Elegant Etiquette Brunch

With great anticipation and praticing amazing patience.....we finally held our Elegant Etiquette Brunch on Wednesday, March 26th. The children were all dressed in their Sunday attire, and had a marvelous time shaking hands and asking "How do you do?" and answering this question at the beginning of preschool. We also practiced how to hold a ladies arm when escorting her into a room, and how to help pull out the chair for her to sit in. Each of our 4 gentlemen in class escorted a lady upstairs, and then waited patiently while each boy and girl went to the table to find their name tags and have the boys help the girls into the chairs. It was absolutely priceless to see how very serious they took this task, and did such a fantastic job of excuding impecable manners. They are ready to sit in the finest 7 star Restaurants!!

Our lovely Ladies and Gentlemen: FRONT (left to right) Garrett, Ella and Zackary, MIDDLE: Brooklyn and Randall and BACK: Bryson and Mary



"May I walk you to the table Mary?", Bryson requested. Each Gentlemen learned to ask the ladies politely if they could escort them, and then also asked, "Will you please take my arm?!"

All smiles for a very fun brunch with wonderful preschool friends!

Birds Nest with 3 eggs were the activity/dessert

The song that they have learned that went along with this treat is:

I will find a little NEST

(cup hands in the shape of a nest)

In the branches of a TREE

(sign language for tree: put on arm across chest with palm up, rest other arm with elbow in palm and wiggle fingers to look like branches)

I will count the EGGS INSIDE

(cup one hand as nest, and rotate finger on other hand to "count" eggs)

There are ONE, TWO, THREE

(Hold up 1,2, and 3 fingers)

MOTHER BIRD sits on the nest (sign for Mother: tap thumb of open hand on chin, sign for Bird: thumb and pointer open and close at nose to look like beak)

To hatch the eggs ALL THREE (flap arms like bird wings and pretend sitting on nest)

FATHER BIRD flies 'round the nest (sing for Father: tap thumb of open head to forehead, and repeat sign for bird)

To guard his FAMILY (sign for Family: Sign for letter 'F' on both hands - thumb and pointer together with remaining 3 fingers up in air. Put hands together and then pull them around to the back in a circle).

*Disclaimer: I don't know why the song is divided into two different styles - there are some things on here that I have yet to figure out!!

March Madness and Updates

Let's Go FLY a KITE!

This was our craft activity for Monday, March 24th - and the children of course were brilliant and creative as they pieced together their very own kite. They seemed to love the ribbon streamers the most.....which definitely showed the wind blowing them, which had been a huge focus of our lesson that day: WIND!

More craft time......the detail and attention that all the students gave the percalete beads was impressive....I was especially impressed to see our boys so interested in finishing their patterns and pictures! It is another reason to know that each child learns and feels learning in very unique and personalized ways!




Our morning activity time is wonderful....each student is really focused on coming right in and choosing something to try from the activity cupboard. They are excited to either try a new concept/activity or to re-do another activity that they have been working to master recently. Eve when working close to someone, they focus on their individual work and how they are able to use their mind and creativity with what they are creating and working on ~ such as how Ella and Brookly are working side by side, but each is concentrating and doing their own work, but having someone to tell what shape you have just used or what your picture now looks like is a great part of this activity as well!

Pirates and Princesses

During our free play-time at the end of class, the children LOVE the days that the dress-ups are pulled out, and the creative juices flow as they play make-believe with one another and come up with very elaborate and delightful story lines!

Green Eggs and Ham ~ Dr. Seuss Celebration!

During the week of March 12 and 14th, we had a celebration of Dr. Seuss, and so instead of just meeting on any ordinary day of the week, we had WacKy WeDnEsdaY and FuNkY fRIdAY (which thank you again for understanding we needed Monday to regroup after being sick). The children came to school in their pajamas to have a pancake and Green Eggs and Ham breakfast for WacKy WeDnEsdaY. We also read the book with the same title, 'Wacky Wednesday' by Dr. Seuss - I hadn't heard about this book before last week, but it's now a fun favorite! The children giggled and giggled when we tried to find all the funny things that were wrong in each picture. On each page, I had children basically climbing in my lap to point out different things on each page, even though after each page we usually readjusted our circle to make sure we were sitting criss-cross applesauce and give a silent point...these kiddos were just too excited to do something like that!! I didn't get a picture of all of us that day, but here are some of the students with as they are working on their morning activities, and during our breakfast. A smashing Pancake breakfast in our pajamas eating Green Eggs & Ham...the eggs not so much a hit with most of the kids, I suppose eating tinted green food just isn't up on the priority list of things to try for these little ones! We were missing 2 of the 7 students...but here are the rest of the cute kids! Clockwise from Bryson, Brooklyn, Ella, Zack and Mary. I love how exciting and new life is for a preschooler!

One of the favorite morning activities for most of the children, is to do puzzles! I love watching them work together, and piece the puzzle together as they look for small clues in the pictures and what shapes they are missing. Clever, clever little children I get to work with!

On FuNkY fRIdAY the children were to come in backwards, mis-matched and just overall crazy clothing! I loved their obvious choices, to the not so obvious...as Brooklyn came in she looked suspiciously "normal" in her attire. I asked her, "Brooklyn, did you enjoy getting dressed for Funky Friday today?" She beamed and excitedly pointed out how the rows on her skirt were in rows, and it didn't match the V-neck and the flowers on her shirt. Yes, that will definitely do to a very fashion-conscious 3 year old!

The children all decorated their own version of a Funky Friday kid - the outfits were smashing and not one was matching! We were an even smaller group for Funky Friday - 3 of the others were away this time. We missed them, but there was fun to be had, and these 4 were ready for whatever came their way!

The importance of pretend play

I saw this article and thought of all the wonderful pretend play that takes place with our children. There are so many important aspects of pretend play, besides that it is great fun for our children and something that they could do all day long!

The wonderful thing about encouraging preschoolers to participate in pretend play is that it can become whatever they want it to be. Children who are interested in cars can create a pretend garage or race track. Children who want to be like their parents can set up a kitchen that mirrors the one at home, or they can imitate behavior they see in their home.

Emotional and Social Development for Preschoolers
Preschoolers learn a great deal about the world through their pretend play. Emotional and social development is just as important in a quality preschool education as academic education. Preschoolers who develop good social skills early on will be better prepared to be successful during their school years and to become an emotionally healthy adult.

Dolls are a wonderful tool to encourage preschoolers to develop empathy and compassion for other people. Even though preschoolers are working hard to develop their independence, they still spend most of their time being cared for by other people. Having the opportunity to care for someone else helps preschoolers to understand that other people have needs and feelings too.

Preschoolers are just beginning to participate in group play, but they still have not mastered difficult concepts such as sharing and patience. Pretend play offers preschoolers the chance to merge parallel play with cooperative play. Preschoolers can play on their own while other kids enjoy the pretend play center at the same time or they can participate in pretend play activities together. Pretend play allows preschoolers to play together by acting out situations that they see in their daily lives. This takes some of the pressure out of cooperative play for preschoolers.

Pretend Play as a Stress Reliever
Preschoolers feel stress just as the rest of us do. Stress can come from many sources. Preschoolers may become stressed if their daily routine has changed or if they are bored. The addition of a new sibling in the family or the divorce of their parents can drastically change their behavior and the way they interact with other children. Pretend play can help preschoolers deal with difficult emotions. It can be hard for preschoolers to verbalize their feelings when they are stressed out, but during pretend play they can act out the situation or emotions that are bothering them. Preschool age children who are struggling and acting out at home or in the preschool classroom, may be better served by spending 10 minutes on their own in the pretend play center to deal with their feelings than by sitting in time out!

Pretend play can also be an important tool for parents and preschool teachers to determine how a preschooler is coping with the various stresses that are present in their life. Preschoolers can let their parents and preschool teachers understand things that are bothering them and things that are important to them in a way that they may not be able to verbalize on their own.

Morning Routine Songs

WELCOME SONG (the same tune as the Welcome song in the Primary Songbook)
We sing this as we sit in a circle. We sing it twice, the first time going one direction and the other time going the other direction. We also have a ball that we use to toss to each other when we say that person's name (a bean bag or other object can be used as well). We clap during the first 2 lines of the song and the final line as well. On the last word today, we do a big and loud staccato clap!

Here we are together, together, together
Oh, here we are together at preschool today!
There's _________________ (throw the object)
HI _______________ (everyone says hello, waving their hands to the person)
And ____________________ (repeat as above - the person that
And ____________________ (repeat as above)
(*Sing through as many times as you have people in the circle)
Here we are together at preschool today!

DAYS OF THE WEEK (tune of: Oh my Darlin' Clemintine)
*Hold up 7 fingers while you sing the first 2 lines of the song

There are 7 days, there are 7 days
There are 7 days in the week
(*Now count up on your fingers 1 - 7)
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
**REPEAT (we usually sing the 2nd time through faster)

TODAY IS.... (change the day to whatever day it is, and then do the subsequent changes)
*I don't know what tune this is, it's kind of just like a sing a chant...if I remember a tune, I'll update later!

Today is Monday, today is Monday
Clap your hands! Clap your hands! (clap while singing those lines)
Yesterday was Sunday!
Tomorrow will be Tuesday!
Clap your hands!
Clap your hands! (clap while singing those lines)

WEATHER BEAR (to the tune of: 'Oh my Darlin')
**we do sign language for 'bear' and each of the weather options, such as 'sunny' and so on.
Your children knows the signs, so ask them to teach and share them with you!

What's the weather? What's the weather?
What's the weather, Weather Bear?
What's the weather? What's the weather?
What's the weather, Weather Bear?
Is it sunny? Is it cloudy?
Is it windy, Weather Bear?
Is it rainy? Is it snowy?
What's the weather, Weather Bear?

The making of a heart...

I think one of my favorite things to discuss with children any time - but particularly around Valentine's Day are HEARTS. We talked a bit about the heart in our body and how it is important to carry blood and oxygen to our body...and put our hand into a fist and practiced having it "pulse" and used funny noises to pretend we were hearts beating. Children are insistent that the hearts in our body - must be heart shaped...otherwise why are they named hearts?

We did learn another verse to our shape song - this is about the shape of a HEART:

I'm a HEART (2 syllables) action: put your hands together cupping them like the letter 'C'

I'm a HEART - action: repeat

I have two parts - action: pull your hands apart

I have two parts - action: repeat

One is like the letter 'C' - action: bring your right hand in shaped like the letter 'C'

The other is like a backwards 'C' - action: bring your left hand in shaped like the letter 'C'

I'm a HEART - action: repeat as above

I have two parts! - action: repeat as above

The children laced their heart-shaped "mailboxes" in preparation for receiving valentines from their preschool friends (and are still awaiting to do so!!). It was fun to hear what colors the boys wanted for their ribbons...they were definitely into picking orange or greeen! The girls on the other hand - of course wanted pink! I was very impressed to continue watching how the children have worked on hand-eye coordination and how doing this small gross-motor activity has become second-hand to them - I'm sure the fathers or our preschool boys will be happy to hear that their sons are really becoming handy with their sewing skills! Think little missionaries in training and your heart might not beat so fast! :)

Our fabulous finger-puppet shows!

Monday, February 11th
The children put on impromptu puppet show for the preschool part of our lesson/activity today as we discussed imagination and pretending!
They each chose 1 or 2 finger puppets and created their own dialogue and interchanged who was in each mini-play.







Their interactions with one another were darling! They truly wanted to include every friend and puppet in each of their stories!


Some of the stories carried a familiar story line or theme that had been heard during the morning...yet, so much of the clever little parts in the dialogues and story came just from the brilliant minds of 3 year olds!










Everybody earned huge applause at the end of their performances and they practiced their bows and curtsies. What a darling group of performers...they are ready for little Broadway!