I was hoping to post today about our fun Winter Parties, but bummer, we weren't there! I hope you all enjoyed the snow today and your little ones got to have some fun. Thank you to everyone who sent in items for the party, and we will do some of those activities when we come back in January.
I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and I hope you all get to spend some fun family time together over the break. I will see you and your kiddos in January!
Mrs. Chaloux
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Christmas Fun
Today we had a fun trip to The Essex of Grain Valley Assisted Living Facility to sing Christmas Carols. We've been practicing our songs all week, and the kids were excited to perform them this morning. Here are some pictures and a video of our trip!
A few friends on the bus ride (sometimes that is exciting in itself!):
Some of our class and others from our school waiting for the show to start:
A few friends on the bus ride (sometimes that is exciting in itself!):
Our first song, Jingle Bells (The facility was not very large, so our students were pretty packed in there, and our class is toward the back, so you can't get a good view of all of the kids...sorry!):
In addition to our Christmas songs, we've been doing some fun learning activities with our themes of Winter and Christmas. We practiced cutting skills snipping coffee filters into snowflakes. We practiced spelling and/or writing our names when we made snowmen out of the letters in our names. We practiced identifying longer and shorter by sequencing strips of paper by size and making cute Christmas trees. Here are some pictures of a few of us counting marshmallows as "snowflakes" onto our numbered snowmen.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Math Games
We used this week to review some of our skills, and that included a lot of fun learning games. I wanted to share some of them with you in case you would like to play them with your child at home!
Itsy Bitsy Spider Game
Materials needed:
Ice cube tray or egg carton
Plastic spider rings
Spinner or numbered die
1. Start by singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and acting out the motions as you sing.
2. Place your ice cube tray or egg carton vertically between the players as your "water spout" that your spiders will climb up and down. Place your spiders in the bottom of one side.
3. Each player takes a turn spinning the spinner or rolling the die and moving their spider that number of spaces up one side of the "spout" and once the spider reaches the top, it will move down the other side.
4. Play continues until both spiders have climbed up and down the spout. This game helps with number recognition and counting with one-to-one correspondence.
More or Less Game
Materials needed:
Circles cut out of construction paper to look like cookies--Draw a different number of chocolate chips on each cookie (Numbers 1-10)
Cookie Jar or some type of container
1. Place the cookies inside your container.
2. On each turn, decide together whether you will be looking for "more" or "less" this turn. You could flip a coin and heads could mean "more" while tails means "less" or you can just take turns deciding.
3. Once you know whether you are looking for more or less, each player reaches into the container and pulls out a cookie. Count the number of chips on your cookie. If on that turn you were looking for "more" the player with the larger number of chips wins the turn. Or, if you had decided on "less" the player with fewer chips wins the turn.
4. This game helps practice counting and number concepts such as comparing numbers.
Parking Cars Game
Materials needed:
Construction paper
Toy cars
1. Prepare your paper with "parking spots" by drawing lines and numbering each space with a different numeral.
2. Give your child a toy car and call out a number, and he or she must drive the car to that parking spot. Continue calling out numbers, or to increase difficulty, roll a die and have your child count the dots and then find the corresponding numeral in the "parking lot."
3. Another variation on this game would be to prepare your "parking lot" with letters of the alphabet and have your child park the car on the letters you call out.
Fly Swatter Game
Materials needed:
Fly swatter
Index cards labeled with numbers, colors, letters, or shapes
1. Decide on the skill you would like to practice; ie: colors, numbers, letters, or shapes
2. Label index cards with those items and hang them in various places around the room.
3. Give your child the fly swatter and call out a color, number, etc. and have him or her run to the correct card and "swat" it.
4. This is a fun way to review skills while getting some movement in.
Shape Hokey Pokey
Materials needed:
Paper shapes in a variety of shapes (or if you have a shape puzzle, you could use pieces from that)
1. Gather your family to make a circle and hand out the shapes to everyone participating.
2. Sing the traditional Hokey Pokey song, but call out shapes rather than body parts. For example, "Put your CIRCLE in, Put your CIRCLE out, Put your CIRCLE in and shake it all about. Do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around, That's what it's all about!"
3. Continue calling out different shapes as you sing.
Number Memory Game
Materials Needed:
Cards labeled with numerals 1-10
Cards labeled with different number of dots
1. Mix the numeral and dot cards together and lay them out face down on a table.
2. One player turns over two cards, looking for a numeral card and a dot card with the corresponding number of dots. If they are not a match, turn them back over.
3. The next player turns over two cards, and play continues until all of the numeral cards have been matched to their dot cards.
4. To start this game, you may want to use only the numbers 1-5, so there are fewer cards to be matched, and then build up to 1-10 once your child has a better understanding of the game.
Itsy Bitsy Spider Game
Materials needed:
Ice cube tray or egg carton
Plastic spider rings
Spinner or numbered die
1. Start by singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and acting out the motions as you sing.
2. Place your ice cube tray or egg carton vertically between the players as your "water spout" that your spiders will climb up and down. Place your spiders in the bottom of one side.
3. Each player takes a turn spinning the spinner or rolling the die and moving their spider that number of spaces up one side of the "spout" and once the spider reaches the top, it will move down the other side.
4. Play continues until both spiders have climbed up and down the spout. This game helps with number recognition and counting with one-to-one correspondence.
More or Less Game
Materials needed:
Circles cut out of construction paper to look like cookies--Draw a different number of chocolate chips on each cookie (Numbers 1-10)
Cookie Jar or some type of container
1. Place the cookies inside your container.
2. On each turn, decide together whether you will be looking for "more" or "less" this turn. You could flip a coin and heads could mean "more" while tails means "less" or you can just take turns deciding.
3. Once you know whether you are looking for more or less, each player reaches into the container and pulls out a cookie. Count the number of chips on your cookie. If on that turn you were looking for "more" the player with the larger number of chips wins the turn. Or, if you had decided on "less" the player with fewer chips wins the turn.
4. This game helps practice counting and number concepts such as comparing numbers.
Parking Cars Game
Materials needed:
Construction paper
Toy cars
1. Prepare your paper with "parking spots" by drawing lines and numbering each space with a different numeral.
2. Give your child a toy car and call out a number, and he or she must drive the car to that parking spot. Continue calling out numbers, or to increase difficulty, roll a die and have your child count the dots and then find the corresponding numeral in the "parking lot."
3. Another variation on this game would be to prepare your "parking lot" with letters of the alphabet and have your child park the car on the letters you call out.
Fly Swatter Game
Materials needed:
Fly swatter
Index cards labeled with numbers, colors, letters, or shapes
1. Decide on the skill you would like to practice; ie: colors, numbers, letters, or shapes
2. Label index cards with those items and hang them in various places around the room.
3. Give your child the fly swatter and call out a color, number, etc. and have him or her run to the correct card and "swat" it.
4. This is a fun way to review skills while getting some movement in.
Shape Hokey Pokey
Materials needed:
Paper shapes in a variety of shapes (or if you have a shape puzzle, you could use pieces from that)
1. Gather your family to make a circle and hand out the shapes to everyone participating.
2. Sing the traditional Hokey Pokey song, but call out shapes rather than body parts. For example, "Put your CIRCLE in, Put your CIRCLE out, Put your CIRCLE in and shake it all about. Do the Hokey Pokey and turn yourself around, That's what it's all about!"
3. Continue calling out different shapes as you sing.
Number Memory Game
Materials Needed:
Cards labeled with numerals 1-10
Cards labeled with different number of dots
1. Mix the numeral and dot cards together and lay them out face down on a table.
2. One player turns over two cards, looking for a numeral card and a dot card with the corresponding number of dots. If they are not a match, turn them back over.
3. The next player turns over two cards, and play continues until all of the numeral cards have been matched to their dot cards.
4. To start this game, you may want to use only the numbers 1-5, so there are fewer cards to be matched, and then build up to 1-10 once your child has a better understanding of the game.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Thanksgiving Feast!
Today we celebrated Thanksgiving at Early Childhood. We are so thankful for the parents who helped by sending in all of the delicious food and for the volunteers to help during the feast. It all went so well! We encouraged all of the students to try at least one bite of everything offered, and they ALL did! We ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and rolls. This month's character trait is "Be Polite" so we got lots of practice asking for "more, please" or saying "no, thank you." After eating with our class in our room, we joined the other classes for some pumpkin pie, a story read by Ms. Juliann, and a Thanksgiving sing-along. Everyone had such a great time this morning!
I want to tell you all how thankful I am for your children and the chance to spend my mornings with them. Enjoy your holiday, however you celebrate it!
Now check out some of the pictures from our feast:
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Friday, November 2, 2012
This Week's Fun
This week we did a lot of celebrating and having fun! On Tuesday, we celebrated our Box Top success with a fun party planned by Ms. Stacie, including lots of animal games and activities. We will begin collecting Box Tops again this month, with a chance to earn another great reward, so send yours in!
Then on Wednesday, we had our Fall party, which was so much fun! Thank you to the parents and grandparents who were able to join us, and to the parents who brought treats to share. The kids had a great time.
I wanted to share some great pictures from this week, too.
Here are some pictures of a "Spider Snack" the kids made on Monday. They practiced some fine motor skills by spreading icing on a cracker and then placing pretzel for legs. They turned out pretty cute, and they were tasty too.
Then on Wednesday, we had our Fall party, which was so much fun! Thank you to the parents and grandparents who were able to join us, and to the parents who brought treats to share. The kids had a great time.
I wanted to share some great pictures from this week, too.
Here are some pictures of a "Spider Snack" the kids made on Monday. They practiced some fine motor skills by spreading icing on a cracker and then placing pretzel for legs. They turned out pretty cute, and they were tasty too.
And this cute picture of several students who decided on their own during play time to make a train. They took turns being the "driver" and lined up their chairs for some fun pretend play. So cute!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Playing in the Leaves
With the sudden burst of warm weather we have gotten this week, we just had to get outside! Today we walked up the hill to an area with lots of trees whose leaves had fallen. The kids had such a fun time running around, piling up, jumping in, and throwing the leaves. I only wish I had remembered to bring my camera, because they were truly enjoying themselves.
You can use the outdoors for learning activities at home, too. Look for leaves in your yard or on a walk. Count how many leaves you have collected. Have your child sort them by size or by color. Here is a song we have been singing about the leaves falling, and one of our friends even suggested we bring it when we went to play today!
"Leaves are Falling" (to the tune of London Bridge)
Leaves are falling all around, all around, all around.
Leaves are falling all around,
It is Fall.
Take the rake and rake them up, rake them up, rake them up.
Take the rake and rake them up,
It is Fall.
Make a pile and jump right in, jump right in, jump right in.
Make a pile and jump right in,
It is Fall.
You can use the outdoors for learning activities at home, too. Look for leaves in your yard or on a walk. Count how many leaves you have collected. Have your child sort them by size or by color. Here is a song we have been singing about the leaves falling, and one of our friends even suggested we bring it when we went to play today!
"Leaves are Falling" (to the tune of London Bridge)
Leaves are falling all around, all around, all around.
Leaves are falling all around,
It is Fall.
Take the rake and rake them up, rake them up, rake them up.
Take the rake and rake them up,
It is Fall.
Make a pile and jump right in, jump right in, jump right in.
Make a pile and jump right in,
It is Fall.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Five Little Pumpkins
We are learning all about Fall for the next couple weeks, and one of our favorite poems from this theme is Five Little Pumpkins. Today, we made headbands to go along with our poem and to practice numbers 1-5. Here is a picture of our cute pumpkin headbands!
Ask your preschooler to say the poem for you. Here are the words in case they need some help! :)
Five Little Pumpkins
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said "Oh my, it's getting late."
The second one said, "There are bats in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run."
The fifth one said, "It's FALL fun!"
"Woooooo" went the wind,
And OUT went the lights,
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Fairy Tale Spirit Day
We have been having fun this week during our Spirit Week, as we join in with the Grain Valley Homecoming celebrations. Tuesday was "Dress Like a Fairy Tale Character Day" and it went along with our Fairy Tale theme this week. We have been reading some fairy tales, singing songs about castles and royal families, playing games like "Pin the Fire on the Dragon" and practicing counting with jewels on a crown. We will also watch some videos of fairy tales and play some games on our Smart Board.
I wanted to share some pictures of our Fairy Tale characters and our friends in our classroom!
Ms. Joy, Mrs. Chaloux, Ms. Karla and the preschoolers
I wanted to share some pictures of our Fairy Tale characters and our friends in our classroom!
Ms. Jennifer and her "Knight in Shining Armor"
The 3 Snow Whites!
If your family is able, we would love to have you ride on the Early Childhood float in the Homecoming Parade on Saturday morning. Check the October newsletter for details!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Nursery Rhyme Week
This week we practiced reciting several classic nursery rhymes. Each day we chose one to focus on and said it several times throughout the day and did an activity to go along with each.
Monday: Hey Diddle Diddle--We practiced the rhyme with pictures in place of words like cat, dog, moon, cow, dish, and spoon. Then I asked the students to match cards containing those words to the pictures in the poem. It was a fun pre-reading activity! We also practiced counting and number recognition with stars placed on moons labeled with numbers.
Tuesday: Little Miss Muffet--After reciting the rhyme together, the students drew spiders and themselves sitting on a tuffet, then wrote their name in the phrase "Along came a spider and sat down beside __________." This activity helped them to practice drawing circles and lines, drawing a person, and writing or spelling their name. We also used spider rings to practice positional words like "Put the spider behind you" or "Put the spider under your foot."
Wednesday: Hickory Dickory Dock--The kids constructed a clock by putting the numbers 1-12 in order, or by matching the numbers 1-12 to their clock. This was good practice for number recognition and sequencing.
Thursday: Humpty Dumpty--We made a picture of Humpty Dumpty sitting on his wall. The kids snipped strips of red paper with scissors to make bricks and glued them to the paper to make a wall. Then they glued on white ovals and drew a face, arms, and legs. With this activity they got scissor practice as well as how to draw a person.
Nursery rhymes are a great way to encourage pre-reading skills, so it is always a good idea to read some nursery rhyme books and help kids recite them. Here are some videos of the nursery rhymes we practiced at school:
Hey Diddle Diddle
Little Miss Muffet
Hickory Dickory Dock
Humpty Dumpty
Monday: Hey Diddle Diddle--We practiced the rhyme with pictures in place of words like cat, dog, moon, cow, dish, and spoon. Then I asked the students to match cards containing those words to the pictures in the poem. It was a fun pre-reading activity! We also practiced counting and number recognition with stars placed on moons labeled with numbers.
Tuesday: Little Miss Muffet--After reciting the rhyme together, the students drew spiders and themselves sitting on a tuffet, then wrote their name in the phrase "Along came a spider and sat down beside __________." This activity helped them to practice drawing circles and lines, drawing a person, and writing or spelling their name. We also used spider rings to practice positional words like "Put the spider behind you" or "Put the spider under your foot."
Wednesday: Hickory Dickory Dock--The kids constructed a clock by putting the numbers 1-12 in order, or by matching the numbers 1-12 to their clock. This was good practice for number recognition and sequencing.
Thursday: Humpty Dumpty--We made a picture of Humpty Dumpty sitting on his wall. The kids snipped strips of red paper with scissors to make bricks and glued them to the paper to make a wall. Then they glued on white ovals and drew a face, arms, and legs. With this activity they got scissor practice as well as how to draw a person.
Nursery rhymes are a great way to encourage pre-reading skills, so it is always a good idea to read some nursery rhyme books and help kids recite them. Here are some videos of the nursery rhymes we practiced at school:
Hey Diddle Diddle
Little Miss Muffet
Hickory Dickory Dock
Humpty Dumpty
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Welcome!
Welcome to our classroom blog! This will be a place for you to keep up with all of our fun classroom activities and find out what your child has been doing at school. I will occasionally post pictures and videos of our students as well. Check back to see all of our latest work!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)