Seasonal Transition

What a treat to have some warmer weather! I’m looking forward to meeting with families for conferences next week - call the office or get in touch with me to schedule one if you haven’t yet. We’re in a bit of a transitional week, finishing up our focus on folk tales, learning a bit about maple trees and sugaring, and starting a study of transportation (yes, the excitement is palatable!). Our classroom space has gotten a little makeover, and kids have loved helping with the furniture rearrangement - have them show you the changes.

Here’s a glimpse at the past two weeks:

-Last week’s cold sent us on some expeditions (get those little bodies moving!) and we discovered an excellent climbing and sliding hill. It was perfectly challenging to climb up, and exhilarating to slide down!

-Children helped search the forest for sugar maples. We identified, marked with chalk, and tapped! We only have a couple of buckets out so far, but might add more as the sap starts to flow. We’ve also read some stories about sugaring during our story time.

-We changed our story time schedule. Now half the class comes in from the woods a few minutes before lunch for story time. The other half gets to have story time after lunch at the beginning of rest time. Dividing the class into two groups has lead to some more focused and interesting discussions. We’ve read a number of different folk tales the past two weeks, and multiple versions of different tales. Ask your child about their favorite one!

-We’ve been working on cultivating an interest and excitement about writing and book making, and are starting to see the effects. Kids have loved sharing their books at lunch time, and the productivity in the classroom is amazing!

-We perfected a recipe for bread-on-a-stick, and had a great time cooking over the fire last week.

-The cold last week provided a great opportunity for ice-making, and we took the opportunity to freeze ice in all sorts of different shapes. The best part was experimenting with different ways of dissolving and crushing the ice - we used eye-droppers, liquid watercolor paint, and hammers and nails.

See the handout in Thursday folders about helping your child handle disappointment. This is BIG work for preschool, and something that we help kiddos with on a daily basis. You can help keep the work going at home as well!

We've been having great fun with a book called Mouse Counts. In the book a snake collects mice in a jar to eat, counting them as he goes. The kids have loved reenacting the story with our props.