First day of Preschool for the Three's Class (3 yr old class)
September 15, 2016, 09:30 AM
It was 9:00 a.m. and the door opened for the anticipating
crowd of children and caregivers. It's the first day of Preschool, everything
is new, the surroundings, the faces... Some children step back not wanting to
leave the security of their caregiver. Others step forward cautiously with one
hand clutching 'their' adult. While others walk in confidently with eyes wide,
full of wonder. Each child responds differently, but typically. There is always
a combination of excitement, apprehension and fear at the start of the school
year.
As Preschool teachers for a number of years, we have seen
these reactions many times over. We are certain that with each passing class,
the children will become more comfortable and familiar with their surroundings.
They will feel more at ease when they begin to feel reassured that they are
safe, and that their caregiver always returns for them. In a few short weeks we
expect that most, if not all of the children will be settled in. They will be
used to the daily routine, and the varying personalities will be in full bloom.
We look forward to watching the leaps and bounds in growth
and development that each and every child will make this school year. Mostly we
look forward to the fun days ahead, to having the privilege of sharing the
enjoyment in the classroom, and to watching many new friendships nurture and
flourish.
Barbi
After just a few minutes, many of the children very quickly settle, and happily find an area of choice to play.
Comments
Lines That Meet
May 24, 2016, 11:00 AMWe began by drawing a few lines on a large piece of paper, the children
saw it to be his or her space to paint in. I found this to be interesting
because as we covered the whole paper with lines that joined from one end to
the other the children began painting different colors within the lines, being
careful not to paint over or into someone else's space.
Sophia
paints straight lines from top to bottom within her space on the paper.
Georgia and Christina are painting very closely, however they are both respecting each others painting space.
Until next post
It seemed that
the children were aware of each others space and respected their friends work enough not to
paint over or onto it. From a few lines the children learnt how to work
together, whilst being mindful of friends painting, when painting on the same
paper.
Mary is painting around the border of her space on the paper, before
painting the middle.
Georgia and Christina are painting very closely, however they are both respecting each others painting space.
Christina looks around the painting and is happy to find the last white
space on the paper to paint in orange.
The children in our 3year old program have demonstrated that they can
work together on the same artwork and be respectful towards each others
painting.
Until next post
Jess
Time to Garden (Fine Arts and Science T/Th)
May 13, 2016, 12:08 PM
Our class made some grass monsters last
month. Each child got to create his or her own monster.
First, we had to design our monster’s face.
Put some soil in the cups and grass seeds
for the monster’s hair.
We watered and
watered to help our monster grow some hair.
Finally, the monsters hair grew and their
hair got a little bit out of control.
Then, we decided to have a salon day. Each child got a chance to give his or her monster’s hair a trim.
This activity gave children the experience of growing something out of a seed. They were excited to see the little developments that were happening to the seed. The children also learned to be patient and understand that seeds do not grow overnight. By watering them every class, they came to realize that growing things require commitment and hard work.
Hopefully, this activity made them appreciate the plants and flowers that are growing around them and have a better regard for them.
Until next time,
Patricia
Mother's Day Tea (4 year old class)
May 11, 2016, 02:22 PM
With all the wonderful moms in mind, lots of planning and
creativity went into organizing our Mother's Day Tea.
In advance of the Tea, the children made cereal cookies,
designed personal plates and cards as gifts, and practiced for a special Play
in honour of all the mothers.
The children poured, scooped, measured, and stirred, and then
helped put the cookies on the baking trays.
The children made drawings with ceramic pens on plates, and also made fingerprint cards, as a gift for their moms.
The morning of the Tea, the children helped make cucumber and cheese sandwiches, prepare fruit cups and set the tables.
When the moms arrived at 11:00am, they were entertained by the children's Play called Bunny's Drawing. Christy did a wonderful job playing the lead role as Bunny.
The story tells of a bunny who draws a self portrait for her
mom, but on the way home many different animals suggest changes to the
portrait, and bunny obliges. The end drawing is a far cry from the original,
and now includes stripes like a zebra, a mane like a lion, a trunk like an
elephant.......
The children then served their moms the Mother's Day tea they
had prepared, along with water with lemon and tea.
It was an enjoyable morning from start to finish, and the children appreciated and took pleasure in having the opportunity to be extra special to their wonderful moms this day.
Happy Mother's Day!
Barbi
Mother's Day Tea
May 9, 2016, 10:00 AMOur class hosted a Mother’s Day Tea last week and we really enjoyed it. We wanted to do something special for our mommies / grandmas. We gave our teachers ideas at circle on what we wanted to do, and we came up with a tea party idea. Then, we thought about what we will need for the party. So, here was our list:
1. Invite our mommies and grandmas
2. Make a present
3. Make cookies
4. Prepare sandwiches and watermelon
5. Get ready to TEA party!
First, we each went outside to take a photo for our own invitation. We thought a special invitation is needed for such a special occasion.
Second, we set out to make a present. We made bath tea bags with lavender flowers, oatmeal, and Epsom salts. Each of us made our own. Some of us liked more oatmeal and some of us liked more lavender flowers. And, some of us REALLY liked Epsom salts in our bath tea presents! We mixed it up and scooped the ingredients into empty tea bags.
Third, we made cookies. There is no party without cookies!
We made the dough with a teachers help. Then, we rolled out the dough and used
cookie cutters to shape our cookies. They were then baked and cooled. We then iced the
cookies. We had to stop ourselves from eating the cookies right then and there.
The tea party day arrived.
We came to school excited to help make the food for the
party. We made cucumber and cheese sandwiches. For cucumber sandwiches, we
needed to slice the cucumbers. Then, we took two pieces of bread, buttered the
bread, added the cucumber, and voilà - a cucumber sandwich! We did the same for
the cheese sandwiches.
For the watermelon, our teacher found one lonely melon
baller. So, we used cookie cutters to cut out our watermelon. We had to push
the cookie cutter through the watermelon to get the shape we wanted. We were
able to not waste any of the watermelon (we used the lonely melon baller to get
out the rest of the watermelon).
Now we were ready: Invitations out (Checked) / Presents
(Checked) / Cookies (Checked)/ Sandwiches and watermelon (Checked).
We patiently waited for our special guests to arrive and to serve them. We just wanted to show how much we love them!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Love
Children from MWF Fine Arts / Science and Nature Class