Bats and Ghosts and Spiders, Oh My!!!

What a fun week we had gearing up for Halloween. 

We spent the week studying spiders, ghosts and bats.  We learned that spiders have 8 legs and sometimes they even have 8 eyes.  We also made a really cute spider craft.  The favorite story of the week was definitely "The Chocolate Chip Ghost".  And we loved learning that bats are nocturnal (thanks to Ethan for announcing that to the class before I could even get the words out).  Seriously, your children are so smart, I am amazed every day!!!

I think the low of the week was the weather, while we loved changing our weather wheel and choosing the winter clothes during morning circle, we did not like not being able to go outside.  Luckily, your children loved the alternative.  We had a great time using our rhythm sticks to get a little exercise and loved our first aerobics class.  We were definitely all tired after that class.  Miss Amy (her classroom is next to mine) tells me I might just be the loudest aerobics teacher ever, but hey, we had a great time.

Next week will be a little out of the ordinary, but should be a ton of fun.  We will start the week at Black Island Farms for our field trip (finally, it's here, this should save us all from having to hear about it multiple times a day).  Don't forget we will meet at the farm at 11:00 AM.  Tuesday we will have the school to ourselves (all of the other classes will be at Black Island Farms).  Wednesday is our much awaited Halloween Party.  Don't forget to send your child in their costume, you too if you are planning on staying for the party.  I spent the weekend looking for just the perfect costume, and I am proud to say I found it!  Thursday we will be having a pretty laid back day, all of the other classes will be having their Halloween party which will make it impossible for my class to concentrate on much of anything.  Due to this we will be making some crafts and watching a Halloween movie.  All of this combined should make for quite a memorable and exciting week.  So, here we go!!!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!!!

We had a great, though short, week studying pumpkins!  I think the children will agree, the highlight of the week was definitely our science lesson.  We observed a whole pumpkin then cut our pumpkin in half (to be honest I pretended to summon my super human strength and karate chop it in half...the kids thought I was amazing) and then used magnifying glasses to observe and then illustrated what we saw. 

We also had a great time making our letter E elephant masks.  They fit perfectly in our elephant classroom.

I hope you all have a great fall break, I know I will.  I will be in Brigham City helping my little sister deliver her son Jaxyn.  Yeah, I love baby's!

Fire Safety Week

This week was fire safety week.  We held two fire drills during class, and I must say the first one was a little rough, but by the second we were all experts on how to get out of school safely if there is a fire.  Your children received an assignment to help your family make a fire plan to use if there is ever a fire at home.  I hope you will all help your children complete this very important assignment. 

My afternoon class was very lucky to have Cason's dad Josh visit, he is a fire fighter for HAFB.  He was able to help the children understand even more about fire safety.  I want to thank him again for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit our class, I know the children were thankful as well...especially for their new hats and water bottles!!! 

We learned about the letter D and the number 3 this week.  I know you must all be wondering why we are spending so much time on the numbers 1-10, the reason is simple, all other numbers are just a combination of these smaller numbers and if your child can recognize AND write these numbers they will be WELL on their way to recognizing and writing all other numbers.  We counted to 30 this week and the children did quite will with it.  I am very proud of all of their hard work!

Next week we will be working on the letter E and the number 4, and learn all about pumpkins. 

Please remember there is NO SCHOOL on October 18th and 19th for Fall Break.

October is Upon Us

What a fun week we had. 

This week we learned about the letter C, writing the number 3 and counting to 30.  We made a great little Halloween Cat to go along with our letter.  The children wanted to use our cats to decorate our classroom for the Halloween Party.  I put them up on Friday, and I know they are all going to be so excited to find their cat hanging from the ceiling. 

Our theme of the week was Autumn and Autumn Leaves.  I think the highlight was definitely making our leaf rubbings.  The children thought this was sooo cool.  They also enjoyed making their Autumn tree and adding veins to their Autumn leaf.

I must apologize, as we were enjoying our snack one day I let news of our upcoming field trip slip.  I have been hearing about it every day since, so I can only imagine what you are facing at home.  On the bright side, we only have three weeks until the field trip, so 22 days and counting...

We also began reading groups this week.  I read with all of the students in the red reading group and sent home their first book (or practice page) to read with you at home.  As soon as you feel they have mastered it please send it back so we can move on.  Please do not keep any red reading work at home for longer than a week.  At this point, your child will be bored with it an uninterested in working with you on it.  As I read with the red readers I was very impressed, they are all off to a great start.  Students in the yellow and white groups will also be pulled out of class each week to practice the letter and sound skills that they are learning.  This is done with a variety of learning games to make it fun and exciting. 

Homework packets are going well so far this year, but we have had more packets and pieces lost that normal.  Please work with your children on this and do not let them play the games in the car or at random places in the house.  All packets are counted and checked for completeness before they are sent home with your children, so please watch them.  We would much rather have complete packets returned than receive the replacement fee.  Thanks a bunch for your help with this. 

I am excited for Fire Safety and all of the other fun things coming up in the next week.  Thanks for sharing your sweet children with me. 

Our First Month of School

Well, the first month of school is under our belts and I can't believe how much has been accomplished. 

We have spent a great deal of the month working on and practicing our basic preschool skills (i.e. letters, numbers, shapes, colors and of course scissor skills and writing our names).  I am really impressed with the GREAT improvements we have seen in these skills.  Especially names and cutting.  At this point the majority of students are writing their names (although it may not look pretty) and are able to cut out a basic shape.  If your child is not doing these things, I would be happy to send additional practice for you to work on at home with your child.  Just let me know if you would like this additional help. 

We have also covered quite a few preschool themes during the past month. 

We had a lot of fun during our color weeks.  Thank you to everyone who helped your child pick out cute clothes in our colors of the day and to those of you that sent color snacks for our class to enjoy...and enjoy they did.  After the tasty "sugarfest" I think we will make it our favorite healthy colored snack next year... 

In week two we spent our time learning about "the most important person in the whole world".  We quickly solved the mystery that that person is "me".  We built a book that was full of all of the reasons that "I" am the most special person in the world.  The children loved putting their hands and feet in the squishy ink pad, and posing for their book cover pictures. 

During week three we learned all about apples and Johnny Appleseed.  Thank you to all of the parents who helped their child remember to bring their favorite color of apple to class.  We used these apples to graph our classes favorite apple color (red) and then got to enjoy them dipped in peanut butter (a very nice change from "sugarfest 2012".  We also laced apples to work on a little finger dexterity and made lots of cute apple crafts.  The children loved learning the story of Johnny Appleseed spreading apple seeds all over the United States. 

In week four we really got into our groove.  This is always a great time of the year, the time when we know what to expect at school and are starting to believe in ourselves and the things we are able to accomplish.  The downside of week four is that we are all friends now (I know, this really is a great thing, so let me explain).  Once we all become friends we forget the rules at school.W  e forget that we should not talk when teacher is talking, we forget that we have to listen so we know what we are supposed to do and we forget that we are at school to learn as well as have fun.  Don't worry too much, it always comes back, we just have to be reminded...a lot.  Soon enough though, we will enjoy the great balance that school provides.  We will learn as a class, that we can have fun while we are learning, and this is a great time!!!  Now back to what we learned.  During week four we did a lot of work with our shapes and talked about the letter B. 

What a great first month, I know I can speak for myself and Miss Jenn when I say we are LOVING the time we have with your children.  As many of you know this is Miss Jen's first year at our school and your children as well as myself are so lucky to have her.  She truly LOVES working with your children and that is priceless.