Chug Chug! Puff Puff! 🚂 Here Comes the Train!

The letter of the week is T and we are exploring Trains! The children have several opportunities to learn and work with trains all week. We started the week with a visit from Edith's family who read us a book about trains and brought a model train for the children to observe! The Dragonfly Group saw how the train moved fast and slow, forward and reverse. Edith's grandpa explained how different trains worked and showed us photos of all the model trains he has made! After, we practiced moving like a train together, and talked about the parts of a train like the engine, cars and caboose! 

At the Writing Table, the children drew and cut out train cars. We encouraged the children to write the word "Train" and draw details on their train, like animals, people, windows, and words! Practicing with scissors helps develop strong fine motor skills used to write. We also made a Lego Train at the Art Table and drew long lines using the train and markers. 

This focus on trains has spread to different parts of the classroom with children using our other materials like trains, including Magnetiles, Waffle Blocks, even paper and tape! It's been fun to see how the children are observing what they learn and trying it out in different ways. We concluded our week by having each child write the letter T on their work and on the board at Group Time. 

As always, we encourage you to notice the letter of the week at home, practice what it sounds like, writing it, and help your child recognize the letter in their environment (like on packages, mail, signs, restaurants, and in real life). Noticing letters/words in their everyday environment connects their learning from school to home.