Utopia Preschool

The Sea Otter class have really enjoyed turning the Dramatic Play area into a Nursery. The children have drawn pictures of their babies & talked about what kinds of food they like to eat. Isa said, "Moana likes apples and bananas." They have also taken the responsibility of giving their babies a bath.  Dramatic play encourages the children  to role play everyday life situations & provides opportunities to practice overall good care  & hygiene of our bodies. Aside from all the caring, and role playing fun, baby baths are a really fun sensory activity & the children love it! 

The children definitely showed their school spirit this week & were so kind in complimenting each other on their clothes and outfits. Not only were they in such good spirits, they were busy making their grandparents gifts, designing clothes for their babies and started the process of making a gas station in the bike area. 

The children in the Sea Turtle class have been turning our classroom into a city. This week, the children created their own neighborhood, each with their own house made of cardboard! They added details to their houses like kitchens, bathrooms, garages, roofs, and doors. The children also gave their houses an address and mailbox, so they could send each other mail and letters. This activity supports writing development, sense of place, and community building!  The neighborhood on Purple Street. The streets are marked with purple masking tape which leads to each house.  Hudson shows us how to use his oven and stove. Hudson's bathroom with a toilet, sink, and piping!  Kaidha adds an address in front of her house: "35 Purple Street"  Hudson's address: "1213 Purple Street"  Kaidha looks through the mail she received in her mailbox Elias creates a number plate for his house: 100 Purple Street  Elias writes and receives letters from his neighbors

 Welcome back to preschool! This week the children have been getting reacquainted with their classroom, materials and most importantly their friends. The children have been busy with Legos, magna-tiles and drawing. They have been riding bikes and pretending to do a countdown for New Years while throwing leaves in the air as confetti! 

This week, both preschool classrooms had a virtual visit from the one and only Santa Claus! The children were so excited able to see and talk to Santa through Zoom. We had a lot of questions to ask him: "Do you like to eat cookies?" - Elias  "Are we getting presents? - Blake "How do you deliver presents to kids who don't have a chimney?" - Hudson Santa assured us that he had a special book that explained where to leave the presents if there isn't a chimney in our home. He told us that he likes cookies, but makes sure he also eats a balanced diet. Then he told the children that he was proud of them for being so friendly, kind, and patient this entire year. What a special way to celebrate the holiday season at school! 

 The children have been busy working away preparing Christmas decorations for the classroom and for their home. These activities include painting, using glue and glitter and cutting! This helps the children develop their fine motor skills, visual art skills and their language skills as they discuss Christmas decorations they have at home. 

The children were so happy to be back in school, playing with friends & sharing Thanksgiving stories with teachers. Everyone was ready to get back into action in all areas of the classroom.  Some children worked with mirrors in the Art area looking at the details of their eyes & drew them. Others were super excited to find out kinetic sand was back in their sensory kit & baked cupcakes for friends but the children couldn't wait to start building creative structures such as trains, ships, rockets, towers, camp sites and gardens in the building area & talk about what they built with each other. It's been great having everyone back from Thanksgiving break!

 All aboard! The children have been collectively working on their train in our classroom. We read the book, “Terrific Trains” and got many ideas for our own train. We also discussed a train station where we would keep our train. We turned the dramatic play area into a train station. The children have helped make signals and signs for the train station. We also made train tracks using masking tape so we know where the train route is. This activity helped children practice taking turns and supports their fine motor development. Can’t wait to see how our train station evolves! 

This week, building with Legos & drawing faces were a popular activity. The children built unique structures for their animals and people.  Thomas-  "This is a train for animals." Levi "This is a train." Blake - "I made a school with a swimming pool." Juliana - "An insulation from my home." Drawing faces of friends, family members and of themselves have been fun. We gathered all their portraits and displayed their artwork on the hallway board for everyone at STM to see.

Today is a very important day in our country, for ourselves, our community, and the lives of all future adults: our children! I hope all of us have taken the time to vote, if you can. It is such a critical time in our country and our voices matter, no matter how young we are. "I vote for Pete the Cat. He is nice and friendly." - Elias We did not want to pass up the opportunity to talk about why this day is important and what it means to vote, so we had a little election of our own. First we read the book  Vote for Our Future   and talked about why our votes matter. Then, we cast our votes on who the children thought would be a better friend, Pete the Cat or the Pigeon . We also voted on a special snack we would have tomorrow (Apples or Bananas), and what activity we should do outside (Legos or Playdough). Needless to say it was a landslide win for Pete, Apples, and Legos. Afterwards, we each got a "V" for I Voted sticker.  "Pete is a good friend because he is ...