Welcome to Spring 2021 Semester-Three’s Families! We are in for an exciting semester full of play and learning. We will continue to write weekly goals for social emotional, fine and gross motor, math, science, social studies, literacy, and creative expression. April and I will reflect on our goals each week as we write our weekly reflections and post them weekly on our parent communication board. Please be sure to take a peek to see all the happenings in our classroom each week.
This month has brought us a lot of time outside as we played in the snow. We used sleds, spray bottles, and shovels to help build our fine/gross motor skills. Additionally, we have been working on our self-help skills of being able to put on our snow gear-snow pants, coat, boots, hat, and gloves/mittens- all on our own. Many of our friends can complete this task and are now working on zipping their own coat. We encourage families to allow their children to work on these skills at home to help encourage self help skills and build independence.
Please note that our outdoor times are as follows: 10:45-11:45 at the Gabel playground and 3:45-4:15 at the CDFC playground. We will venture outside if the “feels like” temperature is 15 degrees; however, we will only stay out for approximately 20 minutes. If the “feels like” temperature is 10 degrees or lower, we are not permitted to go outside. Keeping your child safe and healthy is our #1 goal!
April and I have noticed that our friends need extra fine and gross motor activities to aid in their development in these areas. Challenging activities, such as making shoebox cakes, rescuing plastic animals that have been tied up with several rubber bands, a hula hoop challenge and even just dancing can foster growth in these areas. Please see photos below.
For science concepts, we have discussed the five senses and conducted a “Guess the Smell” game using different spices and extracts. Some of their guesses came close and some of their guesses made us giggle. We also tried our hand at growing crystals. Although our crystals did not grow as big as the ones pictured in the directions, we did indeed grow some very small crystals. To encourage building math concepts, we began to make graphs to interpret data, counted monkeys, and built sandwiches using sequencing cards.
Social emotional activities had us talking about ourselves and our families. We completed “All About Me” posters and drew a self- portrait. Learning how to take turns using different types of timers- sand, kitchen, and microwave has been challenging, but the children are beginning to understand this concept. We continue to work on what it means to be a good friend and how to use our words to communicate our wants and needs.
Our classroom is always full of creative expression activities. We painted with ice cubes, made watercolor creations as we moved forks around in glue, and made collages using button and puzzle pieces. We have read a variety of books aloud and on tape, stamped our names using large foam letter stamps and played some challenging rhyming games as part of our literacy development.
Beginning in February we will be introducing some new ideas. We will be starting a “Question of the Day.” This will allow the children to begin thinking about future concepts we will be discussing in the classroom. We will be focusing on exploring numbers and letters by adding more to our math and literacy centers.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding in these unpredictable times.
Leslie & April
