 Exploring the Letter I, Arctic Animals, and Early Math Fun! This week in our early learning classroom, we dove deep into the letter I and i while exploring arctic animals, ice, and hands-on STEM and pre math activities. As part of our early childhood education program, we love introducing new concepts through play, science, math, and lots of creative projects that meet the Missouri Early Learning Standards. Here’s a peek at what we accomplished and how each activity supports children’s development in a preschool, pre k, and pre kindergarten setting. Literacy & Language: The Letter I and i.
Arctic-Themed Sensory Play & Science
Number Learning and Early Math
Fine Motor Skills & Creative Arts
Social-Emotional Skills: Taking Turns & Sharing
Why Playful Learning?Our classroom activities are always engaging and fun, ensuring children learn through hands-on exploration. By embedding literacy, math, science, and social emotional skills in playful tasks, children stay excited about learning and build a strong foundation for future academic success. This holistic approach also aligns with the Missouri Early Learning Standards, ensuring we support every aspect of a child’s growth—cognitive, social, emotional, and physical. Whether it’s sorting shapes, practicing number learning, or creating ice sculptures, our goal is to foster a love of early learning through discovery and wonder. We can’t wait to see how our young learners continue to develop pre math and letter I recognition skills in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for more updates on our preschool, pre k, and pre kindergarten adventures as we explore new themes, stories, and creative projects together!
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We've started a new YouTube channel for our little learners, feel free to share this with your young ones, or use it in your preschool. Check back for new content each week and remember www.PreKwithme.com for learning toys, curriculum and free downloadable coloring pages. https://youtu.be/-GA-LqomYT Polar Adventures in Preschool: Exploring Winter Wonders and the Letter C (Aligned with the Missouri Early Learning Standards) This week in our preschool classroom, we embarked on a journey through snowy worlds, arctic animals, and the ever-important letter C. From hands-on science experiments to fun art projects, our little learners exercised their creativity, practiced important language and literacy skills, and built upon their growing sense of curiosity—all central elements of the Missouri Early Learning Standards. We also spent time focusing on ABC fundamentals, ensuring the children grow comfortable with sounding alphabet letters and identifying alphabet letters in everyday activities. Cozy Winter Storytime We began our week by snuggling up with four wonderful winter-themed books:
Focusing on the Letter C Our deep dive into the letter C also supported Language and Literacy goals and tied back to the ABC sequence. We practiced:
Polar Animal Discoveries Inspired by our storybooks, we explored the wintery world of polar animals. We learned about:
Arts & Crafts with a Snowy Twist Our art time also promoted both creativity and fine motor development (Physical Development standard):
Ice Melting Experiment Science and discovery came to life as we observed ice melting:
Looking Ahead We’re so proud of how eager and engaged all of our learners were this week! By reading winter stories, examining polar animals, experimenting with ice, and focusing on the letter C, we covered a range of developmental areas emphasized by the Missouri Early Learning Standards—language, literacy, science, creativity, and physical skills. Our continued emphasis on ABC helps our preschoolers build a solid foundation for pre reading and pre math as they grow. How can you support your child's learning? Keep the learning going at home by spotting the letter C around the house, reading a favorite winter story together, or even setting up a simple ice experiment in your own kitchen. We can’t wait to see what new adventures the children will embark on next week! Thank you for continuing to support our classroom and our commitment to meeting Missouri’s Early Learning Standards, one playful and inquisitive step at a time! We hope our ABC focus, combined with fun winter activities, inspires continued curiosity and a love of learning.   A Day of Discovery and Learning at Preschool Today was an exciting day at preschool, filled with exploration, learning, and fun activities that engaged our young minds and hands. Here’s a glimpse into our day: Nature Discovery: The Orb Spider Our day began with a fascinating discovery in the garden. We observed an Orb spider that had caught a grasshopper in her web. The children noticed that the spider looked bigger than she did on Monday, sparking curiosity and discussions about the life cycle and growth of spiders. Story Time Adventures We enjoyed reading several delightful books today:
Puzzles and Letter Recognition We worked on our leaf identification puzzle and letter recognition puzzles, focusing on:
Exploring Pumpkins Our exploration of pumpkins continued as we identified the parts of a pumpkin seed, pumpkin, vine, and flower. This hands-on activity helped the children understand plant growth and development. Fine Motor Skills: Scissor Practice We practiced our fine motor skills by using scissors to cut lines on our paper pumpkin handout. Scissor skills are essential for developing hand-eye coordination, muscle strength, and dexterity. They also enhance bilateral coordination and visual motor integration34. Learning the “Five Little Pumpkins” Rhyme We learned the “Five Little Pumpkins” rhyme and accompanying hand motions. This activity not only made learning fun but also helped improve memory and motor skills. The Importance of Outdoor Exploration Spending time outside is vital for children’s development. Outdoor play promotes curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. It also improves physical health, mood, and social skills56. Today, our time in the garden observing the spider and exploring nature provided the children with rich sensory experiences and opportunities for discovery. Conclusion Today’s activities at preschool were not only enjoyable but also packed with educational value. From developing fine motor skills with scissors to enhancing literacy through reading aloud, and fostering curiosity with outdoor exploration, each activity contributed to the holistic development of our young learners. We look forward to more days filled with discovery and learning! References: 3: Ready Kids - Scissor Skills 4: Tot Spot Preschool - The Importance of Teaching Scissor Skills in Preschool 5: Healthy Children - Playing Outside: Why It’s Important for Kids 6: Harvard Health - 6 reasons children need to play outside 1: All For Kids - The Importance of Reading to Your Children 2: Reading Rockets - Reading Aloud  ..All month long we have been discussing Community Helpers. by Experience Early Learning. We have learned about doctors, firefighters, police officers, plumbers, teachers, and so many more. I was pleasantly surprised when I hung this on our study wall. Factory workers are a vital part of our community and seldom ever discussed. Often, when parents discuss what they do for a living, they are hesitant to state that they are a factory worker. This should not be. This overlooked profession is the backbone of our community and provided just about everything we use on a daily basis. We made it a point to help our little learners understand this important role. In famous preschool fashion, we played a game. We made this little game up and we called it, "Find something made in a factory." Our toddlers raced around the room pointing to tables and chairs, plates and cups, crayons and markers, even their shirts and shoes. Time and again we called out, "YES!", "YES!" "That was made in a factory by a factory worker!!" We then asked an important question. "If your mommy or daddy did not go to work to make those things, what would we do?" We came up with some ideas but decided that being a factory worker is a VERY important job and certainly a "helper" job. We then gathered into small groups and decided to make something of our very own. Using loose parts and materials provided by Experience Early Learning This activity provided us with LOTS of loose parts and the opportunity to create a unique project. We made LOTS of robots. We chose parts and pieces as we discussed what our robots might do and say. Loose parts can be in the sand box, on the playground, in the sensory table, or the block table. We can provide loose parts in Creative Parts by supplying buttons, poms, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, beads, glitters, spangles, adhesives, and the time and space to explore and create without direction or expectation. "Giving meaning to loose partsGiving meaning to loose parts requires us to think about the possibilities of how a child learns and consider the materials and environments she uses. Loose parts create endless possibilities and invite creativity. For example, if a child picks up a rock and starts to play, most likely that rock can become anything the child wants it to be. Imagination, creativity, curiosity, desire, and need are the motivation of loose parts. Loose parts are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. Loose parts can be used alone or combined with other materials. There is no set of specific directions for materials that are considered loose parts. The child is the direction." - https://extension.psu.edu/programs/betterkidcare/early-care/tip-pages/all/loose-parts-what-does-this-mean
Giving children tasks that challenge them build their self-confidence, ability, and determination. Allowing them to try and to fail in a safe and encouraging environment is fundamental to them developing even more determination to pursue harder tasks. "No one is great at something the first time they try it. Success comes from hard work, practice and, yes, even failure. When young children are learning to walk they have to fall down again and again and again in order to master the balance they need to stand upright (and even then, they will still fall down). When learning to feed themselves, tie their shoes or master long division, children have to try, practice and learn from their missteps and try again in order to master their new skills. You can help your child learn from their failures and use those failures to work towards great successes." - https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/the-key-to-success-is-failure Our curriculum developers at Experience Early Learning understand this and value the importance of giving children the opportunities to succeed and to fail. We often give our little learners motor skill activities that are just like this that stimulate efforts and grit. Just look at how hard they are working!! By the end of this experience we observed all the different colors they created using their syringes, paint choices, perseverance and time.
All in a day of play at Woolsey Academy! As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today! -L Community Helpers! We LOVE Community Helpers! Firefighters, Police Officers, Doctors, Teachers, Mailmen (and women), and so many more. Our month of Community Helpers with Mother Goose Time and Experience Early Learning included some "non-traditional" community helpers that really drove home that it takes MANY people working together to build a community. Studying, observing, experiencing, reading stories about, and pretending to be community helpers teaches our little learners that what the adults in their lives do each and everyday matters to us all. It puts meaning to, "Mommy has to go to work" and gives children a sense of belonging and pride in the work they see being done throughout their cities and towns each day. "As children develop, it’s important that they learn about their individual roles in the community. Teaching children about service to others, how it helps themselves and others grow, helps children to build a sense of self worth and belonging. They learn better communication skills, teamwork, and confidence. They also begin to understand how their actions impact the people and things around them." - https://www.kids-harbor.com/school-and-community-link/ In this activity we utilized a non-traditional method of painting to recreate our version of flames as we discussed and observed what we know about fire.As we discussed firefighters we began to build a list of attributes that we could pull from to discover "what we know" and "what we want to learn." We used this list for further educational moments through play as the day and week continued. In our paintings we observed how the red and yellow mixed together under the prongs of the wooden forks to makes hues of oranges. We drug our forks up and down across our black canvas to simulate flames. We discussed how to keep ourselves safe around a flame and what to do if we saw another child playing with fire. In the middle photo we listed the attributes of the Firefighter. We had a posted a photo of a firefighter in his "turnout" gear and we named the parts and purposes for each piece. We also noticed that he looked proud in his gear and we surmised why he may feel that way. We also (last photo) used the word "fire" to practice our phonics and the sounds of each letter that builds the word "fire". We practiced writing each letter as we build our own "fire" words. We LOVE being able to read words that we have written all by ourselves! Mother Goose Time provided many Community Helper emergent reader site words with photo prompts that are very beneficial for our little learners and aid in their ability and confidence as they begin their reading journey. Police OfficerBe still my heart!!!!! LOOOOOOoooookkkkkyyyyyy at those darling faces!!! We love learning through play and giving our preschoolers the opportunity to become what they are learning about is the BEST way to get conversations, role playing, and questions bubbling about. Even our tiny tots love playing dress-up and doing so builds self-esteem, ability to dress and undress oneself, and confidence as they transform into the attributes they believe each possess. "Physical Development Gross motor skills will be developed when your child uses large muscles running and jumping, casting a line like a fisherman, running and dodging like a football player, or leaping like a dancer. Dramatic play also allows children to practice fine motor coordination by buttoning a jacket, tying on an apron, fashioning a cape from a piece of material, and so on. Social Skills Dress-up play encourages interaction and communication with others. It often becomes cooperative as your child interacts and communicates about what their doing. Role playing encourages teamwork and an interest in other children and what they’re thinking and doing. Kids learn to negotiate in this way, to collaborate, take turns, and create and play by the rules. There is also research that has linked role play to empathy: Kids who engaged in it were more skilled in judging how other people might feel than those who didn’t role play as much. Since role playing usually includes pretend conversations – solo or with others – you will often hear your child using accents and other verbal inflections that they imagine will help them become the person they are dressed up as. This is a great opportunity to develop communication skills. Second language learners especially benefit from this conversational practice. Life Skills One mom I spoke with said that her two taught themselves to get dressed – shirts on the right way, shoes on the right feet, buttons and zippers done up – because one day she was baking bread and couldn’t help them with their dress-up costumes right away. In some role playing situations, children pretend to do household chores, like vacuuming, cooking dinner, and taking care of pets. They also try out jobs, learning more about them along the way. Stretching the Imagination One of the big – and most obvious – aspects of dress-up play is that it uses a child’s limitless imagination. By imagining themself to be someone different, a child develops their creativity. Using different things in new ways – pretending a piece of cardboard is a sword, a colander is a hard hat, and a long skirt tied at the bottom is a mermaid’s tail – flexes those imagination muscles. And imagining yourself as a superhero is a way to feel powerful in a world where everyone seems to be controlling the agenda and telling you what to do and how to do it. Developing Confidence By dressing up as someone else, children build confidence in themselves. This is an important aspect of growing up to be a secure, emotionally healthy adult. And by encouraging and facilitating role playing, we can nurture that confidence and help them understand that they have the ability to be anybody they want and accomplish anything they desire. Working Through Experiences and Emotions When they are in their own little make believe world, children can feel safe enough to explore their emotions. They can use dress-up play to make sense of the world by acting out and working through an experience they have had. So when your daughter pretends her PJs are a doctor’s scrubs and checks her doll’s heartbeat using a pretend stethoscope, she might be reliving something a bit scary that she has experienced in real life. Pay attention to these situations because your child’s dress-up roleplaying can be a window into their mind and give you clues to what is bothering them." http://childsplaymagazine.com/1504/dress-up-play.htm Not enough costumes for everyone to become an officer? No problem at all!!! These darling little hats were a Creative Arts activity provided by Mother Goose Time and gave us much needed fine motor skills building by peeling star stickers to make each hat unique and enough hats for each child to transform into an officer. No sooner did a completed hat sit on a little heard, did a HUGE proud smile cross each little face. These pictures don't lie!!! Our littles LOVED pretending to be police officers. They pulled over "speeders", helped their "lost" friends, and "wrote tickets!" Clearly we were working through some real life experiences!!! :0)
Learning through play is our daily goal and I think its safe to say we accomplished it all month long with Community Helpers!! As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today! -L Folktales and Fables - Keeping Treasured Literature Alive in Preschool The month of September has been devoted to Folktales and Fables and the study of literature that seems to be lacking in many preschool classrooms across the country. I was thrilled to see that our curriculum partners at Mother Goose Time devoted an entire month to activities, stories, engaging play, S.T.E.M, Creative Arts, Music and Movement all centered around the beloved and time honored Aesop's Fables. This week we discovered the strength, but gentle kindness of Paul Bunyon,his ox Babe, his great big appetite, and Frozen Flames! We built dams, learned about fire safety, measured ourselves and our friends, and so much more! Follow us for more and let the play begin!! The Birth of Paul BunyonWhen introducing a new baby, such as Paul Bunyon, we always ask what his or her name is. Paul's name, like ours, is a very important and unique attribute and one of the very first ways we notice that letters create words. This creates value and desire in the young child to know his or her own name and how to spell and write it. It makes learning personal and unique to each child instilling pride as the task is mastered from recognition to accomplished writer. We teach name writing and recognition in a variety of ways but these personalized name builders were such a hit and easy to make and send home for play and practice with our families! My how you've GROWN!One of the sweetest things we get to do as preschool teachers is to watch our little learners blossom from infant to kindergartner. All along the way our curriculum partners at Mother Goose Time provide fun measuring projects that help us gauge a student's progress. Here we cut out leaves practicing our fine motor skills to build a growing tree. Each student had a leaf on the tree as their height marker. What a darling BaaaAAAAbbbAAAYYY!!! |
 Look at those little hands and faces!! SWOOOOOONNNN..... When children are engaged with all their senses they are LEARNING! We were able to answer many questions about what types of animals were in the sand and water beads. Were they mammals or fish? Did they eat plants or other animals? |  |
Even our littlest learners (ESPECIALLY our tiny tots) get to play and learn along side their older preschool playmates. We do not separate by age, rather, we diligently work to create an inclusive environment for our students of all abilities and ages and by the looks on their faces I would say it is a grand SUCCESS!!!
The importance of daily sensory play for preschool.
"Sensory activities facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore. The sensory activities allow children to refine their thresholds for different sensory information helping their brain to create stronger connections to process and respond to sensory information." - http://www.educationalplaycare.com/blog/sensory-play-important-development/
"Here are 5 reasons why sensory play is beneficial:
We LOVE sensory play for calming an anxious child. We have several children in our preschool with varying degrees and varieties of SPD's. Water beads, sand, and dough's give these children a calm focus and allow them ample self-directed play time's that provide them with total control of themselves and quiet play practice with others.
- Research shows that sensory play builds nerve connections in the brain’s pathways, which lead to the child’s ability to complete more complex learning tasks.
- Sensory play supports language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving skills, and social interaction.
- This type of play aids in developing and enhancing memory
- Sensory play is great for calming an anxious or frustrated child
- This helps children learn sensory attributes (hot, cold, sticky, dry)"
We LOVE sensory play for calming an anxious child. We have several children in our preschool with varying degrees and varieties of SPD's. Water beads, sand, and dough's give these children a calm focus and allow them ample self-directed play time's that provide them with total control of themselves and quiet play practice with others.
We also have added lots of math and language arts with our Ocean Commotion studies with our curriculum partners at Mother Goose Time! See our following posts for how simple shells provide fun hands-on opportunities for matching, adding, subtracting, and sorting here at Woolsey Academy!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!!
-L
We love animals of all varieties, but if you were to ask a preschooler what their FAVORITE animals are to learn about it would be sharks and dinosaurs EVERYTIME!
That's why we were just giddy when Mother Goose Time announced their April learning emphasis would be Oceans. This gives us SO much to talk about! We opened the box to whales, sharks, sea snakes, shells, coral, octopuses, fish, lobsters, crabs and MORE. Our little learners have been delighted to utilize all these little critters to ask questions about, build habitats for, and engage in social/emotional language building skills with (i.e.play!!!)
This above pic is no exception! We used our homemade dough recipe this month and added a bit of blue and a bit of yellow to make hues of blues and greens just like the ocean for our creatures to dwell in. This became a cave, an ocean, a wave, a boat, a beach, and more. Their immense imaginations allow for unlimited potential with the proper educational materials supporting them.
That's why we were just giddy when Mother Goose Time announced their April learning emphasis would be Oceans. This gives us SO much to talk about! We opened the box to whales, sharks, sea snakes, shells, coral, octopuses, fish, lobsters, crabs and MORE. Our little learners have been delighted to utilize all these little critters to ask questions about, build habitats for, and engage in social/emotional language building skills with (i.e.play!!!)
This above pic is no exception! We used our homemade dough recipe this month and added a bit of blue and a bit of yellow to make hues of blues and greens just like the ocean for our creatures to dwell in. This became a cave, an ocean, a wave, a boat, a beach, and more. Their immense imaginations allow for unlimited potential with the proper educational materials supporting them.
But that's not all.....
We added some brown moon-sand and made indoor sand castles and moats. We added water beads to squish and for our magnetic alphabet fish to "swim" in!
We used our letter stamps, scissors, and tongs in the sand to practice our fine motor skills for picking up pencils properly and our alphabet stencils to press and recognize in the sand.
And we learned the cutest little songs...
The sea anemone lives down in the bottom of the sea. The clownfish swims all day all day, safe in anemone!
This sweet tune is a Woolsey Academy original! We made up this fun finger play song to go along with our clownfish learning theme. We studied the clownfish and we learned that it has a "safe place" in the sea anemone. We discovered that the clownfish gets used to the anemone stings during its life and then it does not hurt anymore so it can hide safely in anemone from its predators! What an AMAZING superpower!!!
Songs, finger plays, animal recognition, habitats, and special animal powers are all part of a fun filled day at Woolsey Academy for our little learners!!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today.
L
This week we began by learning that all planets fall into one of two categories. They are all either gas planets or rock planets and this week we focused on the rock planets.
But first....we had to learn one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE space songs. It is from the old Blue's Clues shows. This one never gets old...just take a look and a listen!
But first....we had to learn one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE space songs. It is from the old Blue's Clues shows. This one never gets old...just take a look and a listen!
One of our darling astronauts! One of the things I LOVE about studying space with preschooler's is that there is a WEALTH of great children's literature on the subject like this one!
And this one!
We were immersed in space words like "Sun", "Earth" and "Mars" with our emergent reader book from Mother Goose Time!
I love the word pointers that emphasize our site words like "look", "up", and "and". They draw attention to our special words and make it easy for our little learners to find their site words in these emergent readers and in our other space books too. We use them to write the words and turn it into a matching game.
In addition to stories and songs we received some new Tangram puzzles from our curriculum partners at Mother Goose Time with a special space theme.
We built rockets, a space station, the Sun, and astronauts using diamonds, squares, circles,triangles, and hexagons! Our preschoolers played this again and again and it is the perfect way to teach shapes minus the flashcards! We observed how we can use shapes to make pictures of things we recognize!!
Tangram puzzles are amazing for developing a math and logic minds and we utilize them daily here at Woolsey Academy.
"During my psychology training, one of my lecturers used to say that if you gave a child no other math instruction bar Tangrams for one whole year, they would be more advanced mathematically than if you followed the regular math curriculum. The simplicity of this bold statement has stuck with me ever since. Imagine if something as simple and fun as playing with Tangrams could really advance math skills more than a year of regular instruction?! While I have not found anyone willing to try this experiment (yet!), I recently employed Tangrams in my Math Genius club with great success."https://catherinehallissey.com/2012/12/21/tangrams-the-easy-way-to-develop-mathematical-thinking-skills/
These seemingly simple puzzles are full of potential and possibilities. They are easily configured to any topic and can be reused and redesigned as the child's logic grows.
Math, Science, Music, Movement, and Literature! This was a great beginning to our week studying the rock planets!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today.
L
"During my psychology training, one of my lecturers used to say that if you gave a child no other math instruction bar Tangrams for one whole year, they would be more advanced mathematically than if you followed the regular math curriculum. The simplicity of this bold statement has stuck with me ever since. Imagine if something as simple and fun as playing with Tangrams could really advance math skills more than a year of regular instruction?! While I have not found anyone willing to try this experiment (yet!), I recently employed Tangrams in my Math Genius club with great success."https://catherinehallissey.com/2012/12/21/tangrams-the-easy-way-to-develop-mathematical-thinking-skills/
These seemingly simple puzzles are full of potential and possibilities. They are easily configured to any topic and can be reused and redesigned as the child's logic grows.
Math, Science, Music, Movement, and Literature! This was a great beginning to our week studying the rock planets!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today.
L
Our preschool learning and fun takes us to outer space all month long! This week we are studying "Space from Earth" as we discover the stars, sun, moon, astronomers, and comets!
Basic Concepts To Reinforce At Home:
Letters: Rr, Ss, and Zz
Numbers: 13 and 14
Color: Yellow
Shape: Star
Of course we have lots of music, songs, stories, arts and crafts, dramatic play, and S.T.E.M. in store for our little learners as we BLAST OFF into another play-filled month of curiosity!
Just look at what we have done so far!
Basic Concepts To Reinforce At Home:
Letters: Rr, Ss, and Zz
Numbers: 13 and 14
Color: Yellow
Shape: Star
Of course we have lots of music, songs, stories, arts and crafts, dramatic play, and S.T.E.M. in store for our little learners as we BLAST OFF into another play-filled month of curiosity!
Just look at what we have done so far!
Constellations Mapping and Star Size Recognition
I LOVE the interactive and engaging method for teaching our young learners to recognize small, medium, and large stars WHILE becoming familiar with patterns high in the sky! We received these from our education partners at Mother Goose Time and they were an instant hit! So far we have learned to recognize the constellations Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Orion, and the Big Dipper! You can help make this come to life as you take me outside and gaze at the stars pointing these out as you see them in the night sky!
Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun....
We discovered that the sun is a fiery ball of gas that is VERY big! We painted with red and yellow and observed that as we swirled the colors together they made shades of orange. We learned that the 3-D shape of the sun is a sphere, but that we were making our suns on "circle's". Even our littlest bitty was able to join in the this science and sensory painting experience.
Up In Space! A Counting Book by Chris Lensch
"Up In Space, A Counting Book," by Chris Lensch has to be one of my FAVORITE new space books. It includes the names of the planets, simple facts about gas planets and rock planets, and it counts backward, then forward and back again! It is an educator's dream for reinforcing math and science in a beautifully illustrated piece of preschool literature!
Thank you, Mother Goose Time for providing this for us educators!
Thank you, Mother Goose Time for providing this for us educators!
Our "Number Stars" game work seamlessly with "Up In Space!"
We played this sweet and simple game two ways. First, we used the cards with our glow in the dark stars to count one to one recognizing the number on each card and then counting correctly the corresponding number of starts.
Secondly, we used our cards and lined them up in order from 1-10 and then from 10-1, making sure each number was in it's proper place!
Secondly, we used our cards and lined them up in order from 1-10 and then from 10-1, making sure each number was in it's proper place!
Our own little telescopes help encourage us to star gaze!
Many of our little learners immediately turned our bright blue and star stickered cylinders into megaphones, hooting and hollering to their neighbors. But many understood the concept of what a telescope is and that it helps us to see far into outer space. We were excited to take these home and look up into the night sky to see the planets, moon, and stars!
We will continue to discover comets and asteroids in the coming days, rock planets, gas planets, and methods of how we research and study about the galaxies all around us.
We are moving and grooving our way through March with some exploration, discovery, and most importantly....play.
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today! - L
We will continue to discover comets and asteroids in the coming days, rock planets, gas planets, and methods of how we research and study about the galaxies all around us.
We are moving and grooving our way through March with some exploration, discovery, and most importantly....play.
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today! - L
This month our studies took us all around the world. We visited The Great Wall of China, The Grand Canyon, The Serengeti, Matterhorn, and The Great Pyramids of Egypt.
But this little lesson about the picture language of the ancient Egyptians captivated us all.
We received this from our curriculum partners at Mother Goose Time and we immediately observed that different pictures had letters that they symbolized. We discussed how we use pictures too on our phones to convey words and emotions, so we are not so different from the people from very long ago.
We turned this lesson into an opportunity to spell our names in hieroglyphics. I think the smiles below tell the story very well of how engaging this was for our students..
But this little lesson about the picture language of the ancient Egyptians captivated us all.
We received this from our curriculum partners at Mother Goose Time and we immediately observed that different pictures had letters that they symbolized. We discussed how we use pictures too on our phones to convey words and emotions, so we are not so different from the people from very long ago.
We turned this lesson into an opportunity to spell our names in hieroglyphics. I think the smiles below tell the story very well of how engaging this was for our students..
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I loved the hieroglyphic alphabet!
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Our 4 and 5 year olds quickly cut out their letters and pasted them in proper order noticing that their names were no longer made out of "A's, b's, and c's" but rather, 'bird, staff, hand, palm leaf, water!"
Our 2's and 3's practiced cutting out their letters and some asked for help while others arranged and rearranged their letters until they got it just right!
Our 2's and 3's practiced cutting out their letters and some asked for help while others arranged and rearranged their letters until they got it just right!
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This lesson made reading their names more challenging as they had to find their individual paper to take home after it dried!
Silly and sweet and ready to read!! All in a day of play at Woolsey Academy!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!
-L
Silly and sweet and ready to read!! All in a day of play at Woolsey Academy!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!
-L
This is the way we learn about our world!
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With literature provided to us from Mother Goose Time, "Let's Wonder Around The World," by Leslie Falconer and Chris Lensch, we learn to recognize places around the world and that children live and go to school near these places. We learn to recognize the special places near our own hometown!
This is the way we learn how about mountain goats of Matterhorn!
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This is the way we learn to read!
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This is the way we discover the pyramids!
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Each and every day we read, play games, learn, laugh, draw, create, and discover with our little learners.
All in a day of play with Woolsey Academy!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!!
-L
All in a day of play with Woolsey Academy!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!!
-L
Every once in a while a wonderful book crosses my path that explains complex concepts with ease.
During our cultural study with Mother Goose Time's, "It's a Small World" we are observing peoples, traditions, foods, and clothes of different cultures around the world. It is giving us lots of opportunity to discuss what makes us similar and unique!
"What If The Zebras Lost Their Stripes," by John Reitano deals with the topic of racism with childlike innocence. One of the things I LOVE about small children is that they don't even know to notice skin tone as something that makes them different from another anyway. They will excitedly relay to us how "My fwiend and me look JUST alike, Ms. Donna!!" because they are both in ponytails or they both have pink shoes. Small children only "hate" when someone takes their favorite doll or gets to "their" swing first. "I HATE 'dem, Ms. Donna!" to which we are able to reply, "You may be upset that you someone took your toy, but let's work together to fix it!"
Children readily see past the surface and take note of acts of kindness, smiles, and silly moments shared.
When a child does point out someone in a book with features or tones that they consider different than themselves, we discuss it. We then move to the things we have in common with different cultures; because you know what???
If we spend too much time focusing on things that make us different, we fail to see all the unique beauty we each possess that draws us closer to one another. If we can draw any universal truth from history, it is that we are all in this together. And THAT is a concept worth teaching.
While searching for new books at a local outlet I came across what, at first glance, was a book about Zebras.
"Perfect!" I thought as I quickly scooped it into my basket thinking I found a book about African animals. It was SO much more! "What If Zebra's Lost Their Stripes," by John Reitano easily explains to my students how silly it is to decide if we like someone by shades of light and dark of a meek shell that embraces the soul.
"What if Zebras lost their stripes, and some lost black and some lost white? Would they think that it's all right, or would Zebras start to fight?"
The poignant message of this sweet book with beautiful illustrations by William Haines, and great rhyme and meter, is that the color of their fur is not their doing as it asks "What if they lost their stripes?"
During our cultural study with Mother Goose Time's, "It's a Small World" we are observing peoples, traditions, foods, and clothes of different cultures around the world. It is giving us lots of opportunity to discuss what makes us similar and unique!
"What If The Zebras Lost Their Stripes," by John Reitano deals with the topic of racism with childlike innocence. One of the things I LOVE about small children is that they don't even know to notice skin tone as something that makes them different from another anyway. They will excitedly relay to us how "My fwiend and me look JUST alike, Ms. Donna!!" because they are both in ponytails or they both have pink shoes. Small children only "hate" when someone takes their favorite doll or gets to "their" swing first. "I HATE 'dem, Ms. Donna!" to which we are able to reply, "You may be upset that you someone took your toy, but let's work together to fix it!"
Children readily see past the surface and take note of acts of kindness, smiles, and silly moments shared.
When a child does point out someone in a book with features or tones that they consider different than themselves, we discuss it. We then move to the things we have in common with different cultures; because you know what???
If we spend too much time focusing on things that make us different, we fail to see all the unique beauty we each possess that draws us closer to one another. If we can draw any universal truth from history, it is that we are all in this together. And THAT is a concept worth teaching.
While searching for new books at a local outlet I came across what, at first glance, was a book about Zebras.
"Perfect!" I thought as I quickly scooped it into my basket thinking I found a book about African animals. It was SO much more! "What If Zebra's Lost Their Stripes," by John Reitano easily explains to my students how silly it is to decide if we like someone by shades of light and dark of a meek shell that embraces the soul.
"What if Zebras lost their stripes, and some lost black and some lost white? Would they think that it's all right, or would Zebras start to fight?"
The poignant message of this sweet book with beautiful illustrations by William Haines, and great rhyme and meter, is that the color of their fur is not their doing as it asks "What if they lost their stripes?"
"Teach only love, for that is what you are."
Dr. Becky Bailey
Could you even imagine teaching children anything but love?
"What If Zebras Lost Their Stripes." by John Reitano By the end we see that Zebras would be far too smart to let their colors "tear them apart!"
I love CommonWorld's review of this book as they state, "If the zebras lost their stripes and became different from one another, some white and some black, would they turn and fight each other and stop living life as loving friends?
Very little in today's market addresses issues of racism for children with the rare combination of sensitivity and humor captured in this book. Without being defensive or heavy-handed, this book raises the kind of innocent questions any child might ask then answers those questions in simple, life-affirming ways. Both entertaining and eye-opening, the book allows all readers-young and old alike-to imagine the possibilities of a world without prejudice." - https://www.commonword.ca/ResourceView/2/8790
This literary jewel perfectly illustrates with ease a valuable lesson in seeing people beyond their colors, past their fur, and into their hearts.
This is one we will be reading for a VERY long time to come. And for the record, I do NOT receive any funds from reviewing or linking to this book, I simply think it is fantastic...
As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today!
-L
I love CommonWorld's review of this book as they state, "If the zebras lost their stripes and became different from one another, some white and some black, would they turn and fight each other and stop living life as loving friends?
Very little in today's market addresses issues of racism for children with the rare combination of sensitivity and humor captured in this book. Without being defensive or heavy-handed, this book raises the kind of innocent questions any child might ask then answers those questions in simple, life-affirming ways. Both entertaining and eye-opening, the book allows all readers-young and old alike-to imagine the possibilities of a world without prejudice." - https://www.commonword.ca/ResourceView/2/8790
This literary jewel perfectly illustrates with ease a valuable lesson in seeing people beyond their colors, past their fur, and into their hearts.
This is one we will be reading for a VERY long time to come. And for the record, I do NOT receive any funds from reviewing or linking to this book, I simply think it is fantastic...
As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today!
-L
This beautiful little map with it's cheerful animals has drawn much attention over the past couple of weeks. Our preschoolers gravitate toward it daily and to ask questions about what they observe. The monkeys in South Africa, the buffalo in North America, and the narwhals way at the top capture their eyes.
This map, along with many others, provided to us by our education partners at Mother Goose Time, have prompted conversations and questions.
This is exciting for us teachers because we know that inquisitive little learners are engaged in organic education about the world allllll around them.
And it truly is a wonderful world.....
This map, along with many others, provided to us by our education partners at Mother Goose Time, have prompted conversations and questions.
This is exciting for us teachers because we know that inquisitive little learners are engaged in organic education about the world allllll around them.
And it truly is a wonderful world.....
Sensory and Science
We used shave cream (with close and careful observation) with blue and green to represent land and sea as we swirled and squished and mixed colors around our "globe". This simple little paper plate craft manufactured some, "EWWWWW!" and some "OOOHHHHHH!!!" as our students experimented with q-tips, paintbrushes, fingers, and palms.
No matter their age, they ALL were knee-deep immersed in this Science and Sensory Creative Arts undertaking.
Stories and Songs
Spending our days this month focused on the places, peoples, and animals all around the world is a great big concept for little minds to comprehend, but stories and songs bring it closer to home. "What if Zebra's Lost Their Stripes" has been just one of my new favorites.
"Wonders Around The World" by Leslie Falconer, is a picturesque tour through wonders such as The Grand Canyon, Ayers Rock, and The Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is sprinkled with simple facts that our preschoolers can relate to as it asks questions, "What can you climb?" as it introduces Mt. Everest.
"Wonders Around The World" by Leslie Falconer, is a picturesque tour through wonders such as The Grand Canyon, Ayers Rock, and The Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is sprinkled with simple facts that our preschoolers can relate to as it asks questions, "What can you climb?" as it introduces Mt. Everest.
Simple books with beautiful illustrations as these are the perfect way to introduce global concepts. Further, providing rich reading experiences paves the pathways for success as children become emergent readers themselves. This begins at birth and we, as educators, build foundations with books such as these with meaningful content that can be connected to real life. Asking questions during reading "helps children connect the story with their own lives or that help them to compare the book with other books that they have read. Ask questions that help the children to notice what is in the book and ask them to predict what happens next." Wonder Around The World does just that. It provides many opporntunities for questions and follow up as it asks, "What will we wonder next?"
"In the landmark 1986 review Becoming a Nation of Readers, the Commission on Reading, called reading aloud to children "the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading." https://www2.ed.gov/teachers/how/early/teachingouryoungest/page_pg5.html
"In the landmark 1986 review Becoming a Nation of Readers, the Commission on Reading, called reading aloud to children "the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading." https://www2.ed.gov/teachers/how/early/teachingouryoungest/page_pg5.html
Music and Movement, Rhythm and Rhyme!
Singing familiar songs to instruments we made is even more fun! We made these sweet little drums as part of our "Africa" study and then we sat circle style while tapping to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!
We observed that our drums were cylinders and once we glued the tops on they made a wonderful sound. We proudly displayed these in our classsrooms and were able to take them home to share with family and friends!!
We observed that our drums were cylinders and once we glued the tops on they made a wonderful sound. We proudly displayed these in our classsrooms and were able to take them home to share with family and friends!!
Music in the classroom.
Children learn through music. They are able to retain longer and learn faster when complex concepts are conveyed through music. The music/neural connection is well documented even for adults. We do not let a day go by without "Music and Movement" and this is why...
"Exposing young children to instruments can help to achieve the following:
"Exposing young children to instruments can help to achieve the following:
- Increase gross and fine motor skills and helps to develop muscle tone in the hands and arms.
- Develop a sense of beat and rhythm
- Reinforce hand-eye coordination
- Encourage imaginative play and storytelling through sound effects
- Increase listening (and hence, reading) skills
- Reinforce and emphasize self-discipline and self-control
- Enhance comprehension of music notation (in its simplest form), dynamics, and musical form
- Develop patterning skills and learn basic mathematical concepts of sequencing, numerical order, counting forwards and backwards and addition/subtraction (for advanced students).
- Develop understanding of where sound comes from and how it changes (according to instrument played)
- Develop a sense of teamwork and social skills such as sharing, taking turns, etc.
- Develop sense of cultural awareness
Besides that, music is just plain fun!!! Check out our favorites!!!
Though these two are completely different, they both provide exposure to movement, rhythm, and body awareness as we move and groove through our preschool days.
Counting our money at the Sushi Shop!
Part of this month's studies is to learn about different cultures and the foods they eat. During this month we have introduced our sushi shop to our Dramatic Play area. This is giving our little learners the opportunity to build and play with foods that look different than what they may find in at their dinner tables.
They have enjoyed wrapping rice rolls and reading from the sushi menus.
We have also learned more about money by purchasing the sushi we have made in our restaurant We carefully count out how many dollars our friends are asking for and counting back the change when we give them "too much.".
They have enjoyed wrapping rice rolls and reading from the sushi menus.
We have also learned more about money by purchasing the sushi we have made in our restaurant We carefully count out how many dollars our friends are asking for and counting back the change when we give them "too much.".
We tried Japanese sweet crispy rice too! Not everyone was a fan, but they all gave it two "No Thank You" bites as is our tradition when trying something new!
New foods, new cultures, new stories and songs. It's all in a day of play at Woolsey Academy for Young Learners!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today.
-L
New foods, new cultures, new stories and songs. It's all in a day of play at Woolsey Academy for Young Learners!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today.
-L
 | Sweet Peppa joined us in making our very own volcanoes to celebrate our final week with the dinosaurs! With lots of paint, some paper bowls, and bit of red tissue paper and some imagination, we turned these raw materials into some hot S.T.E.A.M play for our little preschoolers.  |
Even our bitty ones get to build those little pincer grasps, create with colors, mix paints, and experience Creative Arts through play. We simply put them in their highchairs and let them determine how long and how much they want to participate. This is vital to proper development and our mixed-age approach to learning provides LOTS of sensory awareness and practice through play.
Our curriculum partners at Mother Goose Time understand and promote this approach to learning and provide materials for every child in our group ages 9 mos-5 years!
Our curriculum partners at Mother Goose Time understand and promote this approach to learning and provide materials for every child in our group ages 9 mos-5 years!
"Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else." - Sydney Gurewitz Clemens
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Mix in some Science!
We couldn't resist the opportunity to create some baking soda volcanoes with our home made dough, vinegar, and baking soda! This is the recipe we use for our ever popular homemade dough. We add glitter, sparkles, confetti, food coloring, etc. depending on our current monthly themes. It is by far the very BEST recipe we have EVER used!!
Materials
Materials
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
- Food coloring
- Saucepan
- 1 cup flour
- Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm.
- Remove from heat and add flour.
- Stir, then knead until smooth. The cream of tartar makes this dough last 6 months or longer, so resist the temptation to omit this ingredient if you don't have it on hand.
- Store this dough in an airtight container or a Ziploc freezer bag.
And a dash of Emergent Reading...
This week we studied the letters "V" and "E: for volcano and we practiced using it in our word puzzles. We found the letter sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of the words. This helped us understand the how the letters sound and what it means for a word to "start with" a certain letter.
Dino Tic-Tac-Toe!! We added a new game to take home!
Our Dino Make and Take game began as a fine motor skill building activity that was quickly embraced as our little learners excitedly understood that they would be taking THIS game home to share with moms and dads! We carefully cut along the dotted lines and asked the teachers and our friends for help when we felt we needed it. We worked diligently to create our rectangular pieces. Some needed a bit of tape, but that just makes the process even more fun!!
Why do we send these seemingly simple games home?
In closing this week, I leave you with this...
And that wraps up our month of playing with the dinosaurs at Woolsey Academy.
As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today...
-L
Week Three With The Dinosaurs: Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes! (and maybe a claw or two!)
1/23/2018
Seriously? Do they make them ANY cuter?? I get to spend my days filled with the most DARLING Wild Things!!
Our dinosaur hats set the pace for this fun filled and educational week. This week our dinosaur studies focused on Dinosaur Bodies and we learned about their heads, bones, habitats, and foods.
We learned that some dinosaurs had heads as big as a car and some were very small. As we further discussed the types of foods they ate, we discovered that their heads and teeth were larger for the the meat eaters and seemed smaller for the veggie eaters. We hypothesized that maybe it is because it is harder to chew up a burger than a lettuce leaf so maybe they needed those big teeth to help them survive!
Our dinosaur hats set the pace for this fun filled and educational week. This week our dinosaur studies focused on Dinosaur Bodies and we learned about their heads, bones, habitats, and foods.
We learned that some dinosaurs had heads as big as a car and some were very small. As we further discussed the types of foods they ate, we discovered that their heads and teeth were larger for the the meat eaters and seemed smaller for the veggie eaters. We hypothesized that maybe it is because it is harder to chew up a burger than a lettuce leaf so maybe they needed those big teeth to help them survive!
Check out our Wild Things!!
These haute hats were courtesy of our education partners at Mother Goose Time and went along with our weekly lesson about dinosaur bodies. We discussed the things that all dinosaurs had in common which were eyes and teeth. Some dinosaurs had noses on their heads and some had big teeth while others were quite small, but they all had them. As we cut and pasted and placed our dino's facial features where we thought they should go we were learning about the proper geometric placement of facial features which is a developmental milestone in young learners. (Chalk up another win for the team for making learning into play!! Way to go team Woolsey Academy!!!)
Puzzles, puzzles everywhere!!
Our education partners at Mother Goose Time sent us some simplistic puzzles that went along with our newest book, "Jurassic Jam". Our students excitedly recognized the characters and went to work building each three piece puzzle back into it's proper single unit form. Keeping fresh materials (like new puzzles) available for our little learners is vital to development as it "Allows children to learn that a whole is made of parts. Develops hand-eye co-ordination and fine motor skills. Builds visual-perceptual skills. Develops attention, concentration and thinking skills such as recognizing, remembering, matching, sorting and problem sorting." - https://www.lifeslittletreasures.org.au/prematurity/support-for-families/prematurity-articles/how-puzzles-can-help-your-child-develop/
Card Sharks!
I think the backward cap says it all when it comes to how seriously this crew takes it's card playing! We LOVE card games and this one was a dinosaur card game based on the old favorite "War". The cards each had a differing number of dinosaurs on their face from 1-10 and the children had to count the dinosaurs quickly as a card was drawn to determine who had the card with the "most" dinosaurs on it. The card with the most took the all the cards with "fewer" dinosaurs. This is a complex math concept for young children that is easily mastered when put into a game format. During this game one of our teachers sat in to aid in "following the rules" and "recognizing more and less."
In the article, "Using Card Games To Teach Basic Math Skills" by Sheldon Soper states that cards are a great way to teach children math skills utilizing a social format that is FAR more fun than worksheets and I AGREE!!!
"There are three reasons I love this approach:
"There are three reasons I love this approach:
- Playing cards are cheap and readily available.
- Card games are timeless, portable, and fun (read: way more fun than practice worksheets)
- Card games incorporate family members and fellow students in the learning process making it collaborative and social"
Dinosaur Skeletons and Oodles of Noodles!
Using LOTS glue of differing types of noodles was a fun and effective way to compare the different types of bones in a dinosaurs body. This activity was part of our S.T.E.M. and discovery provided by Mother Goose Time. Our children determined what types of noodles they felt best looked like legs, spines, and heads!
Lots of opportunities to build our knowledge of Language Arts!
“Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.” (Zig Ziglar)
Our Dinosaur Emergent Reader books from Mother Goose Time have been read again, and again, and again. Repetition gives children predictable outcomes that lay solid foundations for learning complex concepts. These books are now memorized and predictable so the next steps can be made from holding and hearing the books to beginning reading and writing. Since our students can follow along with each word and count the number while recognizing the types of dinosaurs it is a natural progression to show them which words, names, and numbers go with the pictures. This information is easily retained as it is predictable. We can then move to writing the numbers and words as pictured here.
We picked a page and some writing strips to focus on two to three words of the sentence. We recreated those words as we carefully recognized the name "Stegosaurus" and the number "4" in the sentence. We worked diligently to copy the text as written in the book.
This provides excellent writing practice, word recognition, and a sense of pride upon completion!
Regular writing opportunities in the classroom also allow us as teachers to assess in real time how our students are progressing along with their emergent writing skills. These skills begin as a child's first scribbles and progress along a predictable path.
Each stage is just as important as the next and cannot be skipped!!
These activities are just a small part of the fun we have had learning all about dinosaur bodies!! From songs to stories, heads to toes, we are singing, dancing, reading, and writing our way as petite paleontologists all month long at Woolsey Academy!
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!!
-L
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!!
-L
I just LOVE the photo-bomb cutie is the background of this sweet pic! My little One'asaurus in the foreground is busily painting her Triceratops with greens, browns, and white.
Look at that developing grasp!! Swoon...
But my little Three'asaurus in the background is focused in his explorations with our "Eye Spy" paper glasses provided by our education partners at Mother Goose Time that came as part of our dinosaur themed Emergent Reader book,
This week we focused on 5 popular dinosaurs similarities and differences.
We learned the words "herbivore" and "carnivore" and what those meant. We also discovered that we, as humans, are "omnivores" since we eat both meat and plants. We discussed the different types of plants that we eat like apples, oranges, and lettuce. We wondered if the dinosaurs might have liked those pants too?
Look at that developing grasp!! Swoon...
But my little Three'asaurus in the background is focused in his explorations with our "Eye Spy" paper glasses provided by our education partners at Mother Goose Time that came as part of our dinosaur themed Emergent Reader book,
This week we focused on 5 popular dinosaurs similarities and differences.
We learned the words "herbivore" and "carnivore" and what those meant. We also discovered that we, as humans, are "omnivores" since we eat both meat and plants. We discussed the different types of plants that we eat like apples, oranges, and lettuce. We wondered if the dinosaurs might have liked those pants too?
The making of a GREAT week!
"Explode," by Dancing Beats from Mother Goose Time is the newest addition to our YouTube Dinosaur Dance playlist. It is perfect for helping our tiny dino's how to move and groove to the beat with easy to follow dance steps they can quickly mimic and master!
We are the Dinosaurs!
NO preschool day is complete without LOTS of singing, dancing, and wiggling to the music
This one is a HIT and always has them begging to "STOMP!"
This one has been great to help them learn dinosaur names and it has all of us singing in an Aussie accent!
And of course, the Dinosaurs A to Z song!!
But we're not just singing and dancing all day....we have SO much more to do!
Like building with dinosaur bones to make a T-rex or Pterodactyl!
 |  |
We painted with friends as we counted 17 bony plates on the Stegasaurus.
We built geometric awareness as we used shapes as materials to construct a dinosaur!
 |  |  |
We practiced rhythm and patterns with out newest book (and a whole lot of instruments), "Jurassic Jam!"
| Jurassic Jam provided by our educational partners at Mother Goose Time, provides a great rhythm and meter as each page describes a grand gathering of dinosaur friends cheerfully entertaining on their instruments. Our students quickly caught onto the patterns presented and began finishing the sequence by stories end.. | |
And we are reading even more dinosaur books each day! We LOVE these....
We are learning about dinosaurs each day as we count our way up to 31! Even our daily circle time board is dino themed!
We have been matching our dinosaur friends to their information cards and learning about each one! This week we have discovered dinosaurs as long as several buses put together and one as small as a mouse!
From Music and Movement to Science and Discovery this week has been FULL of opportunity for dinosaur discovery and education through play!
As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today! -L
As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today! -L
Being stuck inside can become dull quickly with a group of energetic preschoolers, but this month we decided to study all things "Dinosaur" with our educational partners at Mother Goose Time.
Our little learners discovered what a Paleontologist is and does as they dug into fun with this science and math filled week.
Our little learners discovered what a Paleontologist is and does as they dug into fun with this science and math filled week.
Language and Literacy
 Our Field Journals provide Language Arts for our Emerging Readers, writing and pre-writing practice with shapes, letters, and numbers; plus plenty of space for recording our own observations! |   |
We began our week discovering what the word "Paleontologist" means - a person (scientist) that studies the history of life. In this history we are studying dinosaur bones. We then discussed what an "Excavation Site" was as we made our very own dirt dough to excavate and imprint fossils in to take home and share with our families.
Science and Sensory
Our dirt dough was made with coffee grounds, flour, salt, and water all measured and mixed to create a soil like consistency. This provided full sensory immersion into our fossil review as our Paleontologists pressed dino feet, heads, and bodies into mounds of "mud" then placed them into the oven to harden, simulating the solid fossils like those found in real digs.
Q-tips and our favorite homemade dough make easy to create fossils.
Our teachers joined in the fun creating Pterodactyls, Brontosaurus, and T-Rex (always the crowd favorite!)
Our teachers joined in the fun creating Pterodactyls, Brontosaurus, and T-Rex (always the crowd favorite!)
Units of Measure
 | It is important to provide little learners with tools that allow them to explore complex concepts like "fossils" and these little assorted dinosaur fossils that we ordered from Amazon fit well with helping them to understand what a "fossil" is. Here is the link http://a.co/4mIEsDh. We used these for making imprints and impressions, for painting and stamping and here we used them to measure length, height, and width, comparing our veggie eaters (herbivores) and our meat eaters (carnivores). |
These child-sized rubber dinosaur math manipulatives and counting cards are set up on one of our math shelves and allow our students to independently add and subtract their way to 10. We also use these as game pieces in our new math game, Dinosaur Dig!
Dinosaur Dig provided excellent opportunity for math skill enhancement through self directed game play. We loved this easy to follow game and I wrote a bit more about it here...
https://www.woolseyacademy.com/blog/math-magic
Creative Arts
Many of our S.T.E.A.M. activities are intertwined and provide for learning through play on
multiple planes of achievement and skill levels that fit our mixed age group. This is just one of many that we accomplished this week. We stamped with browns, and whites as we mixed and swirled our stampers to look like dinosaur feet in the dirt. We discussed how a dinosaur made imprints in the soil with their feet that could last for a very long time as they hardened in the sun.
multiple planes of achievement and skill levels that fit our mixed age group. This is just one of many that we accomplished this week. We stamped with browns, and whites as we mixed and swirled our stampers to look like dinosaur feet in the dirt. We discussed how a dinosaur made imprints in the soil with their feet that could last for a very long time as they hardened in the sun.
Week 1 of this month's Dinosaur Dig provided a strong foundation for our budding Paleontologists to discover with friends while building connections with creatures from long ago to their own backyard.
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today! -L
As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today! -L
  | I write a lot about games that teach. I believe in teaching through play. I believe in experiences, music, dancing, squishy dough and finger paints, dress-up and dolls, trains and trucks that haul loads and whose tracks meander around our classrooms. Our dinosaur studies with Mother Goose Time this month have been full of opportunities for all the "fun"dementals of play and I have been like a kid in a candy store enjoying all the newness each day brings. There are, however, certain games that make me FLIP! These games are always an instant hit with our little learners and provide the freedom for organic learning through engaged involvement. They don't realize the science behind the game. They don't realize that I am providing these experiences because not only do I know they will LOVE it, but they will be building critical thinking skills and not even realize they are learning. I can actually measure their expertise increase as they play. It is magical.... Sigh..... |
What makes a game special?
Dinosaur Dig has all the necessary components of a skill builder at a research level.
As the children move their dinosaurs along the board they begin to recognize key words and letters that clue them in to what the upcoming instruction square is going to say. Some stated, "Find 1 bone," or "Subtract 2 bones." These are Emergent Readers striving to learn so they can independently play a game (Language Arts).
FORGET flashcards!! Who has time for that???
As they roll the dice they excitedly count from 1-5 along the squares toward an instruction square. We carefully add and subtract as instructed. Rounding the last square we tally each child's total (math).
By the end we are BEGGING to reset the board and play again. We are pointing out the "add" and "subtract" squares and giggling about how many bones we are going to collect THIS time!
This game is built on subject matter that our children love (dinosaurs) with game pieces that easily fit into their hands. They pick out a new color dinosaur and we discuss it's name each time (science). We have fun conversations about whether it is a "veggie" or "meat" eater as we recall the words "herbivore" and "carnivore". (Language Arts, Social/Emotional, Science) and we are pretending to be baby birds eating the bones we have collected as we roll and recognize, then put into practical application the numbers displayed on our dice.
Research is FULL of evidence (just google "how to best teach a preschool child math concepts" and you will find page after page of articles filled with doctoral dissertations about the "how to's" and "why's" and it all boils down to one concept.
Play games...specifically board games with your child. Have your child attend a preschool that teaches complex and abstract math concepts through stories, songs, and playing board games. This is what we are proud to promote each day for our little students.
Your child's math brain will grow. Your child's social/emotional resilience will grow. Your child's language skills will grow.
Now...stop reading this wonderful little blog and go play :) !
As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today! -L
As the children move their dinosaurs along the board they begin to recognize key words and letters that clue them in to what the upcoming instruction square is going to say. Some stated, "Find 1 bone," or "Subtract 2 bones." These are Emergent Readers striving to learn so they can independently play a game (Language Arts).
FORGET flashcards!! Who has time for that???
As they roll the dice they excitedly count from 1-5 along the squares toward an instruction square. We carefully add and subtract as instructed. Rounding the last square we tally each child's total (math).
By the end we are BEGGING to reset the board and play again. We are pointing out the "add" and "subtract" squares and giggling about how many bones we are going to collect THIS time!
This game is built on subject matter that our children love (dinosaurs) with game pieces that easily fit into their hands. They pick out a new color dinosaur and we discuss it's name each time (science). We have fun conversations about whether it is a "veggie" or "meat" eater as we recall the words "herbivore" and "carnivore". (Language Arts, Social/Emotional, Science) and we are pretending to be baby birds eating the bones we have collected as we roll and recognize, then put into practical application the numbers displayed on our dice.
Research is FULL of evidence (just google "how to best teach a preschool child math concepts" and you will find page after page of articles filled with doctoral dissertations about the "how to's" and "why's" and it all boils down to one concept.
Play games...specifically board games with your child. Have your child attend a preschool that teaches complex and abstract math concepts through stories, songs, and playing board games. This is what we are proud to promote each day for our little students.
Your child's math brain will grow. Your child's social/emotional resilience will grow. Your child's language skills will grow.
Now...stop reading this wonderful little blog and go play :) !
As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today! -L
Play.
Period.
End of discussion.
Mic drop.
If you want to create math minds,.. play.
I am not talking about giving children toys and saying, "Here you go, play this." I mean play WITH them. Create Invitations to Play that engage their senses and natural curiosity.
This is easily done in the preschool setting and our educators at Mother Goose Time provide an excellent foundation for math skills through multiple Invitations to Play throughout the school day.
Period.
End of discussion.
Mic drop.
If you want to create math minds,.. play.
I am not talking about giving children toys and saying, "Here you go, play this." I mean play WITH them. Create Invitations to Play that engage their senses and natural curiosity.
This is easily done in the preschool setting and our educators at Mother Goose Time provide an excellent foundation for math skills through multiple Invitations to Play throughout the school day.
What is an Invitation to Play?
Creating an "Invitation to Play" may sound complex at first, but it is very simple. It is "staging" areas of play that the child is naturally interested in and stocking those areas with items that they can utilize that encourage skill building. This can be done for Language Arts, Science, Social/Emotional, Math, Music, etc.
This is just one of our simple, yet highly effective "Invitations to Play."
Don't those colorful little blocks just say, "PICK ME UP!!!"???
Our children carted these from one area of the room to the next. They placed them on the scales and weighed them. Three blocks on this side, eight blocks on that side. They would readjust the numbers and weigh over and over to see if 6 blocks weighed more than 2, and if 10 blocks weighed more than 1. They would grab a friend and giggle and guess whose side would go up or down. They would squeal, "I WON!!!!" with glee when their side was heavier or lighter depending on the rules they had set up for their newly created, self-directed math game.
Our partner educator, Mother Goose Time, sent us these 1 inch colored cubes with our Winter Wonderland theme for the month of December and by our children's reactions these will stay out for a LONG time!
Don't those colorful little blocks just say, "PICK ME UP!!!"???
Our children carted these from one area of the room to the next. They placed them on the scales and weighed them. Three blocks on this side, eight blocks on that side. They would readjust the numbers and weigh over and over to see if 6 blocks weighed more than 2, and if 10 blocks weighed more than 1. They would grab a friend and giggle and guess whose side would go up or down. They would squeal, "I WON!!!!" with glee when their side was heavier or lighter depending on the rules they had set up for their newly created, self-directed math game.
Our partner educator, Mother Goose Time, sent us these 1 inch colored cubes with our Winter Wonderland theme for the month of December and by our children's reactions these will stay out for a LONG time!
Here they decided to see "How many more would it take to make 10?" So one child set out a certain number of blocks (5 here), and the other child would count along from 5 to determine how to make 10. This is algebra in the pre-k years. It is play. It is a beautiful mix of self-directed learning and mastery that makes this teacher swoon!!!
Sigh........
Sigh........
-In this video one of our younger 3's became a bit excited as he grabbed the "7" from his older classmate. She handled it like a champ! We have a mixed-age, small private center and we teach our older children to be understanding and patient of the younger ones. This little learner was focused on the task despite the distractions and obtained her goal!
Aren't my kids the CUTEST?!?!
Aren't my kids the CUTEST?!?!
As Early Childhood Educators we must provide these experiences.
"The basic math skills teachers provide in early childhood education set the building blocks for the entire academic career. Without learning simple skills like number sense, math concepts and simple application of ideas like adding, children are not prepared to move into elementary education. "-Room 241 Team of Concordia University-Portland
Not only did our students use these little blocks for counting, they used them to build rows and columns alone and with friends. They use them each day for measuring how long one doll is in comparison to another, and how tall the T-Rex is compared to the Stegosaurus.
"An ideal play activity for promoting early geometric and spatial sense is block building. Playing with blocks, a popular activity found in most early childhood classrooms, can contribute to children’s spatial reasoning, knowledge of geometric shapes, numerical knowledge, and problem-solving skills (Kamii, Miyakawa, & Kato, 2004; Ness & Faranga, 2007; Reifel & Greenfield, 1982). Building with blocks not only engages individual students but also groups of students, especially when block building takes the form of guided play — fun activities structured to provide opportunities for exploration and learning (Weisberg, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2013). Guided play can be used in early childhood classrooms to engage children in play activities that can connect to the curriculum and promote learning. Studies have found that teaching children through guided play can be more effective than didactic instruction because it encourages children to take on an active role in their exploration (Alfieri, Brooks, Aldrich, & Tenenbaum, 2011; Fisher, Hirsh-Pasek, Newcombe, & Golinkoff, 2013)."-By Geetha B. Ramani and Sarah H. Eason
When we look at the life-long benefits of math in preschool we must take an active approach to providing tools and games that will constantly engage our little learners.
When these tools are mixed with time, we have a winning technique that draws in the child naturally and the process of laying foundational skills becomes effortless. "Child's play", if you will...
As always, I wish you well and I hope you get to play today. -L
Life is made of moments...
"There isn't anything more full of hope, joy and peace than a child's smile... It captures the mundane and makes it extraordinary." - LaDonna Woolsey
I am a www.prekwithme.com blogger. I decided to become one after trying their products because I they are comprehensive and serve my mixed age group well. I do receive products to review from www.prekwithme.com and do so with my own honest and thorough opinions. For more information, please contact me at [email protected]
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