Happy Holidays, All!

We had a very festive week in the pre-tot room! During circle time we read “The Night before Christmas” and “Hanukah Lights.” We also talked about Kwanzaa and the Solstice. We had an abundance of outside community time and we did many fun activities.

On Monday we glued pieces of tissue paper to construction paper to make colorful Kwanzaa “vests.” On Tuesday we had a long circle time where we discussed all the different holidays that fall during this season. On Wednesday we painted suns using corks which we dipped into red, yellow and orange paint.

We spent Thursday morning outside with the rest of the school, where we had a blast with fake snow. Each child received a balloon and a paintbrush, which they used to cover the balloon in glue. Then, we mixed up some fake snow in one of the sensory tubs and they got to sprinkle it over their balloons to make “snowballs.” This was probably the closest to snow that we will get in Texas this winter, and the children loved playing with it!

 As usual, we began our Friday with a dance party! Then, we brought out paper cutouts of ginger bread men which we decorated with stickers and dot markers. This activity tied in nicely with our afternoon cooking project during which we made ginger bread houses. Mr. Mike brought in graham crackers which he covered in cream cheese and the children decorated them with craisins and coconut flakes. Then, he showed the children how to construct houses out of them. As can be expected, our pre-tots were most interested in eating their creations, but they had a great time nonetheless!

It has been truly wonderful getting to know all of your children over the year! I have absolutely loved watching them grow and learn, and feel blessed to have had the opportunity to support their development. I am also very grateful for all the support and love we receive from you, their parents—you are what makes the Green Sprout community so special.

Have a wonderful break and a safe and happy holiday season! See you in the New Year!

Much love,

Magdalen

Good evening families!

We had a great week learning about friends! We learned the sign for friend, which is done by hooking your pointer fingers together so that one pointer is hooked over the other, and then hooking them together again so that the pointer from the other hand is on top. We also sang “Little white box, ” which goes: “If I had a little white box to put my Julia in, I’d take her  out and (make kissing noise three times) mwa, mwa, mwa, and share her with my friends.” And then we would go on to the next child. The kids love kissing their hands and it’s another fun way for them to learn their friend’s names.

We read “Nobunny’s Perfect,” which is a book about bunnies who sometimes have trouble remembering to share and be kind to their friends. It talks about sharing and saying please and thank you and being gentle with our friends. As you may have noticed, we have been having lots of playdates in our room as we get ready for transitions in the new school year. Colette, Rye, Hank, Matilda, Lila, and Juliette are some of the friends who will be joining us in the New Year.

On Monday we did a group painting project where we covered one of our tables in butcher paper and let the kids use crayons and paints to cover the paper as they liked. We worked on sharing space with our friends as we tried to fill up the whole paper with color!

On Tuesday we joined hands and played “Ring Around the Rosies.” Everyone did a great job working together as a group, and they had a blast doing it! On Wednesday we worked on a special, secret painting project using water colors.

On Thursday the children brought in special toys from home and we worked on sharing these with our friends. Although it was very difficult for some of the children to let go of what they brought, they did all let their friends take turns touching and looking at their toys.

On Friday we had our first cooking project with Mr. Mike. He read a story about Hanukah and, after examining a whole potato, the children helped mix up some latkes. And of course they enjoyed eating them too! The children have also really been enjoying their Spanish class. They have been hearing about different animals and learning the animal's names and sounds in Spanish!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! This is our last week before we break for the holidays and we will be focusing on culture. We would love to hear about your family’s holiday traditions!

<3 Magdalen

Hello Families!

We had a great week in the Tulip classroom! This week we talked about families. In circle time we sang "I love you, You love me..." and we learned the signs for "mama" and "daddy." To do these signs you spread out your fingers and tap your thumb on your chin for "mama" and on your forehead for "daddy." Ronav really caught on to these signs and he enjoyed showing us his skills. He has also been a great friend to his classmates--when one of them is sad he goes up to them and chats with them. 

Finn has been very interested in stacking blocks--he makes tall towers and laughs as he knocks them back down. Because we spent so much time inside this week, we have been singing all the songs we can think of over and over again. Malik enjoys singing along or just striking up a tune on his own. Avey had a blast this week playing the xylophone. He has also been giving out lots of hugs! 

In addition to dancing whenever he hears a song, Miles has been enthusiastic about helping us clean up after nap. He picks up many of his friend's napmats and throws them over the blue divider. Naomi has also been excited about helping clean up nap mats and she loves to laugh with her friend Finn. Livio has been talking up a storm. He will repeat almost anything that we say and he knows almost all of his friend's names. 

Julia enjoys having stories read to her. She often picks a book, sits down in one of our laps, and listens as we read to her. Luke always has a smile for his teachers and his friends. He loves playing peek-a-boo through the Plexiglas in the classroom divider! 

This week we also shared pictures of our families. The children loved looking at all the mommies and daddies--they even gave kisses to the pictures of their own and their friend's mommies and daddies!

We did a lot of activities this week. On Monday we made "family trees" using crumpled up tissue paper as leaves. The children said "pat pat pat" as they patted the tissue paper onto the glue we had put on the paper. On Tuesday we worked on our signs for "mama" and "daddy." On Wednesday we decided to rake up a pile of leaves and have some good, old-fashioned, autumn fun! The children had a blast   throwing the leaves in the air and watching them fall back to the ground. On Thursday we made stars of David by gluing together triangular pieces of paper. We then outlined the star with a line of glue and the children shook glitter onto it. On Friday we made elf hats using construction paper and cotton balls. Hopefully we can get some pictures of them in their hats next week :) We also made dreidels using  strawberries and pretzel sticks which stuck into the top of the strawberries. They made a fun and delicious snack.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Stay safe and warm!

<3 Magdalen