Utopia Preschool

While outside, Amaris had the idea to do a puppet show. Ellie thought it would be nice to make it like a real puppet show so she moved the benches and bean bags so the audience can sit down and enjoy the show. Soon all the children were there to watch the show. The children came up with some rules for the show. Julianna said "If you shout too loud, we can't hear." Naomi said "Don't knock it down or it will break." Clara said "Two friends doing puppets at a time." Gia was the announcer and introduced each show. The children used foam blocks as "popcorn" and took turns putting on puppet shows. At the end, Calleen sang loudly, just like they do at the end of movies! 

During free play, Thomas amd Russell decided to make a house for the Lego people. They worked colaboratively, constantly communicating with one another on what size blocks to use and where to place them. Once their home was complete, Russell decided they should measure their structure. As Thomas held the measuring tape on one end, Russell extended the tape along the house. Russell, "It's 49 inches!"

As we prepare for our visit to Alma Via, the children have been working hard to make decorations for St. Patrick's Day! They have been making chains out of paper and tape making patterns, using stickers, markers and paint! Today, Jackson and Mathias worked on chains that would measure as long as all of our cubbies! They tested their chains by laying them on the floor along the cubbies. Regan, Calleen and Julianna created their own as well! They are excited to share their chains with the Alma Via residents!

This afternoon, the children noticed the playdough had dried up and asked if they could make more. Aria and Kingston got ready by putting on a smock and rolling up their sleeves. They waited patiently as the materials were gathered, asking teacher Elda what each ingredient was called. As they began mixing the ingredients they shared what the mixture felt like: "sticky" "warm" "soft".

It is the time again to visit the elderly.  The preschool children will be visiting Alma Via of San Francisco next week.  They are very excited and are preparing to bring happiness and joy to the  senior citizens of our community.  They have been working on art projects and decorations to pass out to them. The will also be singing songs in celebration of Saint Patrick Day.

During inside time Mathias wanted to build a race track in the block area. The cars were flying all over the place. Teacher Andrea suggested he try building it outside, but Mathias was afraid the cars would crash on the ground and break. After talking with Teacher Andrea, Mathias agreed to try it outside. He used many different materials to create the race track and was very patient when others wanted to use it. Mathias made sure they were gentle so the cars wouldn't crash too hard and the track would not break! It ended up working really well and was even better than it was inside!

Alex's mom visited today to teach our class about what happens when we visit the doctor! She had Mr. Bear as her patient and had many eager volunteers aid her in checking his height, weight, eyes, ears and nose. They also learned about giving him medicine, cleaning and bandaging cuts and even giving shots! After practicing with real equipment, they know many new vocabulary words such a "stethescope", "thermometer " and "blood pressure". Thank you for teaching us all about visiting the doctor!

Today the children had a special visit to the library since it was raining and they couldn't go outside! When they first arrived they reviewed the library rules; be quiet and take only one book at a time. When it was time to explore the library, some children decided to look at books on their own, whereas others chose to listen to the storyread by Teacher Elda. They had such a fun time choosing their own books and "reading" stories to one another.

We had a very productive teacher in-service day! We had an exciting team building activity, cleaned and organized the classroom, and prepared for our upcoming parent teacher conferences.We always enjoy spending time with each other as co-teachers and working hard to make our classroom a safe learning environment.

During outdoor play the children enjoy playing house. They play family, cook, eat meals, and drive the children to school. Through pretend play, the children adquire different skills that prepare them for adulthood.