Wednesday, September 14

Group Meeting:  As I mentioned last week, we are counting the day of school by putting a sticker in a 10 frame.  Today, our sticker completed the first 10 frame.  We know that we have completed 10 days of school.

Story:  The story for today was Corduroy by Don Freeman.  In this classic story, Corduroy is a toy bear who lives in a toy department waiting for someone to buy him and take him home.  A little girl, Lisa, would like to buy him, but her mother notices that he is missing a button on the shoulder strap of his overalls.  That night, Corduroy goes looking for his button.  Ask your child to tell you if Corduroy finds his button and who comes to take Corduroy home.

Small Groups:  The children worked on fine motor skills with a choice of play dough and playdough tools or eye droppers with colored water.

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The snack for today was Clementine oranges, milk, and water.

Tuesday, September 13

Group Meeting: We are slowly adding new things to our daily schedule.  Yesterday, we started Math Journals by coloring the apple on the cover.  Today, the direction for the first page was to draw one apple.  

Story: The story for today was Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly.  This is a book of pages with cut out shapes to help create pictures.  As your turn the pages, a monster slowly appears.  First the eyes, then the mouth and teeth, and so on until you can see a monster face.  Then, the monster slowly disappears as you continue to the end of the book.  I like to read books like this because the children can easily "read" it to themselves the next day in our story area.

Small Groups:  We used the name boxes from yesterday to put the letters of our names in the correct order.  

Large Group: The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.  Tomorrow, we will plan to stay out a little longer.

Snack: The snack for today was apples, Nutella, milk, and juice.

Monday, September 12

Group Meeting: We started the day by learning how to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I have two paper cutouts of hands on the easel. One is red and marked with the letter R. This helps the children identify their right hand.

Story: The story for today was Charlie Anderson by Barbara Abercrombie. Charlie is a cat who wandered into Sarah and Elizabeth’s house one day.  They decide to keep him. Charlie stays in the house at night and explores the woods during the day. One night, Charlie does not come home. The girls worry about him. They go searching through the neighborhood. They find a neighbor who has a cat who looks just like Charlie. Could it be the same cat? Ask your child to tell you how Charlie has two homes.

Small Groups: The children were given a container of paper circles that had the letters of  their names printed on them. They had to unscramble the letters to spell their name. A sample was provided to help them with the correct order.

Large Group: The children learned how to play Four Corners.   This is a game played with four cones that are four different colors.  One child counts to 10 while all of the other children move between the cones.  When the counter gets to 10, all of the children must stop by a cone of their choice.  The counter calls a color.  The children standing by that cone must sit in the middle.  This play continues until there is only one child left.

Snack:  The snack for today was cheese sticks, Goldfish, juice and water.

Thursday, September 8

Group Meeting:  We have added a job chart to our clean up routine.  When the clean up bell rings, the children go to the chart to find the area in which they are to help clean.  With everyone helping, it doesn't take much time at all to get things put away.

Story:  The story for today was A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni.  Most animals have a color that is all their own.  Pigs are pink, parrots are green.  A chameleon is always changing colors.  The chameleon in our story wishes that he could stay one color.  He tries sitting on a leaf so that he will remain green, but the leaf changes colors and falls away.  After the winter, the chameleon meets another chameleon.  This chameleon tells him that they cannot keep from changing colors, but they can stay together so that they will be the same.  We used this to start a discussion about friends.

Small Groups:  We are working on name recognition.  I gave the children a paper that had balloons on it.  Some of the balloons had their name printed on them.  Some balloons were different names.  If they found a balloon with their name, they stamped it with a dot-a-dot marker.

Large Group:  Our Let's Find Out Magazine was about trying our best in school.  The video was like a game show in which we had to select the correct answer to questions about how to be polite in school.  You can see the video here letsfindout.com  Sign in as a student and use the password redeemer.

Snack:  The snack for today was Belvita bars, juice and water.  The children are getting very good at pouring their own drinks!

Wednesday, September 7

 Group Meeting:  We started our session by dancing to “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. We discussed all of the feelings that we might feel throughout our day and how to handle the feelings that we have.

Story: The story for today was Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin. Pete has a yellow shirt with four colorful buttons. One of the buttons falls off. Does Pete cry? Goodness no! Buttons come and buttons go. Pete keeps losing buttons until only one is left. Ask your child to tell you about his last button. This is a great subtraction book.

Large Group: We played a name game called “Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee. In this game, we say a child’s name, clap it, whisper it, and shout it. This will help us remember our friends names. 

We went to the Outdoor Classroom at the end of the day.

Snack: The snack for today was yogurt, granola, juice, and water.

The children have notes in their folders today about a field trip coming up on October 3rd.  Please mark your calendars!

Tuesday, September 6

Group Meeting: We are starting to count our school days. Every day, we add a sticker to a 10 frame and count the total amount of stickers. We will count by ones for now. Later in the school year, we will count by tens.

Story: The story for today was Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes.  Wemberly worries about everything.  She worries about her parents, things in her home, and her stuffed bunny, Petal.  Her parents try to help her to not worry.  One day, Wimberly has a new worry, school.  Will her teacher be nice?  Will she make a friend?  What will happen if she can't fine the bathroom?  Ask your child to tell you what happens with the help of Wemberly's teacher.   After the story, the children discussed what they can do at school if they have a worry.

Small Groups:  The children learned the song "Pick Up a Crayon".  This song reminds us of the way to hold a crayon.  We practiced holding a crayon and coloring little stars and fireflies.  In your Parent Orientation folder, you will find a handout on how to help your child hold a crayon.  

Large Group:  The children went to the Outdoor Classroom.

Snacks:  The snack for today was carrots, ranch dressing, milk and water.   We are practicing our table manners by saying "yes, please" and "no, thank you".  

Thursday, September 1

Group Meeting:  We have learned the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty" this week.  We have also learned two songs: Little Green Frog and There Was a Little Turtle.  You may catch your child singing them at home.

Story:  The story for today was Monster Knows Table Manners by Connie Colwell Miller.  In this story, Monster tells about how his family uses manners at dinner time.  They sit at the table and wait for everyone to be seated.  They pass food using please and thank you.  When dinner is over, Monster carries his plates to the counter.  He waits until being dismissed before leaving the table.  These are the same table manners that we use at school.  It will take us a while to get into the routine, but we're doing well so far!

Large Group:  Every Thursday, we will have a Let's Find Out Magazine from Scholastic.  The topics for the magazines are usually social studies or science.  We watch a video about the topic and look at the magazine together.  Today, the magazine was about washing hands. The video topic was catching sneezes and coughs before germs spread.    Parents have access to these online resources as well.  Click on this link, sign in as a student and use the password redeemer.  This works best if you use Chrome on a computer verses an ipad or phone.  letsfindout.com

Snacks:  The snack for today was cheese slices, Wheat Thins, juice and water.

We're off to a great start.  I want to thank everyone for their patience in the car line as we match children to parents, grandparents, and daycare.  Have a great Labor Day weekend.  See you Tuesday!