Utopia Preschool

January has certainly been an eventful month for the students of Utopia. We ushered in the end of the month with a sweet surprise - making our very own sugar crystals! The procedure was simple. First, in a glass jar, we dissolved some white sugar into hot water. Then, we dipped a paperclip on a string into the sugary mixture. We tied the other end of the string to a pencil, which rested on top of the mouth of the jar. Though the kids were ultra curious, we had to leave the experiment undisturbed for a few minutes. As you can see, some groups even decided to color their sweet solutions. Some kids were able to see the colored sugar re-crystallizing on the paperclip. What an thrill! We plan to repeat the experiment next week. In the meantime, if you and your kids would like to do this at home, please don't hesitate to ask us for details. For Language Arts, we began identifying some common food and random items that begin with the letter "C". You can certainly try it...

Welcome 2011! As we start the New Year, we also welcome three new friends: Alessandro, Maia, and Santino to Utopia. If you see them or their parents at drop off or pick up, please introduce yourself. Crystals We came back from the break well rested and very interested to learn about crystals. We’ve done several experiments including growing crystals from a kit. The outcome wasn’t what we expected, but we’ll try again. Hopefully, we figured out where went wrong, and the next time will be a success. We were very fascinated with the effect of the ice cream salt rocks when placed on top of a huge block of ice. For a more dramatic effect, we added food color. We saw how the salt made the smooth surface of ice become rough really fast. We observed too that if we didn’t remove the salt, it made the spot where it laid melt faster. It was interesting to see how the salt “bore” holes into the ice. Crystals don’t only grow from store-bought kits. Nex...

What a great way to end the week—we were up to our neck this morning with assorted candies, marshmallows, pretzels and royal icing decorating our gingerbread houses. It was really interesting to see the children create the roof, windows, and even the landscape of their edible homes. Come visit our classroom to see the colorful gingerbread houses. Thanks, Denise for supplying all the materials! We have a week to go and we are off for the next two weeks for the Christmas holiday. But before then, here are some important dates and events to remember: Dec 15 th , Wednesday at 7pm—Christmas program at the gym Dec 16 th , Thursday—Utopia closes at 5pm Dec 17 th , Friday—Christmas potluck, everyone is invited (even those who don’t come on Fridays!) School closes at 12:15. There have been several students who have been out sick. Let’s spread love and not germs; so don’t forget to always wash hands. Stay healthy!

It’s beginning to look and smell a lot like Christmas in Utopia. Cinnamon is in the air and sparkles and glitters are everywhere. We have been working like little elves doing holiday decorations decking the tree in and out of the classroom. The bulletin board is filled with eye-popping trees all hand-made by the children. We are truly grateful for the parent participation. Thank you to everyone who signed up to make crafts. On Dec 15th at 7pm, our very own Utopia children will be with the rest of the STM students singing Christmas carols in the gym. Hopefully, this website will help your children learn the song faster and sing with more gusto! http://www.links2love.com/christmas-songs-chipmunk-song.htm See you all on Sunday for the STM Winter Faire. Skip breakfast at home and fill-up with free pancakes before or after the 10AM Family Mass. Join us for this special STM Christmas tradition.

The Thanksgiving preparation in Utopia is in full swing. The crockpots are waiting and the children are excited. We have most of the ingredients we need for our stone soup. Thank you to everyone who brought them in. We are planning to make three different kinds of soup—chicken, tomato, and butternut squash. Please plan to come on Wednesday at 10:30. Remember Utopia closes at 12:15 that day. Last weekend, the teachers attended a conference that focused, among other things, on the advantages of Self Talk. This strategy is found to be effective for children who need help developing expressive language. Self-Talk is when the adult describes what he or she is doing without expecting the child to answer. This is especially helpful in building vocabulary. For example: Let’s make hot chocolate for breakfast. I am getting milk from the fridge. I am pouring it in your favorite cup. Here is our powdered cocoa from the pantry. I’ll get 2 scoops of powdered coc...

Do you want to know what your children are thankful for? Check the Utopia bulletin board to the left of our classroom door in the first floor hallway. Our students jotted down the specific things that they are thankful for. Their written thoughts will be very timely for our long-awaited family get-togethers during Thanksgiving week. Earlier in the week, our young marine biologists played with crab and mussel shells along with fresh seaweed in our water table. They also explored miniature sea anemone and hermit crab toys with their curious little fingers. This is to prepare them for next week’s activity of constructing our very own tide pools. For Language Arts, we have already begun activities that deal with phonemic awareness, which is “the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds (or phonemes) in spoken words.” For example, the kids have to identify the beginning sound of the words “chair” (ch) and “table” (t). The emphasis is on the...

Our young Utopians remain fascinated by our lessons on tide pools. Our ongoing discussion this week focused on using different senses to identify different types of water. We separated one gallon of ocean water from another gallon of tap water and asked the kids to perform a simple experiment. They looked, smelled, and tasted both types of water and identified each of their sensory characteristics. We certainly had fun taking that mini plunge with them in the classroom. Another highlight this week was the dental screening. A dental hygienist / nurse visited our classroom and talked to the children about the proper way to brush their teeth, emphasizing brushing frequency (3 times a day), toothbrush texture (soft bristles), and brush size (children’s size). The representative also discussed the importance of eating healthy and exercising frequently. At the end of the day, our kids had a healthy goodie bag that they took home – complete with a kids’ toothbrush and a...

Because of the excellent turnout and cooperative weather, this year’s Halloween parade was a huge success. There were so many superstars that graced the Utopia contingent – Princess Tiana, Iron Man, Bumblebee, Yoshi, Snow White, Spider-man, Thomas the Train, Jango Fett, Batgirl, Daphne, and so many more! We had fun walking around the playground, out to the sidewalk, and into Alma Via, where we visited our dear friends. Thanks to all the residents for filling our homemade goodie bags. The parade ended with thirty happy Utopians returning to the playground and back into the classroom. Piggybacking on last week’s science lessons, we continued our exploration of tide pools. Our scientific inquiry focused on the students’ ability to notice details and wonder about future outcomes. Once again, if you happen to visit any Bay Area beaches (although this might be tricky due to the unpredictable weather), please take home any shells and bring them to school. Also, if you have any books th...

Come one, come all. Everyone is invited, in costume or not (preferably in), to join the school wide Halloween parade on Friday, Oct. 29. All Broncos, from Pre-K to 8 th grade, will be garbed in spooky and funny outfits, and our parade should be a hilarious spookfest! Remember, this will be a regular school day for Utopia. The parade will begin at 1:05. Last week’s lessons on birds have provided us with memorable teachable moments. We have now left the skies and turned out attention to the seas. Our focus this coming week will be on tide pools and the creatures that inhabit them. The children will learn about these bodies of water that are quite common in the numerous beaches of the Bay Area. If you have the opportunity, please visit our beautiful beaches and observe the tide pools with your children. Collect seashells and seaweeds, and have your kids bring them to class. The trip to the pumpkin patch was a success. We went on a hayride and took the...

We began the week by learning a new skill – syllable counting. The students had fun clapping and chanting the syllables of their respective names: “Ti – mo – thy” “Scar –lett” “Ni – cho – las” By playing this syllable counting game with them, the children recognized that a word is composed of different sounds that are put together. These sounds are called phonemes. You can certainly play the same game with your kids at home. Just chant and clap to the different syllables of your favorite words. As an art project, we asked each children to decorate the first letter of their names. Taking it a step further, we asked them to think of other words that began with the same letter. Though we talked about these related words, we focused on the sound each letter makes. Expect cute little works of Ms or Ys in your child’s compilation of work. What would our week be like without food? This Friday morning, Charlie Maranon, Gabriella’s dad, graciously sha...