Rain Forest Transformation

We have been learning and singing about the rain forest. Today each preschooler shared a fact they knew about the rain forest. They knew a great variety of animals in the rain forest and all the layers too.

Here is our rainforest song:

There are 4 layers in the rain forest, 4 layers
There are 4 layers in the rain forest, 4 layers

Forest floor, understory, Canopy, emergent layer.
There are 4 layers in the rain forest, 4 layers.

The emergent's home to birds, and butterflies.
Butterflies!
The emergent's home to birds and butterflies.
Butterflies!
The trees are so high that they almost touch the sky.
The emergent's home to birds and butterflies.
Butterflies!

The canopy is like a big umbrella.
Big umbrella!
The canopy is like a big umbrella.
Big umbrella!
Monkeys, sloths, orangutans, eat all the fruit they can.
The canopy is like a big umbrella.
Big umbrella!

The understory's home to many snakes.
Many snakes!
The understory's home to many snakes.
Many snakes!
They eat cats and bats and rats,
And they like the gnats for snacks.
The understory's home to many snakes.
Many snakes!

The forest floor is dim and dark and wet.
Dark and wet!
The forest floor is dim and dark and wet.
Dark and wet!
Oh, the ants go marching by,
As they watch the birds up high.
The forest floor is dim and dark and wet.
Dark and wet!

There are 4 layers in the rain forest, 4 layers
There are 4 layers in the rain forest, 4 layers

Forest floor, understory, Canopy, emergent layer.
There are 4 layers in the rain forest, 4 layers.


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We focused on the canopy layer today. We made monkey masks and colored canopy animals to add to our class mural.

Our letter of the day was Qq. We started a quilt with a picture the children drew and a handprint.

We listened to the song/video clip (under my youtube page under favorites) "I can write my numbers." All the preschoolers impressed me with writing their numbers 0-9. To follow up on this, we played "what number am !?"

We read the story, "The Great Kapok Tree" by Lynn Cherry. Students were also excited to see our very own version of the great Kapok tree in our preschool circle time area. Hanging are clouds from our bonus craft day and the coffee filter buterflies we made when learning about the emergent layer last week. This is such a fun theme!!!

Rain Forest learning and mardi gras?

As we are currently learning about the rain forest AND it was going to be Mardi Gras, I decided the children could make bird mardi gras masks. We had a focus of the emergent layer of the rain forest which is the top layer. Mostly birds and sometimes butterflies are at this layer. We sang our rain forest song, we made bird masks, we made coffee filter butterflies and also misted water on our plants that we planted on the first day of the unit. Working on completing our mural of the 4 layers of the rainforest some students colored birds or butterflies. Look for their work on the mural of the rainforest layers. We add more each class until we will have animals in all the layers.

Outside, we explored the concept of camouflage with red and green toothpicks I had painted. I sprinkled them in the grass and the students had 2 minutes to find as many as they could. They found all 25 red ones and only 21 green ones. It was a very hands on way to understand and see camouflage in action. Plus it was so much fun.

Our letter of the day was Gg so we also painted green grapes with our fingers dipped in green paint. Students also love writing in water markers or even paint brushes dipped in water on the aqua mats. They practiced the letter of the day - g

We continued the fun on Friday with a bonus craft day for current preschoolers and future preschoolers where the students could make a cloud for the forest and worked on painting a huge strip of paper green for a vine. I was getting ready to transform the wall by the circle table into our very own "Great Kapok" tree.

We love preschool!

Valentine's Day is always a special day. It was a treat to spend it with such a sweet group of children!

The letter of the day was "C" and the day was filled with candy.

We counted candy into muffin tins numbered 1-12.

We sorted Valentine heart candies by color practicing the count and say strategy as well as organizing the candies in lines. Then we talked about who had the most or least of the colors. We graphed the results and discovered there were a lot more yellow candies than the other colors.

We also practiced making patterns. The children reviewed that patterns repeat and created AB patterns to demonstrate their understanding. Then we introduced a new pattern: ABB. The practiced making this new pattern and evaluated their peers' patterns. Sometimes they "caught" where the pattern didn't repeat and offered ways for the other child to fix it until they all proudly presented their very own final ABB patterns.

The children made Valentines to take home with plenty of glue, stickers and hearts.

They had a heart maze to practice their lines and writing skills.

The children had fun singing a Valentine song while passing out their Valentines to each other.

Tumbling Time

The preschool students have the oppportunity to enjoy Tina's "Tumbling Tots" program at my home for 4 weeks. Tina brings her experience as a gymnastics' coach, dance teacher and mom to encourage the children to reach for the stars!

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4 layers of the rain forest

We started our Rain Forest theme which will go through February and March.

We sang a song which the children will sing throughout the unit about "There are 4 Layers of the Rain Forest, 4 Layers." It is a rather catchy tune sung to the same tune as "If you're Happy and You Know It."

The 4 layers are

Forest Floor,

Understory,

Canopy and

Emergent.

The students painted some tag board which will represent these layers as they learn more about each animal or plan that calls the rainforest its home.

We planted seeds in our own homemade terrarium. We will learn a little bit about the water cycle and eagerly watch to see if the seedlings grow.

For snack, we enjoyed a treat to get us in the spirit of planting" a dirt cup with pudding, oreos and gummy worms. We will be making a similar dessert soon using tasty treats to represent the 4 layers of the rain forest.

Our letter of the day was Z. We listened to our e-book and story about the letter Z and we also worked on how to write our numbers 0-9.

Learning the Angles...tough work or fun?!

The preschoolers had so much fun with this activity! There were 7 bins filled with various sensory materials: rice, black beans, white beans, macaroni noodles, sand, mostaccoli noodles, and grains. Every student had to search through the bins to find shapes with their name on them: circle, oval, diamond, trapezoid, octagon, etc. Once found, they needed to glue them on their grid in the correct spot where the shape was labeled. What a fun way to review all the shapes we talked about for this month's geometry theme.

We worked on making AB patterns today with our geometric shapes, students worked on tangrams and geometric pictures as well. We also sang our Spanish shape song "Yo se mis formas" or "I know my shapes." During circle time, we read a cute story about clever mice outwitting a cat in "Mouse Shapes." We ate graham cracker rectangles and/or squares for snack time.

Our letter of the day was Xx. We rhymed ox, box and fox and listened to and watched on the tv from the computer the ABC Twiggles e-book about a fox with a box and an ox with some rocks.

We also had our midway letter sound and identification assessment.

We read our SAM book site words at circle time and pre-kinders got their own set to take home for their letter rings.

enrolling for 2012-2013

http://mytimeandmorepreschool.blogspot.com/
Kristin Kveton kvetonk@gmail.com
Johnson Ranch, San Tan Valley

We will have a class starting the week of August 7, 2012, following the Eduprize (Queen Creek campus) calendar.

Tuesdays class will meet from 8:30-11:30am (6 students maximum)
TUESDAYS CLASS HAS 1 SPOT OPEN.

Wednesday class will meet from 8:30-11:30am (6 students maximum)
WEDNESDAY CLASS IS FULL AT 6 STUDENTS.

Thursday class will be offered for students already enrolled in Tuesday and/or Wednesday class.
THURSDAY CLASS HAS TWO SPOTS OPEN - ONLY if a TUESDAY or WEDNESDAY child wishes to take it.
Thursday class will meet from 8:30-11:30 and have a phonics focus offering more enrichment and reinforcement of the reading skills including letter sounds and letter identification
(8 students maximum)

*I will be accepting students ages 3 & up for the Tuesday sessions.
(Your child needs to be at least 3 years old to be in my program. S/he needs to turn 3 by September 1st.)

*I will be accepting up to 2 students ages 2.5 & up for the Wednesday sessions.
(These younger children need to turn 3 by December 1st for the Wednesday session)
The other 4 children for the Wednesday session must be age 3 by September 1st.

One day option:
If your child is enrolled you may choose a one day option of either Tuesday OR Wednesday

Two day option:
You may chose to enroll your child Tuesday and Thursday.
or
You may choose to enroll your child Wednesday and Thursday.

Three day option:
You may choose to enroll your child Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

$35 registration/material fee yearly per child *paid registration reserves your spot for 2012-2013

Tuition:
$55 per month one day a week class fee
$100 per month two days a week class fee
$125 per month three days a week class fee

Second child discount is $10 off second tuition per month
Third child discount is $15 off third tuition per month

* Tuition is due the first class of the month , see registration paperwork for full details

Our curriculum will include phonics, reading, writing, math, science and Spanish as well as a perceptual motor skills development plan. Children will be given both individual as well as whole group instruction and also participate in learning labs based on the theme or a specific skill. Children will be assessed throughout the program and conferences and feedback related to your child's development will be provided. I will encourage parents to be partners in their child's learning and communicate ways to encourage reinforcing "school" skills at home. All children will be using letter rings to help practice letter names and sounds. Letter rings will also include phonics words and site words for some children when they show signs of readiness. Bob Books, letter of the week books, SAM books or other reader books will also be sent home weekly as part of the reading preparation for kindergarten.