Utopia Preschool

Today, the children spent some time observing the plants and flowers available in our outside play area. Calleen and Kingston noted the variety of colors of some of the flowers. While exploring a different plant, Kingston spotted a flower bud. Calleen explained that the bud would 'poof'. Later, a group of friends referenced a book about plants and flowers as they spotted new plants.

This afternoon the children woke up from nap with helpful attitudes! When Kingston was feeling a little sleepy and wasn't ready to put his shoes on, Thomas quickly offered to help! Then a few minutes later when the children were outside, they noticed the art area was a little messy. Isabella, Calleen, and Mairead jumped right in and helped put things away, even though they weren't using the materials!

Regan's Dad shared one of her favorite books with our class today "Little Red Gliding Hood"! Everyone loved the story and were very engaged as he read each page. Having a special visitor read us a story is such a treat and always makes group time extra special! Regan was so excited to have her Dad be our visitor! When parents volunteer they get to be a part of these important learning moments in the classroom!  We love having parents in our classroom to be part of our learning and fun!

After all the rain we've been having, our rules for the bike area were washed away! Teacher Nicole had a great idea to use colored permanent markers to draw the pictures for each rule. The children were all so careful to not get any of the Sharpie on their clothes or the table, and they drew some detailed and thoughtful puctures describing each rule. We are so excited for our rules to be back up on the fence because they remind us to be safe.

Clean up time isn't the most fun part of the day, but today the children were so helpful with one another when it came time to clean up outside. A lot of children worked together to carry toys back to the shed. Some children helped friends clean up in areas, even if they didnt play with those toys or in that area. It was a group effort!

This afternoon, the children poured, stirred and scooped up colored water. They used different sized measuring cups and spoons to fill up a variety of containers. Sean Matthew predicted he could fill up his container with 100 tablespoons of water. Together we found out it took 11 tablespoons!

On two occasions today, Amir needed some help! Two of our friends, Perry and Mathias, went above and beyond to help him out, without a teacher! Amir was working on adding large, jeweled beads to some string, but the beads accidentally slipped off and all rolled all over the floor! Right away, Perry came over to help Amir pick up the beads. He even gave him some tips on how to keep them on! "I'm showing him how to slide it and hold it!" - Perry  Later on, Amir needed help putting on his jacket but Teacher Andrea's hands were full! She asked if any of the children could help Amir out. Mathias quickly responded, "I can do it!" He was so patient as he helped Amir put on the sleeves and zipped up the zipper! Amir was very thankful to both friends!

We made some bubbles while outside today! The children practiced sharing the bubble wands and waiting for their turn. Gia blew a bubble and asked, "What shape is that?" Gianna said, "It's a circle." The children were careful to pop bubbles safely and not bump into each other. They also discussed the best way to blow the biggest bubble and cheered each other on when it was their turn to try!

Today Perry and Cayden enjoyed their outside time together as they "read" the Eye Spy book! Cayden held the book and named different objects as Perry found the hidden objects on the pages! Both children were developing their literacy and social skills through the oldie-but-goodie Eye Spy game!

We received a new soccer goal today from Amir's family and the children were so excited to start using it! They took turns as goalie and had to figure out a system where each person could have a turn kicking the ball. Gia drew a line for everyone to stand behind as they kicked as well as squares to stand on while they waited! This was great practice in turn taking as well as learning how to be safe while having fun!

Today we celebrated an early Valentine's Day with our friends across the street: the Seniors at Alma Via! The children had been working hard on making Valentine Cards and decorations for them this whole week, and we were so excited to finally visit them today! We sang them three songs: Skidamarink, I Love The Mountains, and L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole. The grandmas and grandpas were so happy to hear us perform that they even sang along with us! After the songs, each child gave one of the seniors a hand made card. It brings us a lot of joy to see the children interact with members of our community.

The children used the green silly putty while in Carroll Hall. it was the perfect rainy day activity. They stretched it, pulled it, cut it and flattened it. Teacher Cassie asked, "Why are there blocks on the table?" Ellie said, "So it doesn't fall off the table." Then Teacher Cassie asked, "I wonder what will happen if we roll it into a ball?" Lena rolled her putty and then bounced it across the table. Lena said, "Look! It bounce everywhere!" The children had a lot of fun using their fingers to manipulate the silly putty. 

Today the children had a lot of fun in Carroll Hall jumping over jump rope "snakes"! Many children took turns being the snake, whereas others were the jumpers. During the conflicts, teachers encouraged the children to independently resolve conflicts by sharing their ideas and listening to others. This activity was also a fun way to strengthened gross motor skills!