Volcano Fun!

Important Dates

·          Monday, February 23rd – Silly Socks Day (wear your silly socks)

·          Tuesday, February 24th – Team Tuesday (wear your favorite team’s gear)

·          Wednesday, February 25th – Wacky Wednesday (go wacky including hair, clothes)

·          Thursday, February 26th – Pancakes and Pajamas (we will wear Pajamas while we eat pancakes)

·          Sunday, March 1st – Preschool Sunday at Christ Church at 8:45. Your children will sing some songs near the beginning of the 9:00 worship service and we will celebrate the CUMC Preschool Ministry.

·          Wednesday, March 11th & Thursday, March 12th – Conferences - School is closed for spring conferences.  These conferences are for adults only, so feel free to plan with a friend to watch each other’s children on the playground during your conferences. (I sent an email earlier this week with the Sign-Up Genius Link.)

·          Monday, March 30th through Monday, April 6th – Spring Break

·          Tuesday, April 21st – Planetarium Field Trip (Every child can have one chaperone join them and NO siblings are allowed on the field trip.  We will provide more information in the next few weeks.)

·          Wednesday, April 22nd - Casual music program in the fellowship hall. Shortly after drop-off, your child will sing a few songs with their class & Ms. Vicki for an audience of parents and special loved ones in Ascension Hall.

Quote of the Week

“This is the best day of my life.” – One of our Blue Whales was exclaiming this on the playground. It warms our hearts when we hear that our Blue Whales are happy.

Tuesday was an informative and exciting day.  Liam, a former Blue Whale, and his family joined us in the classroom and shared all about Chinese New Year and how it is important to their family.  The children were captivated by the story of how it began.  Liam and his family gave each child a red envelope filled with meaningful goodies for good luck and happiness.  It was a great day, and we appreciate all they did with the class.

We brought our homemade volcano to the playground to watch lava erupt using baking soda and vinegar along with some dishwashing liquid for extra bubbles.  The Blue Whales had great fun being in control of the experiment and adding baking soda, vinegar, dishwashing soap, sticks and mulch as needed.

On Wednesday we started a new morning routine in the classroom. Each Blue Whale washes their hands and then picks up their designated clipboard with a visual schedule to move them through different activities.  They get to start their day with some yoga poses, letter formation, tabletop activities, and self regulation.  So far, this new routine has been met with excitement.

We went on a walk around Southern Village on Wednesday and were searching for numbers, street signs and shapes throughout the marketplace buildings, townhouses and homes. It was an exciting and busy day.

Ava’s mom read one of her favorite books to the class to celebrate her half birthday.  Ava treated her friends to delicious cookies and cupcakes. 

Jacob’s mom, grandma and grandpa read one of his favorite books to the class to celebrate his half birthday.  Jacob treated his friends to delicious donuts, fruit rolls and juice boxes.

The Blue Whales enjoyed all the birthday celebrations this week.

Ms. Beth and I had a great time seeing our Blue Whale friends and dancing with them at the Valentine’s Dance last Friday.  Thank you to all who volunteered to make that such a fun evening. 

We will have our spirit week next week and end it with Pancakes and Pajamas on Thursday. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Important Dates

·          Monday, February 16th – Preschool Closed/Teacher Workday

·          Monday, February 23rd – Silly Socks Day (wear your silly socks)

·          Tuesday, February 24th – Team Tuesday (wear your favorite team’s gear)

·          Wednesday, February 25th – Wacky Wednesday (go wacky including hair, clothes)

·          Thursday, February 26th – Pancakes and Pajamas (we will wear Pajamas while we eat pancakes)

·         Wednesday, March 11th & Thursday, March 12th – Conferences - School is closed for spring conferences.  These conferences are for adults only, so feel free to plan with a friend to watch each other’s children on the playground during your conferences.  (Next week, I will be sending out a Sign Up Genius to schedule a conference)

Quote of the Week

“I have no one to play with.”  Another friend overhears and says, “You can come play with me.”  -- Just another wonderful example of our kind friends in the Blue Whales.  When a child on the playground overhears that someone has no one to play with they step up and invite that child to play with them. 

We read a nonfiction book about the first woman paleontologist and became paleontologists ourselves as we cracked open and investigated dinosaur eggs.  The Blue Whales really enjoyed this activity and using their tool and magnifying glass to discover the dinosaur hiding inside the egg.

It was exciting to see that we could fit the whole class in a T-Rex footprint and a Triceratops footprint.  The Blue Whales worked on measuring their feet compared to T-Rex and Triceratops feet using unifix cubes.   We enjoyed math lessons hidden in dinosaur fun. 

We used our addresses to find a spot at circle time and to practice identifying and writing the numbers in our addresses. 

The Blue Whales made a special surprise Valentine for their families that will arrive in the mail.  We took a walk to the mailbox in Southern Village to mail their Valentines.  It was very exciting, be on the lookout for something special in your mailboxes.

Barrett’s mom and dad read one of his favorite books to the class to celebrate his half birthday.  Barrett treated his friends to delicious cinnamon rolls and chocolate milk. 

Wren’s mom and sister read one of her favorite books to the class to celebrate her half birthday.  Wren treated her friends to delicious cookies, cupcakes and juice boxes.

On Wednesday we celebrated Sienna’s actual 5th Birthday.  Sienna’s mom, brother and sister read one of her favorite books to the class.  The Blue Whales searched for the missing unicorn, just like in the book.  Sienna treated her friends to delicious cupcakes and lemonade.

The Blue Whales enjoyed all the birthday celebrations this week.

We worked on problem-solving skills, cognitive skills through visual-spatial awareness, fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination and accomplished all of this through a heart puzzle activity. 

We had Guess & Tell and Palmer B. did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Palmer B.’s item because of her great clues.

On Thursday the Blue Whales exchanged Valentines with their friends and teachers.  We celebrated the day with some fun and pampering of our Blue Whales.  Our Valentine Spa Party was a huge success.  The Blue Whales were treated by our fabulous parents to manicures, tattoos and fairy hair.  There was also a wand craft with sparkling gems, an exciting game of bingo and delicious treats for snack.  A huge thank you to all our parents for your donations, support and time in helping make this so special.

Ms. Beth and I would like to thank everyone for including us in your Valentine wishes, we felt your love and we appreciate it. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Home Addresses

Important Dates

·          Thursday, February 12th – Valentine Exchange and Valentine’s Class Party

·          Friday, February 13th – Valentine Dance - Please bring the whole family to dance and have fun with us from 6:00-7:30 in Ascension Hall. We will transform Ascension Hall into a party!! There will be snacks, a photo booth, and music for dancing!

·          Monday, February 16th – Preschool Closed/Teacher Workday

·          Monday, February 23rd – Silly Socks Day (wear your silly socks)

·          Tuesday, February 24th – Team Tuesday (wear your favorite team’s gear)

·          Wednesday, February 25th – Wacky Wednesday (go wacky including hair, clothes)

·          Thursday, February 26th – Pancakes and Pajamas (we will wear Pajamas while we eat pancakes)

Quote of the Week

“Look I’m here.  I missed you.” – A sweet Blue Whale giving hugs and happy to be back at school after all the weather closures.

We continued to talk about fossils, paleontologists, and many different dinosaurs.  We danced and sang to some fun dinosaur movement songs.

We talked about the characteristics of herbivore and carnivore dinosaurs and tried to guess which dinosaurs were herbivores and which were carnivores.  We also added the word omnivore to the discussion.  These Blue Whales sure know a lot about dinosaurs.

Ask your child if they know their last name.  Chances are they may tell you the last name of some of their friends too.  We have been saying our last names, discussing the letters in our last names and identifying our last names. 

We used our last names to find a spot at circle time and to practice identifying the letters in our last name. 

Our home addresses have led us to informative and meaningful discussions about numbers, streets, cities and states.  We are practicing saying, identifying and writing different parts of our address. 

We had Guess & Tell and Palmer N. did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were not able to guess Palmer N.’s item but she had great clues. 

Jameson’s mom read one of his favorite books to the class to celebrate his half birthday.  Jameson and his mom treated his friends to a delicious Hot Wheels cake.  The Blue Whales enjoyed the half birthday celebration. 

We will be exchanging Valentine’s with each other on Thursday, February 12th.  I sent out an email with a class list of names and information about the exchange process.

We will be going on a short walk in Southern Village on Monday, February 9th to further enhance our home address discussions.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Volcano!

Important Dates

·          Monday, January 26th – Silly Socks Day (wear your silly socks)

·          Tuesday, January 27th – Team Tuesday (wear your favorite team’s gear)

·          Wednesday, January 28th – Wacky Wednesday (go wacky including hair, clothes and feet)

·          Thursday, January 29th – Pancakes and Pajamas (we will wear Pajamas while we eat pancakes – look for more information from Annie about this fun day)

·          Thursday, February 12th – Valentine’s Spa Class Party (look for more information soon about how you can contribute items and volunteer)

·          Friday, February 13th – Valentine Dance - Please bring the whole family to dance and have fun with us from 6:00-7:30 in Ascension Hall. We will transform Ascension Hall into a party!! There will be snacks, a photo booth, and music for dancing!

Quote of the Week

“If she fell on the playground, I would catch her. Because I’m actually a nice friend.” – A caring statement from one of our kind students.  The Blue Whales are all such nice friends.

We continued to talk about fossils, paleontologists, and many different dinosaurs.  We danced and sang to some fun dinosaur movement songs.

We made our Paper Mache volcano and were busy tearing paper, making a glue & water paste and created the volcano.  We painted the volcano and next week we will create lava with baking soda and vinegar.  Such fun they had with sensory, fine motor work and science. Lots of learning and discovering going on through the smiles. 

Lydia read one of her favorite books to the class to celebrate her birthday.  Lydia, her mom and her little sister treated her friends to delicious pink iced cookies.  The Blue Whales enjoyed the half birthday celebration. 

We have a lot of summer birthdays in the Blue Whales and will be acknowledging all their half birthdays, so each child is celebrated in the classroom.  Look for an email from me to schedule your child’s half birthday celebration.   

We had Guess-n-Tell and Sienna did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Wren’s item because of her great clues. 

We will be exchanging Valentine’s with each other on Thursday, February 12th.  I will send out more information about our valentine exchange next week.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Dinosaurs!

Important Dates

·          Monday, January 19th - Preschool Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr Day

·          Monday, January 26th – Silly Socks Day (wear your silly socks)

·          Tuesday, January 27th – Team Tuesday (wear your favorite team’s gear)

·          Wednesday, January 28th – Wacky Wednesday (go wacky including hair, clothes and feet)

·          Thursday, January 29th – Pancakes and Pajamas (we will wear Pajamas while we eat pancakes – look for more information coming out about this fun day)

Quote of the Week

“Thank you.  I love this job.” – A Blue Whale’s enthusiastic response to being the Morning Greeter this week.  I also got a big hug when they came up to do their Morning Greeting job.

The Blue Whales are exploring dinosaurs in the classroom.  They made a collaborative stegosaurus and learned some facts.  We painted with large dinosaurs that stomped across our paper.  Air dry clay and little plastic dinosaurs turned into exciting dinosaur fossils.

We read fiction and nonfiction books about dinosaurs.  Next week we will continue talking about dinosaurs.

There has been amazing creations and collaborative work with ramp building for our matchbox cars.  Through their open-ended play they are learning about gravity, force, speed and engineering.  It has been a joy to observe.  If anyone has any loose parts that they think could enhance this hands-on STEM activity feel free to bring them in on Tuesday and we will add them to this center.

We had a visit from Blue Whale alumni brother and sister, Levi and Isabelle.  They played magnet games and taught us about magnets during center time.  The Blue Whales really enjoyed exploring magnets with the big kids.

We had Guess-n-Tell and Wren did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Wren’s item because of her great clues.  Wren brought a photo of her dog for us to guess but her and her mom surprised us with her real dog, Knox.  The Blue Whales enjoyed meeting sweet Knox.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Happy New Year!

Important Dates

·          Monday, January 19th - Preschool Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr Day

·          Monday, January 26th – Silly Socks Day (wear your silly socks)

·          Tuesday, January 27th – Team Tuesday (wear your favorite team’s gear)

·          Wednesday, January 28th – Wacky Wednesday (go wacky including hair, clothes and feet)

·          Thursday, January 29th – Pancakes and Pajamas (we will wear Pajamas while we eat pancakes – look for more information coming out about this fun day)

Quote of the Week

“I am a real scientist.” – A Blue Whale’s announcement as they mastered the eye droppers and made secondary colors from primary colors and watched liquid dissolve solids

“Play is the foundation of learning, creativity, self-expression, and constructive problem-solving.  It’s how children wrestle with life to make it meaningful.”  - author unknown

It was so exciting to be back together again with the Blue Whales after our holiday break.  We welcomed in the new year with fun decorations, karaoke and a disco ball.  We have some amazing singers in our class. 

We read some silly books and had to follow directions though our laughter.  We also read some books focused on numbers and counting.

The play dough center was enhanced with smells of peppermint as we crushed candy canes in a mortar and pestle and in bags with mallets. 

Sugar cubes and colored water helped our little scientists learn and investigate absorption, solubility and color mixing.

A fun magnet game strengthened our fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and introduced us to the concepts of magnetism and physics.  This activity also gave the Blue Whales the opportunity to work on focus, critical thinking and patience. 

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We had Guess-n-Tell and Aidan did a great job with three clues about his item and calling on friends to guess the items.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Aidan’s item because of his great clues.  Everyone enjoyed having a turn with Aidan’s singing cactus.  There were a lot of laughs. 

I hope you all are checking out the many photos we take each day and have gone to the Parent Portal and Blue Whale page to click on the new Photo Album link.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Gingerbread Houses

Important Dates

·          Thursday, December 18th at 9:30 am - Preschool Christmas Program- Each class will sing a song or two and we will tell the Christmas story in the Sanctuary. Take your child to their classroom at 9:00 and find a seat in the sanctuary. We will begin at 9:30. After the concert, we will say goodbye for the holidays.

·           Monday, December 22nd through Friday, January 2nd - Preschool Closed for Winter Break

Quote of the Week

“I’m taking those cookies home in my belly.” – Overheard a hungry Blue Whale friend talking about his gingerbread cookies at our Gingerbread House decorating party.

On Wednesday Jacob’s mom and Ava’s mom joined us during center time to help the children put together their gingerbread houses.  And then the fun and creativity continued Thursday when parents joined us to decorate the gingerbread houses and gingerbread men cookies to enjoy with their frosting, candies and sprinkles.  A huge thank you to our wonderful families for your donations, time, support and enthusiasm for this festive holiday activity.  It was a wonderful event.

We read The Gingerbread Man and The Gingerbread Girl and talked about the similarities and differences in the two books.  The Blue Whales enjoy story time and it leads to some thoughtful discussions.

We are spreading kindness at our STEM table where we had boxes, gift wrap and small gifts.  The children can pick an eraser, tatoo and/or sticker to put in a box and wrap and then give to another child in the classroom.  We reused the boxes.  The Blue Whales are such kind friends and I’m sure you have seen the stickers, tatoos and erasers in your child’s backpack.  They are also practicing their measuring, estimating, cutting and fine motor skills and having so much fun.  I think all of you have some excellent helpers if you need assistance with gift wrapping at home.  

The children have been working on a special gift and card to bring home to you.  They practiced their patterning skills by creating a candy cane ornament. 

Christmas tree puzzles (a green paper triangle cut into strips) were available for the Blue Whales to figure out how to put the Christmas tree back together and decorate it with shiny gems.  It was fascinating to watch how each child approached the task and created beautiful unique Christmas trees. You can see their amazing work hanging outside our classroom.

We had Guess-n-Tell and Barrett did a great job with three clues about his item and calling on friends to guess the items.  The Blue Whales were not able to guess Barrett’s item, but he had great clues.  He continued the family tradition started by his sisters and brought in Dwight the Squirrel.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Decorating for Christmas

Important Dates

·          Thursday, December 11th:  Gingerbread House Decorating (Annie, our Room Parent, has sent out an email and a Sign-Up Genius with more information)

·          Thursday, December 18th at 9:30 am - Preschool Christmas Program- Each class will sing a song or two and we will tell the Christmas story in the Sanctuary. Take your child to their classroom at 9:00 and find a seat in the sanctuary. We will begin at 9:30. After the concert, we will say goodbye for the holidays.

Quote of the Week

“Oh look at that Jacob you are doing nice.” – A Blue Whale friend complimenting Jacob on his holiday decorating.

The Blue Whales enjoyed decorating our small Christmas tree and our classroom for Christmas with lights, garland and stockings. The children know this is their classroom and were proud of their decorating abilities.

We continued to rip a link each day on our green and red paper chain for our Countdown to Christmas. Every day a child rips a link off as we countdown to Christmas.  The children are talking about ripping the links on their chains at home too.

During this busy holiday season, we are finding ways to learn and relax at the same time.  Our Housekeeping center and Loft have turned in to a Coffee Shop equipped with coffee, treats, creamers and To Go Cups.  The children are having a great time working at the Coffee Shop and being a customer socializing with friends while listening to Christmas music.  The Blue Whales are reinforcing and working on literacy, math, language development, communication, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills at the Coffee Shop. 

The Blue Whales made a cooperative Christmas Tree that is hanging up on our window.  They were so happy with how it all came together.

We had Guess-n-Tell and Cora did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the items.  The Blue Whales were not able to guess Cora’s item, but she had great clues.

Everyone continues to enjoy the hair salon and matchbox cars in the classroom.  The cooperative play has been a joy to watch.  And with so many little pieces they have been working hard on their fine motor skills.

The Blue Whales photo album has been changed to a new email.  Please make sure you go to the Parent Portal and Blue Whale page to click on the new Photo Album link.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Thankful!

Important Dates

·          Monday, November 24th – Friday, November 28th:  Preschool Closed for Thanksgiving Break

·          Thursday, December 18th at 9:30 am - Preschool Christmas Program- Each class will sing a song or two and we will tell the Christmas story in the Sanctuary. Take your child to their classroom at 9:00 and find a seat in the sanctuary. We will begin at 9:30. After the concert, we will say goodbye for the holidays.

Quote of the Week

“Happy Vegetarian’s Day.” – Overheard a Blue Whale saying this during our Happy Veteran’s Day parade around the school.

“I am so smart I can build a bridge in my sleep.  This is the best day ever.” – A Blue Whale was so proud as they made their bridge in the classroom.

We had a wonderful discussion about the American flag, the branches of the armed forces and Veterans Day.  The children made their own version of the flag, and we had a Happy Veterans Day parade through the classrooms, around the building and on the playground as they waved their homemade flags. It was so much fun and pretty cute too! We also touched on the 50 states represented by the stars on the flag and that we live in the state of North Carolina.  It was another way to reinforce the concept of patterns with our Blue Whales.

Georgie’s family read a fun book to the class to celebrate her birthday.  Georgie treated her friends to Moon Pies and goodie bags.  The Blue Whales enjoyed the birthday celebration. 

There were different items available at center time to make a turkey.  It was so lovely to see such unique turkey creations.

Our future is bright with all the talented builders and engineers we have in the Blue Whales.  We had well-crafted suspension bridges that could hold cars, dragons and counting bears.  The bridges stemmed from the books, Three Billy Goats Gruff and Little Blue Bridge.  Little Blue Bridge is an alternate version of Three Billy Goats Gruff where the hero of the story chooses to build her own bridge.  These books also lent themselves to a lively discussion of what was the same and what was different in each story. 

We had Guess-n-Tell and Frankie and Faye did a great job with three clues about their items and calling on friends to guess the items.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Frankie’s and Faye’s items because of their great clues.

Patterns just keep making their way into our classroom.  On Thursday the Blue Whales each went home with a Christmas countdown chain that was in an AB pattern.  Most of our friends gave it a try to make their own chain and some even completed all 24 rings.  They were so proud of themselves and really enjoyed using the staplers. We made one for the classroom too.  So everyday starting on December 1st we will tear a ring off the chain in the classroom and they can do it at home too.  When they reach the star, it is Christmas Day.

We talked about Thanksgiving through an interactive story while making a bracelet. Each colored bead represented a part of the story. 

The Blue Whales put on their dancing shoes as we sang and danced to some Thanksgiving songs in the classroom.

Our little chefs enjoyed their homemade butter on crackers during snack time.  We read The Little Red Hen and talked about how it is important to help each other and enjoy things together.  Our strong Blue Whales shook their little hearts out to help turn the heavy cream into butter.

Everyone has been enjoying the hair salon, Barbies, matchbox cars and aircraft carrier in the classroom.  The cooperative play has been a joy to watch.  And with so many little pieces they have been working hard on their fine motor skills.

The Blue Whales photo album has been changed to a new email.  Please make sure you go to the Parent Portal and Blue Whale page to click on the new Photo Album link.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.  Ms. Beth and I want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We are both so thankful for our lovely families and your amazing children.        

The Blue Fire Truck

Important Dates

·          Tuesday, November 11th:  Preschool Closed for Veteran’s Day

·          Monday, November 24th – Friday, November 28th:  Preschool Closed for Thanksgiving Break

Quote of the Week

“I suppose you could stay up, but I am the mother.” – One the Blue Whales playing the mom talking to another Blue Whale playing the baby.

We had a visit from the Fire Department.  The fire fighters showed us what they look like and sound like all dressed in their equipment.  And they even let each child sit inside the fire truck.  It was very exciting! 

In the classroom we continued with activities to reinforce some of the things the firefighters talked about to the children.  We had a 911 activity and a Stop, Drop and Roll activity for our Blue Whales.

Davis, Blue Whale alumni and big brother to Palmer B., joined us on Tuesday to read a book to the Blue Whales.  The Blue Whales really enjoyed Davis’s visit and we were all so proud of him.

Faye’s family read some fun books to the class to celebrate her birthday.  Faye treated her friends to donut holes.  The Blue Whales enjoyed the birthday celebration. 

We had Guess-n-Tell and Georgie did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Georgie’s item because of her great clues.  The Blue Whales thought Georgie just had a photo of her item but Georgie and her mom surprised everyone by bringing her real dog to class.  Everyone enjoyed meeting Major and taking a turn to pet the gentle giant. 

We worked on some tape resist art as a group and individually in the style of artist, Piet Mondrian.  The children enjoyed using pastels and discovering what was left when they peeled the tape away from their paper.

The Blue Whales love interactive books and we read a great one this week, Press Here, that touched on patterns.  We will continue to talk about patterns this month.

To end our week of special visitors, Taylor, Ms. Beth’s daughter, joined us in the classroom on Thursday.  The Blue Whales loved having Taylor join them in their play.  And if that wasn’t enough, Ms. Kelsi was in our classroom for a bit too and the Blue Whales were excited to see her.

The Blue Whales photo album has been changed to a new email.  Please make sure you go to the Parent Portal and Blue Whale page to click on the new Photo Album link.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Happy Halloween

Important Dates

·          Monday, November 3rd:  FIRE TRUCK - The Chapel Hill Fire Dept will bring their truck for a visit.  Usually, the fire fighters show us how they look & sound when wearing all their gear. Then they take us, class by class, to look at the truck!

·          Wednesday, November 5th and Thursday, November 6th:  SPIRIT DAYS – Wear your school shirt or our blue class color.

Quote of the Week

“I feel like a real witch in the darkness.” – One the Blue Whales was feeling the part with her witch hat in the dark looking at our jack o’lanterns.

We adorned classroom pumpkins with golf tees and hammers and screws and screwdrivers.  And the children didn’t even realize that they were working on their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.  The children are always learning through their play.

We decorated our individual pumpkins this week based on the work by artist Yayoi Kusama.  We read her biography and learned that she is from Japan and saw the world through dots.  She translated that to her artwork and touched upon the concept of infinity.  It led to a wonderful discussion about the dots in her artwork and infinity.  The Blue Whales had various resources to make dots on their pumpkins, such as q-tips, tips of pencils erasers, pom pom brushes, dot gems and push pins.  They loved being artists and it was so fun to see how different each pumpkin turned out. 

In the classroom the Blue Whales experimented with oobleck consisting of cornstarch and water.  Our little scientists decided how much cornstarch and water they needed to get it to the consistency that suited their play.  Lots of learning and discovering going on through the smiles.  It was messy but lots of fun! 

We read the book Room on the Broom.  After the Blue Whales decorated their own witch hats and made potions with vinegar and baking soda.

We sang songs about Halloween and had a dance party for indoor playground on a rainy day.

We had Guess-n-Tell and Jacob did a great job with three clues about his item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were not able to guess Jacob’s flashlight, but he gave us great clues.

Thank you for joining us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village.  The children really enjoyed showing off their costumes and it was so nice to have so many families in attendance. 

The Blue Whales were treated to a fun Halloween party in the classroom after the parade.  Thank you to Annie, our Room Parent, for organizing and directing the party.  And thank you to all the parents and relatives that volunteered and contributed to a great party.  The children enjoyed the party and were sent home with amazing goodies from our creative and generous parents. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween and a nice weekend. 

Photos and pumpkins

Important Dates

·          Thursday, October 30th – HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARADE - We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village.  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at our usual 9:00 a.m.  The Blue Whales will meet families outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Yellow Ducks class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.  Our room parent, Annie, will be in touch with you about a classroom Halloween party that day.

·          Monday, November 3rd:  FIRE TRUCK - The Chapel Hill Fire Dept will bring their truck for a visit.  Usually, the fire fighters show us how they look & sound when wearing all their gear. Then they take us, class by class, to look at the truck!

·          Wednesday, November 5th and Thursday, November 6th:  SPIRIT DAYS – Wear your school shirt or our blue class color.

Quote of the Week

 “Can you handle that?”  -- The Blue Whales have been full of happy energy and we have done our best to handle it :)

The children were very busy decorating our classroom this week with spider webs, plastic spiders and bats.  It was a true group effort, and they really enjoyed the ownership of decorating their classroom. 

The Blue Whales had fun with pumpkins this week. They made amazing jack o’lanterns on an old record player.  We decorated pumpkins with push pins.  And the children didn’t even realize that they were working on their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.  The children are always learning through their play.

We read a book that required an action when they saw something on the page and heard something I read.  The Blue Whales worked on listening skills, multi-step directions and working memory all while we laughed and enjoyed a book together. 

We read the book Pumpkin Jack and talked about the life cycle of a pumpkin and the parts of a pumpkin.  We are going to watch our small jack o’lantern decompose and hope to observe the life cycle of a pumpkin.  We decided to name our jack o’lantern Pumpkin Jack too.    

We sang songs about pumpkins and jack o’lanterns and spiders.  The Blue Whales made skeletons and spider webs this week too.

We had Guess-n-Tell and Jameson did a great job with three clues about his item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Jameson’s item because of his great clues.

The Blue Whales brought their best smiles and did a great job with school photos. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Acorns and Leaves

Important Dates

·          Tuesday, October 21st – Individual Photos (we will not have messy activities that day)

·          Thursday, October 23rd – Please bring in one small pumpkin for your child by this date.  We will be doing an art activity with the pumpkin.

·          Thursday, October 30th - We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village.  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at our usual 9:00 a.m.  The Blue Whales will meet families outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Yellow Ducks class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.  Our room parent, Annie, will be in touch with you about a classroom Halloween party that day.

·          Monday, November 3rd:  FIRE TRUCK - The Chapel Hill Fire Dept will bring their truck for a visit.  Usually the fire fighters show us how they look & sound when wearing all their gear. Then they take us, class by class, to look at the truck!

Quote of the Week

“Oh boy the witch is coming for you!” – We are all excited about Halloween.

I really enjoyed parent conferences this week. I appreciate all of you that took the time to meet with me and strengthen our home and school partnership. We have a wonderful class.

Hannah and Lena, a former Blue Whale, joined us on Monday to do a Tae Kwon Do demonstration and to teach the class some moves.  Hannah and Lena are the daughters of Ms. Jen, in the Ladybug classroom. They did an amazing job, and it was so exciting to watch and participate in the demonstration.  It was a great way to start our week.

While I was meeting with parents, Ms. Kelsi enjoyed being in the classroom with Ms. Beth and seeing all her former Ladybug friends.  Ms. Kelsi did a fun art project with air dry clay that will go home next week.

We read some fun books about acorns and leaves and used these items in a variety of ways to create art. It led to discussions about fall and added chlorophyll and photosynthesis to our vocabularies.

We had Guess-n-Tell and Lydia did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Lydia’s item because of her great clues. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Apples and Mat Man

Important Dates

·          Tuesday, October 14th and Wednesday, October 15th: Parent/Teacher Fall Conferences

·          Tuesday, October 21st – Individual Photos (we will not have messy activities that day)

·          Tuesday, October 23rd – Please bring in one small pumpkin for your child by this date.  We will be doing an art activity with the pumpkin.

·          Thursday, October 30th - We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village.  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at our usual 9:00 a.m.  The Blue Whales will meet families outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Yellow Ducks class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.  Our room parent, Annie, will be in touch with you about a classroom Halloween party that day.

Quote of the Week

“We got a toolbox for your tools.  Oh thank you for buying that.” – Even in their imaginary play on the playground this class is so kind and polite to each other.

The past two weeks have been very busy in the Blue Whale’s class with lots of activities and visitors.

Faye’s mom, Heather, led a music class for us in the classroom.  We had so much fun singing, dancing, listening and playing instruments.  And we had a special live performance of Heather playing the violin.  This is a passion and business for Heather so feel free to reach out to her in the hall if you are interested in her music classes.

The Blue Whales met Mat Man this week.  Mat Man is a song with pieces that help children learn how to draw a person using shapes.  The Blue Whales built Mat Man as they listened to the song.  After they each drew themselves for their first journal page. The Blue Whales will bring home their journals at the end of the year.

We had our first practice fire drill this week.  Last week we read our book about what to expect in a fire drill and the Blue Whales had great questions and discussions and were prepared for our drill. 

This week the Blue Whales were food critics.  We had an apple tasting with four different varieties of apples (Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Honeycrisp).  The Blue Whales tried every variety and rated them with a happy face or sad face and then picked their favorite apple variety.

We read Ten Apples Up on Top and painted with real apples.  They explored all the parts of an apple with real apples. 

To continue with the apple fun, we made applesauce.  The Blue Whales helped peel, slice and core all the apples.  We added lemon juice, water and cinnamon to the apples and cooked them in an Instant Pot.  We enjoyed our homemade applesauce with lunch.   

The Blue Whales enjoyed listening to The Leaf Thief and talking about wind. They created some silly leaf people.

Palmer B.’s family read a fun Puffin book to the class to celebrate her birthday.  Palmer B. treated her friends to ice cream sandwiches.  The Blue Whales enjoyed our first birthday celebration. 

We had Guess-n-Tell and Palmer B. did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were not able to guess Palmer B.’s item.  We were lucky enough to have a tap dance demo by Palmer B. in her tap shoes that we didn’t guess. 

Lydia’s big brothers, Eric and Everett, joined us one morning to read books to the class.  Eric is a former Blue Whale, and it was wonderful to have him and his brother in the classroom.  The Blue Whales really enjoyed listening to them both read.

In Chapel this week we were joined by Pastor Kristin and learned all about Noah’s Ark through song. The teachers and children participated joyfully with beautiful singing voices.

I’m looking forward to meeting for Fall Conferences next week on Tuesday, October 14th and Wednesday, October 15th. The conferences will meet in Building 105, Room 1 which is across the street from Preschool. There will be signs in the hall to help direct everyone.  Ms. Kelsi will be joining Ms. Beth in the classroom on Tuesday and Wednesday while I meet with parents. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Colors & Symmetry

Important Dates

Thursday, October 2nd: CCP Closed for Fall Break

Tuesday, October 14th & Wednesday, October 15th: Fall Conferences (preschool open)

Tuesday, October 21st:  Fall Photos for Whales

Quote of the Week

“Watch out for the Monster Giants.  I will save you.  So you be right there and I will be there and I can see you from the ship.”  - We have the best safekeepers saving us from the imaginary dangers on the playground.

What a busy week of school.  This was our first week of Lunch Bunch on Monday and Wednesday.  The children were so excited to have lunch with their Blue Whale friends and teachers.

Primary colors and secondary colors, we talked about them all this week.  The Blue Whales had many opportunities throughout the classroom to further their color exploration through playdough, paint and watercolors.  There were lots of opportunities to work on and strengthen their fine motor skills.

Our friend Cora helped us change our season this week from summer to autumn.  It was very exciting because her sister’s name is Autumn! We talked about what to expect in autumn and we even saw a few leaves falling on the playground. 

Lillian, Eleanor and Emma, former Blue Whales and older sisters to Barrett, joined us during center time to teach the Blue Whales about symmetry using a butterfly print out and glitter glue.  We all enjoyed having them in the classroom and their artistic lesson and knowledge of symmetry.  I am so proud of them and love to have visits from former Blue Whales.

We watched our hands conduct electricity with our energy stick and make a human connection.  The only way to complete the circuit and make the energy stick light up and beep is if we worked together.  If someone didn’t hold hands it would not work and it would break the connection.  It was a great experiment and deepened our school family bond. 

The Blue Whales have discovered the joy of glitter glue. During all the fun using many different glittering colors, they had no idea how hard they were working on using those busy fingers and strengthening their fine motor skills. We are going through a lot of glitter glue and I have added it and a few other things to The Blue Whales Wish List, if anyone would like to contribute to our supply.  The QR code is hanging up outside our classroom door.

If anyone has any old phones, walkie talkies and remotes they would like to part with, we would be happy to add them to our classroom.  We always welcome household items that the children can use in their play.

We had Guess & Tell and Palmer N. did a great job with three clues about her photo of an item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Palmer’s item because of her great clues.  Palmer and her Mimi surprised the Blue Whales by bringing in Palmer’s actual dog.  Palmer told us all about her dog, Winston, and let everyone have a turn to pet Winston.  It was wonderful to see how excited Winston was to see Palmer. 

Fall Conferences are on Tuesday, October 14th and Wednesday, October 15th.  In the next few days, I will be sending out an email with more information and a Sign Up Genius link to sign up for a conference.  Preschool is open on those days and a substitute will be in the classroom with Ms. Beth, while I meet with parents to talk about your amazing children.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Busy Fingers, Sleeping Fingers

Important Dates

Monday, September 22nd: First Lunch Bunch and a 1:00 pick up in the classroom

Quote of the Week

“I’ve been waiting for this guy!”  -- Overheard from an enthusiastic and supportive Blue Whale referring to another Blue Whale about to tell us about his Tell Us Tuesday interesting item

What a busy week of school.  It has been a joy building our school family and continuing to get to know each of our Blue Whales.  The Blue Whales are kind caring friends and developing wonderful friendships.  I hear a lot of talk around the snack tables about making plans for playdates and moms calling each other.  Your children are excited about their new friendships too. 

We sang Where is Thumbkin and practiced finger isolation.  And that led us to our discussion about busy fingers and sleeping fingers.  Thumb, pointer and tall man are the busy fingers and ring man and pinky are the sleeping fingers.  Each child received a cotton ball for ring man and pinky to sleep on while the rest of their fingers stay busy.   This is helping your child develop a tripod grasp which will help them manipulate many things including toys, tweezers, glue and writing utensils.  We read books about a mouse and a squirrel that we had to take through an adventure in each book using our busy fingers. 

Our friends worked on prewriting activities by tearing paper and making paper plate self-portraits.  Each Blue Whale looked in the mirror trying to match paper strips to their skin color, eye color, lip color, hair color and any other important attributes.  They are hanging up in the hall and each one is so unique with added details that were important to each child.     

One of the most important jobs in the Blue Whale classroom is to keep you and your friends safe, we are all Safekeepers.  Each Blue Whale told their friends and teachers they would keep them safe and added their names to the Safekeeper Box.  They were so supportive of each other and clapping for each of their friends as they added their names to our box.

We had our first Music & Movement class with Ms. Vicki on Wednesday.  The Blue Whales sang, danced and played musical instruments. The first Chapel was on Thursday with Pastor Lee.  The children really enjoyed listening to a story in the beautiful Sanctuary and getting the opportunity to ask Pastor Lee individual questions after Chapel. 

We had Guess & Tell and Sienna did a great job with three clues about her photo of an item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Sienna’s item because of her great clues.  Sienna and her family surprised the Blue Whales by bringing in Sienna’s actual pet snake.  Sienna told us all about her snake, Flower, and let everyone have a turn to pet the snake.  There were lots of proud Blue Whales who were near the snake and who touched the snake.  One of our affirmations is I am Brave and we sure were that day.  It was wonderful to see how much the snake and Sienna love each other. 

On Monday we will have our first Lunch Bunch.  Please label your child’s snack separate from their lunch.  Please remember to pack a nut and sesame free lunch and snack. Please include any needed utensils, napkin and water bottle.

Lunch will be every Monday and Wednesday and pick up will be in the classroom at 1:00 pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we will continue with pick up on the playground at 12:00 pm. 

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

School Family

Important Information

Wednesday, September 17th: First Music Class with Ms. Vicki Thursday, September 18th: First Chapel with Pastor Lee Monday, September 22nd: First Lunch Bunch and a 1:00 pick up

Quote of the Week

“If he is nice to me, I will let him be my security guard.” — The challenge was accepted and he was a kind and stellar security guard.

Classroom News

We had another successful week of school.  We have quickly become a school family.  Ms. Beth and I are enjoying building relationships with each of your children and learning about all our wonderful students.  The Blue Whales are kind friends and enjoy playing with each other and are developing lovely friendships.  The Blue Whales are working hard on using their words, listening to their friend’s words and keeping their hands and feet to themselves. We have such lovely and happy children that we will be in a harmonious classroom routine in no time. 

Each Blue Whale had their first job this week and they did a great job.  When they arrive on Monday they can check out their new job for the week. 

Our first Tell Us Tuesday was a success. The Blue Whales were so excited to share about their item or tell the class something important to them.

We had our first Guess & Tell and Wren did a great job with three clues about her item and calling on friends to guess the item.  The Blue Whales were able to guess Wren’s item because of her great clues.

We read some engaging books this week. We talked about our emotions and what it is like to feel more than one emotion at a time. Everyone contributed to our discussions.  We also read a book about scribbles and a flamingo who ate some colorful food.

The Blue Whales helped decorate the classroom with hand made sparkly whales and brought home their own color emotions monsters and pet rocks.

We will always have play dough out for the children. This simple activity helps build their fine motor skills and sparks their creativity. Another activity we have in the classroom this week is Magna Tiles on the light table. The Magna Tiles encourage teamwork, improve focus, boost motor skills and teach shapes.

Ms. Beth and I are so appreciative of our supportive parents with your kind words and items for our classroom. Thanks so much for being a part of our school family.

We are enjoying creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing with our Blue Whale friends.   Hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

Thankful for a Wonderful Week!

Our visitation days and first day of school went so well!  We enjoyed getting to know your sweet Blue Whales.  They were so excited to see old friends and welcoming to new friends.  We heard kind words and saw lots of sharing and cooperative play among friends.  It has been a wonderful start to a new school year.  Next week we will continue to discuss classroom routines, emotions, rules, our schedule, prayers and singing classroom songs.  Classroom jobs will start on Monday and your child will have a new job each week. 

Ms. Beth and I have chosen some wonderful books to read and discuss with the children during story time.  We feel truly blessed to be able to spend our days with such a wonderful group of children.  And thank you to all our amazing families for your support, kind words and fulfilling some of our classroom needs so quickly. 

Thank you for signing up to provide play dough for the class.  I was amazed how quickly the slots were filled. I appreciate your support. We need enough play dough, either homemade or store bought, for 15 children. 

I have included the QR Code for our Blue Whale Wish List.  This QR Code will also be hung up outside the classroom.  I will keep it updated throughout the year with needs and wants for the Blue Whale class.  Thank you for your consideration.

I have updated the class photo album link with photos from both visitation days and our first day of school. 

We are looking forward to creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, reading and playing together.  Have a great weekend!