Hi JK Parents!

Happy second week of school!  We had a wonderful time learning all about each other's families, hobbies and interests!  

Math & Science:

We made predictions on who weighed more, less and the same as we weighed each student.  We discussed ABAB and AABB patterns as we practiced beading, and continued our Pete the Cat dice game while the students wrote their numbers from 1-10.  

Mr. Linkhart made PE time so much fun as the children played games and ran an obstacle course around pins.  Each day in PE provides many different movements for working those large muscles, including bi-lateral movement so critical for developing coordination that also assists in learning.  

Modeling different movements, being both the leader and the follower, and teaming with classmates as part of smaller groups are the many ways Mr. Linkhart is encouraging this class to become their own community!

Literacy:

We read many stories about different kinds of families, and the differences that make us all interesting.  We read the story about the elephant, Elmer, who didn't like being different.  He ended up loving how appreciated he was because of that very difference, making the world a much more colorful and interesting place!  

Fine Motor/Art:

The students made their own Elmer the Elephants with tissue paper.  They also began creating/painting their own self-portraits they will paint each month.  This provides a developmental path to follow I will save for their portfolios, tracking their progress as the year progresses.  We continued making our almost life-size self-portrait dolls, and will be working on those for a few weeks, as it's a multi-step process.  

Social/Emotional:

Snack time has been a great opportunity for the children to chat with their friends and discuss their likes and dislikes.  We begin snack time with a thankful poem and take turns as one table a day tells the class one thing for which they are thankful.  Sometimes it's thankfulness for their apples, and sometimes it's for hugs from their mommy and daddy.  It's a sweet time for sharing and also provides practice for waiting for everyone to be seated before eating.  It's part of becoming aware of the other people around you and developing a regard for their thoughts and feelings.  Preschool is such a growing period where the children become much more aware of everything in their environment and the world begins to grow into a much bigger place.  I have an incredible vantage point inside the classroom with these little people and it's such a delight to watch it all unfold!  

Each student chooses a story for individual reading time after snack, where they take "picture walks" through books.  This is a beneficial activity for building literacy as the children use their imaginations along with the photos to tell a story.  They learn to follow the print from left to right and top to bottom, and are able to turn pages and learn how a book should be followed.  It sounds so simple but is one of the first foundations for literacy/reading.

Literacy:

The Writing Center is just one center for literacy development, where students practice writing their names, use pretend writing symbols and groups of letters to write stories, and use stamps to illustrate their work.  We use the "Handwriting Without Tears" program with our daily sign in, and also while copying words in the writing center.  

Show and tell was exciting as each child had their turn to showcase their special item.  In this case, it was a pet Guinea Pig!  We took turns feeding him straw and treats as we learned about his habits.

 We read Elmer and Rose, and learned that by sharing your thoughts with a friend, it can make all the difference in helping someone feel better about themselves!  

 

 The children are already developing higher-level game playing with their friends as their play becomes more complex.  And sometimes, all you want to do is spin round and round and laugh like crazy!

 Pebbles found on the playground were "treasures" found and "jewels" to be shared.  Imaginations and fantasy play at it's finest at Roycemore!

The monkey bars are an incredibly beneficial way to increase both fine and gross motor skills and a wonderful way for the children to bond with friends as they challenge each other.  

Star Wars Yoga provided a fun activity before lunch.  The children loved it and were impressive in their flexibility!  

Our dining hall time is such a beneficial way for students to practice their manners and socialize with friends.  They are all comfortable choosing their seat, and going up to ask for seconds or dessert after they have tried a couple of items on their plate.  

This gear masterpiece was created in about five minutes!  I love the look of pride as I observe the finished products during free play!

What a generous show and tell, as each child was allowed to choose a sticker and wear it, based on his/her favorite movie!

This home made show and tell was a top that spins, and was created from recycled materials at home with her mom!  We love homemade creations!

Ms. Liubin makes everyone feel more comfortable in the classroom!  Her sense of humor and style are wildly apparent in this photo!  

We will be finishing up our All About Me Theme this week and transitioning into fall and apples.  

Each day we have "Higher Level Thinking" themes and questions to stretch the student's approach to thinking.  Some of the questions from this week included "which super power would you most want?" and "how would you end this story if you were the author" when discussing after story time. We took a survey about JK and will begin making charts and graphs to demonstrate our findings.  I was happy that each child voted in the affirmative for their love of JK!  Whew!  Please feel free to explore the classroom as our findings may often be found hanging on our walls.  

It was such a pleasure to see you all at Mini School Night!  I was cramming a lot of information into those 15 minutes so please feel free to contact me with any questions.

 Have a wonderful week and thank you for letting me be a part of your lives!

Ms. Massey

Hi JK Parents!  

What an amazing first week of school we had!  Some of the highlights are listed below. 

 

Math

Our math center this week was a Pete the Cat game where the children rolled dice and then identified the matching number sheet with Pete, traced and wrote the number and counted with their friends.  We will add science and sensory table centers next week.  

Music
The students had their first music class with Ms. N on Wednesday. They played a game and practiced finding their spots and were introduced to the morning song they will sing as they begin class each day.  Back in our classroom, the children were thrilled to learn the myriad different kinds of music you can make with rhythm sticks! They played fast, slow, loud, soft, over their heads and behind their backs.  Music is a daily part of life in JK and even the students that aren't doing flips over singing songs find percussion and other instruments exciting. We also sang our September song and Autumn song. 

PE

We also had some fun in PE with hoola hoops, games and exercise working on our gross motor skills with Mr. Linkhart!

Art and Fine Motor
The students glued and glittered apple calendars for September, and glued and decorated pictures of themselves.  We also began decorating paper dolls that will be almost life size self portraits.  These will hang in the classroom and hallway for the year.  

We learned the classroom jobs this week and how each task is important as part of our JK community.  The favorites vary but for the most part include line leader and snack helper.  Our first day in the dining hall we were served delicious quesadillas!  The children impressed me with their manners and helpfulness.
We practice our counting everywhere we go, including while they are swinging on the tire swing. We will be looking for popcorn words all over the school as we build those early foundations for literacy.  

We welcome Aeriana's baby sister, who arrived on Tuesday!  She was thrilled to learn she would be a big sister as well as being able to ride home with a friend as her mom was at the hospital.  We are thrilled to celebrate the new baby!  Many of our JK students have younger or baby siblings.  It's nice to share stories as well as have their own classroom to call their own as they adjust to being the older child at home.

We will begin show and tell this week.  Please bring ONE item from home to share with the class on Friday. Show and tell is a favorite activity of mine as it teaches the students comfort with public speaking, builds confidence in addressing peers, allows them to practice their leadership skills while deciding which student to call on and how to clarify questions, etc.  

We will begin reading groups in mid-September, after I have had a chance to begin assessing the students. Students began centers from the first day of school, including fine motor, math, writing center, games and drama. All of our centers throughout the year are multidisciplinary, meaning they overlap and cover different subject areas and skill sets.  For example, a math center will help the children with their number recognition and logic along with their fine motor skills as they write numbers and reasoning skills when using dice to match with numbers.  The center will also encourage social-emotional development as a game we play will require teaming with a friend to discuss answers and negotiate their next move.  

We read many books this week, including I Like Myself, Pete the Cat, Rockin in My School Shoes, The Knight and the Dragon, First Day Hooray, A Teacher for Bear, Skippy Jon Jones, and The Crayon Box that Talked.  

We introduced our "All About Me" theme and began discussing the many different likes and dislikes we all share. The children will learn many things about their classmates as they begin presenting their Star Student posters. This helps them feel more comfortable by discussing things that are familiar to them, and allows the students to develop deeper relationships with their friends in learning about them and their families.  It's one of my favorite themes of the year and is so much fun!

Have a wonderful Labor Day!  I can't wait to see all of "my kiddos" tomorrow!

Ms. Massey