Pencil Rhymes with Stencil

We have been learning about rhyme in Pre K.  Rhyme is a very important concept (and a difficult one for little ones to understand).  Children who understand the concept of rhyme will find reading easier when they are ready to learn to read.  Today we learned that "pencil" rhymes with "stencil".  A vocabulary lesson followed, as the children did not know what a stencil was.  I brought some stencils out to the art center and showed the children how to use them.  It was a hit with these three!

These girls pulled out a Math Activity to play with, this afternoon.  They rolled the die and placed the corresponding number of glass gems on the die.  Then they poured their gems in their bowls.  It is a great game to reinforce number sense and one to one correspondence.  They also played happily for quite a while without any intervention from me.  Great Social Skills, girls!

This young man focused for a long time making his "Rainbow Cow". He asked me to help him cut it because he felt he couldn't do it, but I told him that I knew he could do it.  And he did!  It was a confidence builder for him.

Working with scissors, markers, glue etc at the Art Center is great Fine Motor practice.  It builds strong muscles in the upper body, arms, hands and fingers.  This will help children to have enough Fine Motor strength for when they are ready to learn to print.

Birthday Blessings

We gave Birthday Blessings to those children born in February.  Happy Birthday!

Delivering Valentines

A BIG thank you to the parents who came to help the children deliver their Valentines!  In the excitement, I missed taking any photos of you and your helpfulness. Please know that I truly appreciated the help!  Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Fun in the Gym

We had some extra time in the gym, today.  What a nice treat!

Welcome

We welcome two new students to our Pre K-A class

Marble Art Hearts

Thank you to the parents who helped this week.  We made beautiful hearts with marbles, paint and glitter!  Parents can expect to see the hearts come home in their child's backpack, next week, after they have had time to dry on the drying rack.

Growing Crystals

We have been growing crystals for the past couple of days.  We dissolved Borax in hot water until the solution was saturated.  We inserted a heart shaped pipe cleaner and then patiently waited.  Pre K A needed to be extra patient, as no results were very visible the first day.  Pre K B could see crystals by the same afternoon.  One of the students shared some descriptive vocabulary about the result with her friends.  The crystals were "glittery" and "sparkly".  This science activity was an opportunity to practice social skills....being patient.  Language skills were used too, as lots of language was used by the children to discuss the activity.