End of the Year!

Week of June 1, 2015

Getting Ready to Visit the Ocean!

It is so hard to believe we are entering our second to last week of school! This year has flown by!

We are going to spend our last two weeks preparing for our transition to summer and a new classroom in the fall. We will have the chance to play in Transition Beach in dramatic play, learn about sun safety, and read about many different ocean animals. One of the books we will read this week is another to connect with our author study. We will read Eric Carle's "A House for Hermit Crab."  We follow the hermit crab as it makes friends and decorates its shell - its home. Finally, he is too big for his old shell and decides to give it to a smaller hermit crab before finding his new, bigger shell. We will connect this with discussion of the students and the way they have grown, introducing the idea that they are bigger now and ready for a new, bigger classroom in the fall. We will celebrate all the things they have learned and all the new things that they can do!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes beach, ocean, sand, seashell, swimming, ice cream, sandcastle, lifeguard, sunscreen, towel, life jacket, crab, fish, and seahorse.

Another of the books we will read this week with the theme of growing up is a beautiful story by Eve Bunting. This is a video read-aloud of Little Bear's Little Boat that was likely recorded as a student project. Feel free to skip ahead 30 seconds past the intro, as the graphics might make you seasick :) Enjoy!!

http://youtu.be/yATm5y3EPTE

Week of June 8, 2015

Have a Wonderful Summer!

This year has flown by! It feels like yesterday that we were all wondering how that first day was going to go, and now here we are, ready for our last!

We will spend this last week of Transition preparing for transitions. We will make the transition to summer by learning about the beach and the ocean. Children will play with sand and shells in the discovery table, lay out beach towels and lounge in beach chairs in dramatic play, and share of their experiences with the ocean! We will also continue to discuss the idea of going to a new classroom next year, which we introduced last week. We connected this idea with that of a hermit crab getting bigger and finding a new shell as well as Big Bear building a new, bigger boat in Eve Bunting's book Little Bear's Little Boat. We are also focusing on all the ways we have grown! Just like Big Bear could do things, like build a boat, that he couldn't do when he was little, the children have learned to do lots of things, now that they are three, that they couldn't do at the beginning of the year when they were two!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes beach, ocean, sand, seashell, sandcastle, swimming, lifeguard, sunscreen, towel, life jacket, crab, and fish.

Music, Month of June

I cannot believe the end of the year has come up so quickly!

Looking back from September, it is clear to me how much my students have grown. They are singing as a group and sometimes even individually! I have even been able to introduce a simple partner dance which we have enjoyed as we move to the music. 

We have had a really good year of growing and learning and I think many students will remember some of our songs through the summer.

We always end our classes with the simple song, "Good bye Music, goodbye music, goodbye music...we'll see you again next time." Now we will sing "..see you again next Year!"

Have a great summer!

It's a Bug's Life

Week of May 4, 2015

The Itsy Bitsy Spider...

This week, we are launching off our new thematic unit Insects with the study of a related animal - arachnids! We will learn about spiders, parts of a spider, how they build webs, the purpose of building a web, etc. We will have a secondary focus on counting - counting several items to eight while using one-to-one correspondence. We are learning that most spiders have eight legs and eight eyes!

The students will also incorporate a number of sensory experiences this week. In the Monday class, we will cook a recipe for corn starch dough. We will shape this dough on Tuesday and Wednesday to create spider sculptures. On Thursday and Friday, we will make another solution of glue and liquid starch to create a sticky goop - perfect for catching flies! The students will continue gardening in the discovery table, with gloves or without, adding water to our top soil and newly sprouted seeds!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes insect, arachnid, spider, legs, eight, and web.

Music Time!

This week we will sing the familiar song "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" during circle and transition times. We also do variations like "The Great Big Spider" with a low voice and big motions and "The Teeny Tiny Spider" with a high voice and tiny motions.

Two of the substances we will make and play with in class this week include corn starch dough and gak. Corn starch dough is very soft and clean, and it dries really nicely with limited cracking - great for next year's Christmas ornaments!

Gak is a wonderful sensory experience. When it is the right consistency, it shouldn't stick to hands as much as it likes to stick to itself - just add more liquid starch if this is not the case.

Below are links to some recipes…

http://www.argostarch.com/Recipe/Play_Clay

http://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/liquid-starch-slime-easy-sensory-play-recipe/

Week of May 11, 2015

Caterpillars and Famous Authors...

It is an exciting time in our classroom! We will continue our study of bugs with the introduction of worms and caterpillars into our classroom. We will learn about how worms help plants grow by putting nutrients in the soil. We met our new caterpillars last week, and we will continue to observe them as they go through their life cycle. We will learn that caterpillars eat to gain energy to build a chrysalis (a cocoon if they are a moth), undergo metamorphosis inside, and then emerging as a butterfly!

In addition to the science focus during this unit, we will have a secondary literary focus. We will introduce the children to a wide array of books by the famous author Eric Carle, starting with The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We will make observations about his style of art, watch a video on how he creates his collage-style illustrations, and then recreate the process ourselves in a multi-day project.  

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes insect, arachnid, spider, web, silk, caterpillar, butterfly, egg, chrysalis, metamorphosis, author, artist, collage, and Eric Carle.

Here is the video we will watch of Eric Carle creating his collages. We will focus on the short bit starting at 1:10 where we can see him creating the caterpillar. I have also placed a link below to the website for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. It is a neat site to visit during summer travels!

http://youtu.be/fvRcCKP5v6Q

http://www.carlemuseum.org

Week of May 18, 2015

More Insects...Through the Eyes of Eric Carle

Last week, we read Eric Carle's wildly popular book The Very Hungry Caterpillar in connection with our unit on insects and our observation of the class caterpillars. We began a mini- author study on Eric Carle. We learned that the author is the person who writes the book and the illustrator creates the pictures. They are an artist. Eric Carle is an author and an artist. We learned that he creates his art by painting tissue paper with many colors and textures. He then cuts shapes from the papers after they dry, sorts them into colors, and then assembles them into collages to create his illustrations. We began painting our papers, adding layers of color and adding texture with the back of the paintbrush. This week, the teachers have cut shapes out of the papers, and the children will assemble them into Eric Carle style collages!

We will continue to study Eric Carle's work this week, trying to identify the books in the library that have been illustrated by him! We will read the books The Very Quiet Cricket and The Very Lonely Firefly, which, in addition to The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider are part of The Very Quartet. On the book jacket of The Very Lonely Firefly, Carle outlines the relationship between these four books in a letter to his readers. He writes:

"Dear Friends,

After The Very Hungry Caterpillar had been published I wanted to create a Veryquartet. With this book, I have achieved that goal.

1.The Very Hungry Caterpillar is about hope. You, like the little caterpillar, will grow up, unfold your wings and fly off into the future.

2.The Very Busy Spider is about work. We need to work and finish our tasks despite the many diversions.

3.The Very Quiet Cricket is about love. Crickets and people alike search for and hope to find a suitable mate.

4.The Very Lonely Firefly is about belonging. We all want to belong to a group, a family, our own fellow creatures.

I hope you like my firefly."

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes Insects, arachnid, antennae, cricket, firefly, ladybug, caterpillar, chrysalis, metamorphosis, Eric Carle, author, illustrator, and artist.

Week of May 25, 2015

Happy to Bee Together!

This week, we look forward to spending time with more of your child's family! See the note on the Homepage for more information about "Grandfriends" Day.

We will be spending our last week of the Insect unit learning about bees! We will learn that bees (like butterflies) like nectar from flowers. We will learn that they use the nectar to create honey! They build hives out of wax, put the nectar inside the cells, fan it with their wings to dry it and make it thicker, and then they have honey! We will learn about the different parts of a bee: six legs, head, thorax, abdomen, antennae, wings, stinger. We will listen to music inspired by the sound that bees make and paint expressively to it using our fingers!

Be sure to stop by the classroom and check out our beautiful collages that the children made in the artistic style of Eric Carle!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes insect, arachnid, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly, metamorphosis, bumblebee, head, thorax, abdomen, antennae, stinger, author, artist, and Eric Carle.

Music Time!

The music we will listen to while finger painting is the famous "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky-Korsakov. Here is a cute animation of Maestro Minnie conducting the piece (with a few embellishments added)!

http://youtu.be/XCYf6ROMqeI

Music, Month of May

The Toddler and Toddler Transition classes will be enjoying some of our spring songs such as "Five Little Ducks" and "My Turtle." This is a finger play which goes:

This is my turtle and here is his shell, (pointer finger)

He likes his home very well. (other hand cupped)

He pokes out his head when he wants to eat,  (push finger through)

And pulls it back in when he wants to eat. (pull finger back)

We will also begin orchestra instrument demonstrations--flute, clarinet, violin and trumpet. I will be using real instruments, sound clips and other props to help students learn about instruments and their sounds.

Meteorologists in the Making!

Week of April 6, 2015

Rain, Rain, Come and Stay!

This week, we will be learning about weather! We will use our knowledge of the weather song to discuss different kinds of weather. Since spring is on its way, we are going to start our unit with a focus on rain. We will talk about the different functions of rain: to water the plants and trees, provide water to drink, etc. We will learn that rain comes from clouds. When the temperature is cold, snow falls from the clouds, but when the temperature is warmer, we have rain! On Monday, we will do an experiment to show how clouds fill up with water before the rain comes out. We will create rainy art projects, using spray bottles one day and eyedroppers on another. Both of these projects will build fine motor strength and control using the squeezing motion.

Weather permitting, we will go outside to the playground for the first time this week!  

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes weather, rain, storm, rainbow, cloud, sprinkle, pour, shower, puddle, and meteorologist.

Music Time!

Two of the songs we will incorporate this week are "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Rain, Rain, Go Away."

Rain Rain Go Away

Rain, rain, go away!

Come again another day.

Little children want to play.

Rain, rain, go away!

Week of April 13, 2015

Sunny Days!

This week, we will continue our introduction to weather with a short study of sun! We will talk about sun safety - why we wear sunscreen and other protective clothing. We will do an experiment to demonstrate the effects of the sun by fading shapes into special paper on our windowsill. We will also talk about the sun's functions, such as giving light and helping plants grow. We hope to spend some time in the sun this week by heading out the playground! Last week, we had a great time trying out the equipment as a class, and the children did a great job following our safety rules and holding the rope!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes weather, rain, drizzle, shower, clouds, rain, sun, sunburn, and sunscreen.

Music Time!

One of the songs we will sing this week isYou Are My Sunshine. The lyrics are:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are gray.

You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

Music, Month of April

For the month of April, we have been singing "These Are My Glasses" by L. Berkner and learning the Teddy Bear song. We have also used our bears for steady beat activity as we make them bounce, dance and jump.

We continue to use the Dynaband for some of our circle songs such as Looby Loo and Three Times Around our Gallant Ship.

Easter!

Week of March 23, 2015

Hosanna!

This week, we are shifting gears to a new theme! We will keep some of our favorite transportation centers to continue our learning as we introduce the new unit of Easter. We will focus this week on the first part of the Easter story: Palm Sunday. We will learn about how Jesus came to Jerusalem and the people welcomed Him, waving palm branches and saying “Hosanna! Jesus is King!” We will make our own palm branches, painting them with dot paints and cutting out the fronds with squeeze scissors. We will even get to act out the story ourselves, taking turns riding on the “donkey” while the rest of our friends wave the branches and say, “Hosanna!”

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes spring, season, Easter, holiday, celebrate, Jesus, and Hosanna.

Music Time!

One of the songs we will sing as we get ready for Easter is one that we have sung before in Chapel. Here are the lyrics:

I’ve Got the Joy

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart!

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

Down in my heart to stay.

And I’m so happy, so very happy!

I’ve got the love of Jesus in my hea-a-a-a-art!

And I’m so happy, so very happy!

I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart!

Week of March 30, 2015

Easter is here!

This week, we are learning about Easter! We will be talking about the Easter story as a celebration of Jesus and weaving in some of the traditional commercial Easter celebrations. We will tell a basic outline of the story, mentioning that Jesus died, but focusing on His resurrection. "But Jesus is God, so He did not stay dead. He is alive, and He lives today!" It can be a difficult and abstract story to share with young children, and many parents have questions on how to approach this. I foundthe article below - a nice resource on how to approach the Easter story, broken down by age of children -to be good advice and developmentally appropriate. Throughout the week, we will also celebrate with other items like Easter eggs and Easter grass in the discovery table, and a jelly bean poem about the Easter story.

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes Spring, Easter, Cross, Risen, Jesus, God, Joy, Egg, Dye (not to be confused with Die!), Shell, Oval, and Bunny.

Music Time!

One of the songs we will sing this week in celebration of Easter is the song "Alive Forevermore"

Alive, Alive, Alive Forevermore

Alive, alive, alive forevermore,

My Jesus is alive, alive forevermore.

Alive, alive, alive forevermore,

My Jesus is alive!

Sing Hallelujah! Sing Hallelujah!

My Jesus is alive, alive forevermore.

Sing Hallelujah! Sing Hallelujah!

My Jesus is alive!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles! It's transportation month!

Transition W/F, Week of February 23, 2015

Up, Up, and Away!

I hope everyone had a wonderful vacation! I'm sure you feel as excited as I do to get back to our regular routine this week!

We are jumping into one of my favorite themes this week: Transportation! We will learn that transportation is a fancy word for how we get from one place to another. We have so many ways to travel! We will start off focusing on air travel, as many of our students have recently traveled on an airplane. If you have any mementos from travel, like tickets or luggage tags, please feel free to send them in for your child to share! We will learn about traveling on an airplane and the concept of packing luggage to prepare for your trip. We will also learn about hot air balloons with a class experiment. The children will practice making predictions about which passengers will allow our classroom "hot air balloon" to float and which will cause it to sink! We will not focus on whether these predictions are correct, focusing instead on creating an atmosphere of inquisitiveness, where the children feel confident coming up with predictions and sharing them with others!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes transportation, airplane, airport, pilot, co-pilot, wings, flying, passengers, flight attendants, helicopter, and hot air balloon.

Music Time!

One song we will sing this week is called "I'm a little airplane." The melody is just a scale. The first line is all one note, then you move up a step and sing the next line. For the second verse, we sing down the scale again. We will move with our bodies like our voices are moving, flying like airplanes all around the room!

I'm a Little Airplane

(pretend to drive your airplane around on the ground, moving it higher with each line that you sing...)

I'm a little airplane.

I taxi round and round.

I'm a little airplane.

Now, I leave the ground.

I'm a little airplane,

flying up so high!

I'm a little airplane.

Now, I'm in the sky!

(fly around the room pretending to travel to different places)

I'm a little airplane,

flying over trees.

I'm a little airplane,

flying on the breeze.

I'm a little airplane.

Hear my motor hummmm.

I'm a little airplane.

Down and down I come.

(pretend to land your airplane on the ground)

Transition W/F, Week of March 2, 2015

Sail Away with Transition!

We had a blast last week with the beginning of our Transportation unit! The children all participated in making predictions during our “hot air balloon” experiment. They each had a turn to select a “passenger” for our helium balloon and predict whether they thought the passenger would make the balloon float or sink! There are a few pictures and a video below from our fun activity!

This week, we will learn about transportation on water. We learn about ferry boats and sailboats. We will build sailboats out of classroom materials and sail them by making wind with our mouths! We will take a look at how to draw a sailboat using curved lines and straight lines or cut-out shapes. Finally, we will review the Bible story from our last Chapel, when Jesus calmed the storm. We never have to be afraid, because God is our helper, and he is powerful enough to stop a storm!

The children will review and explore other types of transportation in our classroom centers, like our snowy train tracks in the discovery table and our Airport in dramatic play!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review includes transportation, boat, captain, dock, anchor, sail, motor, crew, lifejacket, ticket, float, cruise, airport, airplane, check-in, ticket, baggage claim, cockpit, and boarding pass.

This is a book we are reading throughout the Transportation unit. It is a lot of fun and quickly becomes a class favorite!   http://youtu.be/cSw50Jw0H34

Transition W/F, Week of March 9, 2015

Hitting the Road!

So far, we have learned about types of transportation in the air and in the water! This week, we are back on dry land, talking about transportation that travels on the road. We will read about cars, trucks, constructions vehicles, emergency vehicles, and more! We will do an activity recreating a car by gluing different parts, like in the bookMy Carby Byron Barton. The students will have the chance to practice fine motor skills by "washing cars" with squeeze bottles, and they will build strength in the gym by completing an obstacle course on the scooter "cars!"

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes transportation, driver, car, road, steering wheel, brake, stop, go, truck, motorcycle, bike, van, trailer, passenger, seat belt, and fire truck.

Transition, Week of March 16, 2015

Next Stop: Trains!

We saved the best for last in our Transportation unit! This week, we will be learning all about trains. We will create our own creative versions of the MBTA map in the Monday class, posting the the maps around the room for exposure to real print. We will practice identifying shapes as we assemble them to create a larger picture of a train, move like trains in the gym, practicing matching the ticket color (red, orange, green, or blue) with the train we are getting on, and make train sculptures out of recycled materials. The children will also have the chance to sort modes of transportation based on where they travel: air, water, road, or tracks.

There will be opportunity to review previous transportation discussed with new classroom centers like our fire station in dramatic play and our construction trucks in the discovery table!  

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes Transportation, train, conductor, engineer, railroad, wheel, brake, stop, go, track, station, subway, tunnel, and passenger.

Music Time!

Last week, we sang the familiar song "Wheels on the Bus." This week, the children will hear the song "Down By the Station" with two different versions as books in the classroom library. Here is a video of one version. The melody varies slightly in the different versions.

http://youtu.be/em1XkoFkBVU

Music, Month of March

We are all looking forward to March in hopes of warmer weather...no more mitten songs!

In our Toddler and Transition classes, we will use the musical snake  which is a brightly colored band which helps us keep a steady beat to our songs. We also do large movement with it.

We will begin some of our spring songs such as "John the Rabbit" and "Little Bird Little Bird."

We will learn the dance Looby Loo and possibly add hula hoops for added fun and challenge ... put our hand IN the hoop and put our whole body IN the hoop and turn yourself about …

https://9d13437d7de14155f5cb-c488f6e2f3a25e89340a5b6907d61b01.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/ns2qmdhpt6/21%20Oh,%20John%20The%20Rabbit.mp3

Let it Snow… and Then Some!

Week of January 5, 2015

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

This week is all about science the senses as the children experience freezing and melting! We will see what happens when we place balloons filled with water outside overnight, and then what happens when we put them in our water table over the course of the morning! We will learn about snowflakes - that each crystal formation is different! We will look at photos of real snowflakes under a microscope and attempt to make our own crystal snowflakes with pipe cleaners and Borax soap solution. Finally, we will read one author's book about snowmen -Snowballsby Lois Ehlert. We will recreate her art by making our own snowmen with a mixture of shaving cream and glue. The children will collect "good stuff" from around the room to decorate their snowmen, like they do in the book!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes winter, water, ice, freeze, melt, snow, snowflake, cold, and snowman.

Making a snowman with Lily

Week of January 12, 2015

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Last week, we did a few experiments with the winter theme. We put balloons filled with water outside overnight, and the children practiced making predictions about what would happen to them! Some children thought they would pop, that the water would go out, and some thought they would fly away. They were excited to open the balloons and find ice inside! The children also enjoyed making snowflakes using a mixture of hot water and Borax soap. They left a pipe cleaner snowflake in the mixture, and crystals formed! You can find them on display in the window of our classroom.

This week, we will reinforce the concept of melting and freezing, as well as integrate new and familiar textures into our sensory vocabulary. We will experience ice melting as we paint with frozen paint. We will also make “snow” out of a mixture of corn starch and shaving cream.  

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes winter, ice, freezing, snow, liquid, cold, melt, snowflake, sledding, skating, snowman, coat, mittens, hat, and boots.

The teachers recreated an indoor Frog Pond Skating Rink! 

Emma helping Lily at the cash register.

The kids put plastic bags on their feet and "skated" around!

Drew and Addie enjoying a refreshment break while skating. 

Week of January 26, 2015

Bears!

This week, we are heading into the forest and learning about bears! The children will learn some of the characteristics of bears in the forest. They will learn that many bears like to eat fish, berries, and honey. They will learn that they live in caves and hibernate in winter. We will even have a bear cave in our dramatic play area, where the children can practice fishing for food, taking care of their cubs, or sleeping through the winter! We will play “Wake Up Sleeping Bear” in the gym, and we will go on a “bear hunt” around the school.

Next week, we will transition into learning about teddy bears. We will have a special HIBERNATION DAY at school on Wednesday, February 4, dressing up in our pajamas to get ready to sleep through the winter! The children can bring in their favorite teddy bear (or any lovey…) to join them throughout the school day and for a special Teddy Bear Picnic at snack. We will be sure to include a bear’s favorite foods!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes forest, tree, pine, pinecones, branches, snow, night, dark, chilly, bear, paw, fur, cub, cave, hibernate, fish, berries, honey, and hive.

Poetry Corner

This week, we will learn the poem "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" from the book by Michael Rosen. 

Music, Month of January

Wow! It is January and the year 2015!

As we move into serious winter, my Toddler and Toddler Transition classes will keep it warm and light with songs like "The Mitten" song and ice skating as we sing "A Cold and Frosty Morning."

I will be using and helping students play the autoharp on the song "Mary Wore a Red Dress." (We obviously change the name and the choose the clothing.)  We will also explore our Boomwhacker instrument which is a series of multi-colored plastic tubes which are meant to be hit -whacked- on the floor to produce pitch. You can hear and see the pitch difference in the tubes as we play simple songs.

Week of February 2, 2015

Valentine Bears

We miss you all!! I hope everyone is staying safe and warm during the blizzards and having LOTS of fun playing in the snow! 

This week, we are going to combine learning about bears with learning about Valentine's Day. We will read the book pictured above, where Mr. and Mrs. Bear set their alarms to go off for February, so they can wake up from hibernating and celebrate Valentine's Day together! The children will learn that many bears live in caves or dens and hibernate in winter. We will even have a bear cave in our dramatic play area, where the children can practice fishing for food, taking care of their cubs, or sleeping through the winter! We will play “Wake Up Sleeping Bear” in the gym, and we will go on a “bear hunt” around the school. We will also talk about celebrating Valentine's Day by making cards for people that you love. We will start to get ready for Valentine's Day by making cards for one another in class!

We will postpone HIBERNATION DAY and make it part of a small Valentine's Day celebration at school on Thursday, February 12. Children should come to school with their pajamas on, ready to hibernate! They can bring their favorite lovey to join us during a special bear snack (a Teddy Bear Picnic of sorts...) and to deliver valentines during Goodbye Circle! They are welcome to bring valentines from home, but we will be making them for one another at school, so every child will have at least one to deliver and receive!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes forest, tree, pine, pinecones, branches, snow, night, dark, chilly, bear, paw, fur, cub, cave, hibernate, fish, berries, honey, hive, valentines, love, card, and mail.

I never saw any pics from the bear hunt but the kids did go "Owling" after making their own binoculors or as Emma calls them "nanoculors".  

Emma and Drew searching for an owl. 

Can you spot an owl?  Lily is pointing to one on the wall!

Emma with her "nanoculors"

There is an owl! 

Week of February 9, 2015

My Funny Valentine

This week we will celebrate Valentine's Day like the bears! We will make Valentines for one another, for our families, and practice telling others how you care about them. We will have a Hibernation Day Valentine's celebration on Friday. The children can bring valentines from home. We will be making them in school, also, if we have the chance! They will deliver them to each other during circle time. They can wear pajamas and bring their favorite lovey. We will play our favorite hibernation game, "Wake Up Sleeping Bear," during gym time!

We have a secondary focus on the Post Office. There is a Post Office in dramatic play, where children can practice collecting and delivering mail, buying stamps, and writing letters for the mail.

Music, Month of February

In our Toddler and Toddler Transition classes we will learn the movement song "Down I Flop". The song is in a minor key which gives us a different tonality to explore. The students must move (bounce, walk, jump, etc) and then stand still then flop down.

We are also learning "The Dingle Dangle Scarecrow" and we will begin some of our dinosaur songs such as "Stegosaurus" and "We Are the Dinosaurs".

In our classes it is more frequent to see the faces of students as they respond with delight to the various instruments and I am noticing more laughter and expressions of pleasure.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Xmas!

Week of December 1, 2014

It's December Already?

It's hard to believe it's already December! We are together for three weeks before winter break, so we are going to go ahead and dive into Christmas this week in Transition! We will talk about Christmas as Jesus' birthday and make connections to our own birthday celebrations. We will also introduce the Nativity story, the story of when Jesus was born. We will learn about the way the shepherds and angels celebrated and sang and how the Wise Men brought the first Christmas gifts.

We will have a secondary focus on health and hygiene this week, as the winter season is upon us! The children can practice being the receptionist, doctor, or patient in the Dramatic Play Doctor's Office, describing their symptoms, and giving care instructions. They will also get the chance to practice washing dishes in the Sensory Table, making more bubbles the more they scrub! We will also emphasize personal care practices like washing hands and using tissues.

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes Christmas, birthday, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, wise men, manger, winter, ice, snow, doctor, and patient.

Music Time!

One of the songs we will sing this week in class and in chapel is "Away in a Manger." The lyrics are: (We will most likely only do the first verse)

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,

The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.

The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,

But little Lord Jesus no crying He makes.

I love you, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky,

And stay by my cradle til morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay,

Close by me forever and love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,

And fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there.

Emma's friends washing dishes.

Dr. Emma taking a break from seeing patients to complete a puzzle. 

Busy in the kitchen. 

End of school play-doh time!

Week of December 8, 2014

Away in a Manger...

This week, we will continue learning about Christmas! We celebrate Christmas because it is Jesus's birthday! We will connect what the children already know about birthday celebrations to the celebration of Christmas. We will also review the Nativity story, the account of Jesus's conception and birth from the Bible. The children will get the chance to act out this story in our dramatic play Nativity! We will focus this week on the Wise Men bringing gifts to Jesus. We will talk about giving gifts to people that we love!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes Christmas, birthday, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, wise men, manger, gifts, winter, ice, and snow.

Music Time!

We have a board book set of Christmas carols in the classroom that we have been listening to on CD. The songs included are: Away in a Manger, Silent Night, and Hark the Herald Angels sing!

Week of December 15, 2014

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

This week is our last week talking about Christmas! We will review the Nativity story and learn about some of the traditional celebrations of Christmas. We will bake gingerbread cookies: following a recipe, mixing ingredients, rolling and cutting the dough, baking them in the oven, and taking them home to taste! We will celebrate Jesus's birthday with a "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" party. Come celebrate with us at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday. December 17. Hope to see you there!

Some of the vocabulary we will introduce and review this week includes Christmas, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, angels, nativity, shepherds, sheep, donkey, Wise Men, star, gifts, stockings, ornaments, birthday, party, and celebration.

Music Time!

Among the Christmas carols we have been singing in school, we have also been singing the song "Jingle Bells!" The lyrics are:

Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh,

Over the fields we go, laughing all the way!

Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits bright,

What fun it is to ride and sing our sleighing song tonight! Oh!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!

Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.

Emma's friends playing with the nativity set.

Emma and Drew taking a turn with the nativity set. 

Little Christmas tree for the kids to decorate.

Sloan playing in the manger. 

Playing with pretend snowballs.

Music, Month of December

We will be listening to a classical piece by Glazunov and keeping a steady beat with our jingles. These also are fun when we begin doing our Christmas songs such as Jingle Bells and Silent Night. 

We will learn the folk dance called "Sally Go Round the Sun" which is a line dance. Later we will add a hop and change direction! We continue to listen to sound clips--this month of horses. We will also learn "See the Pony Galloping" and listen to the sung story "Over the River and Through the Wood."