Meet the Teachers

Let's meet the teachers in the classrooms:

In Ms. Jeana's room, Ms. Jeana is the teacher and Ms. Kelly, Ms. Traci, and Ms. Suzanne are the awesome paraeducators.

In Ms. Jen's room, Ms. Jen is the teacher and Ms. Shirley, Ms. Debbie, and Ms. Bella are the awesome paraeducators.

Hopefully you can put some face to the names your children might say.  We are working hard to teach them our names as well as the name of the other children in the classroom.

October Week 5: HALLOWEEN

We had so much fun with our Halloween parties this week!  My apologies that I didn't get pictures of all the cute costumes.  I still had to do therapy so I couldn't wait around with my camera for shots.

Look at what the teachers dressed up to be:

Miss Carrie was a witch.

Miss Suzanne was a witch, too.

Miss Jeana was a witch.  We have a theme going here.

Miss Pam was a soccer referee.

Miss Shirley was a Disney witch!

Miss Debbie was a football player...or energetic football fan.

Miss Jen was the house from the movie UP.

Our Principal came into the room looking for a frog to kiss.

In Miss Jeana's room, we played Halloween games and sang Spooky Walk.  In Miss Jen's room, we decorated sugar cookies with frosting (or just ate the frosting), made treat bags and watched Scholastic movies.  Each class had a Halloween parade to the other classroom. We paraded around the room twice, waving to friends and calling each other by our costumes.  "Hello, Link!"  "Hi, Mario!"  "Hi, Rapunzel!"  "Hey, Auna/Elsa/Cinderella/Ariel!" "Hi, Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman!"  "S'up, Darth Vader?"

As much as we talk about upcoming holidays, the best time to talk about them is AFTER the child has experienced the holiday.  Then all the new vocabulary and language concepts come into play and the child has increased comprehension.  So, keep reading Halloween books and talking about what your family did on Halloween as well as what your child experienced in the classroom.  You can also start talking about Thanksgiving.  We'll be talking about experiencing new foods, singing a Thanksgiving song (What Does The Turkey Say? Gobble-Gobble-Gobble!") and talking about families and who your children will see during Thanksgiving.

The READ Board

Every year our school does something I love.  The teachers all feature a book, add props, and take a portrait for the main hall at school.  Our pre-K students who ride the bus see it every day.  I wanted to make sure that all of our families saw the pictures. Show your children and then come to school and try to find our pictures on the board.

Miss Jeana

Miss Jen

Miss Carrie

Goodbye, Miss Julie. Hello, Miss Jenni.

 It is the end of the school year and we're saying goodbye to Miss Julie.  She is moving to a school that is closer to her home.  We will miss you, Miss Julie!

We're excited to welcome Miss Jenni.  She is joining our team for the 2017-2018 school year.  She has some fun ideas and loves to get down on the floor and play.  Look for her at Back To School Night next year!

Preschool play: We're learning!

You might think this is play time, but in High Scope language, this is WORK TIME.  Children learn through play.  I wanted to show you some of the learning going on in both classrooms.

This is darling.  I asked this boy if he saw his mom or dad iron clothes.  He replied that he saw his grandpa ironing.  Note the laundry basket full of items waiting to be folded. He taught me how to fold the washcloths. Vocabulary words here could include hot/cold, flat/wrinkled, top/bottom, over/under.

This little boy LOVES to fix motorcycles.  He knew how to use that screwdriver. Vocabulary expansion here could include fix it, machine parts (Wheel, body, handle), colors, requesting help, turn on/off.

Teachers get right in there and play, too.  Here, Miss Suzanne is playing ponies.  This little boy insisted that the ice cream truck needed to bring ice cream to the ponies. Vocabulary here could include requesting, "I want _____" statements, cold, frozen, more/less.

This little girl was either selling toys or costume items. Vocabulary: more/less, "Give me______", requesting, counting.

I thought that the gorilla lived in this house.  But the boy informed me that the gorilla was INVADING the house.  Nice vocabulary word, buddy! More vocabulary: animal labeling, room labeling, on top, next to, under, in front, behind, emotions.

This little boy was working on building a colossal marble track. Vocabulary could include on top, under, front, back, next to, colors, tall/short, more, fast/slow.

This boy was building some serious architecture.  He had a specific plan and welcomed others to help if they followed his directions for his plan.  Vocabulary expansion could include What and Where questions, requesting, negation (not there!), and shapes.

This little girl wanted to paint.  She was very particular that she wanted to paint at the easel and not the table. Vocabulary could include color, long/short, top/bottom, more, requesting, "I see ______".

I was doing therapy with her so I painted, too.  I used the same materials and colors that she did.  I would look at her painting and comment on it or ask questions and she would do the same for mine.  Sometimes she would tell me what color she thought I needed to use.  NOTE:  Never assume you know what the child is drawing/painting.  Always ask them to tell you about their creation.

This little boy loves to build with the blocks. Vocabulary may include, top/under, shapes, colors, more, What and Where questions, "Give me _________", and protesting (when the blocks fall over).  

This little girl wanted to paint at the table.  Note that Miss Shirley was painting with her.  They were talking back and forth about what they were doing.

Who says that materials must be used for their intended purpose.  These children took the giant tinker toys and turned them into a stash of magic wands.  I didn't know the magic word so I did not get a wand. I had a great witch cackle, but it did not earn me a wand.  It did earn me a spell turning me into a pig.

This boy and one of the teachers built a dinosaur house.  It was so much fun that a lot of the children wanted to join in.  Pretty soon there was a dinosaur party going on in that dinosaur house.  Vocabulary words could include shapes, color, size, negation, requesting.

The sensory table in Miss Jeana's room was busy today.  There were pouring, scooping, stirring and measuring.

This boy and Miss Jeana were building a garage and cars to go in the garage.  This is a great time to talk about shapes (rectangle, square), colors, and more/less.

This little girl was drawing her family.  Vocabulary words to explore here would be tall/short, taller/shorter, family names, boy/girl, and Who-questions.