Blog

RAINBOW WEEK

This week we will be looking at colors.  We will talk about rainbows, the sun in the sky and clouds.  There will be a rainbow of colors in all the rooms this week.  The children will have an opportunity to talk about all the colors they see in the classroom and outside.  The spring flowers are one way you can talk with your child about colors as you walk around your neighborhood.  The daffodils are out and the tulips are getting ready to bloom – lots of colors to talk about and to practice “focus”.  You can play ‘I SPY’ as you walk:  I spy something___(insert a color).  Kids love this game and then you can let them take turns being the leader and the one who gets to find something for you to ‘spy’.

Other ways you can work on focus – switch words to a familiar song and see if your child notices ( wheels on the train instead of bus).  This is a fun and creative way to sing songs that encourages focus and listening skills.   Play a sorting game when you clean up toys – let’s find all the blue toys, put all the round toys in the basket, who has a soft toy?   Try singing a song while waiting in a line or restaurant.  It gives the child a tool for managing a situation that they cannot control and allows them an outlet to deal with frustration that they might have waiting in a line, for food to come, sitting at a table.

GREAT BIG RAINBOW

There’s a great, big rainbow
In the sky,
With pretty colors
Way up high.

When it starts to rain
And the sun comes out-
A beautiful rainbow
Will pop out!

I SEE RAINBOWS
I see rainbows, I see rainbows,
Way up high In the sky. 

They are red and orange, Yellow, green and blue.
Purple, too. What a view!

I see rainbows, I see rainbows,
Way up high In the sky.

They are made from sunshine,
Shinning through the rain.
What a view In skies so blue!

RAINBOW

Bunny

Here is a bunny with ears so funny

And here is her hole in the ground

When a noise she hears, she pricks up her ears

And jumps in her hole in the ground.

Baby Bird

A mother bird laid and egg with care

And when it hatched a baby was there

She ate and she ate 

and she grew and she grew 

and then one day away she flew

Story of Colors (similar to Brown Brown Bear)

Red kite, orange butterfly, yellow sun, green grass, blue bird, purple flower,  rainbow

CLOUD WEEK 2019

This week we will be exploring clouds, colors, science and colloidal suspensions ( a big word for messy fun) at the art table.

Colloidal Suspension

 ~ a mixture having particles of one component, with diameters between 10 ⁻⁷and 10 ⁻⁹metres, suspended in a continuous phase of another component. The mixture has properties between those of a solution and a fine suspension

~ a colloid that has a continuous liquid phase in which a solid is suspended in a liquid.

As we talk about clouds outside there are several ways you can bring that learning inside.  One of them is to make ‘goop’ to explore- as we will at the art table.  By combining cornstarch and water you get a mixture that is both solid and liquid – and lots of fun to play with.  It is a sensory experience that is both clean and messy. And lucky for the art station worker – it’s a project that is easy to clean up.  The cornstarch just brushes off clothing, wipes up off floors and disappears off of hands when they are dipped in water.  Clean, messy, fun!  We will be discussing shapes, texture and colors at school this week.  Our story will talk about different shapes you see in the cloud formations.  Ask your child what they see in the sky, in a reflection in a puddle or in a nature book. You can increase their vocabulary with ‘big’ scientific words as well as adjectives that describe shapes textures and colors.  

 In Mind in the MakingEllen Galinsky writes about 7 Essential Skills. Looking at things closely helps children develop focus.  True focus means they are alert, engaged and able to stay attentive during the activity.  As they experiment with the goop this week they will be focusing on shape, texture, design and then during circle time they will be focusing on similar shapes in the story It Looked Like Spilt Milk.This will encourage their Working Memory.  Working Memory allows you to take information you already have and connect that information with new information or experiences.  This happens when they sing a familiar song, remember what comes next and can make a prediction based on existing information. They will use both focus and working memory at preschool this week.

Did You Ever See a Cloud?

Did you ever see a cloud, a cloud, a cloud?

Did you ever see a cloud that looked like a ____?

A big one, a little one, a quiet one, a loud one?

Did you ever see a cloud that looked like a ____

Did you ever see a cat? A dog? A plane?

Ask your child to think of words that describe what clouds look like.

CLOUDS

The clouds are passing by,
The clouds are passing by,
Way up high in the sky,
The clouds are passing by.

The clouds are passing by,
Way up in the sky,
Sometimes fast, sometimes slow,
The clouds are passing 

5 Little Clouds

5 little clouds floating in the sky

First one said I’ll drop rain when I go by 

Second one said I’ll fill the sky with flashes of light (lightening)

Third one said I’ll make noise with all my might (thunder)

Fourth one said I’ll change the rain into snow 

Fifth one said when the sun comes out I’ll make a rainbow.

VEHICLE WEEK 2019

This week we will continue with our transportation theme.  The trains will still be out and we will add vehicles to our play.  Starting on Tuesday there will be construction vehicles in the sensory table, vehicles at the art table and vehicle puzzles at table toys. Children love things that move. In the block area we will be experimenting with the ramps and vehicles as well as the balls and ramps.  We will have the ramps outside as well.

We will be singing our train songs again this week as well as adding some new vehicle songs.

Drive, Drive, Drive 
 Drive, drive, drive your car,
 All around the town.
 Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom,
 Up the hills and down.

 Turn, turn, turn the key,
 Make the engine roar,
 Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom,
 Let’s go to the store.

 Press, press, press the pedal,
 Give the engine gas,
 Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom,
 Now we’re going fast.

 Turn, turn, turn the wheel,
 That is how we steer.
 Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom,
 Make a turn right here.

 Push, push, push the brake,
 Make the car slow down.
 Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom,
 Now we are in town.

Traffic Light Song.
Can you see the traffic light,
traffic light, traffic light?
Green means Go and Yellow means Slow, 
and Red means STOP, STOP, STOP!

TRAIN WEEK 2019

Children love trains. We will have them in all the rooms this week. Our art project will have the children use shapes to build their own train. The art activity uses pre-math skills. The ‘train pieces’ will be circles, triangles, rectangles and squares. As you discuss different shapes with your child you are building their math vocabulary. You can help your child with the names of shapes as they name objects in their home environment – a door is a rectangle, the dinner plate is a circle, the window is a square, a stop sign is an octagon, etc. They can recognize and compare 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes as they compare the 2-dimensial train they make at the art table with the 3-dimensional wooden trains in the blocks area and with the 2-dimensional train puzzles at table toys. As the children learn about shapes we will give them opportunities to create and take apart shapes –- make a square from 2 triangles, a rectangle from 2 squares, a circle from 2 half circles. At the playdough table you can encourage the children to create new shapes — cut the ball in half, roll the snake into a circle — as they experiment with the playdough. Using words such as turn (rotation), flip (reflection), slide (translation) identifies spatial visualization terms that will later be used in geometry. Using these terms with toys – “turn your Teddy Bear over” – will then be used with directions for shapes – “turn the triangle shape piece so it fits inside the puzzle”. At Circle Time we will continue to use words that expand their spatial orientation vocabulary. Above, below, in front, behind, over, under are positional words that allows children to understand where things are in their world. The spoon is beside your bowl, you are under the table, a bird is flying over the house are sentences that teach spatial orientation. While reading Freight Train we will use positional words that describe where the train is going. Using descriptive words with your child you can help them develop a stronger math-based vocabulary. When you talk with your child try using descriptive vocabulary words that include shape, size, and placement.

Down By the Station
Down by the station
Early in the morning
See the little pufferbellies
All in a row
See the engine driver
Turn the little handle
Whoo Whoo Choo Choo
Off we go!

Little Red Caboose
Little red caboose, choo, choo, choo
Little red caboose, choo, choo, choo
Little red caboose behind the train, train, train,
Smokestack on his back, back, back, back
Chugging down the track, track, track, track
Little red caboose behind the train.

Choo, Choo Peanut Butter
A peanut sat on a railroad track
His heart was all a flutter.
Around the bend came a choo-choo train
Uh Oh! … peanut butter!

SNOWFLAKE WEEK 2019

Just as no two snowflakes are alike your child is not like any other child.  Yes, they may have family similarities or are right on target with other children their age on the development charts but they are all unique little people.  Enjoy those special qualities that make your child a ‘snowflake’ – unique and one-of-a-kind!

This week we will be talking about snowflakes.  

The Science of Snowflakes: Facts and Activities for Children

Laure Latham 
December 9, 2015 

Six is the magic number for snow – did you know that? If you had a big magnifier and stepped outside with your children on a cold winter day to watch snow fall from the sky, here is what you might observe – six-sided hexagonal crystals, needles or flat six-sided crystals, and a wide variety of six-sided shapes. All snowflakes are a combination of the number six for simple chemical reasons – they’re all variants of the water molecule. Despite all snowflakes having six sides, not two snowflakes are exactly identical. How crazy is that? Here are a few more fun facts about snowflakes as well as simple science activities you can do with your children.

Where Do Snowflakes Come From?

As obvious as this may sound, snowflakes—or more scientifically, snow crystals—are formed in clouds. However they are not frozen raindrops, as that’s called sleet or hail. Snowflakes are a different cold weather phenomenon formed from water vapor that condenses around a tiny particle—the seed crystal, usually a speck of dust—in clouds. Cloud droplets condense around the seed crystal and freeze on the surface of the particle, patterns emerging as the crystals grow. 

The shape of snowflakes is determined by the altitude and temperatures at which they are formed. When several crystals stick together or create puffy white balls, they become snowflakes. Once the snowflakes are heavy enough, they fall to the earth. The average snowflakes fall at an average speed of 3.1 miles per hour! 

Snowflake Song

Snowflakes, snowflakes, dance around,
Snowflakes, snowflakes, touch the ground
Snowflakes, snowflakes, in the air
Snowflakes, snowflakes, everywhere
Snowflakes, snowflakes, dance around
Snowflakes, snowflakes, touch the ground

Five Little Snowmen 
Five little snowmen riding on the sled (pretend five fingers are sledding)
One fell off and bumped his head (pretend one finger falls off…rub head)
I called Frosty and Frosty said (dial imaginary telephone)
“No more snowmen, riding on that sled!” (say in a deep voice)
Four little snowmen… etc

Winter Song
Way up high in the snowy tree
Lots of little snowflakes smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could.
Down came the snowflakes
They are cold!