How do birds build their nests? What materials hold together? There were lots of questions as we investigated the possibilities and tried out some of our hypotheses. First we tried making nests with twigs and leaves. Next we experimented with pipe cleaners.
All the while we were testing theories, imagining new scenarios and developing new ideas. The process has been as valuable as the product.
working on our bird skeletons
What is the anatomy of a bird? Your children also traced the shape of a (generic) bird. Some even created the skeletal system inside the outline. For fun they used sticker eyes. While we worked on the skills of following directions, eye/hand coordination and small motor, we learned some important concepts about living things, especially that their skeletons support them and give their bodies shape.
listening to a story
Thank you Chris for coming in to read this week! The children enjoyed listening to the stories you read to us.
Sophie shares a toy with us for Star of the Week
Sophie was our Star of the Week! She shared a photo, and various toys including a tent! The children loved playing inside and it was a nice way to spend our indoor time since it was too cold to go outside in the mornings. The children continued to practice asking good question and making connections and comments about Sophie’s share. Here are a few of the questions that were asked:
Why do you love your tent so much?
Because Mommy bought it.
What is your favorite book?
Princess books.
What is your favorite character?
Minnie.
the snow makes it easier to climb up onto the tire swing
Wednesday was our first day outside in a week. On bitter cold days we need to stay inside, so we especially love it when we have the “All clear!” signal! We loved being “leaders,” too. The kindergarten class saw us from their window and asked if they could go out. Then the 1/2 class! We are proud to be community leaders, especially when we elevate everyone’s mood and health by being outside in nature! On Wednesday we began exploring base ten blocks to help us continue to learn and understand number sense. The children are very excited for the 100th day of school. They even figured out how many days we have until the 100th day (weather permitting of course)!
exploration with base ten blocks
Thursday we continued exploring our base ten blocks. We sorted the tens and ones, practicing counting, and doing a grouping by tens activity. Each child had a chance to group ten items, working together to count by tens up to 100.
In the coming week we will begin a new study. On Friday the children helped to brainstorm different ideas about what we should study next. What the children came up with was the overarching theme of things that “transform.” Within this theme, the children thought of thinks like trees, butterflies, bears, and frogs! There are so many different topics that fall into this theme and we the teachers are thrilled to embark on this next phase of investigation with the children!
One more item of note this week; Ms. S will now be uploading photos directly to the flickr site throughout the day. We urge you to visit the flickr album titled Preschool Dailies 2015 using this link during the day (if you are able) to see photos of your children in action! We have also started a new album for 2015, link below!