look like they could go together. The wonderful thing is that today (1/28) Zack pulled out the puzzle and did it entirely on his own! He didn't turn to ask for help as other times before, but was excited to show that he knew how to do this puzzle...he had it mastered! Now for this activity, the way to extend this is to introduce another puzzle while he has the excitement to try this activity, and see how he applies the same knowledge of puzzles to a new one that he has never done or seen before. We will introduce a new one on Wednesday and see if he is ready to try it, or if he'd rather wait for another time to try it out...either way, he had success and was excited to see that with practice and patience he figured out how to do this puzzle. Way to go Zack!

Shape activities - and why stencils?!

For our arts/craft time on Wednesday, January 16th the children were allowed to choose from a variety of shape activties. They were either able to choose shape stencils to trace and color in, the adhesive shapes to put on paper and do anything of their choice, or there was the option of making a Shape Person. It was fun to see what each child chose, and to have them excited to work on and finish their own chosen project. The amount of concentration that goes into this time of our day as each child is so intent on what they are doing, is priceless to see. I especially love to see and catch with a picture the look of each child concentrating - a tongue pushed a bit out while deep in thought, a furrowed brow, pursed lips, or a look heavenward as if saying, 'Oh, what do I do now?!'




I've noticed that within the start of this winter semester some of the children are more comfortable with holding crayons or writing utensils - not just to color - but they are attempting to write a letter or two, or even their full name. Again, this is not something that I am focusing on in class, and teaching them - each child will feel comfortable with starting to write within their own time frame. However, as we talked about (I hope I remembered to mention this to everyone - but I'm writing it here if I did forget) during Parent/Teacher conference in December, a recommended activity to help preschool children of these age master how to hold a writing utensil,and gain control of what they are drawing - is to use stencils. It allows the children to draw but guides them to stay within the framework of the stencil, and then as they color that shape in they are again mastering the control of where their writing utensil moves, so that bit by bit it becomes easier for them to work at moving the pencil or crayon in little movements which aids as they learn the alphabet, their name and other beginning words. I truly believe that if you want to help your child with their writing, have them practice with stencils or even coloring pictures as they trace the outside of a picture and then work at coloring in and staying in the lines. Again - it's not the "staying in the lines" for the sake of the picture that is what we are working on, but learning to control a writing utensil which controls and allows them to master the small details of writing letters and numbers! Try it out at home and see what you think!

Shape Songs

As we have been learning about the shapes I was looking for some songs to sing, but I couldn't find anything. I started to go through songs that the children already know, and put together some simple words to the following tune. It's not quite ready for our Shape Musical...but the tune is catchy (happily already one they know!), and the words are simple so that they can remember the basics of what makes not only a shape, but the words to the song!

We sing these using both the actions and just to enjoy singing a song...I hope you enjoy singing them with your children as well!

(tune of: 'Where is Thumbkin)
I'm a SQUARE (action: with finger(s) draw a shape in the air or on the floor/surface where you are sitting)
I'm a SQUARE (action: repeat same as above)
I have 4 SIDES (action: hold up 4 fingers)
I have 4 SIDES (action: repeat above)
They are ALL the SAME SIZE
That makes me a SQUARE
I'm a SQUARE!
I'm a SQUARE!

I'm a RECTANGLE (3 syllables) (action: draw a rectangle in the air or with finger on the ground)
I'm a RECTANGLE (repeat above action)
I have 4 SIDES (hold up 4 fingers)

I have 4 SIDES (hold up 4 fingers)

2 of them are SHORT (2 syllables) (action: hold thumb and pointer in 'L' shape and bring fingers together in pinching motion)
and 2 of them are LO-NG (2 syllables) (action: put fingers in same shape as above for 'short' but hold together in middle of the air in front of body, and pull out to sides as you do the pinching motion)
I'm a RECTANGLE! (action: same as above - draw rectangle)
I'm a RECTANGLE! (action: same as above)

I'm a TRIANGLE (action: put 2 pointer fingers together in a point, and thumbs meet together)
I'm a TRIANGLE (repeat action)
I have 3 SIDES (hold up 3 fingers)
I have 3 SIDES (hold up 3 fingers)
Sometimes they're the same size (repeat action of 1st triangle - "about" the same size)
Sometimes they are different - (repeat above action, but pull in one thumb so 1 side is smaller)

I'm a TRIANGLE! (repeat 1st triangle action)
I'm a TRIANGLE! (repeat action again)

I'm a CIRCLE (action: put hands into the shape of a C facing each other to close in a circle)
I'm a CIRCLE (action: repeat as above)
I have NO SIDES (action: shake head and finger no, and then draw a line/side with your finger)
I have NO SIDES (repeat above action)
I roll along (action: roll arms)
I roll along (repeat action)
I'm a CIRCLE! (repeat first circle action)
I'm a CIRCLE! (repeat first circle action)

When we say or sing 'oval' - we really emphasis the O -because as I told the children an oval is just a circle that has been sat on, so it's saying, "OH!-val!"

I'm an O-VAL (action: put hands into shape of oval - same as circle but squished down)

I'm an O-VAL (action: same as above)

A circle squished down (action: show a circle, and then squish it down)

A circle squished down (action: same as above)

I don't have any sides (action: draw your finger in the air in an oval shape)

That makes me an OVAL

I'm an O-VAL! (action: same as 1st action for oval shape)

I'm an O-VAL! (action: same as 1st action for oval shape)

I'm a DIAMOND (action: thumb & pointer connect on both hands to make a diamond shape)

I'm a DIAMOND (action: repeat)

I have 4 sides (action: hold up 4 fingers)

I have 4 sides (action: repeat)

2 of them go u-p (2 syllables) (action: using pointer fingers bring together in a point and move it upwards in front of face)

2 of them go do-wn (2 syllables) (action: using thumbs together in a 'V' shape, move downward in front of body)

I'm a DIAMOND! (action: same as above diamond shape)

I'm a DIAMOND! (action: repeat)

**Stay tuned for more verses to come featuring:

HEXAGON, OCTAGON, STAR and HEART!

Children are born true scientists. They spontaneously experiment and experience and reexperience again. They select, combine, and test, seeking to find order in their experiences - "which is the mostest? which is the leastest?" They smell, taste, bite, and touch-test for hardness, softness, springiness, roughness, smoothness, coldness, warmness: the heft, shake, punch, squeeze, push, crush, rub, and try to pull things apart.

~ Richard Buckminster Fuller

Shapes, Shapes ALL around - so many shapes that can be found!

For our craft activity on Monday, January 7th the children were given a bowl full of shapes, and they were to pick out and sort the shapes and then glue them onto the coordinating shape on their paper. The 3 shapes were: CIRCLES, TRIANGLES, and SQUARES. You probably noticed on your child's art project that there might have been a few misplaced shapes - I tried to have them self-correct their work and look through to make sure that each shape matched the "criteria" - so we didn't catch ALL the misplaces shapes, however I was very impressed at how intent they were working, and how fun it was to watch them figure out how they wanted to space, clump, or "arrange" the shapes onto their page, and just how many they did get right on their own...so many more than the misplaced shapes. What a smart group of children!

A fun shape activity that we did this past Monday (1/14) - is that I put out a pile of straws (all the same length at first) and had the children count and choose 4 straws. We worked at taking the 4 straws and making our own square - I would demonstrate when needed but emphasized that each child should try on their own and do their own work...they experimented, made mistakes and did a hooray when they got it right, and we really worked on getting everyone to express and explain how they needed to fix their shape so that it would look like a square...this was the hardest part of the activity for everyone!

We then used the straws to make triangles all the same size, and then I cut the straws into varied lengths and then the students chose another 3 straws (counting each time they chose something) and we made triangles again, pointing out that the lengths of triangles can be the same or different - but they ALWAYS have 3 sides. We also used the cut straws to make rectangles and then went back and did different sized squares. We talked about why we couldn't use the straws for a circle - we tried one for a bit, and the children quickly saw that the straight lines would not work for the roundness that is needed to make a circle...so a ribbon was used as a perfect solution!

This is a great, easy and fun activity to do at home. You can use the straws to make shapes, you can also make multiple shapes together to create a picture (a triangle roof and a square shaped house), and you can also make some of the letters of the alphabet (letter 'A', 'M', 'N', 'T' and so on). Another wonderful way to help our children see that shapes are all around us, is to look through your house, out the car window - anywhere you are and play 'I Spy a Shape' - you can play by just calling out the shapes, trying to have each other guess what shape you are looking at by describing what color it is, if it is high, low, by another shape, or with letters or numbers on it...it's a great game to bring in a lot of learning! Seeing shapes in our environment is not only fun - but it's a great beginning to math concepts and skills, general observation, and having children express what they see and know!

Now, enjoy a shape search together!

It is happy talent to know how to play. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Play for young children is not recreation activity,... It is not leisure-time activity nor escape activity.... Play is thinking time for young children. It is language time. Problem- solving time. It is memory time, planning time, investigating time. It is organization-of- ideas time, when the young child uses his mind and body and his social skills and all his powers in response to the stimuli he has met. --James L. Hymes, Jr.

As we are beginning this new semester, I have thought of some ways that I hope will improve and change the morning activities that the children choose. I explained to most of you during our Parent-Teacher conferences that I believe it is so important and want the children to choose the activities that they are interested in, therefore I put out varying activities that help to develop gross and fine motor skills, memory, linguistic and numeric literacy. Each child can perform at their own level, some are content to keep things simple while others like to be encouraged to see what other things can be done with a 'set' activity - such as can we boost it up by counting items, sorting by shape, color, or texture, etc. In redoing the choices for this semester, I have chosen to experiment and see if by putting out less to choose from, that the children will actually be able to have a better opportunity and chance at guiding their choices to experience all the varying activities that focus on different skill sets. I will rotate the activities through frequently, and will also still be working with students one-on-one or in small groups, monitoring what the students are choosing, and to see if they might need a little "push" in the direction to try something new. Sometimes they don't try because they haven't done it before and even though I show and explain each object, there is something wonderful about our "comfort zone" - however, when given the chance to try something with one-on-one attention, I have seen that most are delighted with how fun and enjoyable the new activity is, and they continue to play and use that skill set for quite some time. We can always work at encouraging and modeling behavior of being willing to try something new!

Here are some pictures from December of the children involved in their morning activities. This is a time where we ask that they respect each other's work space - they need to keep their own space physically (each person works on their own task unless I specifically ask them to work together or I am working witha small group) and they also are to use quiet voices. They can talk with one another as long as they don't interrupt other people around them. I have noticed that this is key as this is an age and time that they are looking for validation in the work that they are doing. When they build a tower they want someone to see how tall it is! They need to feel the reward and have the sense of accomplishment that they are doing a great job! We will continue to work on understanding how to give someone space, while still being a supportive friend and giving "thumbs-up" or other words of encouragement. This is a great group of little friends, and it is very enjoyable to see the real joy that they feel for one other as they see one of their friends who has done a great job and their want and desire to tell them so! As with many activities our children do, at first glance it seems that all they are doing is playing...however play is all about learning and there is always a lot of discovery and exploring that happens during this "play"! If you ever ask your child what they did, and they respond "PLAY!", hopefully we will express as much enthusiasm and encouragement for them to continue their play, as we would if they responded, "I know how to count to ten in Spanish and French," or "I learned to play Fur Elise on the piano." Never underestimate the power of PLAY!

Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs. We must become more self-conscious and more explicitin our praise and reinforcement as children use unstructured play materials: “That’s good. You use your own ideas....” “That’s good. You did it your way....” “That’s good. You thought it all out yourself.”

--James L. Hymes, Jr.,

We Want To Wish You a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This is late in posting....the holiday got a bit in the way of trying to keep current on my postings - however, we had a great Christmas party and celebration in having all the preschool children and their families join us for dinner, a small singing program, nativity, and then cookie decorating. It was a busy night - our kitchen has never been so full with 27 people (13 adults, 6 preschool age of three, 3 siblings age five+, and 5 little siblings age 2 and under...whew!) - and of course I didn't get a picture of that feat!

During dinner we enjoyed the spontaneous burst of holiday singing from the children's table! -and the adult conversation that could be had or heard over the children and between being up and down getting the food...the up-side is that I've never had my dishwasher so well packed and so many dishes down so quickly by the moms that helped in cleaning up...thank you!

After dinner we gathered downstairs to our main preschool room, and the children sang, 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer' and then 'Santa Claus is Coming to town', and 'Feliz Navidad'...although we all know that they liked the musical instruments more than singing the words on the last song! They then were dressed into simple costumes for our Nativity, and as a group we sang the carols of Christmas and of Jesus' birth - there were sweet moments in looking at a group of 3 year olds dressed up and portraying the Nativity scene, to the funny 'Best Christmas Pageant' moments such as when we were about to sing and tell about the prophecy of Samuel the Lamanite, when the little boy portraying that character started to dance around and was wisked away for a quick potty break (my own son!) and we neeeded to rearrange the songs, or when the hat that we were using for the 'Wise Man' slipped around on his head, and one of our angels looked at him and started to laugh and say, "Your hat is SO funny!"...which was funnier than the hat sliding around! These are the great moments of life! Thank you for sharing with us such a wonderful and fun memory, that not only helps these children create a bond and friendship that benefits our preschool during our everyday activities...however, we have created such wonderful friendships with each of you as families of these children, and we admire and appreciate you so very much. May this next year and the 2nd semester of preschool bring as many treasured moments!

"Christmas, {FOR} children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.
~Mary Ellen Chase