Hello families!
It’s been a great five weeks with the children! We have worked hard on getting to know each child’s needs and temperament.
Getting to know the routine:
The first few weeks we let the children all play together, without limiting our centers. We then did small groups to incorporate the “choice pictures” for them to use during free play. We try to limit areas so that children can interact with different peers and there is better control within the centers. We encourage the children to get a timer if they want to play in an area that is already full. We play a clean-up song at the end of choice time when the timer goes off.
Here is the link to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llppYxsVzlE
Routines:
It is important to remember that we follow a strict daily schedule. We have noticed with running this program that children benefit from a predictable schedule. One routine Sam and I have encouraged since the beginning of the semester is the morning routine. It is helpful when a parent and/or guardian can help acclimate the child to the classroom and get started in an activity. All the children have been great about signing in their names, if you notice your child’s traceable name in their cubby, it is because they can now write their name on their own or with some guidance from staff. The children know the schedule well at this point, we refer to it a little throughout the day, but they know what to expect. During our morning meeting they know that we do our affirmations first.
Here is a link to the Snoop Dogg Affirmation song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XYoduQMAjU&pp=ygUXc25vb3AgZG9nZyBhZmZpcm1hdGlvbnM%3D
Small Groups:
Our small groups were focused on getting children acclimated to the different items within the different play centers. We pulled different materials from each center depending on what our lesson plan said for that day, i.e., science, dramatic play, blocks, etc. As the children learned how to play with the materials, we switched to having them play within the centers, so that they could also learn the clean-up routine when they were finished. The last two weeks we have incorporated more art, intentional learning (numbers, letters, colors), within small group. We made cloud dough last week and the children were able to use that to make faces on emotion cards, make letters out of it and numbers. Sam also had the children use letter stamps, when the child picked a letter, they were asked if they could identify it. We tried to be intentional and put letters with the children’s name on the table. One of the small groups we did with the children was baking the muffins for the morning family snack. The children were able to pour the mix, add the ingredients, and mix it the mixture. Cooking or baking with your children helps with development by allowing them to learn vocabulary they may otherwise not hear, measuring helps build on their math skills, and it makes for great bonding time.
Science:
We started the school year off with bird items in the science area, throughout the last few weeks we have noticed the children’s interest in bugs. Sam and I decided to switch out the media table from our multicultural colored items to a type of dirt, to add bugs to it, with tongs and bug catchers. Our science area then became bug related, we added books, different bugs, a ladybug life cycle, x-rays of bugs and other bug cards. It has been a hit!
Things to look forward to:
- Next early release for PLC is October 20th, school ends at 12:30.
- Next family night is November 8th from 5:45-6:45 (feelings wheel)
- Remember to sign into procare daily.
- The program ends promptly at 3:30, as staff have meetings to attend and other work to get done.
Thank you for your time,
Sam and Sarah
