HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had so much fun seeing the kids dressed up for the Halloween party.  They were all so excited and proud of their costumes.  It was a great time playing games, having treats, and doing Halloween projects.

Thank you to all the families who brought in treats or came in with their child to enjoy the morning's festivities.  We enjoy having you in the classroom with us to share these experiences with your child!

Toddler news

Hello parents!  I hope every ones week is going good so far. 

This week we have all been working hard on our Father's day surprises.  The children are proud of what they have made.

Remember tomorrow is picture day here at UCCC an we hope you all can make it and are dressed your finest to have a big smile for the camera.  If you would like to bring your child's nice clothes we are able to change them before their turn.

Also swim lesson are coming up quick.  Please remember what you need to bring each swim day ( Monday & Wednesday).  A towel, beach clothes, swim suit, beach shoes, and little swimmer diapers. Thank you.

Toddler News

Good evening Parents of the toddler room to day was a gorgeous but busy day. All the children had a blast outside on the slide and chasing Ms. Jessica around the playground.

 Today we had also walked to the Library for story time. The children were all very good and enjoyed the stories and the walk

For our project today we painted the children's Hands and feet to make prints. You should of seen some of them. They were very ticklish and were wiggling all over the place.

We all had a short but wonderful week and we hope you all enjoy your weekend

June 1st, 2011

This week in Preschool we are reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and doing projects corresponding to the book. Today we made a hand print coconut tree. We also played a matching game with lower case and capital letters. 

The children have also been enjoying time outside. Tomorrow we will be going on a nature walk. The children will be making hats before their walk, and then making books on their return. We will end the week with going to the library for story hour and practicing our letters and numbers.

Toddler News

Hello and good afternoon parents of the toddler room. This week we are learning about the color blue and circles. The children have been doing amazing with their colors and shapes.

We have lots of fun projects planned for the week. Today the children finger painted with blue Jell-O. They all had lots of fun but were a little blue when it was time to clean up.

We have spent a lot of time outside yesterday and today and hope to spend lots more time outside throughout the week. This week has been nice weather but I think a little too hot too fast. We have also been able to enjoy the new grassy play area, which the children love.

I’m sorry we have not had pictures lately, but we hope to have lots of pictures on Friday’s post. 

We are looking forward to our field trip next Tuesday to the Green Meadows Petting Farm.

WEDNESDAY MAY 25,2011



Keller using his pretend phone and calling his Mom!

 Hello Preschool parents! The week has been going great! We have been working hard on our farm unit.
Here is what we have been doing this week so far

• Farm animals and their importance on the farm
• Farmers and their responsibilities
• crops on the farm and how they get from the farm to our plates!

We also have been having a lot of discussions about how we treat others and why its important not to hurt any ones feelings. We have been working on self esteem and manners at the lunch table. It has been very successful at the lunch table.

We also have been working on a different letter each day! Since it is a rainy day we have been enjoy the centers in the room and working on team work. It is nice to see the classroom all work together.

Mia and Malachi working on a picture together!







Activities to do at home if you would like:

• While eating dinner be sure to ask your child what kind of manners we have at the table
• Ask your child to go find something in the house that starts with the letter C. Since today our letter is C
• Make sock puppets and put on a puppet show, as this week that is what the Preschool class has been enjoying

I hope you all have a great week!
Ms. Christine

Toddler News

Hello again parents. The week is half over and we have been having fun.

Today the children did sponge painting. We used a triangle shaped sponge and some green paint to do this activity. The children liked the results every time they lifted their sponge to see the shape they just made.

Today was the last time for our high school helpers. Daisy was a great help to us and we thank her.

Sad to say the weather was not on our side this morning. So we didn't get outside for our fresh air. Maybe things will clear up this afternoon. It would be nice.

Also today the children did great stacking our big blocks way up high! Each one is doing so good.

Just a reminder about the up coming field trip on June 7. We are in need of drivers so please let us know if you are able to drive and how many you can seat. Swim lesson will be upon us before you know it. If you would like your child to join please turn in your form soon. Thank you.

In the afternoon we plan on doing some sensory with play dough. Making triangles with the dough and other shapes too.

MONDAY MAY 23,2011

This week in the Preschool room we are still doing the farm unit. We will be talking about the crops on the farm and learning more about the animals on the farm. We will also be taking lots of nature walks if weather permits this week. Each day we will have a new letter. Monday is A Tuesday is B Wednesday is C Thursday is E Friday is F.

Please bring in gym shoes if your child is waring sandals to school so when we are on our nature walk, your child's feet are protected.

Thank you and have a good week!

Toddler New

Hello toddler parents.  I hope every one had a wonderful weekend.

This week we are learning about the color green an our shape is the triangle.  Today the children traced triangles to make a nice colorful collage.  We have more fun projects planned so keep an eye out.

The morning started out kinda ickey and rainy but thank you sun for comming out.  We were able to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2011

Hello Preschool families! This week has been going great! We have learned so much about farms. Mason brought in pictures of his farm this week, and the children absolutely loved them! Mason was so happy to be able to show his friends all his animals on his farm.

We have been adding animals to our farm, which is hanging on the wall. We also have been focusing on counting and recognizing numbers. In the afternoons we have been enjoying a lot of music and movement, singing about farms and going on bear hunts!

Next week we will be continuing our farm unit. We will get in more detail about the foods we get from the farm.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Toddler News

Hello and Good Afternoon to all our parents.  I hope the week has been good to you. It's almost Friday! 

Today the children had a blast doing their jell-o fun art project.  We used yellow ( pineapple ) jell-o to create our own unique free art.  Of course most ended up in our bellys but it's so nice to be able to enjoy our project in more then one way. :-)

Next week will be the last week of our high school helpers.  We thank them so much as they all were a great help to us and we hope they enjoyed the expereince. 

It was very nice out this morning so we all got outside to enjoy the beautiful temperture an fresh air.  The babies also joined us.

Later this afternoon will take our colorful streamers outside so the children can run and dance with them.

PRESCHOOL NEWS

This week in the Preschool room we are talking about farms! Farming is so important for our little ones to learn where our food come from and how animals play such a big role in the farm. We will be learning about what kind of animals live on the farm and their purpose for the farm. Also what kind of crops are grown there and what farmers have to do everyday to make their farm work. 

Some of the children live on a farm, which is nice because they can help our friends understand about farming. Please bring in pictures if you have a farm so the children can see it.

We have started making our own farm. Each day we will paint a different farm animal and create our own farm. The children have been very intrerested in this unit.

Toddler News

Hello to all the toddler parents.  I hope every ones week is going good.  This week the children are learning about the color yellow and our shape is the square.

The children enjoyed doing some sponge painting of our square shapes.  Also we did our hand prints in the color yellow.  The children always like getting their hands messy.

The weather was much nicer today so got out an played in the fresh air.  The children can't wait to be able to play on our nice new grass we have thanks to all who helped this weekend. 

Toddler News

Hello and good afternoon to all our toddler parents. This week we have been talking and learning about the color RED and RECTANGLES. Some of the children are starting to recognize the color red but some also like to just be funny and say its green.

For the children's projects this week they have, traced rectangles, finger painted red rectangles, sponge painted red rectangles to make a mobile, and today their favorite finger painted with red jell-o. I think more ended up in their belly then on the paper. Tomorrow we are hoping to make rectangles out of popsicle sticks.

Story time this week was interesting. We have asked all the children to bring in one of their favorite book so we could read it to the class.

WEDNESDAY MAY 11,2011

This week in the Preschool room we have been talking about pets! We have been talking about breeders, veterinaries and just being an owner. We also discussed about our pets at home, and how we take care of them. It was adorable hearing stories about everyone's pets. Mia had brought in her hamster from home, the children were absolutely interested in seeing her hamster.  Mia was so happy that her friends were able to enjoy her pet.

The letter of the week is P. On Monday, I asked the children to tell me how many words they know that start with P, and they all came up with 16 words! I was very impressed! 

Each child made a fish bowl and through out the day they have to pretend to feed their fish and make sure they are all doing well. Today, Keller said one of his fish were not feeling well because he ate too much yesterday. This was so great to see the children using their imagination! 

This week has been going great and I am sure it will continue til Friday!

The rest of the week we will be graphing how many pets we have in our home, doing a pet sponge painting and on Friday going on a walk if weather permits.

Also, If you would like feel free to bring in any pet pictures you have so your child can share it with the class on Thursday or Friday! 

Enjoy the rest of the week! 

 

WEDNESDAY APRIL 5 2011

Happy Wednesday!! The children are enjoying our color theme this week. Each day we have been making a new color using red yellow and blue. They are fascinated with what color it will turn in to. We have been working on our Mothers day presents and each child made it with love and care!

Today we graphed M&Ms. All the kids enjoyed this, but I think its because they were hoping to eat them after they were done. Instead I told the kids that they can put it in a baggie and bring them home. So please check in their cubbies.

Here are some photos of what the children have been doing this week! Enjoy




Keller in the book area reading about colors!





Mia and Aubri looking through magazines to find the color orange!



 Keller and Mia working hard in the block area! They build trains and made roads for their trackers!

Toddler News



Yea its a Sunny Day

Hello and good afternoon parents. So this week the children have been working on some Mothers Day surprises. They are all very excited about them and can't wait to share them with their mommies. Today is a beautiful day so we were out on the playground most of the morning. The children always get very excited when we go outside to play. They love playing with the other children in the center and all the different toys we have outside.

Later today we hope to read stories, finish some of the Mothers Day surprises,  and play with our cardboard blocks. The children can't get enough of these blocks they are a big hit. Yesterday the children and Ms. Jessica made a fort with the blocks and later yesterday Ms. Jessica stacked the blocks really high and then the children tried to stack them to see how high they could get them. It is a wonderful sight watching them watch me stack the blocks high up to the ceiling. You can just see the excitement in their eyes and when its falling the overwhelming shock and ohh no look like is that ok. We have been working on only knocking down their own blocks and not there friends blocks.

MONDAY MAY, 2, 2011

Hello Preschool families! This week we will be working on colors. Just like shapes, colors are all around us. In this theme we will be focusing on primary colors and making more colors by using red, blue, and yellow. We will be talking about and observing the colors in the food we eat.

At school

• painting with food!
• making a chart and using materials such as colored rice or pom poms and sorting them by color
• graphing M&Ms
• nature walk observing the colors we see
• we will make a rainbow collage
• observing how everyone has different colored skin, hair, and eyes.
• reading stories about colors.

At home

• you can observe the color of food while you are eating together.
• Be sure to dress your child in the color of the day which is listed below
• talk about how everyone has different color eyes, skin and hair.

Monday- Introduction to colors
Tuesday- Orange
Wednesday-yellow
Thursday-blue
Friday-Red

Today we starting working on our color charts. The children had colored rice where they had to sort through and glue them on their personal color chart. We also enjoyed outside time. This afternoon we will be working on Mother's Day cards.

Enjoy making colorful discoveries with your child this week!

Ms. Christine

Toddler News

Welcome back to a wonderful Monday.  I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend.  This week we are learning about love and working on Mother's Day surprises.

This morning we enjoyed some outside time. The children of course went straight for the sandbox.  We all had fun playing and getting our energy out.

The children are going to be working hard on all our little surprises for our loving, wonderful, and caring mommy's.

Toddler News

Hello and good afternoon. This morning in the toddler room the children have been exploring with some new toys. The favorite so far is the cardboard blocks. Ms. Jessica and the children have been making forts, building houses around the children, and making high towers. The children all get very excited and all help and take turns.

Before lunch today we were finally able to get outside and enjoyed this beautiful weather. The children played in the sand box for most of the time, playing with the new sand toys. They also love playing with the toy car, play house, and going down the slide.

This week the children did amazing on all their art projects. They made a carrot, a strawberry, and a flower garden that we had on our wall all week. It looked wonderful. Yesterday for our project the children finger painted with chocolate pudding it was quite a sight. Some of the children at first didn't realize it was pudding but once they did it was all over their face. Thankfully we had just gotten them cleaned up because we had a practice fire drill.  That could of been a disaster! 

For stories this week we read all about gardens. Floop's Flowers, Quiet in the Garden, Growing Vegetable Soup, A green, green Garden,  and The Surprise Garden. During story time last week not all the children would sit and listen but this week they all must have really enjoyed the stories because they all sat and listened.

Some of our sensory activities this week have been sponge painting, finger painting, play dough, digging in the dirt, and the kids favorite SHAVING CREAM. This might seem like its a messy sensory activity but it actually cleans up really easy.

have a wonderful weekend

pre school

The children had fun playing with Oblick this morning. This was a mixture made of 1 1/2 C. corn starch and 1 C. water. Mix the ingredients together. when pushed together, the mixture will appear dry and solid, as children let go of the mixture, it flows like a smooth liquid. (Science)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27,2011

This week in the Preschool room we have been working on shapes. The children are enjoying the new centers in the room. We have magazines in one center, where they have to find the shape of the day. Today, Mia had found lots of squares in the magazine! She was very proud of herself. Good job Mia!

The children are all learning so much from tracing shapes and trying to look at the shape and draw it. They reconized how many sides are on each shape. Our writing center is becoming so valuable. Keller has been spending a lot of time in that area. He is able to write all the shapes names by copying the index card that has the shapes name on it.


Today we made shape mobiles. The children had to cut out each shape and write the name of the shape. They all did so well! I was very proud of them working so hard on this project. They all took their time on writing the shapes names. This was great for shape reconition, writing and small motor skills.



The weather has not premited us yet to take our walk to see all the shapes around our community.We were able to go outside to our playground for a little while, and look around for shapes. The children reconize that shapes are all around us! 

 Being silly with our silly putty that we made with Mrs. Michelle!



Rosie being cute!!





Toddler News

Hello Families. We hope every ones week has been going ok so far. The children have been very busy the past days doing alot of sponge painting.  We have created our own little "gardens". Carrots, Flowers, and Strawberries.  The children have really enjoyed learning about gardening and how we grow plants that we are able to eat.

On Wednesday's the center has high school helpers.  In our room is Alex she does great with the children.  They all love playing an chasing her around the room.  Alex has been a good helper for us teachers too.  Thank you Alex.

Alex playing with the children

If the weather is nice we will try to get outside for some fresh air this afternoon.

Tuesday, April 26th,2011

Yesterday morning with Ms. Michelle we planted the following herb seeds. Spearmint, parsley, chives, sweet basil, and cilantro. We will be using these herbs in cooking activities over the summer.

Incorporating gardening into the classroom provides multiple learning opportunities for the children. Gardening can easily be connected to various subjects including math, science, and nutrition. It allows children the opportunity to experience planting seeds, caring for plants, and tasting the results.

Ms. Michelle is in need of empty ice cream buckets. The children will ne making container gardens for their herb plants.

Thank You!

Michelle

MONDAY, APRIL 25TH, 2011

Dear Parents,

   Hello again! Shapes will be the focus of our new unit this week. Our world consists of shapes. The children will become aware of this on an introductory walk around the block on Tuesday. They also will become familiar with the names of shapes and will classify objects according to their shapes. Most of the children already know the names of the shape, this is a good refresher for them. Consequently, the children will be more aware of all the shapes in our world. In addition, the children will be practicing drawing the basic shapes. 

In the classroom I have new centers. We have a tracing shape center: where the children are able to recognize each shape and count each side. On the easel I will have a different shape each day for them to paint. I have a table for play dough with shape cookie cutters. I also have a writing area for them to practice writing each shape name. 

AT SCHOOL

Some of the fun filled learning activities scheduled  for this unit include:

• Playing a game called "shape basket upset"

• Feeling and identifying objects by shape in a "feely box."

• Making and baking cookies out of play dough using various shapes 

• Making a shape book and shape mobiles

• Practicing writing each shape name

• Counting how many sides to each shape

• At the end of the week, I will be giving them a quiz and see how much they learned from it. It will be a no pressure quiz, just question and answer quiz.

AT HOME

You can reinforce the activities included in this curriculum unit at home by observing shaped objects in your house. Each day at school we will have a special shape of the day. Your child can bring in an object from home to fit the shape of the day.

Monday- Circle

Tuesday- Rectangle

Wednesday-Square

Thursday- Triangle

Friday- Heart/ Star

. The following finger play can be recited to foster language and memory skill

Circle and square

Close my eyes, shut the m tight.

(close eyes)

Make a circle with my one hand.

(make circle with hand.)

Keep them shut: make it fair.

(keep eyes shut)

With my other hand, make a square.

(make a square with other hand)

Enjoy your child!!

Ms Christine

Toddler News

Hello Toddler parents.  I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend and enjoyed their famliy time.  I'm sure everyone was quite busy.

This week in our room will we be learning an doing activities about Gardening.  All the fun things you find in a garden and the things you can grow an eat. 

This morning the children had story time an were able to do a neat felt board activity with Ms. Jessica.  Which was 5 little Monkeys swinging in the tree.  The children really enjoyed acting out the story with the felt pieces.
( Fine Motor and Language Skills )

We were able to get outside this morning and not only to enjoy the fresh air but to work on a project.  The children and Ms. Tiffiney dug in the ground to gather up some nice dirt to plant our sunflower seeds in.  So we shall see in the long run how well the little seeds will grow.  The children liked digging in the ground.  We also found some worms an bugs that made the ground their home. 
( Sensory and Fine Motor )

This afternoon we hope to get back outside to do some running around and enjoy the nice weather that is finally here.

Toddler News

Hello and good afternoon parents of the toddle room so we are finishing up our Easter week. The children have enjoyed all the fun Easter projects, songs, books, fun activities, and free play. Some of our projects the children loved doing were making bunny ear headbands, marble painting eggs for their Easter basket, and painting the chick in a egg.

During free play this week the children stacked blocks with their friends, read stories on there own, took turns going down the slide, and played with all the toys in the room.

For music and dance this week Ring Around the Rosie was a big hit as was the Bean Bag Dance, and The Wheels on the Bus. we attempted to play Duck Duck Goose but thay didn't quite catch on they just wanted to chase each other around. Well we tried and we will try again.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend

Toddler News

Good afternoon parents early this morning the children started working on their Easter Cards for their parents. They had fun sponge painting bunnies and flowers on their cards and later they will be adding Easter stickers. Two of the children also made up their chick in an egg project the children did yesterday.
(Sensory and Fine Motors)

The children also enjoyed some free play this morning. They played with the toys in the room and played on the little slide. Lately the children have loved playing with these toy cars we have that connect together. We call them the trains.

For story time today we are going to be reading Dora Rainbow Egg Hunt, Easter, and Happy Easter Mouse. Throughout the day during free play child love to pick out a book and either look at it by themselves or bring it to either Ms. Tiffiney or Ms. Jessica to read.
(Listening and Language)

Later today we hope play ring around the rosie, finish up the card project, play with shaving cream, and puzzles.
(Fine Motors, Sensory, Large Motor, and Language)

MONDAY, APRIL 18,2011

This morning in the Preschool room we mixed paints and made very pretty paintings. We used baby blue pink and purple to represent Easter colors. We started talking about Easter and what our traditions are. Jaden and Lily shared how they go on a Easter egg hunt every year.

After our morning project we did music and movement. We listen to the CD kids in action and danced. One of the songs is called "bear hunt" the children pretend to go on a bear hunt and they absolutely love this song. 

This afternoon we will be working on letters and going outside if weather permits. The letter this week is R. We will be learning the sound of R and words that start with R.

Toddler News

Early this morning some of the children made up projects they were unable to finish or had missed. Most of our projects this week have been put up in the class room. So parents feel free to come in and look.  Next week we will also be doing Easter projects so there will be lots of art work going home at the end of next week. Also the children played with play dough. They really enjoyed trying to make different shapes out of the play dough.
(sensory)

We were also able to read stories this morning. Easter Babies, Happy Easter Maisy, and Max counts his chickens. The children loved the stories today they all sat down nicely and listened.
(listening and language)

This afternoon we were hoping to start are hand print eggs, some free play, and play follow the leader.
(sensory, language and listening)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Today in the Preschool room we made egg salad for lunch. Food, cooking and healthy eating is great to teach Preschoolers. This offers opportunities to work on counting, color reconition, shapes as well as fine and gross motors. The cooking activites we have been doing is going over great as they love to be little helpers and learning how to make simple meals. It is important to teach the children at a young age about nutrtion.

Mason working hard on smashing the eggs!

After our cooking project the children are able to pick what center they want to play in. Mason and Keller picked the block area where they can build trains and make train tracks together. It is nice to see them working together.  

Arwen wanted to play school. She was practicing writing words in spanish and teaching others how to write them as well.

This afternoon we hope to go outside and play. We will also be coloring eggs and working some more on letter sounds. I do hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

Next week we will be talking about Easter and celebrating Earth day!

Thurday, April 14,2011

Today in the Preschool room we did a worksheet on the letter "E". The children learned about some words that started with E. Than they glued them onto an egg!  Malachi inspired the class to do some free art. All the children wanted to make their own design and give it to their parents. I enjoy seeing the children be so creative.

(Fine motor and new vocabulary words, imaginative)

We had lunch early today as we will be doing a tornado drill at 1:30. We had a discussion about what is expected from the children such as lining up nicely, no running or talking when we hear the alarm go off. The children were very curious about this and asked lots of questions. Malachi was asking about what is a tornado and how does it happen. So we did a little mini lesson on tornadoes. 

This afternoon we will be working on sounding out letters and I will be working with the kids to see how much they can write the alphabet on their own. This will help me know what letters each child needs improvement on.

(fine motor, writing)

WEDNESDAY APRIL 13, 2011

This week in the Preschool room we started talking about eggs. We talked about the color of eggs and the difference between an egg that is not cook compared to an egg that has been cook.
(observation)

We compared what would happen if we dropped a hard boiled egg verses a raw egg. We came to the conclusion that the shell would only break open if the egg was raw. The children observed that when the egg was cooked the shell would only break in pieces. The children really enjoyed observing eggs in different ways.

(science)

Today we made deviled eggs for the whole center. Some of the children did not like them at all. the children got to do the whole process in making them. They all took turns stirring the eggs and mayo, and taking a spoon and dropping them into the eggs.
(cooking, fine motors)

In the afternoons we have been having our snack outside and doing story hour as well. Today Keller and Mia were working together as a team and taking turns pushing each other on the bike. It was nice to see them settting an example on how to share and be kind to our friends. Then all of our friends got to take a turn on the bike and work together as a class. It was a pleasant day.
(gross motors, socializing, teamwork)

Toddler News

Hello and good afternoon parents of the toddler room.  Early this morning the children had some free play time. They played puppets with Ms. Jessica.  The kids love to talk to the puppets and they also love to tickle Ms. Jessica with them or be tickled. Some of the children that weren't to fond of the puppets in the beginning are warming up to them. They also played with the kitchen and made lots of food for Ms. Tiffiney to eat.

(social skills and language)

For our project today, the children used the dot dabbers to color their Easter egg. They did a great job sharing and taking turns using the dotters. They turned out to be very colorful eggs that we will be hanging in the room to enjoy for this week and next week.

(fine motors)

Due to the beautiful day outside we spent a good hour out on the play ground. The sand box was open today and they loved it. Although when we came inside it seemed like they brought half of the sand box with them. But at least they had fun.

(sensory and gross motor)

Before lunch the children helped make their beds for nap today. They did a great job and we always encourage the children's independence.

(fine motor)

Later on this afternoon we hope to have story time. The stories we will be reading are

Jack and the Jellybeanstalk and Some Bunny Loves You. We also hope to play with colored shaving cream as our sensory for the day, play hide and seek as are movement, and sing Do your ears hang low for our music.

(language, listening, sensory, and music and moement)