Utopia Preschool

Scientific Inquiry Observation: 1. The green egg is empty. 2. The purple egg has marbles. 3. The green egg is lighter than the purple egg. Making a Hypothesis: What do you think will happen if we rolled an empty plastic egg and a plastic egg filled with marbles down the ramp? 1. The green one will reach the bottom faster. 2. The purple one will get there faster. 3. The empty egg will be fast because it is light and empty. 4. The egg with marbles will roll faster because marbles roll. Results of the Experiment: 1. The purple egg with the marbles got down the ramp faster than the green egg. 2. The purple egg stayed on the ramp until it rolled away at the bottom. The empty green egg sometimes rolled off the ramp. 3. The color of the egg doesn't make it roll faster or slower. 4. The heavier egg gets down the ramp faster than the lighter egg. Despite the short week, Utopians had their fill of dance instructors. We have a performing arts dance teacher who comes every Mond...

We had a very unconventional way of learning about mathematical concepts. We learned about graphing, sorting, comparing, finding the sum and difference of numbers, all with the use of shoes! First, we sorted the shoes according to the way they fasten to the foot. We had several categories: zipper, toggle, elastic strap, velcro, buckle, and shoe laces. Then, we counted how many pairs are in each category. From there, we compared the difference between velcro shoes to non-velcro shoes; laced shoes to zipper shoes; elastic straps to toggle. We also computed for the sum of shoes with buckles and shoes with no straps. If I have to say so myself, it was an ingenious way to teach and learn math! Visiting Shoe Designer: Kari Utopians were treated to a presentation from a real shoe designer. We learned that the mold to form a shoe is called a last. The children got to see up close a firefighter's steel-toed boots. There is steel in the toebox! Some also got to try the last with the fa...

The week started with the children helping each other trace their feet on a piece of cardboard. Last week, they designed their shoe on paper and this week they started making the sole for the shoe. Hopefully, we'll have the completed shoe on display by next week. Utopia was treated today by the visit of Gabriella's dad. He came as a visiting expert on cycling shoes. He came with two bikes, 2 sets of cycling shoes including cage pedals, and a wealth of knowledge regarding biking as a sport. Here is a Utopia student making an observational drawing of the cage pedal. Students also tried walking around wearing the cage pedals. According to our shoe expert, the cage pedals evolved to what is now known as cycling shoe cleats. Charlie had extra cleats (not attached to a shoe yet) for the children to make observational drawings of. After the visit, the children concluded that Charlie's cycling shoes are like their regular shoes because his cycling shoes also have three straps....

Welcome to the Utopia shoe month. We had tons of fun activities for the kids this week. First off, we arranged our slippers into two categories: soft slippers and rubber slippers. After arranging them, we compared the number of slippers. We used simple graph using post-it notes. We also surveyed different shoe types - those with and without laces. We used the process of writing tally marks to get the correct total number. For this activity, the objective was to practice using the tally mark to represent an item. There were no two surveys that were the same, but we were focusing more on the process rather than the actual number of shoes. Paint! We love colors in our footwear! We also did fun art/design projects for the shoes. Here is a copy of a tag that a child found still attached to a shoe. From this, the class learned about bar codes, sizes, and prices. And we even put sticker prices on the shoes. Notice the dollar sign. This was something that was new to some children. As...

Our exciting shoe project will start on Monday , 3/28 . For our first class, please have your kids wear any footwear that they normally wear at home - slippers, slipper socks, flip flops, etc. Please do not buy anything new for this day. Don't forget to also bring regular shoes that can be worn for outside play. On Wednesday 3/30, please have your children wear their favorite footwear - boots, ballet shoes, sandals, etc. Bring regular shoes for outside play if their shoes are not appropriate for the outdoors. Please volunteer to be our visiting expert on shoes. Your kids will love to hear you speak to the class. The sign up sheet has already been posted. If you are wondering what these pictures represent, look closely again. Our students traced their feet on the concrete with chalk. Some even wrote their names and shoe sizes. Can you spot the size 10? Some kids also made face portraits using objects from nature. How creative! Other reminders: Our student-made Utopia di...

The highlight this week was certainly our trip to the San Francisco Symphony. The kids and parents loved hearing live orchestral music on such a grand acoustic stage. The theme of the musical experience is "telling stories through music." Image is from http://www.sfsymphony.org . Of course, everyone was thrilled to hear the grand finale - the music from John Williams' Star Wars soundtrack. Nostalgic parents and action-loving kids couldn't help but hum the familiar tune along with the Symphony. Image is from www.amazon.com . Upon returning to the classroom, we asked the kids to draw their favorite part of the field trip. Most of them chose the extremely adventurous (and safe) school bus ride. We are in the process of making a "Class Book," a small directory for this year's class. Each student will create his or her own page and add in some pieces of information. Stay dry! Spring is just around the corner.

Our Utopia gallery is now up on display. Though a number of students are still adding finishing touches, most of our kids are now published artists! The experience of creating one's self portrait was meant to teach the kids to follow a structured process. We all enjoyed brainstorming, planning, producing, and publishing our work. The students also had fun adding different colors and textured items to make their unique pictures come alive. The children used various materials in their portraits. This includes objects from nature such as acorn caps, pistachio shells, flower petals, and small leaves. We also utilized store bought materials such as yarn, beads, gems, and pipe cleaners. Our field trip to the San Francisco Symphony is this Monday, 3/14. Remember that this Friday, 3/18 is a school holiday. Enjoy the long weekend!

This week, our young Utopians focused entirely on themselves. Not in a selfish manner but for a creative art project. Our students made their very own self portraits. The kids drew the different parts of their faces which we put together at the end of the week. The nose was the last part of the face that was drawn. Our students learned to identify the parts of the nose - the bridge and the nostrils. Watch out for our new and improved gallery next week. We will decorate our space with our embellished portraits, which we will be the focus of next week's brainstorming sessions. The children also assembled intricate ramps. They tried rolling marbles, magnet balls, cars, unifix cubes, and practically anything they can think of. The different ramp models that they have come up with made the balls roll down, go up, turn left, turn right, and even jump. Without them knowing, they were learning about physics! Reminder: our field trip to the San Francisco Symphony will be Monday, Mar...

We hope that all of you are keeping warm during these last few nippy days. The teachers and students of Utopia are certainly feeling snug because our days are just packed! We have spent a lot of time at the gym this week. To get us warmed up, we exercised by sitting on rollers and bouncing on exercise balls. We also played the all-to--familiar games of duck-duck-goose and freeze dance. It is great that our school has such a nice facility for physical interaction. Our science focus this week dealt with the parts of the face. We got the children to notice the mouth and expressions of anger, happiness, and sadness. So the next time your kids are observing your lips, tongue, and teeth, it's because our curious little Utopians have been taking our classroom exercises back home. For Art, we used medicine droppers and paint to create colorful projects. The children practiced their fine motor skills by squeezing and releasing the doppers and medicine droppers. Visit our classroom t...

The days leading to Valentine week was filled with excitement. Parents, teachers and children were focused on getting the valentine treats (all 36!) sorted, taped, glued, and distributed. Aside from sharing sweet treats, the primary objective of the activity was to help the children practice writing their names multiple times. Thank you to Kari G, Charlie, Maria, Julia for celebrating the valentine week engaging the students with different activities. If you have not signed up to be our featured reader or Chef of the Week, please consider volunteering. It makes a lasting impression on your child when you come in and be the "teacher". This week the Utopians learned the process behind creating a piece of art. The objective was for the children to notice the eye and its different parts. Most of the time, we see dots or circles as eyes in children's art. We hope to move past that and make them come up with a realistic representation. The fist step was a brainstormin...