This week we learned a bit more about dinosaurs, made some great crayon resist paintings, had Pajama Day and learned to count to 10 in French!   We played out in the snow and had a blast in gym in our pj’s!

Tuesday we spent the morning creating crayon resits pictures.  This involved many steps; the first being ‘how to put on a smock’!  Next we colored our paper with crayons, we then talked about water colors and how when we add them over the crayons on our paper it would not wash away the crayon.  The children had a great time blending the water colors on their papers.  These are being displayed in the snack and lunch room.

Wednesday was Pajama Day!  We all had fun looking at each others pajamas.  At Morning Meeting, we joined Pre-K and Kindergarten and sang some lullabies, listened to the story, “Tell Me Something Happy Before I go to Sleep,” by Joyce Dunbar and Debi Gliori, and we played a night time listening game called: “Just Like Me!”  Next, we divided the children into groups  and they rotated through three stations.  I played a shooting star game, where the children gently tossed plastic glow in the dark stars onto a gold tray.  Mrs. Patel lead the children at her station in creating glow in the dark “sweet dream” pictures using cray-pas, glow in the dark stickers and glitter paper.  Mrs. Atwater showed them a star box, handed out glow in the dark necklaces (or sticks) and played a flashlight game with the children.  For snack, we all enjoyed popcorn and hot chocolate.  Preschoolers even went to Gym with their pajamas on!  Of course, Rest Time was very peaceful on Pajama Day.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

Thursday we spent the morning learning more about herbivores and carnivores; how dinosaurs walked, where they lived, how fast they could or couldn’t run, and why they are now fossils.  The children are mostly interested in ‘which ones could eat the other ones’.  I stressed that the dinosaurs are extinct, and that there were no humans living at the same time as the dinosaurs.  Some of the children mentioned the new PBS show ‘Dinosaur Train’, (which I have seen a few times), and if you allow television viewing in your home, this is a very gentle program with good information.  They discuss what they eat, when they lived, and even adoption, as a baby t-rex is being raised by a pterodactyl family.  At the end of each ‘cartoon’ there is a snip-it with real dino facts, which are quite informative.  Let me know if you have any other questions about this show.

Thank you to the families who have generously donated toward the BCD Haiti Relief Fund.  At this time BCD is asking for monetary contributions as well as cotton fabric, thread, needles and volunteers to sew at Saturday’s “sew a thon”.  Please visit MyBCD.org to learn more about these worthwhile efforts to support the families and children in Haiti.  B3s and Pre K did not attend the school wide assemblies last week and earlier this week, as we felt that it would not have been appropriate for very young children.  We are working with our school psychologist, John Evans, to formulate appropriate ways to answer a child’s questions at his or her developmental level regarding such issues, should they arise.

Some of the fantastic books we read this week were:

Happy Birthday, Moon, by Frank Asch

Sleepy Dog, by Harriet Ziefert

Animals at Night, by Sharon Peters

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, by Byron Barton

I Love My New Toy, by Mo Willems

Guatemala ABC’s; A Book About the People and Places of Guatemala, by Marcie Aboff

My Visit To The Dinosaurs, by Aliki

Reminders:

  • BCD Open House, Tuesday January 26th, more info on MyBCD.org
  • Friday, January 29th, Ski-Friday, early dismissal, 12:35pm
  • Friday, February 5th, Ski-Friday, early dismissal, 12:35pm
  • Wednesday, February 10th, Alaska Day (dress to be outdoors!)
  • Valentines Day Party, February 11th, more details next week
  • Friday, February 12th, Ski-Friday, early dismissal, 12:35pm
  • Monday, February 15th, NO SCHOOL, Mid-Winter Break
  • Tuesday, February 16th, NO SCHOOL, Mid-Winter Break
  • Friday, February 19th, Pizza Lunch, No Ski-Friday, full day (Public School vacation)
  • Please remember to remove wet shoes or boots before entering the Preschool rooms
  • The B3 children are a growing bunch, be sure to pack lots of yummy and healthy food for snack and lunch

Digging in our PJ's!

Glow in the dark art.

Preschool loves Pajama Day!

Have a fantastic weekend!   Joni