Silkworms, Scissors, and Numbers

Since finishing our letters of the week, we have been focusing on numbers more. One very popular number project has been making number books. What started as an impromptu project by one child spread to a project that just about every child wanted to complete.












The children really enjoyed gluing or taping different items on each page to represent numbers 1-10. They also wrote each number and made a cover for their book. Then they had a good time looking at each others' books, counting items and seeing all the different things you can use to count.

The children also used their scissor skills to cut numbers out of magazines and glue them on a paper to make a number collage.












This task proved tricky for some children as they had to distinguish numbers from letters on busy magazine pages, then use complex scissor skills to cut out sometimes very small numbers from the middle of the page. Some children enjoyed this challenge and worked diligently to find as many numbers as they could while others were content to only attempt to cut out very large numbers or the page numbers at the bottom of the page. It was interesting to see how each child problem solved to come up with their own unique collage.

Over the last few weeks we have also been caring for and watching silkworms grow. Just as it was with our painted lady butterflies, silkworms have a life cycle of egg, to caterpillar, to cocoon, to insect. It has been fun to see the children make connections from their previous experience and predict what will happen next. Unlike our painted lady caterpillars, these silkworms require us to provide fresh leaves everyday and to clean up after them!












The children have been great caregivers to the silkworms and, in return, the silkworms have provided great new ways to understand how animals grow and change.












Pretty soon our silkworms will be big enough to go through their metamorphosis and emerge as fluffy white moths.

Love and Good Things, Teacher Aimee, Teacher Rashida,
and Teacher Thaovy

Celebrating Mom and Fine Motor Skills

During the Mother's Day celebration week we celebrated our Moms and let them know how much we love and appreciate them! The children were finally able to show their mom all of the wonderful projects they have been working so hard on. It was beautiful to see the pride on the children's faces and the joy on the moms'!


















Thank you to all of the moms (dads and grandmas too) who were able to join us for coffee and treats in the mornings. It was nice to be able to sit and chat with each other while the children talked about school or played near by.


















It's small events like this that help to create a happy school community and foster a connection between home and school. Luckily we have two more opportunities to celebrate coming up, Father's Day and preschool graduation!












Along with focusing on numbers lately, the children have been choosing activities that require fine motor skills. Many of the projects that were made for the moms used a lot of fine motor skills, such as making tissue paper flowers.





Teacher Rashida put perfume on the flowers so P tested it out!





The children did a lot of writing and drawing on the Mother's Day banner.





Fine motor skills were on display in many other ways too, such as C helping out friends with shoelaces and buttons.








K using fine motor skills in building with dominoes...



J showing his understanding of patterns, symmetry, and shapes while using a great deal of fine motor skills too!







And here's an example of D, W, G and L working together to build a very intricate spaceship. They needed very steady hands and a lot of patience to complete this beautiful piece. Well done!












Thank you for taking time out of your busy mornings to spend some time with us in the classroom, and as always, thank you for sharing your children with us!

Love and good things, Teacher Aimee, Teacher Rashida,
and Teacher Thaovy

Mother's Day Preparation and Water Day Fun!

Now that Mother's Day has passed, it's safe to show a few pictures of the children working on their cards and projects without spoiling the surprise.




While working on these projects the children were able to use many different media and skills such as writing, scissors, drawing, stamping, painting, and tissue paper. The end projects really showcased the children's talents and were made with a lot of love for mom!












This was a multi-day project and it was exciting to see the children work so diligently to create something special for their mothers. It was also fun to watch the anticipation grow as the projects came together and it got closer to our Mother's Day Tea!








We hope you enjoyed their projects as much as they enjoyed making them!

We have continued to review and work on counting, number sense, and logic activities. Our friends O and G are showing their understanding of patterns below.








Also this week we did some fun, and a little messy, things outside. First we painted a big box brought in by a Teacher Karen. This box has since become a boat, garbage truck, house, and the most sought after hiding spot for "hide-n-go seek"!






Lastly, we had our first of what is sure to be many "water days." What started off as a gentle mist soon turned into children drenched from head to toe running around in pure glee!









All things must come to an end and soon it was time to sit in the sun and dry off.



We will have many more wet days so please apply waterproof sun block to your children before school everyday, and make sure they have plenty of extra clothes at school to change into.

Love and good things!
Teacher Aimee, Rashida, Thaovy