Week Eight: Pumpkins, Letter G, and Number 2

What an incredible fall week we had!

To start with, we will have a star student every week.  This is a student that is chosen based on their good listening, working, sharing, and kindness.  When your child is the star student, they get a special sticker, certificate, and pencil.  They also get to help with calendar and weather during circle time.  Our star student for the past week was Alaina.  Alaina has been doing a great job during stations and is a good listener during circle time.  Great work, Alaina!

On Wednesday, the students were able to go and pick pumpkins from the front of the school.  All week we learned about how pumpkins grow.  It was so fun to get pumpkins of our own.

On Friday, we started our day with another science experiment.  Can big pumpkins really float or do they sink?  Oh my goodness, they float!

Our class looked great in our costumes, all ready for the fall parade!

Our special fall party snack was delicious!  Thank you all for pitching in and bringing something extra for our fall party!

The children had a wonderful time sharing treats with each other and practicing saying please and thank you.  As you could see by their very full bags, everyone had things to share!  Our parade and songs were great!

Below is our class newsletter for the week and our November snack calendar.  Next week is full of night time fun!

Week Seven: Apples and Number 1

I know that every week I say that I really love the theme for the week and that it is a favorite.  That is true again this week.  I love apple week!  Here are a few highlights of our apple filled week.

*Do apples sink or float?  Before we started the experiment, we hypothesized what each of us thought might happen on a graph.  6 students thought the apple would sink, and 4 thought it would float.  We discussed why we voted the way we did.  Some of my favorite thoughts..."The apple will sink because it is heavy."  "The apple will float.  My mommy showed me once at home and it floats!"  Here are some pictures from our apple sink or float experiment.

Afterwards, we discussed that sometimes even heavy things float, like big boats.  Next week, we get to see if big pumpkins sink or float.  Very exciting!

*Apple tasting!  It is so great to watch all the kids try three different types of apples.  And our class certainly loves apples!  In fact, the only people on the graph that don't love all three kinds are Ms. Gwen and Ms. Donna.

*Ten Apples Up On Top:  If you have never read this very silly book, check it out.  The students love this funny counting book.  This year, we tried a new craft that I just adore.  Thank you to Ms. Donna for finding this one for us.  We took pictures of the students and had them glue apples on top of their heads.  So cute!  You will get these home soon, but I wanted to give you a preview since they are hanging up in the classroom.

*Hooray for beautiful fall weather!  Here are some pictures of our outside play time.  All of the children love to climb, run, slide, swing, and play pretend.  We are enjoying this weather while it lasts!

Such a great week!  And I didn't even tell you about our storyteller from the library, Ms. MaryBeth.

Here is our class newsletter for the week.  Hope you have a great weekend!

Week Six: Fall and Letter D

Fall is here!  This week we learned all about the changes that happen during fall.  We went on a leaf hunt, sang songs about leaves, and read many fun fall books.  Also, we were very ORANGE on Wednesday.

One of the things that I love about our class is that we all play together so well.  Everyone gets along well and we are getting very good at sharing and taking turns.  Here are a few pictures of our class playing together on Friday.

Below is our class newsletter for the week.  See you all soon!

Week Five: Fire Safety and Letter A

Even though we only had two days this week, they were jam packed with fire safety fun!  On Monday, we all went through an obstacle course to save a teddy bear from a fire.  We jumped in hoops, balanced on a balance beam, and crawled through a tunnel.  After we saved the teddy bear, we had to crawl underneath the parachute just like we would crawl underneath the smoke.  Phew, the teddy bear is safe!

On Wednesday, we had chapel with Pastor Brian.  We love chapel time!  We get to sing, dance, and learn more about Jesus.

We also rolled a dice and got to spray the burning house however many we rolled.  Spray bottles are fun and help with finger strength.

Speaking of spray bottles, here is a video of our class spraying a pretend fire outside.  Fire safety can be fun and is so important!  Please review everything that your child learned throughout the year!

Here is our newsletter for the week.  Have a great day!

Week Four: Community Helpers and Letter O

Who are the people in your neighborhood?  I love community helpers week!  And who doesn't love that old Sesame Street song?  Ah, memories from my childhood!

We learned about doctors, firefighters, mail carriers, and bakers.  Firefighter John came to visit and shared important information like "Stop, Drop, and Roll", 911, and how to crawl out of the way of smoke.  We will learn more about fire safety next week.  Here are some pictures of our time with Firefighter John.

A very fun part of our day is station time.  There are four stations every day that your child visits.  Here are our four stations from Friday.

Station One (Ms. Gwen's table): Coloring and cutting a Letter O for Octopus windsock. These are now hanging in our classroom and will come home later in the year.

Station Two: Today we played with playdough and blocks together.  Some of our students are very creative and used the blocks as tools.  Others created buildings with the playdough and blocks together.  This group made lots of little balls with the playdough.  Playdough is a great way to build small motor skills and finger strength.  Plus, it is very fun!

Station Three (Ms. Donna's table): Making our mail carrier bags was fun and challenging. Lacing is a complicated skill.  Our kids did great!

Station Four: Free play!  During this station, the children can play anywhere in the room that they would like.  This group was playing in the kitchen area.  Our class plays together so nicely.  It is a joy to see them working together and learning to share and take turns.

Here is the October snack calendar and our class newsletter for the week.  Have a great weekend and we will see you next week!