The Letter Bb

Bb is for Brooklyn, buttons, bears (gummy and baby), and Baby Brayden in a basket! Bet you can think of some more!!!

We had a BEARY good time discovering Bb things and Bear things and having a BALL! Here is a peek at our Teddy Bear Day, which was CRAZIER than ever (thank you rain) but so much fun! It is always a blast to bring our bear friends to school with us and show them how AWESOME preschool can be!

Throughout the day, children were spotted singing, reading and even feeding their bear friends! We had our bears participate in all of the normal preschool activities with us such as, rug time, lunch time and story time, but we also did some special things too (since it was Winnie the Pooh's birthday and all)! Here is a little peek into our wild day:

Our INDOOR Teddy Bear Picnic was very quaint and sweet as we shared teddy grahams with our bear friends. We counted the bears to be sure that we were being fair with our sharing! Also, since it was so rainy outside, we opted to have an indoor TEDDY BEAR parade and those bears just LOVED it! It wore them out actually and so we put our bears to sleep for their long winter's nap (so we could squeeze in a few centers and activities). Over all, it was a full day and I must say, I was ready for a winter's nap by the time it was over too:)

Opposites - Black & White!

"Opposites are tricky, but opposites are FUN!
Someday we will know them, we'll learn them ONE by ONE!"

I hope you recognize these words from one of your child's "Smart Songs". I hope he/she has been listening to them and loving them. I know it is hard for adults to appreciate these types of songs, but if you could just sneak them into the car once in awhile and indulge your child a bit, they really can help him/her solidify some essential pre-reading skills.

This day in January we celebrated all things opposite! Like Up and Down, Stop and Go and Black and White! See if you can get your preschooler to think of any more?!

Look What I Can Do!

One fun new thing we have put into play this 2010 is the Superstar Sign In clipboards. This is my effort to encourage some of those preschoolers who have been a little leery of writing their own name, to GO FOR IT! It's a little bit of bribery that is really paying off. Here's how it works: Each day, your child signs his/her name on the Sign In Clipboard and then receives any one of three prizes (and they never know what it will be). It might be a sticker, a small treat (like an m&m) or a high five! I have already seen great progress in the few short weeks we have implemented this activity! Continue to encourage your child to write his/her name at home and also, encourage them to stretch themselves in their efforts. For instance, with the three year-olds, I am happy if I can get them to write some or all of their letters on the line. However, with the four and five year olds, I would like to see more legibility, and possibly all the letters in the correct order. And for our five-year-old (pre-kindergartners) I would like to encourage them to put the capital letter at the beginning and use lower case letters for the rest of their name. Once they have mastered that, you can encourage them to move on to their last name! This really is a great multi-level activity and we will continue to do it each day at preschool!

Back In the Groove!

We have gotten RIGHT back into the swing of things here at preschool! Our Christmas break was very relaxing and fun, but it has been great to get back into the groove! The kids were as eager and excited as I was this first day back. They were LOVING all the new books and January materials that were out on the shelves. They were so quiet, almost like the first day of school all over again! Of course, that didn't last too long. By the end of the day, they had all warmed right back into things. It is so good to have them back and ready to learn! Happy New Year!