Weeks 28 - 32

Week 28-
Tuesday the 31st- we continued with the "I can go to town" theme and talked about libraries and banks. We discussed what is in these places and how they are important. Our class did pretend play- each child receiving their very own "Kinder-Tots Preschool Library card" which they used to check out books one at a time. I made the "beep" noise with their card and the book and they loved it! I enjoyed it too :) This week was just a review of the alphabet letters we have learned so far.
Wednesday the 1st- The ocean and the seashore was our theme and read many books about animals and plants we see there. We made ocean scenes and talked also about the importance of being careful playing around water.
Thursday the 2nd was our field trip to the Farm. I think the kids really enjoy going to the farm and having a hands on experience. O is still talking about Farmer Jason. I have lots of pictures of the kids that you will get on the CD at the end of the year. In all, it was a fun day- I hope your child liked it too! This was also a great way to start us on our monthly unit about the farm.

Week 29-
Tuesday the 7th was our lesson about the farm. We touched on all the aspects- farming & the equipment, the animals, buildings and people involved. We also learned about the letter "W".
Wednesday the 8th was on Little Red Riding Hood. We read the story and ate grandmother's cookies for snack. Each child made puppets for the story and a wolf mask to take home so they could tell family members the story they learned.
Thursday the 9th was about all the farm animals. I had each child look at our farm poster and find an animal that they wanted to learn about and we talked about each one. This was also our Easter egg hunt day- who knew that hunts could be so crazy! They love doing it though so I love doing it for them.

Week 30-
Tuesday the 14th was black day. We colored our black books, colored a black suit on a bear and painted black spots on white paper like we saw on the cows at the farm. We also started on the letter "X". This is a harder sound to work on with the kids but they did great. I taught them "Captain Hook" finger because that is the sign for the letter "X" with "X" marking the spot of pirate treasure. We also celebrated O.B's birthday- in both classes. I guess there is a bonus to going to preschool twice each day.
Wednesday the 15th we celebrated Earth day- a week early! We talked about how they can help the Earth- even as kids. We made some goals to work on so I hope you have seen a difference in them- turning off lights in rooms no on is in, turning off the TV after they are done watching, keeping the water off as they brush their teeth, recycling and throwing trash away.
Thursday the 16th was the number 10 day. We practiced counting up to ten, singing our numeral song. We also practiced in Spanish and also traced it. 10 farmers needed hats so they colored hats on each one of them.
Week 31-
Tuesday the 21st was our day to practice being a farmer by planting seeds. I wanted to teach them what is needed in planting seeds- water, sunlight and soil. For them to see the process though, we planted our seed in a plastic bag so we could see the root start and the stem shoot upwards. They loved watching how much progress they were making. We also started with the letter "Y"- learning that it helps out our vowel friends- A, E, I, O & U.
Wednesday the 22nd- we celebrated Eric Carle and all the books he has created and published. I had them all out for the boys to read and enjoy. We also watched a few of Eric Carle's books that have been made into movies. The boys enjoyed the stories coming to life. We talked about the Hungry Little Caterpillar and colored the different segments of the story ang then put them back together.
Thursday the 23rd was "I can be patient" day and we discovered that we had to be patient with our seeds growing. We also talked about other ways we have to be patient and when we have to wait of things. They knew all about this and I was impressed on how much they told me of things they have to be patient for.
Week 32-
Tuesday the 28th was white day. Each of the kids found white somewhere on them- even it was on their teeth! :) We painted something white in class, but it is for our Mother's day gift...so no more details than that. We learned that white is the opposite of black- our color a few weeks ago. We also started on our last letter of the year-"Z"! It is fun to see how much we have learned this year- time has flown by much too quickly.
Wednesday the 29th was our day to learn the Tortoise and the Hare and how slow and steady wins the race. The boys were shocked that the tortoise actually won! We discussed the opposites- slow and fast and where we see those speeds in nature and all around our world. The boys colored a tortoise and a hare puppet to take home. They also cut out manipulatives of the tortoise and the hare- 6 of each. We practiced adding, subtracting and making patterns with these for the rest of class.
Thursday the 30th was a great day for us to practice counting to 30-has your child counted to 30 for you yet? We practice every day of class. We can also count to 20 in Spanish! We talked about caterpillars and butterflies- next time I will plan better so we will have our little friends in the class with them when I do this unit. I like to have them in the class each year- they always love seeing the change that the caterpillars make and then watching them fly away. They learned about the life cycle of the butterfly starting with the egg to caterpillar to pupa to butterfly!