What an exciting time!  

Here is a peek into our classroom!

                

                                      
               

Welcome December!

Ask me about......

• The Three Little Pigs!  We had a great time acting out this fable and creating our own pigs and wolf!

• Wet Dry Try

We are learning how to write our letters!  We are learning that all of the letters can be written by making a big line, little line, big curve or little curve.  We use a small chalk board, trace the letter with a small sponge (wet), trace again with a dry towel (dry), and then we use a piece of chalk to write the letter (try).

Our November Bulletin Boards!

Googley Eye Painting

 This was one of my favorite activities!  I found this idea on-line, I glued two googley eyes to a piece of paper and just let the children create what they wanted!  Here are a couple of the creations!  

Love This!

Although this picture isn't perfect, watching the children enjoy  this story was priceless!  I read the story, The Little Old Lady That Wasn't Afraid of Anything, to the class.  I placed a copy of the book and some pictures to recreate the story out to explore.  I was so excited to watch as one child retold the story and another moved the pieces on the board all on their own!

Awesome!

A look at last week......

We read one of my favorite books, Go Away Big Green Monster.   Here is our creation, Go Away Big Orange Jack-O-Lantern!

These exploration cups were a big hit!  We painted a cup with red and yellow paint, placed another cup on top and twisted.  We were very excited to see orange!  We then turned our cup into a jack-o-lantern!  FUN!

Burrrrr........It is getting colder!  

Please dress warm, we go outside everyday! 

(Don't forget to label clothing.)

Ask Me About......

Hi everyone!  We have been very busy in the preschool!  We continue to practice hearing sounds in our environment, determining what sound we heard first, last or in the middle.  You can practice this at home too!  You can make sounds and ask which sound was first, which sound was last.  You can practice asking your child which picture is first or last or in the middle.  This is all going to help with their understanding of sounds in words, so have fun!  We have also begun to read!! This week we will be reading our next reader.  We are learning the sight word "A".  When the reader comes home, please have your child read it to you, they are all so excited!

In math we have been practicing same/different.  We have been engaging in many activities to understand this concept.  One of our activities had the children picking an object from a bag and matching it to the object that I held.  They were then asked if our objects were the same or different.  They all did really well with this part, it became a bit more tricky when I began to ask them why the objects were the same or different.  Here they really had to think and try to explain it to me.  This is something you can carry on at home.  Ask your child if something is the same or different, but be sure to extend their thinking with questions like, "Why do you think they are the same."  "Are you sure?" "Tell me something that is different about the objects.  Is there anything the same?"  Keep them thinking, you will be amazed at their answers!

Lastly, we talked about fire safety.  We read books and watched some videos and made some wonderful fire trucks.  I am working on having the fire department visit the classroom, but they have been very busy, so I will keep trying!  The children and I talked about fire drills at school and how it is important to have a fire drill at home too.  We also talked about having a meeting spot at home like we do at school.  You can ask them if they know where our class meeting spot is (we meet at #2).

I hope everyone had a great long weekend!  

   

Here is a look at our fall sensory table!  We are loving it!

Ask me how a pumpkin grows!

Last week we read Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington and learned how pumpkins grow!

First, you start with a seed,

The seed grows into a big vine.  The vine grows flowers and the flowers grow pumpkins.  We got to see the small, green pumpkins on the vine with the flowers!  (Thank you Mrs. Hyde for the vine!)

Lastly, the little green pumpkin turns into a great big, orange pumpkin!

Fall Puzzle Trees

We have been talking a lot about fall and the changes that we see all around us.  Here is one of our art projects.  We cut out the trunk and branches of our tree and then we had to glue on puzzle pieces for the leaves.  The children were very creative with their trees!

Sticky Table

I found this idea on line and loved it!  The table is covered with contact paper, sticky side up, and the children are free to create trees of all four seasons!  What a new and fun tactile activity!

Apples, Apples, Apples

 This month we spent time investigating apples!  We sorted apples by color, graphed the apple we liked the best (after tasting!), painted with apples, read about Johnny Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) and painted a large apple shape using a golf ball!  We even played with moon dough that smelled like apples!

What did you hear?

Last week we listened and identified different sounds.  We all had turns listening to the sounds of musical instruments, animals and sounds around the house.  After hearing the sound, we chose the picture that matched on the SmartBoard, and placed it in a sentence: "I heard the tambourine."  Everyone really enjoyed this activity!  As we practice hearing sounds in the environment we will gradually move to hearing sounds in words.  We are beginning our journey to learning how to read! 

Thank You!

Many thanks to everyone for coming in and sharing your hopes and dreams for you children this school year!  I enjoyed meeting with you and look forward to working together to ensure all of those hopes and dreams come true!

Tuesday and Wednesday are picture days!  I will have the background choices available for you to choose from during drop off on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ask me about …..

 Mat Man

This week the children were introduced to Mat Man!  Mat Man is the beginning of our Handwriting Without Tears program. Participating in this activity, children learn body awareness, cooperation, organization and sequencing as they build Mat Man together.  This is a classroom favorite!

Hello everyone!

I wanted to take a minute to let everyone know that one of our teachers, Ms. Sue, has accepted another position in the school and will be leaving us shortly.  Ms. Sue has worked in the preschool for a number of years and is a valuable team player.  We are going to miss her very much, but are happy to know that she will still be a part of our Underhill community!  Administration is working on filling Ms. Sue's very big shoes and we are all in hopes of having a very smooth transition.  We will keep you informed!

We love you Ms. Sue!
XO

Our First Week

We are off to a great start!  This week we had a wonderful time getting to know each other and getting used to the school routine.  All the children were eager to participate in all of the activities that were provided.  We played with playdoe, painted pictures, made calendars (4 year olds) and of course played with all of the toys.  We are so excited for a fun-filled year!  

Conferences start next week, if you need to set up a time please let me know!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a fantastic summer!  We are so excited for the upcoming school year!  I know you have many questions, and I hope to answer some with this letter.

What are the hours of the preschool? 

Morning Session:  9:15-11:45                         Afternoon Session 12:30-3:00

Drop off and pick up will both be out back at the preschool playground weather permitting.  If it is raining we will be under the gazebo next to the playground.

What should my child bring to school?

Your child will need a small backpack, one healthy snack and drink, and a change of clothes in a ziplock bag.  (just in case!)

What is the preschool schedule?

The following is a tentative schedule.  For the most part we will always follow this schedule, but I like to be flexible!

• Drop off/Outside play
• Circle
• Centers/Small group
• Snack
• Circle/Music
• Outside play/Pick up

I am a big believer in the benefits of outside play.  It is so important for large muscle growth, exercise, social skills……the list is endless.  So we will go out most days, even in the winter!

I am working very hard to understand and embrace technology!  Last year was my first experience with the Smart Board.  As the year progressed I felt more comfortable, so this year I am hoping for more growth with this wonderful tool!  My hopes this year is to try to keep you informed of the happenings in the classroom and to provide some helpful activities to enhance learning through this blog.  This is definitely a work in progress and my goal this year is to post more frequently!  Thanks for your patience with my learning! 

I hope I have answered some of the big questions.  Please feel free to contact me with any other questions or concerns and we look forward to a fabulous school year!

Lisa Pollard

Thursday is Literacy Expo Night at Underhill.  Hope to see you there!  (5:00 pm)

Hi Everyone!
I wanted to ask everyone, that when you begin your Spring Cleaning, remember us if you have any gently used toys you would like to donate!  Thanks!

Happy Easter!

We had some fun this week making marbled Easter eggs with shaving cream, little yellow chicks, bunnies hiding in the grass and decorating Easter Eggs on the Smart board! I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Happy Spring!  

We have had a great time reading stories by Dr. Seuss and Leo Lionni!  Here are some of the fun things we have been up to!

The Foot Book & The Cat in the Hat!

It's Mine! by Leo Lionni 

(frogs!)

More Color Exploration

We read the story Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh about three white mice that stumble into buckets of paint and realize that mixing the paint can create new colors!  The children pretended they were a white mouse (cotton ball) and dipped themselves into two paints to mix together to see if they could create a new color!

Colors are all around us!

The children had a wonderful time exploring colors in different ways!  After reading the story, Little Blue and Little Yellow, by Leo Lionni, the children were provided with a piece of yellow and a piece of blue play doe to squeeze together.  What do you think happened?......

We made GREEN!

February Snow!

We had a great time digging out our toys and of course, making snow angels!

More Snowmen!

And more snowmen!

Since we have been back, our theme has been winter and snowmen.  Here the students used the letters of their names to make very tall or small snowmen!