Caterpillars

A few weeks ago our order of caterpillars came! These are so fun to watch. They come so tiny and then grow and grow. They make their chrysalises and then we move them into a pavillion. So fun!

Here are some pictures of the morning class checking the size of the caterpillars. They are way bigger now!

D is for Dinosaur

The students were naturally very interested in dinosaurs. They had a lot of fun playing dinosaurs with each other. These pictures are a little out of order--so I'll write about each picture. *Remember to click on each picture to get a bigger view.*

On Thursday, I did this writing activity with the morning class. We read "How Does a Dinosaur Get Well Soon?" and then we wrote about what a dinosaur would do if it was here at our school. (We were so late--sorry about that! So I didn't do this activity with the afternoon class.)

This next collage is of the students creating our darling bulletin board for this week!

 I forgot to write the names on the picture. Top: Kaylee, Tyler O.; Middle: Ethan, Corban, Michael; Bottom: Kayson, Kiley, Alexis

Afternoon: Top: Kinsey, Ava; 2nd row: Harold, Tyler T,; Bottom: Tycen, Kobyn, Kazia

Kazia holding up her dinosaur skeleton. 

Below: Classes standing on our dinosaur footprint. I read that the apatosaurus had a footprint that was 24 inches wide by 48 inches tall. We could fit all our students on the footprint. 

It was a fun week! I hope the students learned something!

Easter Fun

A huge thanks to all the parents who helped with today's activities! Especially to Stephanie, Cicile, and Heather, and especially to Amanda for substituting!

We started off the day talking about letter Ee and the 2 sounds it makes: /E/  as in Easter or eagle, and /e/ as in ever or exit. Then we decorated Easter eggs (the paper kind!). After snack and recess we did Jelly Bean math. The students were shown a number and had to count out that many jelly beans into a pile. I didn't get any pictures of the final product, but our last activity was making Easter bunny faces. Fun.

Now to the main event! Thanks to everyone who donated eggs or candy! They were so spoiled! I hope they enjoyed it!

One of the boys said today, "This was my best Easter egg hunt ever!" I love hearing the children say that.

Rainbow

Here are two I took of our rainbow art activity. The students enjoyed seeing their finished projects!

Community Helpers, Week 2

We had a fun and busy week at preschool!

On Tuesday, the morning class had Wildlife Biologist Randall Thacker come and talk about his job. He brought lots of cool stuff and the students LOVED it! (That's why they were late getting out--sorry!) He brought a moose, a bobcat, and a cougar skull to look at. He talked to the students about the differences in their teeth and their size. Then he brought out a bear collar and told about how they track the bears. The last pictures are from a buffalo skin he brought. It's only half of one, and it was huge and very heavy!


Since I had to cancel preschool on Thursday, our police officer guest was unable to come. Officer Owen was kind enough to drop by for a minute to talk to the afternoon class. They really liked the lights and sirens, although the siren was pretty loud. He talked about guns and safety, and then a little about wildlife. He brought in elk antlers for the students to feel. Thanks!

The afternoon class also got to hear Erin (Ava's mom) come and talk about music. She played a few pieces on the piano, and then played a few for them to sing to (like Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes). Then each child got a chance to play the piano for a minute.

On Wednesday Tycen's dad, Oliver, came and talked to the students about being a contractor. He brought in his tool belt, several tools and blueprints to show the children. They enjoyed that. Then we took them outside and they each got a chance to hammer a nail into a piece of wood. They really liked that. Each of the children put on an apron and safety goggles before they hammered. The morning class did this too, but I didn't get any pictures.

Hope you all had a great spring break, and are all ready to come back to school next week! A HUGE thanks to all our special guests!

Community Helpers, Week 1

Tuesday we had two special visitors to our preschool!

First, the morning class had a visit from Deputy Watson from the Duchesne County Sheriff's Department. He did so well with the students! He talked about his job as a police officer to keep us safe. He also talked a little about gun safety and calling 911. The students had some interesting questions and stories. (If you've ever been pulled over with your child in the car, we most likely heard about it. Funny.)

In the afternoon class, Heather Tucker (Tyler's mom) came in and talked about being an artist. We talked about how artists help our community by making it more beautiful. Heather brought in a really fun book showing how to draw different things. She showed the students how you can combine shapes to draw different things, like a semi or a giraffe. Then we let the students practice!

It was a fun week! I am looking forward to our special guests next week! Thanks again to Deputy Watson and Heather for coming in to help! 

Dr. Suess Week

I love Dr. Suess! We read four different Dr. Suess books this week: Green Eggs and Ham; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; The Cat in the Hat; and The Foot Book.

Most of the students had previously read The Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham. They enjoyed hearing them again.

On Tuesday after we read Green Eggs and Ham we played a game--basically pin the tail on the donkey, only they were trying to get their green eggs onto the platter. This is Paige trying to find her way to the ham.

For letter Rr on Thursday we made robots. The students enjoyed making their girl and boy robots. I don't do a lot of "kit" crafts, but I thought this one was really cute. Britton asked me to take a picture of him with his robot.

Major fail on my part! I forgot to take a picture of the afternoon class before they left. This is the morning class with their Cat in the Hat hats. They enjoyed making and wearing their hats. After their hats were finished, we did a few motor activities like the Cat did in the book. We balanced a book on our heads, hopped on one foot, and practiced balancing on each leg (rather than the rake like in the book!). These are all good skills to be working on with your preschooler.

It was a good week! I have several guests lined up to come for Community Helpers week the next two weeks. Have a good weekend!