Pre-K Newsletter

            This past weekend delivered a taste of winter with Saturday’s snowfall. Hopefully the children had a chance to go out and play in the snow because it seems like it will be short lived with the return of more mild weather this week. The result is a very muddy playground, so please be sure to send you child to school with the appropriate attire (boots, snow pants, etc.). 

            We have been wrapping up our exploration of the benefits of good nutrition with the children. This week we did a language arts activity with the children that ended up being very well received. Using special cards with pictures of various foods, we provided the children with different clues that would describe that food. The children needed to consider the clues as a whole and try to determine what food was being described. Listening skills came into play, as the children could only be successful if they have actually understood the clues. Science also comes into play as many of the clues include particular benefits that help the children narrow down the food to a particular food group. 

            As a culminating activity the children were broken down into small groups for an activity that would allow them to demonstrate their knowledge of the different food groups and the benefits that those groups provide to our bodies. This activity was designed to serve as a review and an assessment of what we have learned about this topic. The children have established that a healthy meal is one that includes at least one food from each of the healthy food groups. With that in mind, each child was given a plate and asked to assemble a healthy meal from the toy foods. Sometimes the children needed a hint in order to include a missing food. For instance, a child might be told that they are missing a food that contains protein. Adding the correct food would demonstrate an understanding of the science of the food groups.

            You may recall that we have been talking to the children about the challenges that animals face during the winter months and the ways that they adapt to meet those challenges. These conversations have lead to a project based on the book Bear Snores On. This undertaking combines with our previous initiative focusing on story structure and reading comprehension. After reading the story we worked together in small groups to break it down and identify the different components (beginning, middle, end), gauging their level of comprehension along the way. 

            There were also opportunities for the children to name different animals from the book and describe their role in the story. The students were encouraged to pick out their favorite animal from the story and draw a picture and label the character. The animals were then placed inside a bear den that the children made. It can be seen next to the studio. Many of the children enjoyed acting out parts of the book, helping them to increase their level of comprehension.

            This week Chris started teaching the children a new game in the gym room. “Gold Rush” is a perennial favorite that has become a right of passage for both Pre-K classes. This is a fast paced, high-energy game that puts a premium on teamwork, cooperation, and managed risk taking. It is one of the first games the children encounter that really forces them to consider strategy. This game is also used to introduce the topic of sportsmanship. “Gold Rush” can be played indoors making it an ideal winter game when getting outside is not always feasible.

            On a sad note, our classroom camera died on us last week. As a result, there may not be as many new photos on the website or daily reflections outside the classroom this week. We have purchased an IPod touch that we will be using to take photos going forward. The reason for the IPod touch is that we are experimenting with some new software under development that will allow us to track the children’s progress as they advance through the different benchmarks on the CT Framework. So if you see us using this device please realize that we are not playing with our phones or goofing off online.

            We hope you all have a great weekend!