Jeff Pre-K October

Week 6 (Oct 7, 8, 9)

Building with blocks is another favorite that we have put away for now. Too many toys, too little time!

Since it is officially FALL, we have been reading lots about changing leaves and colder weather. I found some big acorns and let the kids draw faces on some. They were very excited to try out using a PERMANENT marker. We talked about how it was a grown up tool, but because I was watching and they were being very careful, that it was okay for them to try.  Ooooh, the concentration. Hawken took the longest to draw his, making sure it was exactly right.
Then we played. They loved it. I drew faces on the rest, some happy, some sad, and a few others. Some had attached caps, and some had ones that came on and off. I was surprised by how much they liked it. They each took one home too. Check the backpack if you haven't already.

We read the "On a dark dark night" poem during circle time and the kids loved it! We reenacted it ourselves, and then during table time the kids got to make their own story to tell their parents. They got to use some Halloween stickers too.

They all turned out a little different, and SO good. They are such hard workers!

Quiet book time is getting to be a really nice activity. It really slows everyone down and they all seem to enjoy it.

Fine motor activities, painting and cutting. Pretty much everything to do with Halloween or fall, they get very excited about.

During snack, I don't always serve things that are loved by everyone. There are always more than one thing offered, but the preschoolers know that they have to try everything. They are so brave! I tell them that since they are BIG preschoolers now, they can try things that they used to not like. They might like them today! Ryan tasted a cherry tomato, didn't love it, but still tried it. Good job!

Jeff initiated this activity. He asked for "paper and some dice to roll and write my numbers". I made a grid and he went to town. Of course, all the other kids wanted to try it too. Sounds good to me! I was happy he remembered that activity and wanted to do it again.

Play-doh, the ever popular, ever messy activity was out again. Everyone got into it. They were making creations, retelling stories from circle time, working all those fine motor muscles, using their imaginations, you name it - SUCH a good activity.

Week 7 (Oct. 16, 17)

We made firetrucks out of shapes. The kids were excited to use this kind of glue, instead of glue sticks. They were very careful to only use a tiny bit.

The finished products were adorable. The ladders and drivers were especially cute. Good job!

Outside, the kids continued playing firefighters. We practiced calling 9-1-1 on a play phone and talked about how important it was to ONLY call that number if it was a REAL emergency. Here Jeff is trapped in his house and the firefighters are climbing the ladder to rescue him.

Here they are escaping the fire by "climbing out the window, because the door is too hot to touch". Their imaginations went wild with ideas of how to stay safe and how to help others. I didn't want it to get too scary though, and fires can be scary, so we also talked about our fire detectors are there to warn us if we need to get out, so we don't have to worry. And that most people will never have a fire, so we are learning these things just in case.

In their backpacks, a few more fire safety things were sent home. Ask your preschooler about them. One included a paper where they can make a map of their home so they know what to do in case of a fire or other emergency. They loved talking at school about it.

We have been playing lots of GAMES! Both in big groups, and small groups. Turn taking and sharing and being a good sport is a very appropriate preschool learning activity. Our biggest sad and happy times come from games. Sad when you lose, or have to wait. Happy when you win or get a turn. We talk a lot about our feelings and using kind words. Instead of saying, "I WON!" we try to use things like "That was fun!" "You did a great job too!" "I had fun!" "Good game!" Hi Ho Cherry-O was SUPER fun for them.  They played several times.

Memory is better by twos. The kids all have AMAZING memorizing skills. I was very impressed while watching them. 4 years old is a great age for games with rules. They loving remembering all the little details of the game, like when they got a match they could have an extra turn.

At the end of each game, we have been practicing saying "Good game!", even when you DON'T WIN. That's a hard concept. It is hard to see someone else win a game, but being a good sport keeps it fun for everyone. This is an ongoing situation that we get lots of practice in. Ryan and Hawken kept going back and forth with who would win, so it was hard at first, every other game, but then they got the idea and were happy for the other winner. They would shake hands too. So cute.

Jeff tried out his LONG name (which is what he calls it), and found all the letters for Jefferson. He ran out of paper early, but improvised well.

 

 

By the end of the day, our circle time is very calming. Everyone is worn out and ready for some quiet reading time. During our closing circle, we also sing some songs and do a little movement activity. Usually, yoga. The kids are getting very good at certain poses, while others are still very tricky. Tree pose is a favorite and gets everyone giggling by the end.

Also this week, we made a new video! We have been reading lots of Halloween and fall books, and our newest favorite is The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything! We read it enough times that the kids had it memorized and then I recorded them "reading" and acting it out. They each chose the parts they wanted to do and were very excited to have me put it together. If you haven't already, click on this link to watch it and let your preschooler see the final product too. :) I also made a tab at the top of the website where I will add all the videos we do throughout the year, click there to see the two we have made so far.

Week 8 (October 22, 23, 24)

Table time activities are always FUN! Drawing spiderwebs and spiders and putting on google eyes was the cutest thing to see. The kids were SUPER serious about making their spiders with 8 legs. Some kids also put a fly in the web.

Drawing pumpkins and decorating with Halloween stickers. They're working all those good fine motor muscles with stickers!

Working on their handwriting and letter printing. Even though the preschoolers know all of their letters, it's good to use upper and lower case together and let them practice often.

ABC exercises were a hit this week. There is a card for each letter of the alphabet and we went through it during circle time twice. :) They really loved it. It was hard not to laugh at parts though. Like "J for jumping jacks". It is so fun to watch them try something so complicated.

Snacks were provided by Hawken's Grandma. They were Halloween Rice Crispie Treats. Yum! The kids especially loved the spiders!

Dress up is serious business in preschool.

We played a LOT with the heroes. They even played hide and seek with them for a while. It was a surprisingly fun game.

Book reading has taken off. We are working a lot with letter sounds and noticing familiar words in text. These boys are SO smart.

 

Obstacle courses have been another fun outdoor activity.

We read a book called, "The Little Bit Scary People". It was all about people who looked scary (or different), and how nice they actually were, despite their appearance. Then the kids each drew something scary and explained why it wasn't really scary. They came up with the cutest answers.

Jeff's monster isn't scary because it's really nice.

Practicing a few yoga poses at the end of the day has become another favorite. Mostly, we do very simple poses, but sometimes I let them try a hard one. Eagle pose, was more challenging than I thought, but the kids were still eager to try.

Week 9 (Oct. 28, 30, 31)

We had fun this week getting ready for Halloween! We read books about spiders and trick-or-treating and monsters and fall leaves... The kids painted these spider webs with water colors over a web I made out of rubber cement. They were excited when they saw that the paint didn't stick very well to the web. I think they turned out VERY well.

We read Where the Wild Things Are and drew our own monsters. We talked about some of the scary costumes and decorations we might see on Halloween. The kids were all excited to show how brave they were going to be on Halloween.  I love that these are the scariest/meanest faces they can make. They are such sweet boys.

Quiet book time is a very peaceful part of the day. The kids love reading alone and to each other.

I made "moon goo" (which is cornstarch and water) for the kids to play with. It is a very strange sensory experience. If you move it quickly, you can roll it into a ball, but then if you stop moving it, it becomes liquid again and drips out of your hands... Everyone took a turn.

Rescue bots and super heroes were a big part of our week.  They make voices and story lines and build houses and plan rescue missions... It's serious business.

On Halloween, everyone dressed up, and not surprisingly, everyone was a super hero! I was a standard witch, but the kids told me I wasn't a very convincing witch because I wasn't scary. The kids loved being in costume AND being at preschool. They talked about themselves in the third person a lot too. "Wolverine is still hungry, can Wolverine have another apple please?" or "Iron Man needs to go potty. Can Iron Man be excused?" It was so funny.
One last Halloween project, they made jack-o-lanterns. I had them rip paper instead of cutting it. That works different muscles in the hands and is good practice for improved dexterity.

Outside the kids played, although I had to keep reminding them to be careful with their costumes so they could still use them to go trick-or-treating with. They were especially excited about making this super hero train down the slide. I bet they did this 20 times.

Then of course, we did a little photo shoot. They were too cute all dressed up. Logan and Ryan were Iron Man. Jeff and Lullaby were Captain America. Hawken was Wolverine. What an adorable group!

Being TOUGH!

Being HAPPY!