Utopia Preschool

Thank you to Michael, Anna's dad, for building us our own sandbox! Michael was generous enough to build it, bring it to our yard, and fill it with sand for us. The children have truly enjoyed playing, building, and exploring in the sand. Also, thank you to all the parents who have donated new sand toys! A new addition to our Art Studio is a brand new light table! Many of the children have been able to go over to the art studio this week to explore this new table. In the pictures below I turned off the lights in the Art Studio and the children chose different materials to put on the light table. We have explained to the children that they have to be very careful with this table because it is fragile. Again, if you have not visited our Art Studio yet please feel free to ask a teacher to take you over! At the art table the children have been creating with clay! The children have been learning how to manipulate the clay over several weeks. They have been using different tools to create...

For the past two weeks the children have been working on water color paintings! Ivette (Andres' mom), while putting together our Move Night Cioppino basket, had the great idea of auctioning off the children's artwork at the Cioppino dinner. So we talked to the children about drawing and then painting something special which many people will see and be able to buy. So the children made their first one... Then the next day we revisited what they had made and then talked about what we could add or change. We did this over several days. Some children had 3,4, and even 5 drafts depending on how many days the child is at school a week. This activity gave a great opportunity for the children to revisit what they had created and then plan their next step. It was also interesting to listen to them give each other peer feedback. We would sit at at a table with 6-8 kids and talk about each child's painting, then the children would comment on what they liked about the painting and what...

Extending Writing Experiences As children have become more familiar with materials and experiences in the writing area they have been extending experiences as they create their drawings and tell stories about them. The children are aware of the expectations of the writing area and know that after they draw they talk about their work and write their words. It has been a great experience working with the children at this table as I can see their work evolving and their knowledge of literacy flourishing. Each child takes their time with their drawings and is excited to write their stories to explain their pictures. We often revisit their drawings and writings in the children’s portfolios and they have a deep sense of ownership of their work because they can see the respect that the teachers have of their work. We encourage parents to visit their child’s portfolios and file folders to also respect the amazing work t...

December has arrived! We only have two weeks of school left. These last two weeks of school we will be working on our top secret Christmas gift for families, making ornaments, and practicing for our holiday performance on Tuesday December 13! Some of the highlights of the past couple of weeks: Preparing for our Stone Soup Party! Thank you to everyone who brought in vegetables to create our two delicious soups. The kids were so excited to go into our brand new kitchen and help chop the vegetables. Liane (Jack's mom) assisted the children in cutting the vegetables. Our Stone Soup party was a success! On the menu that day was a butternut squash based vegetable soup and a spicy meatball soup! Thank you Teacher/Utopia Chef Jenny for putting them both together! Christmas Present Wrapping Last week Mia, Benny, Aditi and I decided to go over to Little Utopia to get some Christmas books. Mia noticed we had Christmas wrapping paper and asked if we could use it. I told her we could come back ...