Utopia Preschool

We were so happy to welcome Felise, who graciously joined us for our morning group time to read "How to Be a Lion" by Ed Vere. This story is about a thoughtful lion named Leonard who doesn not want to be fierce or scary like other lions. Instead Leonard chooses kindness, friendship, and being true to himself when he forms an unexpected friendship with a duck named Marianne. The children enjoyed listening to the story and sharing in thoughtful conversation together. Felise has kindly visited our classroom multiple times, not only to read with the children but also to lead a wonderful painting activity that encouraged creativity and self-expression. We are so grateful for her time, care, and continued support in making learning meaningfull and special for our class. Thank you Felise, for being such a valued part of our classroom community!

This week, our classroom was filled with fun, creativity, and togetherness as we celebrated Spirit Week! The children enjoyed showing their school spirit during Pajama and Favorite Character Day, Aloha Day, Hat Day and wearing pink or red in celebration of Valentine's Day. Alongside the fun themes, the children participated in meaningful activities such as creating Valentine bags and writing Valentine messages for teachers, friends, and family. These moments encouraged kindness, thoughtfulness, and connection as the children shared messages of care with special people in their lives. We also took time to remind the children of an important message about our skin, our shades and how we are one. Through conversations and a story called "Shades of People" by Shelley Rotner, we talked about celebrating differences, spreading love and showing acceptance and kindness to everyone. Our hands tell a story of kindness, uniqueness, and belonging. Different shad...

As part of our Letter of the Week, M is for Monster and the children were invited to draw their own unique monster. They were also asked to choose a word to describe its emotion or feeling. Each monster's expresssion matched the feeling the child wanted to show-Happy, Silly, Mad, Nervous, etc.. This activity helps children begin to recognize, name and understand emotions they experience throughout their day. By connecting feelings to their drawings, the children practice expressing themselves, building emotional awareness, and learning that all feelings are important and okay to share. Please stop by the hallway board to take a look at the children's monster drawings.