Category Archives: Uncategorized

It’s more than scribbles

“Scribbles may not make any sense to an adult. The look like a lot of lines, loops, and squiggles. But these marks are very important to a  young child. They are a child’s way of writing her thoughts. Drawing and scribbling are the first steps in using the skills children will need later for writing.” Mincemayer,2013

 

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Playdough exploration leads to learning

Playdough and natural materials were brought out the first week of October for the children to explore.The children used sea shells to make prints and rocks to squish the playdough.  Here’s a recipe we use to make our playdough that I found on this site: http://notjustcute.com/2012/11/06/playdough-recipe-an-old-favorite-with-a-new-twist/

 

Patting, banging, Squishing, cutting, pinching, and poking the playdough
exercise the muscles in their fingers which helps when children begin to hold a
pencil for writing or tying their shoes.

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Playdough (like other sensory activities) can be soothing for children.
It also, keeps children involved for longer periods of time, helping with their
attention span.

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Songs we sing everday!

Due to the children’s interest in Music and Movement and parents asking for the words to some of the songs we sing with the children, we wanted to share with you the lyrics to the children’s favorite songs.  We hope you enjoy singing at home with your children.  Here are a few of the children’s favorite songs:

The Wheels on The Bus By Annie KublerSAM_4223
The wheels on the bus go Round and Round. [Move your hands and arms round and round in a circle.]
Round and Round, Round and Round.The wheels on the bus go Round and Round. All day long!

The wipers on the bus go Swish Swish Swish. [Mimic the motion of windshield wipers with your hands and arms.]
Swish Swish Swish, Swish Swish Swish.
The wipers on the bus go Swish Swish Swish. All day long!

The horn on the bus goes Beep! Beep! Beep! [Pretend to honk the horn on the steering wheel of a bus.]
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The horn on the bus goes Beep! Beep! Beep!All day long!

The driver on the bus says, “Tickets Please! Tickets Please! Tickets Please!” [Pretend to extend your hand to collect a ticket] The driver on the bus says, “Tickets Please!” All day long!

The parents pm the bus go Chat Chat Chat,Chat Chat Chat,ChatChat Chat. [Move your hands as if they were talking to each other] The parents pm the bus go Chat Chat Chat,Chat. All day long!

The babies on the bus go Wah Wah Wah. [Place your hands next to your eyes and pretend to cry.]Wah Wah  Wah. Wah Wah Wah.The babies on the bus go wah wah wah. Wah wah wah. All Day long!

The people on the bus go “Shhh Shhh Shhh.” [Place your finger in front of your mouth as you make the shhh sounds.]
Shhh Shhh Shhh. Shhh Shhh Shhh.The people on the bus go “Shhh Shhh Shhh.”All day long!

The children on the bus say, “Party Time”

 

Row, row, row your boat

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

If you see an crocodile,

Don’t forget to scream. (Place your hands on your cheeks and scream)

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

If you see an crocodile,

Don’t forget to scream. (Place your hands on your cheeks and scream)

 

 

The Wheels on the Bus by Jane Cabrera

One of the children’s favorite books is The Wheels on the Bus by Jane Cabrera. The children enjoy following along as we read  the book and when we ask them to pretend to be the animals in the story. The children roar like a lion, flap their wings like a flamingo, and chomp like a zebra. While we sing as a group we are building a sense of community. The children are also practace their listening skills, concentration, self-control, and cooperative skills.

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Exploring Paint

The children had the opportunity to explore paint at the art table in the outside play yard on Tuesday and Wednesday the 10th and 11th September. Room 1 teachers offered the children primary colors (red, yellow, blue) to use. During the activity the teacher spoke to them about how they moved their brushes by using words such as round, across, up and down, fast and slow, and mix. Exploring paint is also a great way for young children to learn about cause and effect as they see how two colors mixed together make a new color. For example, yellow and blue makes green. This is a simple science experiment for toddlers.

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Sensory Tub Exploration

 

As Room One children play with the sensory tub materials, they begin to understand concepts such as more/less, full/empty and cold/warm . Sensory experiences provide open-ended opportunities where the process is more important than the product – how children use the materials is much more important than what he/she makes with them. Sensory experiences are thought-provoking because each child can use the materials differently.

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Books and Music

During the past few weeks we have been reading the books Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle and The Wheels On the Bus by Jane Cabrera.The children have really enjoyed these two books during story time and throughout the day they have also chosen to look at books by themselves or have a teacher read to them.

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Music and Movement: We have been dancing and singing to the songs the ABC’s, The Wheels On The Bus, The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle, Twinkle Little star, and the Freeze.As children listen, sing, dance and enjoy music, they can develop skills in math(rhythm) and literacy.

Another song that we sing to help the children get ready for transitions is our clean up song. While singing this song the children help clean-up the environment and take ownership of their classroom. Here are lyrics to the song:

Clean up, clean up everybody everywhere.

Clean up, clean up everybody do your share.

I have also attached an article that is very informative about how beneficial it is for young children to be exposed to music and movement.

http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201003/ParlakianWeb0310.pdf

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Puzzles

The children have been spending a lot of time working on puzzles every day. While they flip, turn, and remove each piece of the puzzle, they are working on their eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. Working on these skills early on will help the children later on when they learn how to write. Puzzle-solving experiences also help young toddlers learn math concepts such as size, length, and spatial awareness. Room One teachers pay close attention to the type of puzzles that are set out for the children. You will see that in our shelf we have puzzles with knobs which help with small-finger coordination. Also, our puzzles are based on the children’s interests and abilities. Room One teachers also scaffold the children while they work on the puzzles by doing the following:

Using language: Are you looking for a big piece or small piece? I wonder what will happen if you try turning that piece around? I see you are trying to fit the duck into the spot.

Offering direction: Taking a puzzle piece and turning it to see if would fit.

Recognize their accomplishments or progress: Look, you have been working so hard on completing this puzzle. You have two pieces left and you will be done.

You can also do puzzles while at home to support your children with these skills.

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Our Classroom Pets

Many of you have been asking who Bun Bun is. Bun Bun is our beautiful bunny that we share with Room 2. In Room One the teachers have been introducing the children to Bun Bun and our betta fish Lily. We remind the children to be gentle when they pet Bun Bun and to keep their hands out of his cage because he might think its food. Overall, Bun Bun is used to having children around and rarely gets upset. You are welcome to visit Bun Bun with your child in the morning before school and after pick up in the afternoon.  This week we have also introduced our betta fish Lily to the children. Ms. Maria spoke to them about not shaking the small tank and using their eyes to see Lily. Having classroom pets helps young children learn how to care for other living things.

If you would like to support us as we take care of our pets any of the following items would be greatly appreciated.

    • Hay

    • Pellets not containing peanuts or processed in a plant that processes peanut products

    • Vegetables such as carrots, lettuce, cucumbers,and celery

 

 

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Thank you for coming to orientation!

Hi, everyone! It was great meeting many of you yesterday at our orientations. We hope you had a wonderful time visiting the classroom and teachers. Here’s a sneak peek of our classroom enviorment. Have a great weekend! Home areaBlock areaMusic area