So we have been blogging for a while! This addition marks the 90th post between our three's and four's classes. We think the blog has been a success this year. We may have mentioned we tried it a few years back. Not as successful. Perhaps we were ahead of our time? lol. At any rate, we hope you are enjoying reading about what goes on in our classroom. We also hope it makes you all feel like you are a part of each and every day!
Now that we have review the merits of our blog, let us apologize for not blogging on Thursday or Friday. We will cover that here!
So on Friday we had so much fun we could hardly contain ourselves. Speaking of which, thank you all for bringing in the hard-boiled eggs ... and all the extras! They did not go to waste. The eggs were used in a science experiment we conducted. The kids were instructed to insulate a paper bag with "resources" made available to them including: stuffing for pillows, paper cups, shredded paper, tissue paper and popsicle sticks. They were to "pack" their egg so it wouldn't crack. We did not tell them however, that we would be dropping them from the second floor to the first. Mrs. E. was sure they'd be sad if the egg broke and reitterated the efforts of our lesson were scientific in nature. To our surprise, the kids were sooooooo excited when the eggs broke they yelled and screamed and we laughed. There was one egg that did NOT break. This little gal put hers inside the cup then packed stuff around it. We thought she might cry when it DIDN'T crack! Funny!
Our sight word was SHE so we did an activity together as a group. Each kid found the three letters it takes to make up this word (on cards spread throughout the room) and took them to their table to formulate the word. Everyone scored 100% on that activity! We told you they were smart ones!
We later entertained our parent volunteer with a kite numbers activity. The kids got a kite that had ribbons on the tail. They were to count the ribbons then pick out the corresponding number card that went with their kite. This involved some serious, concentrated counting for those with bigger numbers. Our lesson to the kids has been to put your finger on the item you are counting so as not to get lost. Many did just that and were successful.
Finally, there was a rhyming activity with pictures of ham and eggs. They got a card from the circle on the rug and put it on a velcro board. The next child found the picture that rhymed with it and put it next to it on the board.
Today we celebrated the letter "O". We wrote it and did an "on", "off" movement activity with construction paper oranges. That got the adrenaline going!
During jobs one child announced they were happy with the snow because there is lots we haven't gotten to do this winter without the snow. We thought it'd be fun to make a list of those things. My favorite on the list was "no covering your dad in snow". Funny. Here are others that made the list:
* no snow angels
* no hats on snow angels
* no snowmen
* no princess snow angels
* no snowball fights
* no covering your siblings in snow
* no covering your pets in snow
* no sledding
They did quite well don't you think!
Since this week is all about the farm, we thought it'd be fun to make our own butter! We talked about how it would have been done in the 'ol days. First you needed a cow. We didn't have one so we got our milk from the store (thank goodness). Then we showed them how to shake till your arms hurt. We got to enjoy the fruits of our labor thanks to Mrs. E. who brought in crackers. Yum! By the way, they said they want their butter like this all the time.
The kids also worked on a cute horse craft; we had French class with Madame and talked about tattling. These children work hard to "stay in line" that when they catch someone "messing up" they tell on them. This is normal four/five-year old behavior. We try to tell them that (1) not everyone is perfect and we all make mistakes. In fact, mistakes are a learning opportunity so it's "no biggie"; (2) that they should use their own words and talk with that person directly about what it is they are doing to bother them, etc. They do a great job with this. Now that we have that down, we are putting the kids in charge of the tattling. From here on out, we will have a "peace maker" job. That person will get to wear a colorful vest reminding all in the classroom that's who they go to with their grievances. The peace maker will help them resolve the issue. We shall see how that goes.
Friday is our down home breakfast, if your child is not a breakfast-food person, let us know. Also thanks for your generosity in response to our plea for help that day. Folks are coming in and many are bringing something. Thanks much!
On a final note, one parent shared with us her solution to discussing the birds and the bees with her child. She found a book called "It's Not The Stork" that she felt was helpful. We have not read the book but thought we would pass along the information. We looked it up and it seems to be suitable. It sells for about $11 on amazon.
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