seven sailors sailed the sea

Using the theme of Christopher Columbus and the letter "s", we learned/did the following things at preschool today:

• introduced ourselves singing "bumpity bumpity yellow bus, can you please say your name for us?" while slapping our knees and clapping our hands

• learned how to "freeze" to the bell so we could listen to the next set of directions

• played copycat

• read a story about Christopher Columbus

• recited the three ships' names (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) to a snapping beat

• talked about how the world is round

• played a rolling game with the world globe ball


• found (on the globe) where we live on Earth and where Columbus sailed

• made spyglasses and sailor hats








• "built" a ship (used markers to draw the windows and designs on it) out of enormous cardboard boxes

• talked about the "S" (the sound it makes, how to draw the letter, and we named things that start with that letter)

• mentioned shapes and drew squares in the air with our fingers

• played hot and cold game to "discover" (like Columbus) where the Halloween spider was hiding

• used scissors and made a word wheel for the "ip" family (shape of a ship)

• played with puzzles, learned a Halloween monologue, and a pumpkin song

• practiced reading our "ip" word wheels. Some told their moms when they came to pick them up, "Mom! I can read!"
  

We had a super time! So long!

Fire Station Field Trip

Right after learning about community helpers each year, we go on a field trip to the local fire station. It's one of our most popular and memorable field trips of the year and this year was no different.

This year we started off by talking with Fire Fighter Karl as he showed us the big fire truck....

after a little while a real live call came in and we got to watch the fire fighters get dressed in their fire fighting equipment....


and drive off in a hurry.

Then this other fire fighter (I've blanked on his name) showed us around the ambulance...

and let us take turns...

walking through....

and looking inside.

Then we headed into the garage where they showed off their state-of-the-art rehabilitation truck.

Then we headed inside the station to see their cool books of maps,

and their comfy, cozy living area.

Afterwards we headed outside again where we got our fire hats and got to go inside the fire truck which was back from its call...

then we posed with Fire Fighter Karl for a big group picture...

and then just enjoyed the beautiful day.

Thanks for making all the arrangements Tara. It was a great trip!

Fire Safety

Here's Rachel practicing dialing 9-1-1. We reviewed when it's ok to dial 9-1-1, but you might want to go over that one at your house again :).

Daniel and Rachel in their firetrucks. Matthew was more in the mood to move his truck than pose for a picture. And sweet Maylie was finishing up decorating cookies for our firemen who keep us safe.


This week, Ellie has proven that you can do ANYTHING in a ballgown, including drive firetrucks.


Hurry, hurry!


I let our pet bird, Repeat, out during preschool. He was scared of fire, so the kids helped him know what to do. Matthew demonstrated *Get low and go*; Daniel showed Repeat how to *Stop, Drop, and Roll*; Rachel taught Repeat to dial 9-1-1; Ellie told Repeat that he should help his family make a plan for where to meet, and Maylie told Repeat to feel a door before opening it if your fire alarm has gone off. Man, I wish my memory was as good as these kids'!

Community helpers

Today we learned about community helpers. We built buildings you might find around our community
such as the library and a post office,


a doctor's office,


a fire station, a school



and a library. Every community needs a princess, right?

We voted on which community helpers to learn more about. Nurses (because the nurse was holding a baby on the cover of the book, and Daniel promised us we were all babies in our moms' tummies once) and firefighters (because they get the dirtiest) got the most votes.

Then we practiced being those community helpers. Matthew makes house calls.


We worked on community helper coloring books. Some of us even tried *reading* the words on those pages like kindergarteners do. Ellie pointed to the text, Matthew noticed the word "the" was on every page, and Gavin looked at the pictures to help him read the words. They think they are pretty smart, and they are!


We wrote letters to someone in our family and mailed them. Another community helper, the mail carrier, will be helping us with this project.Gavin was happy to mail his at first, but then he realized he couldn't give it to his family as soon as he wanted. He asked to take it off the mailbox, but I suggested he wait for the mail carrier to bring it. He asked, "Why can't I just carry it myself?"



Even princesses use the USPS.


So be looking in your mailboxes in another day or two for a surprise!

Healthy Body Party

After the kids spent the week learning all about their bodies and how to take good care of them, we ended the week with a "Healthy Body Party" at Mina's house!

The kids had a great time sharing their healthy snacks and running around their beautiful backyard...

(Berkeley)

playing hula-hoop and jump roping...

(Ellie)

and playing a silly game with a silly name that I just can't remember (led by Jen)...

(Ellie and Rachel)

Then we gathered all the kids together (except for a couple who were being a little camera shy) to model their body part vests they helped make in preschool this past week (with Alex's and Kylee's help).

(Behind: Thomas

Top row: Gavin, Matthew, Ellie

Middle row: Seth

Bottom row: David, Berkeley, Daniel)

Mina was a wonderful host who kept the kids happy and entertained in their beautiful home and yard!

(Mina, Berkeley, Jack, Daniel, Rachel, Ellie)

Thanks Mina!!

Cox Farms Field Trip

You won't have to wonder very hard who took these pictures since most of them have one or more of my kids in them, but there's a few here and there of some other kids. I was really sad that I never got the group picture on the haystacks. :(

Please feel free to email me some of your own pictures (or just make your own post) if you want to show off what a fun time your kids had too.

Gavin (?) on the rope swing (my kids favorite part).

Tara, Matthew, and Kyle

Adam on the second best part of the whole farm ( the super fast slides)

Ellie and her good friend Bradford

Cute little Gwynne dressed to a "T" as usual

What else would you do when you come across a pumpkin colored slugbug in a pumpkin patch? Putting pumpkins on your head only seems like the natural solution (at least for Emma, Kyle, Matthew, Adam, Bradford, and Ellie).

B is for Bodies, and G is for Germs

This week was all about bodies and how to keep them healthy.

To introduce the theme during Circle Time, I had "Mr. Potato Head" pieces in the counting box. We also sang songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" where each child got to pick a thing that their body could do (i.e. If you're happy and you know it blink your eyes, etc.).

We read My Hands by Aliki and then painted our Circle Time mats using our hands as stamps.

We also read The Magic Schoolbus: Inside the Human Body. As we read about various parts of the body in the book, we would tape those parts to some little "body bags." I was going to get a picture of all of the kids in their bags but I unfortunately made the mistake of mentioning that afterward we would head outside. Needless to say, the kids took off without looking back.

However, once the kids all left for home, I had Gavin put on his bag (which somehow turned out to be Rachel's). It was then that I realized I'd forgotten to cut arm holes in any of them. Oops!

And today, everyone came back to talk about how to stay healthy through good eating and hygiene.

We used plastic play food (and then our real lunches) to discuss which foods are better for you than others. We grouped foods into "Always Foods" that you can eat whenever you want and "Sometimes Foods" that aren't quite as good for you, but that you can still have, well, sometimes.

Before lunch, we read Germs Make Me Sick! Afterwards, I used a little bit of red glitter to show how germs get spread from one person to another. I put a little bit of the glitter on my own hand, then shook each of the kids' hands. One or two of the kids even said they didn't want to shake hands because they didn't want "glitter germs." It was amazing to see how much of the glitter transferred from one handshake.

We then went to the bathroom where we talked about how to wash hands to get rid of germs, and we practiced singing the "Happy Birthday" song to make sure we were washing our hands long enough.

We made a "Cover Your Cough" craft (sorry, I forgot to get a picture). The kids drew a picture of their faces on a paper plate (some even made their mouths wide open as if they were sneezing or coughing - cute!) and then we traced their hand onto a piece of construction paper. We glued a tissue to the hand and then taped the hand to the outside of the paper plate so they could open and close the tissue-holding hand when their paper plate faces "coughed."

We also discussed how to cough into your elbow, your shoulder, or into a tissue to help keep germs off of your hands. Everyone got a small bar of soap and a small container of tissues to take home so they could practice their hygiene skills!

This week, everyone also received a laminated sheet with their individual name on it so they could practice writing their name.

What a great group of kids!