We spend time learning letters, sounds, numbers and each others names. I'm always interested to see who knows what...but it can be difficult to have one child answer at a time. So I make it a game...Miss Dawn vs the Class. The only way I can get a point is if someone shouts out the answer and it is not their turn. If someone does not know the answer the group is allowed to answer. It is a very popular game! I like to use my "game show" voice and really ham it up!! I occasionally get a few points but I never win. This game also reminds everyone to take turns and give others a chance to speak. A great skill to have indeed...
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I think its very important for children to spend time with paper and a pencil. So I like to spend time modelling drawing in a special book. This book stays in class and goes home at the end of the year. It is a very nice way to see each child's progress. This year I spent some time introducing books that outlined some "techniques" for drawing. After reading Lines that Wiggle, we searched for different lines in our classroom. Then, we spent some time with our white boards and drew some of the lines from the book. We discussed how you could use these lines in different drawings. Above, in one child's drawing you can see some of the lines we saw and a drawing of a caterpillar, using these new lines.
I LOVE children's books (maybe even more than adult books! shhhhhhhh!) and I always point out the author and illustrator. We also discuss how the illustrations are made; paint, pencil, clay, paper, etc. In our drawing books, each child is the illustrator and the author. Their drawings are never wrong, bad or not good enough because they are the artist and art can be whatever you want it to be!! Being October we spent alot of time exploring pumpkins. One day we measured our pumpkins using cubes. We determined the smallest and the biggest. We then determined by how much. Then we searched in the classroom for items that were bigger and smaller than our largest pumpkin. The cubes were left out during center time for the class to explore...and this is what they did! These boys decided to make patterns. The patterns were then placed together to see if they would be longer than a child. It was so much fun to see all the wonderful ideas they come up with in using these cubes! Every month we look at a new poem or rhyme on our chart board. It is a great opportunity to examine print. With this poem we noticed quickly how many times the word pumpkin was used. After discussing the letter P and what it looks like, each child was invited to come and cover up the word "pumpkin" with a blank sheet. 10 times we found our mystery word! We have been having fun making rhyming words with our names so we decided to try to make rhyming words with the word pumpkin. After presenting a letter and its sound we then would read out our poem using our "new" word. It made for a lot of giggles! This was the Halloween sensory box. The first time the class played with this I realized that when you move the items, the small green beads, actually help roll the objects around, almost as if on their own! It was a very spooky effect...perfect for Halloween! I also used this as an "eye-spy" box. I have foam numbers that I would give a child and ask them to find me the corresponding amount of, let's say...bones. Mr Pumpkin head! I drilled some holes in the pumpkins and then we made interesting pumpkin people! I am very big on fine motor development...and what a better way than holding onto little tees and hammering! Golf tees, pumpkins and a hammer and those muscles gets a great workout! A very popular activity. Our pumpkin exploring would not be complete with out discovering what is inside. We talked about what we "thought" it would feel, smell and look like inside. Everyone was most surprised at the smell. They were surprised that it was not a more "pleasant" smell, since "pumpkin pie smells soooo good!" Pass the pumpkin. This game is similar to hot potato. When the music stopped the person holding the pumpkin had to find their name or their friend's name. On the other pumpkin they had to find a certain letter and try and make it's sound. For a reward there was candy corn for everyone!! It was Halloween, of course! Everyday someone asks their child, "What did you do at school today?" Most times the answer is, "Nothing." Most days it is the response I get from my own two children. However, I continue to see progress in their learning so I know they are doing "something" at school. This is where I got the idea for this blog...I thought there must be parents who are wondering, "What exactly does my child do all day at preschool?" I can tell you that at preschool children learn independence, rules and responsibilities. It's a place to make friends and prepare for a "real" school setting. The real joy is that it is all done through fun and "play"!! Through this blog I invite you to take a sneak peek inside our classroom. And I hope it answers the question, "What did you do today?"
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Miss DawnI teach preschool in my home to 3 and 4 year olds. It's a wonderful adventure filled with lots of laughter and learning. Archives
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