Woolsey Academy For Young Learners 417-742-3519
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About us
    • A Day In The Life
    • Contact Us
    • What Parents Just Like You Think
    • Enrollment Forms
  • Pre k With Me!

Exploring the Letter I, Arctic Animals, and Early Math Fun!

1/26/2025

0 Comments

 
Picture
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.
  • We began our study by reading Who Lives Here? Polar Animals by Deborah Hodge and The Pout-Pout Fish Goes to School by Deborah Diesen. These books sparked conversations about where animals live and how letters and sounds help us read new words.
  • We focused on letter I recognition by tracing, drawing, and discussing that “I” is for “Ice,” “Igloo,” and “Icicle.” Children practiced writing uppercase and lowercase I on construction paper, then painted them with sparkly silver paint to look like glittering ice.
Missouri Early Learning Standards Connection (Language & Literacy):
  • Listening and Speaking: Children engaged in book discussions, learning new vocabulary like “igloo” and “icicle.”
  • Reading: They identified the letter I in print, strengthening their letter-sound knowledge.

Arctic-Themed Sensory Play & Science
  • We brought the arctic animals to life by building cotton-ball igloos and playdough igloos. We then used the playdough to create mock “icicles” and formed the letters I and i.
  • Children explored an “icy” sensory tray filled with dough, giving them a hands-on way to investigate texture, shape, and how animals might move in a snowy environment. They created footprints and “tracks” for their polar bears and penguins, placing them “over and under” the dough snow just like in Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner.
Missouri Early Learning Standards Connection (Science):
  • Scientific Inquiry: Children experimented with playdough (a changeable material), building shapes and discussing how animals might live in cold habitats.
  • Physical Science: They observed textures and states of matter, associating “ice” with cold, and how it might melt or change.

Number Learning and Early Math
  • We focused on number recognition from 1-12 using wooden puzzles from www.PreKWithMe.com. The children were excited to manipulate the puzzle pieces to match each numeral and shape.
  • We introduced our new clock puzzle, also from PreKWithMe, which has movable hour and minute hands. The numbers 1-12 are represented on trapezoid-shaped pieces—leading to a mini-lesson on recognizing and naming trapezoids.
  • These activities emphasize preschool math skills—counting, numeral recognition, shape identification, and basic time-telling concepts.
Missouri Early Learning Standards Connection (Mathematics):
  • Number & Operations: Children practiced counting from 1-12, matching numerals to puzzle spaces.
  • Geometry & Spatial Sense: They identified and named shapes (circle, heart, triangle, square, rectangle, trapezoid, hexagon, octagon) and manipulated puzzle pieces to fit corresponding outlines.

Fine Motor Skills & Creative Arts
  • Painting our “icy” letter I with sparkle paint allowed for precise brush strokes, which helps strengthen hand muscles.
  • Using cotton swabs to dab glue and sprinkle “sparkle sand” encourages pincer-grasp development, an important precursor to correct pencil grip.
  • Standing at the chalkboard to trace letters also gave children a different posture to practice writing—helping them gain better arm and shoulder control.
Missouri Early Learning Standards Connection (Physical Development & Creative Arts):
  • Fine Motor Skills: Children used small tools—paintbrushes, cotton swabs, puzzle pieces—to refine coordination.
  • Creative Expression: They explored art materials and creative processes, expressing themselves while learning about the letter I and winter themes.

Social-Emotional Skills: Taking Turns & Sharing
  • During our shape-matching game from PreKWithMe, children cooperated, taking turns and sharing puzzle pieces. When someone didn’t recognize a shape, classmates offered help—reinforcing empathy and teamwork.
  • We read The Mitten by Jan Brett, discussing how animals shared the mitten. This opened a conversation about social emotional skills like caring and helping.
  • Reading Llama Llama Home With Mama helped us talk about sickness and compassion for friends who are absent or not feeling well.
Missouri Early Learning Standards Connection (Social & Emotional Development):
  • Relationships with Others: Children practiced cooperative play and kindness, such as helping a friend who struggled with shape recognition.
  • Self-Regulation: They managed frustration or excitement when taking turns, developing patience and understanding.

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!

0 Comments

Freddy the Fox Finds a Friend original story and read along for our little learners.

1/19/2025

0 Comments

 
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
0 Comments

Polar Adventures in Preschool - Exploring Winter Wonders and the letter "C"!

1/19/2025

0 Comments

 

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:
  • Who Lives Here? Polar Animals by Deborah Hodge
  • Winter is Here by Kimberly Weinberger
  • The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
  • Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner
Reading these stories aligns with the Language and Literacy Development domain of the Missouri Early Learning Standards. The children strengthened listening comprehension, expanded their vocabulary, and had lively discussions about cold climates and wintertime adventures. Integrating our ABC lessons here helped foster pre reading skills and further our exploration of the phonics sounds of alphabet.

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:
  • Sound Recognition – Identifying words starting with C (cold, coat, caribou, clock), reinforcing the initial teaching alphabet.
  • Tracing and Writing – Strengthening fine motor skills (part of Physical Development) while tracing and writing “C” from memory.
  • Letter Hunts – Spotting and naming the letter C using the Abc Puzzle from PreKwithMe.com and letter-image correlation sets, a fun way to practice identifying alphabet letters within the broader Alphabet.
These engaging ABC activities not only help children recognize letter shapes and the phonics sounds of alphabet but also encourage the early pre reading foundations outlined in the Missouri standards. We discussed how strong ABC skills support pre math later by building overall cognitive development.

Polar Animal Discoveries

Inspired by our storybooks, we explored the wintery world of polar animals. We learned about:
  • Caribou
  • Penguins
  • Musk Ox
  • Polar Bears
We colored pictures of these animals from PreKwithMe.com, discussing how they adapt to cold climates. These conversations encouraged scientific thinking and critical questioning, aligning with the Science and Approaches to Learning domains in the Missouri Early Learning Standards. By referencing each animal’s name, we reinforced ABC awareness through repeated exposure to the Alphabet and sounding alphabet letters.

Arts & Crafts with a Snowy Twist

Our art time also promoted both creativity and fine motor development (Physical Development standard):
  • Cotton Ball Letter C – We glued fluffy cotton balls to form a “snowy” letter C.
  • Puffy Paint Letter C – We squeezed and spread puffy paint for a 3D, textured version of the letter C.
In addition to exploring the shape of the letter, these projects allowed children to engage in creative expression, aligning with the Creative Arts domain. They also practiced sharing materials and working together, fostering Social and Emotional Development—crucial skills in a childcare and pre k environment.

Ice Melting Experiment

Science and discovery came to life as we observed ice melting:
  1. Observation – Using magnifying glasses, the children watched ice cubes slowly melt on colored paper.
  2. Hands-On – We practiced using tongs to handle the slippery ice, refining our fine motor skills.
  3. Cause & Effect – We discussed temperature and why ice changes to water.
This experiment built upon children’s natural curiosity and promoted early Scientific Inquiry—both key components of the Missouri Early Learning Standards. Incorporating ABC topics as we counted ice cubes and described the cold allowed for cross-curricular connections, combining pre math skills with literacy development.

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.
0 Comments

Pumpkins and preschool 09/25/2024

9/25/2024

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
​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:
  • The Leaf Thief
  • Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes
  • Pete the Cat and the Five Little Pumpkins
  • Going on a Leaf Hunt
Reading aloud to children is incredibly beneficial and so much fun!! It not only enhances their vocabulary and comprehension skills but also fosters a love for reading and storytelling. According to experts, reading aloud helps children develop language and listening skills, stimulates their imagination, and expands their understanding of the world12.
Puzzles and Letter Recognition
We worked on our leaf identification puzzle and letter recognition puzzles, focusing on:
  • A is for Apple
  • L is for Leaf
  • P is for Pumpkin
  • T is for Turkey
These activities help children recognize letters and associate them with familiar objects, which is crucial for early literacy development. These puzzles were created by The Artisan’s Mill Early Childhood Education division specifically for our program.  Mr. Robb does an AAAMMAAAZZZIIINNNGGGG job!  We love his creations!!!
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
 

0 Comments

The Community Helper We Never Think About...

11/30/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
..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

Another one of our FAVORITE Creative Arts activities this month was Syringe Squirt Art!  

Using a syringe to paint with provided us with small and large motor opportunities.  Our mixed age group was all a twitter to get their hands on "shots".  During our "Doctor" Community Helper study we discussed "shots" and how doctors use them to help us get well or to stay well.  

We practiced pushing the plunger down, but the more difficult part for little hands was pulling it back out.  

Once we added the paint it was very difficult to operate.  We had to keep trying and persevere.  Our littlest learners worked hard and kept trying, asking for help of their older friends.
Picture
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!!

Picture
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
1 Comment

Thanksgiving is the PERFECT time to discuss Community Helpers!

11/30/2019

1 Comment

 

Community Helpers!

Picture
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 Officer

Be 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

1 Comment

Aesop's Fables in Preschool

9/3/2018

2 Comments

 

Folktales and Fables - Keeping Treasured Literature Alive in Preschool

Picture
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 Bunyon

When 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!!!
Self Portraits

One of the ways we sneak in assessments is by self-portraits.  In this Creative Arts activity we provide children with the simplest instructions; Draw YOU!

Today, since we were discussing baby Bunyon, we decided to make ourselves as babies as well.  We framed these sweet masterpieces and proudly posted them on our classroom window for all to enjoy!
They turned out BEAUTIFULLY!
Picture

Since there is no right or wrong way to do this activity it allows a child to work at their individual level and interest.  Some of our younger students are in the scribbling phase and some have matured in skill and strength and are in Stage Four: Pictures of object or people.  

Giving our young learners repeated exposure to a variety of art medium is vital to brain development. Even though chasing our tiny tots as they draw "lipstick" with markers can become quite a challenge, it is important that they are allowed to create and discover and have access to materials that allow for exploration of expression.  

"Creativity is a bridge to learning. When your child is creative and curious, she can come up with answers to the problems she encounters—like how to keep the block tower from falling. Creativity helps your child become a thoughtful, inquisitive, and confident learner later on, when she starts school.One of the most important ways that your toddler is tuning in to her creativity is by experimenting with art materials. As she grabs that chunky crayon and gets to work, you will see her art and writing change and become more controlled and complex as she grows.

For very young children, art and early writing skills are one and the same. At first, it’s all about just figuring out what these cool things called crayons can do. Then your child discovers the link between her hand holding the crayon and the line she made on the page: Presto! She experiences the power of cause-and-effect. Imagine how exciting this must be for her! She can now make a real “mark” on the world. This leap in thinking skills is helped along by her new ability to hold things in her hands and fingers. The growing control your child has over the muscles in her hands lets her move a marker or paintbrush with purpose and with a goal in mind.

For very young children, there are four stages of drawing and writing that you may see as your child grows from 15 months old to 3 years old. Note that the timetables listed below are approximate; your child may master these skills faster or slower and still be developing just fine. Growth doesn’t happen at the same speed for every child, but by offering repeated fun experiences with a variety of art and writing materials, you will see forward progress over time.

Stage 1: Random Scribbling (15 months to 2½ years)

This is the period when young children are just figuring out that their movements result in the lines and scribbles they see on the page. These scribbles are usually the result of large movements from the shoulder, with the crayon or marker held in the child’s fist. There is joy in creating art at all ages, but at this stage especially, many children relish the feedback they are getting from their senses: the way the crayon feels, the smell of the paint, the squishy-ness of the clay.

For other children, this sensory information may be too much and they may not enjoy some art activities at this stage (like finger-painting). As they grow to tolerate more sensory input, you can incrementally re-introduce art activities into their routine.

Stage 2: Controlled Scribbling (2 years to 3 years)

As children develop better control over the muscles in their hands and fingers, their scribbles begin to change and become more controlled. Toddlers may make repeated marks on the page—open circles, diagonal, curved, horizontal, or vertical lines. Over time, children make the transition to holding the crayon or marker between their thumb and pointer finger.

Stage 3: Lines and Patterns (2½ years to 3½ years)

Children now understand that writing is made up of lines, curves, and repeated patterns. They try to imitate this in their own writing. So while they may not write actual letters, you may see components of letters in their drawing. These might include lines, dots, and curves. This is an exciting time as your toddler realizes that his drawing conveys meaning! For example, he may write something down and then tell you what word it says. This is an important step toward reading and writing.

Stage 4: Pictures of Objects or People (3 years to 5 years)

Many adults think of “pictures” as a picture of something. This ability to hold an image in your mind and then represent it on the page is a thinking skill that takes some time to develop. At first, children name their unplanned creations. This means that they finish the picture and then label their masterpiece with the names of people, animals, or objects they are familiar with.

This changes over time.

Soon you will see your child clearly planning prior to drawing what he will create. You will also see more detail in the pictures, more control in the way your child handles the crayon or marker, and the use of more colors. What else to be on the lookout for? Children’s first pictures often build off circles. So, you may see a sun—an irregular circle, with lots of stick “rays” shooting out—or a person (usually a circle with roughly recognizable human features).

Once your child has begun to purposefully draw images, she has mastered symbolic thinking. This important milestone in thinking skills means that your child understands that lines on paper can be a symbol of something else, like a house, a cat, or a person. At this stage, your child also begins to understand the difference between pictures and writing. So you may see him draw a picture and then scribble some “words” underneath to describe what he has drawn or to tell a story. When your child is able to share his story with you, he will be motivated to “author” more and more work as he grows.

Stage 5: Letter and Word Practice (3 to 5 years)

Children have had experience with letters and print for several years now and are beginning to use letters in their own writing. Usually children start by experimenting with the letters in their own names, as these are most familiar to them. They also make “pretend letters” by copying familiar letter shapes, and will often assume that their created letter must be real because it looks like other letters they have seen (Robertson, 2007).

During this time, children also begin to understand that some words are made of symbols that are shorter and some words are made of symbols that are longer. As a result, their scribbles change. Rather than one long string of letters or letter-like shapes, your child’s writing now has short and long patterns that look like words or sentences. While these letters and words are probably not technically correct, it does not matter. This exciting milestone means that your child is beginning to understand that text and print have meaning." https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/305-learning-to-write-and-draw


Opportunity, resources, and time...all in a day of play at Woolsey Academy!


Resources and References (from https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/305-learning-to-write-and-draw)Farrell-Kirk, R. (2007 February). Tips on understanding and encouraging your child’s artistic development. Downloaded on June 10, 2008.
Gable, S. (2000). Creativity in young children. University of Missouri Extension. Downloaded on June 10, 2008.
Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. (n.d.). My child is an artist! The stages of artistic development. Downloaded on June 10, 2008.
Lagoni, L. S., Martin, D. H., Maslin-Cole, C., Cook, A., MacIsaac, K., Parrill, G., Bigner, J., Coker, E., & Sheie, S. (1989). Good times being creative. In Good times with child care (pp. 239–253). Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. Downloaded on June 10, 2008.
Levinger, L, & Mott, A. (n.d.). Developmental phases in art.Downloaded on June 10, 2008.
Robertson, R. (2007, July/August). The meaning of marks: Understanding and nurturing young children’s writing development. Child Care Exchange, 176, 40–44.


2 Comments

Digging It!

5/21/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture

The month of May is one of my favorites as Winter finally gives way to Spring fully.  We have beautiful days filled with blooming flowers and trees, discovering worms and insects, and observing how a tiny seed creates a stem and leaves, vines and vegetables.  

We LOVE planting a garden.  Each year since we live a stone's throw from the river we have to wait until May to plant our garden.  If we try to do this sooner, we get a late frost that kills all our plants.  Last year the flooding made us replant twice, but this year we are on track for a bountiful harvest. 

We have planted pumpkins, watermelon, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, cantaloupe, sweat peas, corn, and sweet potatoes. With all the little helping hands it is always a great accomplishment for our plants to make it all the way to harvest time, but we usually do!

Our Garden Theme is intertwined into all our learning activities all month long.

Picture
There's not much that children like more than digging in the dirt.  They can dig for hours...add a bit of water we have entertainment for a week!  Not only do they benefit from using their gross motor skills to build up their digging muscles but they also get to work together to find insects and worms; treasures of the soil!

Our educational partners at Mother Goose Time understand that May is our gardening month and they have sent us books, creative arts, math, and science to go along with all our "hands-on" enrichment. Follow our blog to see all the fun and educational activities we have done inside too!!

Picture
 Gardening is an amazing opportunity for children to learn about the world around them.  

It also "provides the perfect combination of skills and tasks to address your child’s development. For example, gardening is a great physical development activity.Young children can practice locomotor skills, body management skills and object control skills while they move from one place to the other carrying tools, soil and water. They will be moving their bodies using large muscles and using muscles to balance and manage objects too. Fine motor skills such as whole-hand grasping and the pincer grasp (necessary skills for writing) are employed in gardening when children use a trowel or rake and pick up tiny seeds to plant. Further, being outdoors in the fresh air and moving around a lot is a good way to get exercise.
Another aspect of physical development is the sensory stimulation that you can experience in a garden. Water is a critical part of gardening and, if your child enjoys nothing else, playing with the hose or the watering can be a highlight. Feeling the texture of the soil or the plant leaves is also interesting, as is the smell of the fresh garden and its plants.
Of course, most gardens are a visual explosion of colors, tones and shades. If you plant edible plants, this is one of the few areas where you can actually safely employ your child’s sense of taste. Children are often more willing to try a new food if they have been involved in the process of growing it.
Literacy skills can be part of gardening, too. Learning the names of different plants and reading what their growth requirements are on the seed or plant packages is a literacy activity. Another reading/writing activity could be making a map of your garden or your yard and labeling the plants in it. A map of the area that you plant can be really helpful when those seeds start to sprout and you are not sure which one is a weed and which is the vegetable or flower you planted!
Cognitive development is all about intellectual skills such as remembering and analyzing information and predicting outcomes. You can do plenty of that in your garden with children. By asking open-ended questions about what you have already done in your garden and what they think you should do next, you are helping them think through the processes of preparing the soil, planting, watering and weeding. Ask them to tell you about the differences between the various plants you are growing or the different parts of the plants themselves. Show them the entire plant—roots, stem, leaves, flowers and seeds—or let them draw the plant at different stages of growth." - ​Posted on April 24, 2017 by Kittie Butcher, Michigan State University Extension, and Janet Pletcher, Lansing Community College

We are "digging" everything dirt all month long at Woolsey Academy!  Follow our adventures here and on our facebook page!

As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!!

​-L
0 Comments

Dirt, water, sand, and FUN!

5/7/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture

These sweet babes just steal my heart!! 

Look at that joy on his little face because he found, "Da' mos' pweddy fwower, Ms. Donna!" 

Swooonnnn.......

I LOVE living in preschool world.  Sure...we can corner the market on tantrums, but days like THIS make up for the challenging moments a thousand times over. 

This month is all about flowers and soil and growing gardens!  We will discuss the roots, leaves, worms, and dirt and EVERYTHING it takes to make a flower grow from seed to maturity.

But first a little prep work...

It took time and patience and TOOLS to prep this soil for our garden this year.  It was hard and dry.  It was unforgiving as we scraped, hammered, and dug our way in.  It did not want to relent in the late spring heat.  We had little rain and just the tiniest bit of water made mud fast which was fun for play but not to great for actually prepping the soil!  

We learned words what a rake, hoe, and shovel were.  We added a trowel and pitch fork to the mix.  We beat it, and raked it, and finally it softened enough to mix the fertilizer in and give it a good long drink before adding our seeds and plants.

Next we learned that parts of a plant so we could properly care for it.

Picture
Roots, stem, leaves, flowers! This is how we grow!!  We learned the parts of a plant and what each part does.  We also discussed that each part of the plant has its own job to do and that the plant cannot grow or even survive without all its parts working together toward the same goal, growth!  It is the same thing with a school or a family or a friendship.

It takes everyone working together toward the same goals so it can grow.  We are all different, but together we make an amazing team!

We built some flowers with all its parts using yarn, pipe cleaners, construction paper, and tissue papers

As we laid all the resources out on the tables we held up each piece and asked, "What plant part does this look like?"  They would answer "roots' or 'stem" as they carefully chose and placed the parts on their own papers with a bit of heavy glue!! Our education partners at Mother Goose Time provided a "harvest" (pun intended) of games, crafts, science, math, language arts, and sensory for us to "dig" into all month long and this sweet "Plant Parts" project was just one craft from the above "Plant Parts" lesson plan.

Each "plant" turned out uniquely beautiful and it helped them to better understand plants parts to have some hands-on creative arts moments to determine placement and size.

We added the letter "f" for "flower" and we named it's upper and lowercase partners.  We counted leaves and stems of our flowers and we took a walk to the "f" farm to pick some "f" flowers to give little learners some sun, scents, and sensations all around the fields of the farm.
Picking flowers, prepping the soil, taking long walks in the fields and the farms is all part of our days in May at Woolsey Academy for Young Learners!

As always we wish you well and we hope you get to play today.

​-L
0 Comments

Octopus Math!!!

4/20/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Anyone that has read our class blog for very long knows I HEART games that teach!!!  This sweet octopus counting game is no exception!!  Just look at his happy face!  How couldn't you not be drawn right in and want to play with him?!?

Another thing I LOVE about the games we receive from Mother Goose Time is that they are not of a competitive nature, but rather they promote teamwork and a "We ALL win together" attitude.  The children have to work together, take turns, make observations, create solutions, and practice self regulation to reach a common end goal of "winning the game."

This game involves rolling dice and using the round counter tabs in conjunction with the number of the dice to correspond to the amount of counter tabs to place on the octopus tentacle. (At least that is how we played it!)

I had one child roll the dice and the other child count out the correct number of tabs.  Then the child that rolled was able to place the tabs onto the octopus.  Then the children would switch rolls until the octopus was full.  The children would then count all the tabs together and tally how many rolls of the dice it took to reach the end.  The fewer rolls the better, but in the end, they reached the last place on the last tentacle and it was HOOOORAYS all around!!

Our Ocean Commotion month has been filled with math opportunities. 


Our educational partners at Mother Goose Time provided us with an ocean themed matching game with real pictures of ocean animals, and these beautiful shells to count to the number 15 and 16 with (our focus number this month).  We used these little ocean gems to match sizes, order from largest to smalled and reverse, count from 1-16 (and beyond since we had about 40 of them), group into 2, 3, 4, and 5's for skip counting and to imagine what types of animals called them home (not math, but some fun physical science!).  
 
Giving children objects to hold, count, order, and compare is math and science in real time that little minds can concretely make meaningful connections with.

We utilize "teachable moments" with our little learners that encourage hands on learning that is far superior than rote flashcard memorizations.  Yes, the clean up can be a bit more daunting, but the results speak for themselves...

Www.education.com supports this method, " In an attempt to foster their child’s academic development, many well meaning parents may be tempted to provide flash cards as an initial learning tool. This is not the best method for teaching young children math skills with understanding, says Grace Davila Coates, Program Director of Family Math (Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley) and co-author of Family Math for Young Children. “Many three-year-olds may be able to identify a 3, but they don’t understand what 3 means. It's important for parents to understand the difference between conceptual learning and skill development," she says. "Instead of flashcards, look for teachable moments, count things that are familiar to the child as she plays or helps you with simple chores. Counting socks, toy cars, or other toys will maintain her attention and have more meaning for her. Play is learning for three and four-year olds.

Follow their interests and create environments that encourage creativity and exploration.” 
https://www.education.com/magazine/article/preschool-number-recognition-counting-easy/​

Following our preschooler's interests and creating environments that support those are what we do at Woolsey Academy for Young Learners everyday.

As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today!

-L

0 Comments

The Little Octopus And The Oceans...

4/15/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Children LOVE to study oceans and the life inside of them.  Shells, fish, whales, coral, water...especially the octopus!

In all my years as lead "awakener" here at Woolsey Academy, the octopus ranks right up there in preschool land with the dinosaur.  

It has 8 arms or tentacles, it has a squishy body, it squirts black ink it has suction cups!!!  What isn't to LOVE about these amazing creatures of the deep?

This month our educational partners at Mother Goose Time paid homage to this amazing ocean dweller with this sweet study and craft.  

They provided a math study counting it's arms by adding and subtracting to make 8.  We added another lesson to that curing our S.T.E.A.M. project by adding these fun round stickers to create "suckers" on the tentacles as we counted how many we added.  We then brought a little introduction of multiplication as we stated that, "If I have 2 suckers on each arm (8 arms total), how many do I have all together?"  

We counted by 2's and then we observed that we had 16!  

After reading the book, "How To Hide An Octopus", we pretended to be an octopus and find camouflage to hide in, on, and under.  We practiced using these positional words (pre-math and language comprehension) as our older children assisted our littler ones in performing the task.  
Picture


​The Amazing Octopus!

This S.T.E.A.M. project required our little learners to practice their fine motor skills as they stuffed ribbons with their fingertips into a shower cap!  We tied off a top portion of the cap and then our preschoolers used scissors to snip eight octopus arms.  The thin lightweight cap plastic was PERFECT for giving the impression of an octopus swimming through the water as it went up and down. 

This project, provided by Mother Goose Time in conjunction with our octopus studies was  a fantastic "Make and Take" activity for our children to excitedly share with their families as they reconnected and discussed everything they learned in their day with us at www.woolseyacademy.com.

As always, we wish you well and we hope you get to play today! 
0 Comments

Commotion in the Ocean!

4/15/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Commotion on the ocean!  Our preschoolers LOVE ocean animals so we decided to spend a few weeks learning about the creatures, coral reefs, animals, and environments of the ocean.

By adding sharks, fish, whales, jellyfish, eels, starfish, and shells to our  dough, moon sand, and water beads, we created several science and sensory stations to capture the imaginations of our little learners. 

​Of course it is EASY to have lots of meaningful conversations stemming from these natural elements of play.

Picture
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?
​
Picture
Picture
Picture
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/
Picture
"Here are 5 reasons why sensory play is beneficial:
  1. 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.
  2. Sensory play supports language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving skills, and social interaction.
  3. This type of play aids in developing and enhancing memory
  4. Sensory play is great for calming an anxious or frustrated child
  5. 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

0 Comments

Ocean and the life inside of them...

4/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
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.  

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
0 Comments

Rock Planets!

4/3/2018

2 Comments

 
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!
PictureOne of our darling astronauts!
"The Sun's a hot star, Mercury's hot too; 
Venus is the brightest planet!
Earth's home to me and YOU!!
Mars is the red one, and Jupiter's most wide.
Saturn's got those icy rings and Uranus spins on it's side!
Neptune's really windy, and Pluto's very small (yes, we know it is now classified as a dwarf planet!!).
Well we wanted to name the planets and now we've named them all!!"

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!

Picture

And this one!

Picture

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.

Picture
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!!
Picture
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
2 Comments

Blast Off Into Space All Month Long With Woolsey Academy!

3/7/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
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!

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....

Picture
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

Picture

"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! 

Our "Number Stars" game work seamlessly with "Up In Space!"

Picture
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!

Our own little telescopes help encourage us to star gaze!

Picture
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 
0 Comments

Wonder Around The World

3/6/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
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.. 
Picture
Picture
I loved the hieroglyphic alphabet!
Picture
Picture
Picture
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!
Picture
Picture
Picture
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
0 Comments

This is the way we go to school...

3/6/2018

0 Comments

 

This is the way we learn about our world!

Picture
Picture
Picture
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!

Picture
Picture
Picture

This is the way we learn to read!

Picture
Picture
Picture

This is the way we discover the pyramids!

Picture
Picture
Picture
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
0 Comments

Every Once In A While...

2/7/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
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?"  

"Teach only love, for that is what you are."
​Dr. Becky Bailey

Could you even imagine teaching children anything but love?
Picture"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

1 Comment

It's A Small World...

2/5/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture

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.....

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.​
Picture
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

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!!

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:
  • 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
In addition to these benefits, neuroscientist Professor Nina Kraus has conducted research that has proven that playing a musical instrument enhances the brain's sensitivity to speech sounds. She states, "Playing an instrument may help youngsters better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret the nuances of language that are conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice."

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!

Picture

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.".  
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
0 Comments

An Epic Week With The Dinosaurs: Volcanoes!!

1/26/2018

2 Comments

 
Picture
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.


​ 
Picture
Picture
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!
"Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else." - Sydney Gurewitz Clemens
Picture
Picture

Mix in some Science!  

Picture
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
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
  • Food coloring
  • Saucepan
  • 1 cup flour
Directions
  1. Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm.
  2. Remove from heat and add flour.
  3. 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.
  4. 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!

Picture
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?  


"Tic-Tac-Toe: A Game with Competing Goals
While the game of tic-tac-toe is really old, dating back to ancient Egyptians at around 1300 B.C., the underlying principles of the game have endured the test of time. The game seems simple enough. Two opponents, one using X and one using O, use a 3 x 3 grid to mark their symbols. The first one to get all three of his/her symbols in a row, whether it’s diagonal, horizontal, or vertical, wins the game. The ingenious catch here for children, which adults find trivial, is that the game is designed to end up in a draw. Only when one opponent makes a mistake will the other opponent win. This is where the simple game of tic-tac-toe gets a little more complicated.
​
When playing a game with only one opponent, you ultimately have two goals: to win and to not lose. As an adult, you know that the game of tic-tac-toe will result in a draw so you follow a strategy where neither you nor your opponent will win. You’ll think that this is a flawless combination of your two goals. But for children, they go for either and both goals. For example, in a 1993 experiment from Carnegie Mellon University, the researchers let a 5 year old girl play tic-tac-toe against a computer program. The results were that every time the child aims to win, she loses due to failing to block her opponent, but when she aims to not lose, the games result in a draw. This continued in alternates for 16 games. This experiment showed that what you thought as a simple integration of a goal was not always so stable.

But you might wonder what has this got to do with children’s cognitive development?
Think-Tac-Toe: The developmental values of the game with a brain
The game of tic-tac-toe is a game of predictability. The moves that are believed to be important are highly predictable. This also makes it a game of opposites in a way, because this goes against the definition of an “important move”. But this predictability is what helps foster strategic thinking in children. They can learn through observation what their opponents’ next move is and think ways on how to block them, a simple but effective version of chess. In order to figure out what else they can do in the game to win, the children are encouraged to think more logically. They, therefore, naturally develop their logico-mathematical thinking, which can help them in subjects such as math and engineering in the future.

Another good intellectual quality of tic-tac-toe is that it’s a game with rules. According to Fromberg & Bergen in their book “Play from Birth to Twelve” (2012), children playing games with rules can help in their intellectual, sociomoral, and personality development. This helps develop an advanced interpersonal understanding which result to better negotiation of conflicts with other children. They recommend that these educational games with rules be a vital part of children’s early education. But of course, the educational value of games such as tic-tac-toe become efficient depending on what you, the adult, will do. To help them develop their skills, you shouldn’t be giving them the answers outright. Let them figure it out and aid them by asking questions that can help direct them to the answer. Also, activities such as these develop the bond between you and your children.

Educational Games and Their Effect on Spatial Ability
By encouraging logical thinking, tic-tac-toe helps children develop their spatial skills. This skill is important for their problem solving abilities—from everyday simple chores to complex mathematical equations
"

In closing this week, I leave you with this...

Picture

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

2 Comments

Week Three With The Dinosaurs: Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes! (and maybe a claw or two!)

1/23/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
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!  

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!!

Picture
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!

Picture
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."  
Picture
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:
  • 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"
This simple game of Dinosaur War requires our students to recognize the number of dinosaurs on each card and then to compare their numerical value.  Games that teach are one of my very favorite methods for helping my little learners naturally increase their math skills through the power of play.

Dinosaur Skeletons and Oodles of Noodles!

Picture
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!

Picture
“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.  
Picture
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
1 Comment

Week Two: Dinosaur Stomp!

1/16/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
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?

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!

Picture
Like building with dinosaur bones to make a T-rex or Pterodactyl!
Picture
Picture

We painted with friends as we counted 17 bony plates on the Stegasaurus.

Picture

We built geometric awareness as we used shapes as materials to construct a dinosaur!

Picture
Picture
Picture

We practiced rhythm and patterns with out newest book (and a whole lot of instruments), "Jurassic Jam!"

Picture
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!  

Picture

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!

Picture
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
0 Comments

Our Month Long Dinosaur Study: Week 1, "The Dig!"

1/14/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
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.
 

Language and Literacy

Picture
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!
Picture
Picture
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.
Picture
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!)

Units of Measure

Picture

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).

​
Picture
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

Picture
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.
Picture
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
0 Comments

Math Magic

1/9/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
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
0 Comments

The Easy Breezy Way To Teach Math In Preschool

12/21/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
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.

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.
Picture
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!
Picture
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........
-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?!?!

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
Picture

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

0 Comments
<<Previous
    View my profile on LinkedIn

    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]

    Categories

    All
    A Little Bit Of This And That!
    A View You Can Use!
    A-Z Alphabet Theme
    C Is For Cookie!
    Continents And Countries
    Curiosity
    Curriculum
    Dandelions And Darlings...
    Happy Halloween!
    Help For Tired Mommas...
    Holidays
    Letter M Monkey
    Letter N Newts
    Letter O Olympics
    Letter P Is For People
    Letter Q Is For Queen
    Letter S
    Letters Learning
    Letter T
    Letter U
    Letter W
    Letter X
    Play Based Learning
    Preschool
    R Is For Rainbow
    Sensory Play
    Teaching And Learning
    Turtles And Trains

    Archives

    January 2025
    September 2024
    November 2019
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    A Little Bit Of This And That!
    A View You Can Use!
    A-Z Alphabet Theme
    C Is For Cookie!
    Continents And Countries
    Curiosity
    Curriculum
    Dandelions And Darlings...
    Happy Halloween!
    Help For Tired Mommas...
    Holidays
    Letter M Monkey
    Letter N Newts
    Letter O Olympics
    Letter P Is For People
    Letter Q Is For Queen
    Letter S
    Letters Learning
    Letter T
    Letter U
    Letter W
    Letter X
    Play Based Learning
    Preschool
    R Is For Rainbow
    Sensory Play
    Teaching And Learning
    Turtles And Trains

    Follow Me on Pinterest

    RSS Feed

    Follow Me on Pinterest

Location

What Our Clients Are Saying

My husband and I both work full time and during the year 2011 we needed a child care provider for our five year old daughter and our 20 month old son. I am a Special Education Teacher for the Willard RII district in Missouri. I found LaDonna Woolsey on the internet while searching for a child care provider.  I had called numerous places and never felt comfortable with any of them to even make an appointment to meet them in person. I called LaDonna, and almost immediately after the conversation started, I felt a sense of relief and made an appointment to check out her daycare in person, the following day.  When I saw her facility I was absolutely amazed. LaDonna answered all of my nervous mom questions and watching her interact with the children made me realize I had found the perfect person to watch my children during the day. She started providing Child Care services for my children immediately... - Lisa Lassley - Special Education Teacher for the Willard RII 

Contact Us

Subscribe

Join our mailing list today!
Join Now
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About us
    • A Day In The Life
    • Contact Us
    • What Parents Just Like You Think
    • Enrollment Forms
  • Pre k With Me!