Happy Friday once again, Families!

This week was all about our noses. Learning about noses is very fun because it allowed us to practice a variety of sensory activities.

On Monday we brought out the singing bowl which is always a hit. We practiced taking deep breaths and concentrating after the bowl was rang. Each friends got to take a turn during circle time. In the afternoon we took out sensory bottles that have essential oils on cotton balls and each friend got to use their noses to smell them. Their reactions to some of them were pretty comical. Also, in the morning there was a little surprise! Nina brought a frog from her garden at home to share with her friends at school. Everyone was very intrigued, especially Rye. We eventually said, "bye bye froggy" and released him into the garden here at Green Sprout. 

On Tuesday we had a lesson on noses by Dom Dom and we read "The Nose Book" (book of the week) during circle time. We talked all about what our noses do and what would happen if we had no nose. 

On Wednesday we had another sensory activity by smelling, touching, tasting the green/yellow squash from Johnson's Backyard Garden. We also got to eat it during snack! It was so delicious. Some were open minded in tasting it while others were a bit hesitant. 

On Thursday we made scented playdoh during our morning outside time. It was a complete hit. Mr. Hank absolutely loved it and much to our surprise no one tried to taste it! We did put some mint extract in there which made it smell similar to Listerine so that may have turned them off from eating it :) Each friend took a turn either mixing the ingredients or helping me pour them in. We made the playdoh orange and we put green glitter in there as well. My favorite part of the day was hands down our Chinese class. All of our friends focused their complete attention on the instructor while we learned numbers (1 through 5), read a story, and she told the story of the Five Little Monkeys on a felt board. I am so excited for what is to come in our Chinese class. 

Today has been great thus far. We had our usual dance party and then Ms. Toni gave us a lesson. We all sat around the Peace Table while she explained the activity of the day which happened to be painting our new labyrinth which is outside of the backyard by the compost. Four to five children went at a time to paint the stones that made the labyrinth. The kiddos really enjoyed it. 

We also have been putting new plants in our garden this week! Every morning your children have been helping me water our garden while I tell them how they're helping nurture the garden and grow. I absolutely love having a backyard garden that the kids can help with and see the plants grow. Thank you all for your donations! 

Next week we will be focusing on our mouths. So if you have a book or any item that you would like to share, feel free to bring it in! We always appreciate it. 

Have an excellent weekend.

Best,

Jackie 

Happy Friday, Families!


On Monday we created a sensory bottle. We used a large recycled plastic bottle and each child got to insert a different item into the bottle. Items such as dice, felt circles, beads, marbles and some fuzz balls. 

On Tuesday we went around our classroom and playground and explored different objects that we could see our reflection in. The most exciting one, in my opinion, were the large gold balls (similar to a giant Christmas ornament) that are hanging in the tree above the sandbox.  We also had our Parent/Teacher Chat Night which was a complete success! It was so lovely to have the opportunity to sit and chat with each other and talk about the classroom/kiddos.


On Wednesday we had a treasure hunt of sorts in the sand box. We asked the tots to go on a hunt for some special treasure that we hid. We also had Spanish as usual and continued our lesson on Insects. 


Thursday was a rainy inside day. We had a morning of fun art activities and Playdoh, and then for friends went to play on the deck until they joined the rest of the class on the playground. Int the morning we focused on our lesson of eyes during Circle Time and read our book of the week/month (thank you, Juliette!) which is "The Eye Book" and also "Baby Bear Baby Bear" (thank you, Rye!). Rye also brought in a fun set of googly eyes that we passed around. He did an excellent job of sharing. 


Our Friday has been great thus far! We spent the morning inside until after snack and then had fun getting muddy! We got to dig in the garden and found some worms that we put in the compost. 


Next week is all about Noses. We have a lot of awesome activities planned including making homemade potpourri :)


Enjoy your weekend! 


Best,


Jackie  

Happy Friday Families!


What an excellent week we've had with the kiddos. This week we explored our ears! We learned all about hearing, listening and different kinds of sounds.

On Monday we had a mini jam session with all the Tulips. We used bongos, a xylophone and the beloved Green Sprout rain stick. We also welcomed a new yoga teacher, Ms. Heather. She brought special meditation stars that we held out in our hand and practiced patience. The special stars were only for our hands, not our mouths, so this helped them concentrate. 

On Tuesday we did step one of our shaker activity and colored toilet paper rolls with markers utilizing those fine motor skills. We enjoyed our yoga with Ms. Vanessa and practiced our pose of the week which was baby pose. 

On Wednesday we did step two of our shaker activity and put rice in our shakers. A lot of the kiddos went to town and loved it! This week in Spanish we have been learning about insects. The kids have really loved all the activities that Ms. Daphne has planned. 

On Thursday we celebrated our friend Juliette's second birthday! We created a card for her using hand prints with paint. Juliette brought in a delicious snack of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries! We had a lot of red mouths running around that morning :) They absolutely loved it. Juliette also brought in a perfect book for our Ear theme. It was the Dr. Seuss book, "The Ear Book". We also listened to various kinds of ethnic music and had a mini Pre-Tot dance party in the afternoon.

Today has been a blast! We all love community time for our Dance Party Fridays.  It's also Colette's second birthday! She brought in a very special treat. We ate carrot whole wheat muffins. The kids devoured them! 

Next week we're focusing on the topic of Eyes. So if you have any books or items that will enhance our learning, please feel free to bring them in! Thank you families for all that you do, Charlie and I appreciate it! 

Best,

Jackie S. 

Greetings Families!


What an amazing first week we've had with our new Tulip bunch! This week has been all about an introduction to the Pre-Tot classroom. Starting with the basics of our daily routines and introducing the Montessori works to our friends. We focused on how we wash hands, prepare snack/lunch, how we get ready/wake up from nap, clean up after ourselves, and practiced forming lines. 

On Tuesday we had the pleasure of having Ms. Sandy and Ms. Toni in our classroom to introduce a few new routines and practices to our friends. We worked on Montessori puzzles (which we will be practicing daily), and then switched groups and went outside for our art activity (which will also be done daily).

On Wednesday we created Eric Carle inspired hungry caterpillars using our fingers and a stamp pad. They turned out super cute! We also had our usual Spanish with Ms. Daphne where we have been focusing on Farm Animals.

On Thursday we created art outside using sand. We had the kiddos squeeze glue as we guided their hands to write their names. They then got to collect some sand and sprinkle it on their paper and shake, shake, shake! They really had fun seeing the end result. 

Our dance party Friday has been a success thus far! We've been jamming out to a lot of Yo Gabba Gabba and they've been having a blast jumping all around. Picture day also went very smoothly and I can't wait to see all their cute, smiling faces. 

Next week we will be focusing on the topic of Ears. We have a lot of creative wiggle room with this topic so it should be a lot of fun! We will have a few books and songs to sing that are directly related to the topic. 

I hope you all have an excellent weekend! See you this afternoon.

Best,

Jackie S.