Utopia Preschool

Our guppy fish “Ariel Star” sadly passed away yesterday. We were all very excited to see some fish babies in the future, but Ariel didn’t make it. The children honored her memory by drawing some pictures of her. She loved eating, swimming, and hiding in the fish tank plants.

Today, the children helped create an obstacle course for bubbles. The children then had to blow bubbles with the colored bubble solution. They tried to get their bubble all the way through without popping. We also compared the size of our bubbles.

 At lunch, a few of our friends worked together & came up with a solution to sit next to each other.  By moving the chairs and seating arrangement, they ate their lunch, laughed and enjoyed each others company.

After our walking field trips to the Alma Via parking garage, the Brotherhood Way Tunnel, and the red footbridge, we started working on a map of all the places we’ve visited around our school! The children drew pictures of themselves on the map, as well as created landmarks out of magnatiles and blocks to represent buildings. We also talked about all the different cities that we live in, San Francisco, Daly City and Alameda!

Snack time is always a great time for the children to socialize with one another. Today, Teacher Rachelle was asking the children about how they feel when they are grumpy. They talked about what makes them feel grumpy and how they express that feeling. The children also talked about the different languages they speak and many friends were fascinated by this!

The children have transformed the House Area into a clothing store! The Elephant group took a vote and decided to call the store, “Haunted House Shop!” To further expand on this new name, they have been using the Writing area to create different signs and spooky drawings for the shop! Below you will see some creations:  “a vampire” “a home for mummies” “spider” “bats” “spooky book” come visit our Haunted House Shop...IF YOU DARE!! 

This week we have been playing Scooter Race! The children drew lines on the ground for lanes and took turns racing and cheering. To practice good sportsmanship, the children who finished first cheered on the racers who weren’t done yet! After they were all done, each racer gave each other a high five.

This afternonn was full of fun actvities! Some children were busy making designs and patterns with the perler beads, while others were working vigorously in the sandbox to create a volcano and discussing volcanic eruptions and dinosaurs! Another group of children were in the house area cooking and putting the “babies” to bed. And lastly, we had a scooter race with the fans cheering on the racers!

Today, Rocco’s mom Eva, read a book to the children about how wearing casts help our broken bones heal. The children enjoyed learning about how to be careful with our friends when they are wearing a cast. Thank you Reyes family for sharing your book!

This morning was full of slimy and oozing GAK experiments! The children had so much fun today at the sensory tub as they squeezed gak or patiently watched it fall through the raks and holes in containers.... it was definitely a STICKY situation! 

This Tuesday, a small group of us went on a walking field trip to the Alma Via Parking Garage across the street! The children made predictions of what we might find like cars, bugs, plants, and toys, just to name a few. When we arrived, we got to press a special button to open the gate, and even saw Teacher Stephanie’s spot! After we returned to school, the children created their own garages in the block area. Their creations were more exciting with moving walls, traps, lava, and of course, places to leave their flying cars :)

The children have been using white crayons to write and draw secret messages. Using water color, they paint over their paper to reveal the secret message!

     Teacher Sharon has not only been helping the children stay active, she has incorporated letter recognition and literacy too! She asked the children to find the first letter of their name on a spot and bean bag. They then practiced throwing the bean bags through a hoop. Teacher Sharon taught the children about opposition; by stepping out with the foot opposite of your throwing hand, you can master a better aim and throw! They also sang their ABCs and were given a visual of capital and lowercase letters!