December 24th, 2015

The week leading up to break, we really got into the Christmas spirit!

J is for Jingle Bells!

You know, because the weather outside was frightful...

...but the fire was so delightful.

And since we've no place to go,

let it (hydrated polymer blend) snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Actually, we really got into snow!

After practicing with scissors the last couple of weeks, we worked carefully on our origami snowflakes...   

...and were so excited by the results!  Oddly enough, no two snowflakes looked alike.

For some math practice this week, we sorted bows and buttons

...used playdough to practice the number 7...

...and carefully sorted smallest to biggest.

We also worked on our lower-case j.

j is for jack-in-the-box!

On Thursday, we read The Gingerbread Boy.

Then, we spent much of the day making our own gingerbread cookies.
This required an entire separate blog entry (see Gingerbread Cookies 101).

It's going to be a Christmas to remember in preschool!

Because we're awesome.  High five!!!

To all of my wonderful children...

A very Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Cookies 101

How to make preschool gingerbread cookies:

In a large bowl, mix together 3 cups of flour

1 tsp of baking soda

3/4 tsp of cinnamon

3/4 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp allspice, and 1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt

and stir vigorously!

Add 1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup molasses 

1 egg

and mix!

Make a big, floury mess and roll out the dough

In fact, roll lots of times

Using a cookie cutter, cut out the cookie shapes

Bake at 350° for 8 minutes

Once cooled, frost and decorate generously.

Oh, and don't forget to lick!

Enjoy!

November 23rd, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Beginning our exploration of the holiday, we first accessed our Thanksgiving library of awesomeness

Learning first about the pilgrims' voyage across the Atlantic and their subsequent first harsh winter, we focused a lot on the Wampanoag tribe teaching the pilgrims how to grow The Three Sisters; corn, beans and squash.

"The corn that grows so high, the beans that wrap around the cornstalks, and the squash at the bottom."

We also made some turkey handprints...

Thanksgiving wreaths...

Thanksgiving playdough...

and Thanksgiving patterns.

On Wednesday, we celebrated together with a preschool feast.

Of course, we didn't forget to reflect on what we're thankful for.

Especially our Rainbow Dash jackets.

Have a wonderful holiday!

November 13th, 2015

This week, we learned all about the letter Hh.

Hay is for horses!

We also became community helper experts

Our first order of business was to learn all about 9-1-1

We stressed what a true emergency may look like when 9-1-1 needs to be called.  We also talked extensively about misusing it, even learning a song just for the occasion (my job is so fun!):

To the tune of Three Blind Mice

9-1-1, 9-1-1

It's not for fun, it's not fun

It's for an emergency

To get help for you or me

Let's discuss it so we agree

9-1-1, 9-1-1

Since every phone is different, we practiced finding the numbers (and the green "call" button) on many different 2-dimensional phones.

This week, we had a chance to visit with Nurse Alison

and Firefighter Jeremy!

We also learned about police officers.  Then, we took an opportunity to examine fingerprints (hopefully, this will be the last time you see their prints on this document).

We had lots of chances to take care of Ms. Katie's baby in her tummy, too.

On Thursday, we were able to visit with Scientist Cecilia

...who brought in microscopes and slides of bug legs, onion peels, and lots of fun things!

Eventually, we all had an opportunity to think about what we wanted to be when we grow up.

Although, I kinda like them as they are now.