Discovery Preschool

Fun with paint

2011-10-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Painting is always a big hit. All of the kids get so excited to paint. On this day we painted letter O.

Filed Trip

2011-10-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Our filed trip to Bronson's Apple Orchard.

Climbing the fence. Soren, Westin, Rylan, Jason, and Cade

Eating our apples that we picked and making apple juice. Only Rylan and Soren liked the homemade fresh apple juice.

Meet the Kiddos

2011-10-07T16:01:00.001-07:00

Westin is the only girl in our class. She is a joy to have and very sweet.

Cade is four. He is very active and always wants to play outside. He always wins the running races that we have when we play outside.

Soren is the littlest one. He is a big stinker but so much fun in the class. I keep telling the other kids that they have to show Soren how to be a big kid; and it seems to work. I tell the kids that they have to sit still and then Soren will.

Rylan is a cute boy. He is three years old. He tries so hard to do a great job - and he does. He loves to sing and he is best one to sit still during story time. He listens to the story so well and always asks questions.

Jason is three too. Jason is a smart boy and a good boy. He knows the alphabet and is working on letter recognition. On some days he loves that I am his teacher and on other days not so much.

New Year!

2011-10-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Preschool has gotten off to a fantastic start. The kiddos are learning the routine. When the kids first come in the morning we have story time. We talk about the story, discuss new words, figure out what happens first, second, and last. After story time we learn a new letter. Every day we learn a new letter and review the old ones. All of the kids know the alphabet song but are still working on letter recognition. We talk a lot about the sounds each letter make. At home take the time to point out letters and the sounds that they make. After we get through the alphabet we will be learning the letters again. We will start that after Thanksgiving break. We will take two days to learn the letters then. After the kiddos write their letters and do a letter activity then we have some activity time until all of the kids are finished. During this time the kids get to play blocks, matching games, iPad games and more. When everyone is finished then we do circle time, which is the calendar, weather, alphabet, nursery rhymes, and the Pledge. We finish up circle time with some math. Right now we are working on number recognition with numbers 1 -10. And then it is play time. While it is play time, I get the snack ready. We have been playing and eating our snack outside since the weather was nice. When it is cold or the grass is wet then we will play inside. We we are finished we have a lesson. The lesson is what is printed on the calendar. With the lesson we might play a game, read a book, watch a movie clip, or some thing the the kids get excited about. And then we finish up the day with songs. I hope that this helps you understand what is happening at preschool each day. I love to teach the kids and they are wonderful.

Super Reader, Alpha Egg Hunt

2011-04-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

At preschool we have a super reader. The kiddos take turns being the "super reader" and wearing a super hero cape. The super reader help me make a sentence and then they read it to the class, and then the other kids will read it back. It is a lot of fun for the kids and they are starting to learn the basics on how to form a sentence.

For our Easter party the kiddos hunted Easter eggs that were filled with letters in them. We found both uppercase and lowercase letters and then we put them in order on a poster board.

Today was Earth day and we learned about giving presents to the Earth such as saving power and water, picking up trash, and planting flowers. Each kid was able to plant a flower in a pot and take it home.

Wow! time flys

2011-04-18T13:42:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that April is half way over. This school year has been so fun and crazy. The preschool kiddos have learned so much. We learned about letter W today. We only have three more letters and sounds to learn.

We also talked about the Tortoise and the Hare today. I want the preschool kids to never give up when they are trying to accomplish something. They are the greatest kids in the world.

Preschool for 2011-2012

2011-02-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Next year I am teaching preschool from 9:20 am - 11:50 am, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. It will be $65/ month with a materials fee of $25. Please pass the info on. Thank you!

V-Day, Letter M

2011-02-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

Today we made Valentine "mailboxes". The kids decorated them themselves. All of the kids love to glue and color with markers. We exchanged valentines and also played musical chairs. The kids love it. I love to watch them.

We learned about the letter Mm also. The kids got their "motors" in their mouth going and we learned the sound and talked about "Monte the Mouse".

We started to do a "super reader" each day during circle time. The super reader helper of course wears a super hero cape and picks a noun (cat, dog, lion, mouse, etc..) and a color and I help them come up with a sentence using sight words. The super reader reads the sentence to me and then to the class and then the class reads it together. This skill is advanced for most of the kids in the class, but it gets them excited about reading and they learn which way to star reading and a few little words. It is a lot of fun. Our sentence today was "My zebra is white and black."

Ask the kids to sign "Itsy Bitsy Spider". I know that you have probably taught your child this but we have been working on it and they can sign it really good.

Field Trip to PetsMart

2011-02-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

I know that it was a while ago, but I still wanted to post about our preschool field trip to PetsMart.

In the month of January we learned all about animals. About mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Each day after our snack time we learned about what animals look like and grouped pictures of the same kind of animal on a poster board.

At Petsmart we feed the fish, saw some dogs getting a bath, saw the animal hospital, touched the hamsters and mice, petted the snakes and lizards and heard the birds sing. We had a great time.

Drawing, Letter F, and Dinosaurs

2011-01-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

We worked on the letter F today. Everyday the kids improve and are doing so great.

We talked about taking different step to draw things like a house, a mouse, and a bug. The kids followed the steps very good and the pictures turned out way better than I thought they would.

We also learned about dinosaurs.

Painting

2011-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

We had a successful day painting (even with Soren). The kids had so much fun!

We also talked about the New Year, Letter E and 1st, 2nd, 3rd.

gingerbread houses

2010-12-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

Today we made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. WE hot glued the crackers together, (so don't eat that part), the candy can be eaten. The kids were so cute. Soren (my baby) even joyed in the fun in his high chair.

Letter C

2010-12-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

We started the alphabet over. We will work on the same letter for two days. The first day we do the coloring worksheet about the letter (the four year olds cut and paste out pictures that start with the letter for the day) and then the second day we do a tracing paper. Today we worked on letter C.

Indian names

2010-11-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

Emmie - Dancing Star

Halle - Shining Diamond

Silvia - Pretty Tree

Bridget - Shining Rainbow

Isaac - Iron Indian (he wanted Iron Man)

Wade - Dragon Teeth

Jason - Buzz Lightyear

Finished Alphabet books and Thanksgiving Snack Feast

2010-11-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

We finished our Alphabet Books. Everyday since the beginning of the school year the kids have worked on a letter of the alphabet. (Don't worry we will still be working on the alphabet everyday). It has been good to see how much they know. We have been working a lot on writing their names. I am so excited to see the kids improve. It has surprised me how much I get excited that the other kids, not just my own, are learning.

For today's lesson we had a Thanksgiving Snack Feast. All of the kids enjoyed helping their selves to bananas, cranraisins, apples, graham crackers, ritz crackers, animal crackers, and granola bars.

It was a good Thanksgiving lesson.

Halloween Party

2010-11-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

We had a blast at our Halloween Party. So much FUN! We had two superheros, three princesses, a fairy, and a fierce fire blowing dragon. We colored, did a dot-to-dot, counted some scary things, read Halloween stories, played games, and watched a Mickey Mouse cartoon.

Of course I read a story about a good witch and a bad witch. So much more fun when you are dressed in a witch costume. We played pin the tail on the donkey, but we called it "tape the star on the witches hat." My favorite for the whole day was musical chairs. For most of the kids it was the first time that they have ever played it. Most catched on and some couldn't figure out why we took a chair out of the middle after we stopped the music. The kids were getting so into it. They were running so fast around the chairs. We'll have to play that again - it quite entertaining to watch.

After the games we ate snacks and watched a Mickey Mouse Halloween cartoon.

Thanks for dressing up your children they are so cute and I enjoy teaching them so much.

Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun

2010-10-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me.
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Hiding behind a tree
These little children are asking you
To please come out so we can play with you.
Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun,
Please shine down on,
please shine down on,
Please shine down on me.

We talked about the Sun today. We learned that all living things need the sun; including us. The sun is really a star and the sun is very very hot.

The kids made their own "Mr. Sun". It was the cutest thing to see them try to figure it out. Some drew and cut their own circle and others needed some more assistant. The kids sure did "brighten" my day today.

We worked on matching group together that were of the same value and we learned about letter Nn.

Letter M, BIG or small, and Planet Earth

2010-10-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day at preschool for me and the kids. I really enjoyed it today and felt like the kids really learned and had fun.

Today we started with centers (like always). The listening center, writing center, building center, and the mixed up center. The listening center and the writing center are centers that we have everyday. The other two centers rotate. In the building center the kids played with wooden blocks, and in the mixed up center the kid had to put the number magnets in order and match up the correct lower case letter to the upper case letter.

For circle time we went over the calendar, looked at our pine cones, counted, learned the letter Mm and made some observations about size. We are beginning to compared things that are a different size. Starting with words like - Large, Big, Small, Little and Medium. Today we compared pumpkins. Hopefully working up to comparing numbers.

When the kids are at their tables for individual time they pasted different size shapes in order (small, medium, large). Also they wrote in their alphabet books.

After play time and snack time we read some books about planet earth and then the kids returned to their tables to color their Earth picture.

Columbus Day

2010-10-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

We learned this cute little song today. It is sung to the tune of "Oh My Darling"

Oh Columbus, Oh Columbus
Sailed the ocean wide and blue
He landed in America
In fourteen ninety-two.

We also have been learning a song about apples sung to the same tune.

I found an apple, found an apple,
found an apple on a tree,
It was it oh so big and round,
When I found it on the tree.

I picked an apple, picked an apple,
picked an apple from the tree,
It was red and oh so juicy,
Half for you and half for me.

Number 10, J, and Fall

2010-10-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

We are already on letter J and number 10. The kids are still working on their alphabet books. We have been learning about Autumn. About the colors, leaves, changing weather. We compared fake leaves to real leaves using smell and touch. We categorized the leaves according to color. We cut open a pumpkin and the kids found the seeds inside and felt and smelled the pulp. Kind of slimy.

We are also doing a science experiment with pine cones. I gathered some pine cones in the neighbor and they were dry and open. During preschool we pored water over them and they closed up and now we are letting them dry out over the next few days to see if they will open back up. They open and close depending on how much water they need.

New Centers and A New Month

2010-10-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

We added a few new centers. We have the scavenger hunt center and the art center. So far the kids have loved to dig in the rice to find leaves and pumpkins. At the art center the kids draw whatever they want. We always have the writing center, where the kids work on the letters and numbers for that day. The number center the kids try to put the numbers in order. The kids rotate through the centers for about 5 minutes each.

Letter c, #3 and food groups

2010-09-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

Today we talked about letter C and the number 3. We colored the food pyramid and had a small snack from each food group - grains, vegetables, fruit, milk/dairy, and meat/protein, and sweets. None of the kids would eat the vegetables, some ate fruit, they all like the cheese and lunch meat, everyone was really excited for the sweets.
I hope the kids are learning things. I have enjoyed teaching so much. Thank you for letting me teach your kids.

Letter A and All About Me

2010-09-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

We learned about Letter A and learned how to write the #1. We measured and weighed the kids and the kids drew pictures of themselves.

First week of school

2010-09-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

This has been the first week of preschool. It has been a great start.I have enjoyed getting to know the kids, we have three boys and four girls in our class. The first day the kids were so quite and now they are warming up and are talking more to me and each other. On Wednesday (Sept. 8) we learned the class rules, which are...
1. Listening ears
2. Walking feet
3. Quite lips
4. Helping hands
5. Happy faces

We also read "The Mixed Up Alphabet" and played a game to get the alphabet back in order.

Today, (Friday) we did centers at the colored tables. When the kids got to preschool they picked where they could seat. We had the listening/watching center, the puzzle center, the lacing center and the writing center. The kids really enjoyed this activity. They all worked great and completed the center before switching.

We also read "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" and made our own coconut trees with leaves and stickers. The kids love to use glue sticks.

So far so good.

First week of school

2010-09-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

2010-02-16T14:05:00.000-08:00