Friday, February 27, 2009

The Children's Corner Open House!!!

Get ready for next year!!
On May 29th we will have our annual open house for anyone interested in preschool next year! It's never too early to register because there are limited spots available, but this will be a day to meet other preschoolers, get information packets, and reserve a place in the Children's Corner Preschool.


Next year, class times will be a little different:


Tiggers (4/5 -year olds) are Tues. Wed. Thurs. from 9:30 - 11:30am (8 spots available)





Piglets (3-year olds) are Tues. and Thurs. from 12:30 - 2:30pm (8 spots available)

Please email for prices and registration information and welcome to our preschool!
tammyjensen1@yahoo.com

Valentine's Day 4

Greeting Time (9:00 – 9:15)
Morning Circle (AM 9:15-9:30)

1. Song Can
2. Share and Tell
3. Calendar
4. Animal Magic
We'll read a story about love, and discuss how we know our families love us or our friends - what ways do they show us. We will talk about our moms or dads coming and what we will be doing - set up preschool room so it will be ready for parents!

Learning Centers (AM 9:30-10:15)
*Cut and Color Table: HEART SHAPES - The children will continue practicing their cutting skills with hearts today. The teacher will have various sizes or hearts pre-cut and she will continue to encourage the children to also cut them. The students can decorate the hearts with stickers, markers, crayons and also glue them together from biggest to smallest, etc.
*Messy Table: RED SHAVING CREAM - We will continue with the red shaving cream today. Children really love the feel of this and love to get messy with something they don't usually do. Again, the teacher will guide the children in writing or drawing messages to each other in the shaving cream. They will also just have fun smooshing, squishing, and spreading the shaving cream around!!
*Creative Art: VALENTINE'S DAY BOXES - The kids will continue to decorate their valentines day boxes today!! There will be all sorts of material, lace, shapes, hearts, cotton balls, buttons, candy hearts, etc to choose from!! We will use these boxes at the end of class when we pass out our valentine's cards we have made for each other.
EASEL PAINTING - Red, white, and pink paint will be at the easel today for the children to explore with!
*Dramatic Play: MAILBOXES - There will be an individual mail box for each student with their name on it. The teacher will encourage students to make valentine's for each other, write letters, draw pictures etc and place them in each others boxes. There will paper, markers, envelopes, stencils, stickers, etc available for them to make letters right in the dramatic play area. It's so much fun to get things from others!!




*Snack: VALENTINE SUGAR COOKIES - We will be saving our snack time for when our parents come today!! We will get to decorate our own sugar cookies with frosting and fun toppings and eat them with our loved ones!!

*Transition: We will learn how to say "I Love You" in sign language.
Recess (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55)

Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)


* Small Group: PARENTS COME FOR OUR SMALL GROUP TODAY!! We will start small group by playing "Valentine March" as we're waiting for all the parents to show up. Large hearts with numbers or ABC's will be placed on the floor. As the music plays the children and their mom or dad or both will march from heart to heart. When the music stops, so do the people. Each child then tells the number or letter he is standing on. Candy hearts will be passed out for each child that gets it right (parents can help :). We will then go into decorating our Valentine cookies together with our moms or dads and brothers or sisters and of course eating them together!! To end the day we will get to make a valentine craft together. Your child will get to choose to make his own with his own creativity or choose from some of the examples that Miss Tammy will have available. This should be a lot of fun and a great time to spend one-on-one-time with your preschooler and let them know you love them on Valentine ’s Day!




Valentine's Day 3



Greeting Time (9:00 – 9:15)
Morning Circle (AM 9:15-9:30)

1. Song Can
2. Share and Tell
3. Calendar
4. Animal Magic
We will learn our Valentine song today. We'll move into Share n' Teach which develops speaking skills, and being in a group. We'll read the story "The Night Before Valentine's Day" and discuss all of the fun things that happen around or on Valentine's day. What are some things we do for others, how do we show them we love them, etc.





Learning Centers (AM 9:30-10:15)
*Cut and Color Table: ORIGINAL VALENTINE'S DAY CARDS - The children will be able to cut hearts out of construction paper (teacher will teach them or their will be pre-traced hearts for them to cut around). They can decorate them with lace scraps, yarn, and glitter to make their very own Valentine's Day Cards for whomever they want. Pre-cut hearts will also be available for who have not yet mastered the skill of cutting.
*Messy Table: RED SHAVING CREAM - shaving cream will be placed in the messy table today with red food coloring mixed in it. The teacher will guide the children in writing or drawing messages to each other in the shaving cream. They will also just have fun smooshing, squishing, and spreading this stuff around!!
*Creative Art: VALENTINE'S DAY BOXES - The kids will get to decorate their valentines day boxes today!! There will be all sorts of material, lace, shapes, hearts, cotton balls, buttons, candy hearts, etc to choose from!! We will use these boxes on Thursday when we pass out our valentine's cards we have made for each other.
*Dramatic Play: MAILBOXES - There will be an individual mail box for each student with their name on it. The teacher will encourage students to make valentine's for each other, write letters, draw pictures etc and place them in each others boxes. There will paper, markers, envelopes, stencils, stickers, etc available for them to make letters right in the dramatic play area. It's so much fun to get things from others!!





*Snack: HEART-SHAPED LOVE SANDWICHES - We will be making love sandwiches today out of bread, strawberry jelly, and heart shaped cookie cutters. Kids love sandwiches when they are in different shapes - we LOVE preschool!!





*Transition: We will learn how to say "I Love You" in sign language.


Recess (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55)



Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)
* Small Group: We will start small group by reading a Valentine's story or Love story. Discussing feelings, who we love, friends, etc. We will start our activity by sorting feelings. Pictures of happy and sad people will be cut out of magazines. On the outside of two boxes, there will be a happy face and a sad face. We take turns sorting the pictures into the correct boxes and discussing why the people might be happy or sad. Then we will play "Broken Hearts". I will have heart shapes cut out of red and pink and paper or tagboard. A numeral will be on one side and that number of heart stickers on the other side. The hearts will be cut in half like a puzzle, the children will have to match the puzzle pieces by counting.




Valentines Day 2

Greeting Time (9:00 – 9:15)
Morning Circle (AM 9:15-9:30)

1. Song Can
2. Share and Tell
3. Calendar
4. Animal Magic
We'll then read the story "The Valentine's Plot", enhancing listening skills and predictions. Discussions will take place about how to be a good friend and how the fish made good choices to be a good friend.
Learning Centers (AM 9:30-10:15)
*Cut and Color Table: FRIENDSHIP EXCHANGE ART - Paper will be provided with "To: _____" printed in the upper left corner and "From:_____" printed on the bottom. The teacher will assist the children in printing their names on the bottom and the name of the person on the top. Using paper scraps, tissue paper squares, fabric scraps, and glue, each child will construct a picture for a friend. When they are finished, each child can pass the paper to the friend it was made for.
*Messy Table: RED WATER - The messy table will be filled with red water today, to symbolize love and friendship. Floaty letters, containers, scoops, squeegies, etc, will be placed in the messy table also. What a great place to interact with friends and share!
*Creative Art: GLITTER HEARTS - Glitter glue and large hearts will be available at the art table. The children can use their creativity to make the patterns and shapes they would like on their heart with glitter glue. Kids love glitter glue!!
*Creative Art: Marbleized Valentine’s Hearts – Miss Tammy will provide large hearts and tempera paint and the children will be encouraged to paint one side of the heart. Then we will fold the hearts and squish them down with a rolling pin. When we open the heart again, there will be a marbleized design on both sides!
*Dramatic Play: PUPPET THEATER - A puppet show will be set up in the dramatic play area with various types of puppets. The children can share puppets and act out friendships using the puppets in various situations.
*Snack: Heart-shaped Jigglers will be made from red Jello today. We will cut them out and let them jiggle into our tummies!




*Transition: Learn our friend poem - "I like my friends, So when we are at play, I try to be very kind, and nice in every way."




Recess (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55)




Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)
* Small Group: We'll start small group by reading a friendship story - "Where are you Going? To See My Friend" by Eric Carle. This will give the children a chance to relax and also participate as I ask questions throughout the story. We will then start decorating our Valentine boxes or other containers. We will start by painting the boxes with their favorite color/s, and if there is time the teacher will do the hot gluing as the children choose the decorations they would like on their boxes. The hot gluing might be saved until Tuesday the 10th if we run out of time.

Friendship and Valentines - Day 1



Greeting Time (9:00 – 9:15)
Morning Circle (AM 9:15-9:30)

1. Song Can
2. Share and Tell
3. Calendar
4. Animal Magic
5. My friend rabbit. Discussions will take place on how to be a good friend.




Learning Centers (AM 9:30-10:15)
*Cut and Color Table: FRIENDSHIP CHAIN - I will provide strips of paper for the children to print their names on and teacher will assist those who need it. When all the names are written (probably some a few times), the children can connect them to make a chain. The chain will symbolize that everyone in the class is a friend. The teacher will guide discussions about friendship and how to be a good friend.
*Messy Table: SILLY PUTTY - Mix equal parts of white glue and liquid starch. The messy table is an area where two to four children can make new friends and share. Silly putty is something that is fun to play with together. Sensory sensations will be developed as the children stretch and play with the putty and make new friendships.
*Creative Art: HEART PRINTS - White paper and heart shaped stamps and cookie cutters will placed at this table today. The children can dip the cookie cutters into red and pink paint and make heart patterns. They can try and think of a new friend to give it to or someone that is an old friend or in the family.
*Dramatic Play: PUPPET SHOW - A puppet show will be set up in the dramatic play area with various types of puppets. The children can share puppets and act out friendships using the puppets in various situations.
*Snack: GRAHAM CRACKERS AND MILK - Today we will be having graham crackers and milk. The students will gain self-help skills as they pour their own milk, get their own napkin, and get their own cracker.
*Transition: SONG - We'll sing "Do you Know This Friend of Mine" to get ready to go outside. Do you know this friend of mine, this friend of mine, this friend of mine. Do you know this friend of mine? His name is _________.


Recess (AM 10:15-10:25...PM 1:45-1:55)


Small Group (AM 10:30-11:00...PM 2:00-2:30)
* Small Group: We'll start small group by reading the story, "The Grouchy Ladybug", who likes a grouchy friend? I'll have the students share a story about a time they shared or someone shared with them. How did it make you feel? Next we are going to listen to the children's voices that I taped throughout the day. How do they sound - nice, angry, polite? How do they want to sound from now on? Then we'll try and guess which classmate is talking throughout the tape.

Kindergarten Readiness


Kindergarten Readiness

Speech and Language Development
-Speaks in complete sentences.
-Speaks clearly enough to be understood by someone
who does not know him or her well.
-Communicates well with peers.
-Can rhyme and recognizes rhyming sounds.
-Identify the beginning sound of some words.
-Identify some alphabet letters.
-Tells the meaning of some simple words, like “stop.”
-Can recite ABC’s and count to ten.
-Asks questions.
-Looks at pictures and can tell stories about them.
-Can answer questions about a short story.
-Repeats phrases said by an adult.
-Can communicate with both adults and peers.


Social Development
-Can be taken away from parents without being overly
upset.
-Can spend extended periods of time away from
parents.
-Explores and tries new things.
-Curious and motivated to learn.
-Puts away toys and helps with family chores.
-Meets visitors without shyness.
-Able to stay on task and work independently.
-Finishes tasks.
-Describes some basic emotions and feelings.
-Expresses feelings and needs.
-Recognizes authority.
-Gets along and plays cooperatively with other children.
-Can take care of own toilet needs independently.
-Feels good about self and talks easily.
-Dresses self and cares for own belongings.
-Waits his or her turn.
-Exhibits self-control
-Seeks out interactive play with other children.
-Listens to stories without interrupting.
-Uses words rather than physical aggression to get what
he or she wants.
-Understands that actions have both causes and effects.
-Beginning to share with others.
-Follows simple directions.
-Shows beginning of ‘empathy’ skills.
-Knows parent’s names, home address, and phone
number.
-Can recite own first and last name.
-Says ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’
-Understands basic safety rules (e.g. don’t talk to
strangers).
-Aware of any food allergies he or she has.
-Can tell a story about a past event.


Motor Skill Development
-Runs, jumps, skips, hops, and gallops.
-Can bounce and catch a ball.
-Walks backward.
-Walks up and down stairs alternating feet.
-Can walk in a straight line.
-Uses hand-eye coordination. (e.g. can jump on one
foot, clap hands).
-Holds a pencil or crayon correctly.
-Holds scissors and cuts correctly.
-Can use scissors and glue to cut and paste.
-Can trace basic shapes.
-Builds with construction toys and blocks.
-Draws and colors beyond simple scribbles.
-Can put a 10 to 12 piece puzzle together.
-Can button, zip up zippers, or snap clothing.
-Ties own shoes.


Academic and General Knowledge
-Can write full name and recite address.
-Recognizes own first name in writing.
-Knows basic shapes.
-Knows colors.
-Knows relative sizes (e.g. big, small, smaller).
-Recognizes and completes patterns.
-Knows body parts, such as nose, ear, and elbow.
-Can match similar objects and explain why they are
alike.
-Can count to twenty.
-Knows ABC’s and can recognize and write most
letters.
-Can memorize things that have been read to him
repeatedly, (e.g. pretends to read a favorite story).
-Understands that print carries a message.
-Uses left to right progression.
-Understands general times of day, such as day and
night.
-Knows own age and birthday.
-Understands position and spatial concepts, such as up,
down, full, empty.
-Identifies simple opposites.
-Can sort items by color, shape, and size.