November 7th, 2014

G is for Gorilla!

This week we were introduced to the letter Gg

We also started a new unit learning about community helpers.  We'll first focus on emergency workers and then broaden our lesson to people in our neighborhood by next week. 

I've invited several visitors to the classroom over the next two weeks (and, if you feel like you might want to come in and talk about your job, I would be thrilled to have you).  Our first guest this week was Dr. Bui as she discussed her job as a family practitioner.  

Afterwards, we had fun with everything medical.

We still found time to learn our Gg's, though...

...and make G-Gorillas.

The next visitor in the classroom was a virtual guest.  Officer Ozeroff (my dad, a former D.A.R.E. officer) joined the classroom by Skype.  We talked a lot about safety, how police officers help, and parents getting tickets (the latter was brought up quite a bit by the children).

We also learned about fingerprints!

An extremely important lesson we covered all week long was how to call, and when to use, 911.  We practiced using several types of phones, getting used to locating and navigating the keypads. I also stressed the concept that, if the phone has a green button (sometimes it's labeled, "send", sometimes it just has an image of a phone receiver) it must be pushed after dialing 911.

Please take the time to show your child how to dial on your home/cell phone.  Every phone is different.

To ensure we don't misuse 911, we learned a special song this week:

(To the tune of Three Blind Mice)

9-1-1, 9-1-1

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

It's for an emergency

To get help for you or for me

Let's discuss it so we agree

9-1-1, 9-1-1

I love being a preschool teacher!

We found time for our golden, glitter-g's, too.

On Wednesday, we got to visit with Firefighter Ryan and local engine no. 15 for the  3rd year in a row.

This never gets old.

For the rest of the week, we learned our lessons firefighter style.

Whether we're working hard...

...or taking a "peace & quiet" break, we love preschool!

October 25th, 2014

F is for Frankenstein

Welcome to Halloween!

As we dove into the holiday, our first order of business was learning all about spiders.  We created webs and experimented with the fact that they're so sticky.

We counted and matched numbers with them.

We made spider handprints... 

...and a classroom web site.

We also got to have our first music lesson of the year with Mr. Maldonado.  

Mr. Maldonado is a highly experienced music teacher who has taught children for years and we're so lucky to have him in the classroom once a month!

Then, we went back to Halloween!

We learned about bats while viewing a slideshow.

We examined their parts in my highly scientific sketch (which somewhat resembles a flying pig)

...and read about them in our Itsy Bitsy Bat Book.

Finally, we made bat clothes pins to hold up our Frankenstein F's
















We also painted our feet this week...

...to make ghosts.

We're super-preschoolers.  And I have the best job ever!

October 11th, 2014

This week we celebrated all things Dd...

d is for duck!

...and celebrated all things pumpkin!

We started off the week with our D-Dots...

dominoes...

...and, of course, dinosaurs.

As we examined numbers 7 & 8, we put together pumpkin puzzles...

...and practiced the written numbers throughout the week.

Tuesday was, by far, the highlight, however.  Each year we take a wonderful field trip to visit the pumpkin patch and this year was no exception.  Sacred Heart Preschool has grown so big now, there were actually 2 scheduled trips - Tuesday for our older students and Thursday for the younger.

Getting back to business in class, we made our d-ducks

and dissected a few pumpkins brought back from the patch.

We practiced our written Dd's...

...a lot.

Then, on Friday, we had an opportunity to make a loaf of pumpkin bread.

It was sufficiently yummy.

Whether we're cooking in the classroom...






















...or dancing in the rain, we love preschool.

October 4th, 2014

C is for Caterpillar!

This week we learned about the the letter Cc.

After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we made our own very hungry caterpillars.

We also started our observations of the fall.

We sorted acrylic pumpkins, leaves and acorns...

...and counted them, too.

We played in our harvest bin...

...we made leaf collages as we practiced our scissor use.

Everyone got to tell their own story about their favorite part of fall, Halloween topping the list.  My favorite part, however, is pumpkin spice lattes.

c is for clouds!                                  

By Wednesday, we were ready for our lower case c-clouds...

...and hearing the c as a beginning sound.

Best part of the week, though?  We made pumpkin spice playdough.  

Preschool is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.