This week we have been learning about the rainforest and how important it is to keep our safe from people who do not help take care of it. We learned about the different layers of the rainforest: forest floor, understory, canopy, and emergent. We learned about where the animals live in the rainforest and that plants grow in the canopy because they can get sunlight. We practiced writing different rainforest words, used letter magnets to spell the words, Rainforest Match game, Rainforest Bingo, and we used word cards that had different rainforest animals and looked for them in the books.

We worked on puzzles: some easy and some challenging ones that had over 25 pieces. The children works in pairs or individually on these puzzles. Its a great way for them to learn how to work together or to challenge themselves. We played Monkeys Go Bananas! math game, Count the Frogs game, sorted the frogs by size small and big. animal dominos, and put numbers in order from 0-10 or 0-20. We used the wood shape blocks to build, count, and make shapes. The children were able to make simple creations to complex creations. I wanted to challenge them to think outside the box. They made some amazing things such as train tracks to a house.

We listened to sounds of the rainforest and tried to guess what we were hearing. We experimented with touch by feeling different fruits and verbally stating what they feel like. It's been a very busy week for our PreK class and I hope they learned a lot about our rainforest and why its important for us to keep it healthy by not tearing it down.

Our next theme is Friends.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.

This week's theme is All About Me. The children have been learning things about each other and they are starting to get into a routine. We have been doing different activities such as My Body Instant Learning Center where they place the magnet names of body parts to where the body part is located. It has a picture and the name of body part to help them see the body part and the name of it. We have been practicing writing our first names and last names. We did an alphabet matching game where they had to match lowercase letters to its uppercase letter.

We did different fine and gross motor activities such as playing with playdoh, using the magnetiles to build, and some of the children have expressed interest in the gears which is a great way to challenge them to build something different because it forces them to go out of their comfort zone. I do change the toys weekly to keep them from getting bored and I try to challenge them into playing with the "new" toys.

We put numbers in order, patterning with frog and bear counters, sorting counters by size, tracing numbers while using counters, etc. My goal is to see where your children are at so that I can make sure I am challenging them and preparing them for what they need to know for Kindergarten. As the year progresses, I can tweak some things in my lesson plan that will help your child if they struggle in certain areas. We will start working on sight word recognition, letter and number recognition, practice writing words, numbers, names, etc.

Next week's theme is Rainforest/Jungle.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me!

Welcome to PreK 2! In my classroom, I do a ton of fun stuff to prepare the children for Kindergarten. My goal is to get them ready for Kindergarten and I focus on different areas such Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, etc. I also focus on Social/Emotional, Fine and Gross Motor skills. Not every child is on the same level so I try to have different activities to either challenge them or to help them with a skill they struggle with. I will try to get your child beyond what is required for Kindergarten but I will mostly focus on the skills that are required for Kindergarten.

This week's theme is Back to School. We talked about rules of the classroom, patio, and playground. My 3 rules that I have are: Be Safe, Be Kind, and Be Neat. We did some activities such as sorting the counters by colors then counting using 1:1 correspondence, learning our friends' names, practicing writing our names, sorting the letters and numbers into categories, charting how we got to school, etc. We will be doing new things such as learning how to serve ourselves family style and brushing our teeth. We couldn't do this due to Covid but we are slowly trying to get back to normal! Some of you have asked about water bottles, we cannot have water bottles in the classroom because they tend to get lost and we do have water pitchers in the classroom if your child would like water.

I will be sending out a packet as to what is expected in my PreK 2 classroom. I will send out emails throughout the year if there's something I feel you need to know or reminders for anything happening in our center or classroom. If there's anything you need or if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me. I am very excited to have your child in my classroom and I know we will have a great and fun year ahead of us!!

Next week's theme is: All About Me.

-Ms. Michelle

This week has been a busy week because we have been rehearsing for the PreK Circus and the children are so excited for their parents to see what they can do! We have been practicing writing numbers, letters, and Circus words this week. We made a circus word list, dictated what we would do if we were in the circus, we match uppercase letters to lowercase letters, we made letters and numbers while using popcorn, and we did a Popcorn Sight word domino game. We counted popcorn using 1:1 correspondence while using number cards, Circus Simple addition with popcorn, Circus 3 piece number puzzle, Circus Graphing, and Circus number sequence puzzle. We made a popcorn bag with real popcorn, we drew a picture of how we think a circus looks like, and we made a clown hat where we colored and cut the hat. The children had so much fun doing these art projects. We listened to circus music and we made a ferris wheel while using tinker toys. The children discovered that they can mix hard and soft blocks to make their own version of a circus and instead of animals, they used dinosaurs! They were very creative this week. We discussed different things we saw or would like to see at a circus.

We talked this week about who we would talk to if we were feeling sad, angry, etc and most of the children said that they would talk to their mommy and daddy because they would help us and make us feel better. We talked about different ways we can help someone and we talked about different animals we see at the circus and how to take care of them. We also discussed ways we can be safe while at the circus and we all agreed that we need to stay close to mommy and daddy because if we get lost, our mommy and daddy would be so scared that they do not see us!

I have been working with the children on getting them to talk more about feelings, rules, and how to be safe. I will continue to do this until they leave PreK 9-3.

Don't forget that we are closed on May 30, 2022 in observance of Memorial Day and the last day for PreK 9-3 is June 2, 2022.

-Ms. Michelle

Warm weather is finally here! Hopefully, it stays warm! With that said, please make sure your child has socks on if they wear shoes with holes because of rocks, sticks, and other outside items can hurt their feet. Check your child's cubby to see if they have warm weather clothes in case of accidents, spills, etc.

This week, we have been talking about Gardening. We talked about where our food grows from which are trees and garden. We talked about the life cycle of a flower using pictures and we labeled each part together. We are growing our own sunflowers! The children are excited to watch the seeds grow into actual sunflowers and I explained to them that it takes time for the sunflowers to sprout. We talked about what things plants need to grow which are soil, sun, water, and air. We learned how bees and other insects help spread the seeds around so that new flowers, trees, and plants grow.

We practiced writing letters, matched lowercase flower letters to uppercase letter flower pots, figured out what sounds each letter makes by using a picture to the letter flower pots, and we played sight word bingo. We have been practicing a lot this week about figuring out what sounds each letter makes by using different pictures. We learned what numbers are odd and even. We played different math games using dice, sunflower seeds, and we sorted different gardening tools, fruits, and vegetables by their attributes. In Art, we made a My Name Garden, drew a picture of a garden as a class, and we painted flowers using plastic bottles. We did different things in Art such as cutting, coloring, gluing, etc and we experimented with different materials to create our pictures.

We talked about not running away from our mommies and daddies when they come to pick up because it's not a safe choice and we could run into another child or adult. We also spoke about not running out of the center without our mommies and daddies because there are cars and we could get hurt.

First, I would like to thank our LCCC families for the wonderful treats, massage, lunch, flowers, cards, etc we received during Teacher Appreciation Week, I am so thankful and appreciative of our families! Thank you so much!

We also have a special theme this week which is Mothers because Mother's Day is coming up this Sunday. The children had a fun week making cute items for their mommies and they cannot wait until their mommies open up their gifts! We talked about rules that our mommies have for us and most of the children said was Be nice and don't talk back to adults. We drew a picture of our mommies, made a bracelet, and made a special Mother's Day present for our mommies! We guessed how many beads we put on a string then Ms. Michelle counted the number of beads to see how close the guesses were. We counted the number of chocolate chips each cookie has and checked the other side to see if we were right, We practiced our writing by making a card for Mother's Day, practiced writing Mother's Day related words, and we practiced writing numbers while using number cards.

We talked about what nice things our mommies do for us and how we can do nice things for our mommies. We matched Mama animals to Baby animals, we did different games to help us with letter and number recognition and we did simple addition. It was a busy but fun week!

Happy Mother's Day, PreK 9-3 moms! Enjoy your day and I hope you like your present your child made for you!

-Ms. Michelle

This week we are learning about transportation. We talked about different types of transportation: land, air, and water. We identified what they are and sorted them by land, air, and water. We practiced writing transportation words, traced ABC letters using toy cars, and practiced writing our first and last names. We did vehicle patterning, transportation memory match game, practiced writing numbers, and did simple subtraction. We built different types of transportation by using different manipulatives such as tinker toys, tubes, and magna-tiles. We did some matching games such as matching the worker with their vehicle and talking about what method transportation we use when coming to school. Most of the PreK 9-3 friends said they go in cars! We used toy vehicles to make car tracks and we made our own vehicle by drawing it and then we wrote what it is. I also showed the children pictures of different modes of transportation then and now and we discussed how they were same/different today. It's amazing how much it has changed throughout the years!

On Wednesday, we went on a field trip to see Doodle Pop and it was a interesting play and the PreK 9-3 children enjoyed it. The children were able to tell me things that they remember about the play and most of them said that the actors were looking for the turtle but found the turtle at the end of the play. The actors were interactive and they got the kids to participate with them. The actors came all the way from South Korea to do this play for the children.

We set the butterflies free on Thursday! It was so exciting to see them fly away after watching them grow from caterpillars to butterflies. Thank you to Ms. Holle for getting the caterpillars for us so that the children can see the Life Cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly..

Have a great 3 day weekend! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.

-Ms. Michelle

This week PreK 9-3 learned about Earth Day/Recycling. We talked about how we can take good care of our planet by recycling, how we can reduce waste, and reuse items. The children learned that items that we recycle can turn into clothes that we wear, toys that we play with, and any everyday items that we use. We talked about how we should turn off the water when we are not using it, repair our toys instead of throwing it out, and to turn off the lights when we are not in the room. One of the children said, "So, that's why we have a job where we turn the lights off when we leave our classroom." I made a waste basket for recycling paper instead of throwing it out because we can reuse the paper instead of throwing it in the garbage can.

We made a big Earth which is hanging on the widow of our classroom, we made instruments from items that were brought from home, The children were shocked at how easy it is to make instruments with some items that we have around our house. They even marched around our classroom playing their instruments that they made! It was loud but fun! We did a sorting game where we sorted objects by paper, aluminum, compost, and plastic. We practiced writing the letter Rr, sight words: little & big, and we used stones to make letters and numbers. It was a short but fun week.

We also talked about listening ears. We've had some friends not listening to teachers and not doing what is expected so I have been talking with the children and reading books on listening and how to manage our feelings. We will continue to talk about listening ears and managing our feelings.

Update on our caterpillars: They are now in the cocoon stage so pretty soon, they will turn into butterflies! The children are so excited and can't wait until they hatch!hol

if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.

-Michelle

This week is a fun week because we did some fun stuff this week. We went on a field trip to Emerson Elementary School and we got to see 3 Kindergarten classrooms. Our new Kindergarten friends showed us around their classrooms and that they do during the day. Our PreK 9-3 class did great! It was a little overwhelming at first but our PreK class explored as they were paired off with 2-3 Kindergarteners. When we came back to school, we talked about what we learned and saw. Most of our PreK 9-3 friends told me that they are ready to go to Kindergarten in the Fall! Thank you, Emerson Elementary School for allowing us to explore your classrooms!

We also learned about Easter which is our theme for the week. We started off drawing a picture of the Easter Bunny then we dyed eggs! It was messy but fun! We finished the week off drawing a picture of either a Easter Bunny or an Easter Egg and the children wrote "Happy Easter" on their paper. We practiced counting the Math Way, practiced doing simple addition, and graphing with Easter Candy. We also touched base on simple subtraction. We did some science experiments where we had to predict if our Easter eggs will sink or float. Most of our friends said the egg will sink which they were right! The egg did sink! We are still continuing to practice our letter and number recognition by playing some games such as Connect Four and recognition.

We finished off our week by having an Easter Egg hunt where the children had to find 2 eggs: one with their initials and one with a letter. The eggs with the letter, they had to tell me a word that starts with the letter and what sound it makes. We talked about what we will be doing over the weekend since we have a 4- Day weekend coming up. Most of the PreK children said that they will be doing on an Easter Egg hunt which is so exciting! With that said, Happy Easter and I hope you enjoy your long weekend!

-Michelle

PreK 9-3 had a very busy week because it was the Week of the Young Child. Our week started off with listening to Ms. Rasta play her saxophone and clarinet and ended with having a day off for Family Friday! The children loved it when Senator Antonio came to read, "Pete the Cat's Crayons Rock" book. They asked her questions and she asked them questions as well. We learned what a Senator does and how important her job is.

Our theme this week is Bugs/Insects. We learned about bugs/insects, how important they are to our ecosystem, and why we need them. The children made caterpillars, butterflies, and they drew bugs while using books as references. Speaking of caterpillars, we have caterpillars in our room and we are watching them turn into butterflies! The children can't wait until they hatch and we release them outside. We have been working on writing our first and last names on strips of paper in preparation for Kindergarten. Some of the children are working on uppercase, lowercase, and number recognition. We did complete the entire alphabet so now we will be reviewing and coming up with words that start with the letter I say out loud. I will be reviewing the numbers as well. I will be starting on sight word recognition next week. We will be visiting Emerson Elementary School next Wednesday so make sure your child has a mask on when they arrive to school.

Our upcoming themes are: Easter and Recycling. I will be sending home a note about your children bringing in recyclable items so that we can learn all about recycling.

It's starting to get warmer so please check your child's cubby to make sure they have extra clothes in case they get dirty.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me!

-Michelle