Utopia Preschool

Yesterday it was a talent show and today it was practicing dance moves. At first the children were a little hesitant to dance to the music, but eventually they were comfortable enough to show off their moves. Shirley and Ingrid were trying to create their own dance step to have everyone follow. Soon the children started requesting songs. Their new favorite song is “Baby Shark”  by PINKFONG. The kids know all the dance moves and stop what they are doing to join in. This encourages the children to work on their gross motor skills and to express themselves through movement.

Today, the children had a great time planning a talent show. Briana and Naomi where stage managers and ensured the performers were ready, hair and make up where available and instructed their crew on how to decorate the stage. There were lots of performers. Dylan danced to Bruno Mars, Eloisa performed a ballet piece, Kingston played the drums and sang. The show could not have happened without the backstage crew: Isabella and Walter were in charge of hair and make-up and Lena was set designer. The children did an amazing job working collaboratively to put on multiple performances.

This afternoon the children were eager to go on a bug hunt for the science area! They started their bug hunt by looking in places where they’ve found bugs before. They looked in the plants and under the planter boxes, but were not able to find any bugs. After an unsuccessful hunt, the children began hypothesizing where the bugs could be “maybe they’re scared” and “maybe they’re in the house”. Hopefully the children will find more bugs for the science area on their next bug hunt!

The children have been so excited to use the marble tracks at the manipulative table this week! They made curious observations as they played alongside each other and built their own creations: Lena: Oh! It's going to fall down. Is there a tiny piece I can add here to make it stronger? Hm.. here's one! It fits! Sean Matty: What happens when you add this part? Haha, the marble rolls onto the floor! You can do it three ways: here, here, and here. One of them is the wrong way. Try it! Colin: I did it! Oh, thats why. You have to connect it right here, see? Ready, watch! Benoit: Teacher, look. This part is blocked. How can I make the marble go down this way? Eloisa: I can show you how to do it. First you put a piece here, then you add this one here see. Then you roll it down! Ahh! It worked! Kennedy: I caught my marble before it rolled onto the floor. Okay lets see what this does. Wow, Ellie! The marble might fall on the floor that way. Try it like this...

Despite how cold it was outside, the children enjoyed the sun with friends. We had friends playing HOT lava,  riding bikes “100mph”, discovering how to make sidewalk chalk paint and building a wall with bricks.

The children have started painting some rocks, that will eventually be added to the block area as a building material. While they painted today, the children were discussing how to mix colors to make new colors. Amir said, “I made light blue.” Aria mixed a few different colors together and said, “Look! It’s gray!” We’ve been talking about creatibg new colors and making different designs on our rocks. Emery was busy painting a rock to be a human avocado! Cant wait to see the finished product!

Today we had 2 visitors come in the classroom and change our internet box. The children were quiet and curious as they watched the man remove screws and moved wires around. Some observed how tall the ladder was & shared whether or not they had one at home. Other children noticed the tools being used were the same ones in our classroom.

One of my favorite parts of day is lunch time because of the rich and silly conversations the children have with each other! They love to share stories, compare lunches, and laugh together! On this day, I heard some of the children telling knock knock jokes. I decided to write a few down to share on the blog. Naomi: Knock Knock. Who's there? Pony. Pony who? Pony Unicorn! Chloe L: Knock Knock. Who's there? A big eyeball. A big eyeball who? A big eyeball on your hair! Rocco: Knock Knock. Who's there? Paper tongue. Paper tongue who? A paper tongue on your face! Paige: Knock Knock! Who's there? A big banana. A big banana who? A big banana on your face! Fiona: Knock Knock! Who's there? Candy. Candy who? Candy Vanilla! Hearing their sense of humor develop as young children is both fascinating and hilarious :)

Today we celebrated Valentine’s Day! The children were so excited about handing out valentines and enjoying some sweet treats! Thank you to all the families for helping make this day fun!

This afternoon, the children gathered around to observe an earwig and an earthworm they had found. They were amazed at the earwigs ability to climb to the top of the container! They watched in anticipation as the earwig walked around the perimeter of the container without falling to the ground. Sean Mathew shared the earwig had walked around the perimeter three times! Benoit also pointed out that the earthworm was sticking to the wall of the container.

This morning the children were busy preparing for Valentine’s Day! Many of the students visited their friends in Kindergarten and had lots of fun decorating bags by adding stickers, gluing hearts, and drawing pictures. Only a few more days until we get to celebrate as a class!

This Thursday, a new person joined our Utopia Community! Ronnie will be helping us a few days a week in our classroom as he furthers in the field of Early Childhood Education. The children were so excited have another helper in the room. Feel free to welcome Ronnie by saying hello!

The children were building a tent in the house area using a flat sheet, tape, and chairs. Together they worked on how to keep the tent up without collapsing by stretching the sheet tight or letting the fabric hang loose. They had fun camping out in the woods, starting a fire and sleeping under their tent. "Be careful of coyotes!"

With Valentine’s Day next week, the children have been busy working on Valentine’s Day cards. They have been so excited about the new stickers and have been using them to decorate their cards. Some of the children have been practicing writing words such as “Happy Valentine’s Day”, “Love”, “Mom” and “Dad”.

Scooter’s, scooter’s, and scooter’s! Today the children had lots of fun scootin’ around the track during outisde time in the afternoon! Within just a few minutes of having them out, the children were busy moving around the track and showing off their new wheels!