Happy May everyone! And Happy Mother’s Day! We spent a lot of time creating our Mother’s Day gifts and we really hope you enjoyed them! The seed balls were great fun to create! We took construction paper and cut it up into little pieces and let them soak in water. Next we added the paper mixture to a blender and created a “pulp”. Next we chose our colors, added wildflower seeds and formed it all into a ball. So fun! You can plant it in your garden or in a flowerpot and watch it grow!
We also learned a lot about Korea! Audrey’s mom, Julie, came into school and taught us where Korea is located in the world. We learned what the national flower is, the hibiscus, and what the flag looks like. We learned about the special clothes they wear on holidays, what sports they like to play (soccer and taekwondo) and some of the foods they eat. We even learned some Korean words! After Julie’s presentation we were able to taste some of the Korean snacks, rice in seaweed and rice crackers! Yummy!
Later that day Audrey‘s family treated us to a pizza party! Gam sa ham ni da, Audrey! Thank you!
It was a great month to spend some more time in the garden! We are looking forward to a crop of tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, green beans, peas, basil, watermelon, pumpkins and more! Such an exciting time of year to see all the changes in our garden!
In June will we will head to France! We are excited to learn about France from our pre-K friend, Xavi, and his mom! We will also be learning about frogs and other amphibians, Father’s Day and stepping up!
Thank you for all you do! If you need anything please let us know!
Heather and Kathy
Hello UPK families,
June is here! We have been spending a lot of time outside as the weather continues to get warmer! Some mornings can still be a little chilly so please continue to send your child with a light sweater or jacket just in case! We are very excited to continue to explore in our garden, playground and even our nature walks.
We had a lot of fun in May continuing to get to know each other and learn new things. Our spring theme continues! This month’s focus–BUGS!! During our insect unit we have been exploring things that live underground, on the ground and in the air! We have learned that all insects have three body parts (head, thorax and abdomen) and six legs. We will talk about life cycles of insects, too. We have talked about the life cycle of a ladybug as well as butterflies. We have used magnifying glasses to get a closer look at different types of bugs as well. Students have had a lot of fun watching the ants outside on the playground as well as digging for worms in the sandbox. We are also very excited to be able to watch our classroom butterflies hatch from their chrysalis.
We have had so much fun planting in our garden! As we were preparing the soil we got to see what bugs were living in the garden too. We planted potatoes and students are very excited to check every day to see if anything has started to grow. We have also planted lettuce and cannot wait to watch it grow!
We have also been working on problem solving when disagreements arise between friends. We work on using our words to express our feelings when we are upset and also practice deep breathing to help us calm our bodies. Pretending that we are smelling the flowers when taking a deep breath in and pretending to blow out the candles when we breathe out.
In June we will be learning about the country France! We cannot wait to learn about the Eiffel tower and explore French traditions like foods, language and so much more.
It has been an exciting month of learning! Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your student’s growth. We cannot wait to explore new adventures in June!
-April and the UPK Team
Hello families,
The month of May was full of fun and exciting adventures of spring. The children studied baby animals, bugs, learned the life cycle of a butterfly and all about Korea! We learned about traditions in Korea such as attire, sports, and food! We even got to design our own Hanbok; traditional Korean attire using some coloring pages Audrey’s mom brought us. Thank you, Julie, for coming in to teach us all about your country.
The students made lots of art projects in May including watercolor painted birds, natural material nests, and paper chickens! We had a great time learning all about different spring animals. We also learned about different types of insects! We talked all about the bugs we began to see in spring such as ants, bees, and butterflies. We even became beautiful butterflies, starting from an egg hatching to wiggling around the field “munching and munching” as a caterpillar, to flying with beautiful scarves as our wings.
We worked lots in our first steps garden planting things like potatoes, spinach, carrots, radishes, and other vegetables.
June has arrived!
Some of what we are planning for June: This month we will learn about frogs and other amphibians! We will read books about dads and celebrate Father’s Day. We will study the country France! Xavi’s mom Asa will be coming in to teach and share her love and knowledge for her country to the students. We are so excited. This month in June we will talk more about how our hands are tools and are used for kindness always. We will talk about how our hands can be great tools in the garden. We also will learn about other garden tools and how they are used. The students will be using small watering cans to take turns watering some of the seeds we’ve sowed in April and May. We will be spending a lot of time outside and playing outdoor games. We will be taking home our bean plant or flower plant growing in the classroom. It has been such a fun year.
The sun is bright and so are these kiddos! We have had so much fun laughing and playing together all year long. At times this was remotely, but we all were always happy to be with one another and come to school. Thank you all for an amazing year and for allowing me to grow and laugh with your children. We will be in touch about plans for stepping up / celebrating children at First Steps for the year 2020-2021.
I hope everyone has an amazing summer!
Friendly reminders,
It’s hot so send your child in with sun block on. Please also send your child with a water bottle, hat, visor, sunglasses or whatever you feel necessary to keep cool while playing outside.
Thank you!
All my best,
Miss Kristin
Hello Preschool Families!
Happy Spring! We are excited to embrace April and all the changes it brings! The warmer days offer more opportunities to explore outside and notice all the changes this new season brings.
As much as we loved playing in all the snow this winter, we welcome spring and the different weather that comes with it! We have had so many discussions about rain, wind, and clouds. We found out that different kinds of clouds usher in changing weather conditions. We even spent some time on the playground looking up at all the shapes the clouds can make. The children have offered great thoughts and questions about the weather. We continue to watch as new life emerges around us. Trees, flowers, and baby animals are all around. What an exciting time!
As a class we have started to plan what we would like to plant in our garden! This will be an ongoing project as we plant, weed, water, observe and eventually pick and eat what we grew. So far the kids have asked to plant strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and potatoes. We can’t wait to get started!
We talked a lot about eggs at Easter. Now we will expand on that as we discover which animals lay eggs. There is a bird’s nest outside our classroom window and we are waiting to see if any baby birds will make an appearance!
During April we will be discovering England! We look forward to learning about castles, English traditions, foods and so much more as we dive into our country of study. As always, the children’s questions will guide as to what they would like to learn!
Earth Day is April 22. We will be learning about the earth and how we can help to keep it safe. “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” will be our focus this month. We will look for new ways to reuse an item and give it a new purpose. We can all find ways to help the earth; turn off the lights when you leave the room, turn off the water while you brush your teeth, what can be recycled in your lunchbox, go on a litter patrol and pick up garbage in your neighborhood.
We will be practicing some of these in school! We anticipate another month of fun, learning and growing with your kids! Thank you for sharing your children with us and for all of your support! Enjoy the beautiful spring weather!
Miss Kathy and Miss Heather
Hello UPK families,
Yay Spring! We have been enjoying our time learning outside. Finding the smallest clue about spring can spark amazing questions, ideas, and new games. The children have been using magnifying glasses to check out nature as we look at different bark, leaves, and even watch bugs. A new bird feeder has been installed on our classroom window. It has been fun identifying bird visitors as we watch them eat. Your little artists love decorating the classroom with creative birds, and spring pictures.
The class has been excited about water play as they explore the life cycle of a frog, or wash play kitchenware with a friend. They have been reading many books about the development of frogs, and love sharing stories of when they saw one in nature, or a pool.
They had a great time making homemade play dough with Miss Kim. It’s been fun rolling it out, making animal footprints, and even hiding fake bugs in it. We have been playing lots of board games and cards in small groups. They are learning to take turns, and grasping the idea of working together fairly. The whole class really shows a love for books. It could be a request for a story in a quiet area, or looking at a favorite with a buddy. Miss Mary visits our class, and makes a special story or two come alive as the children interact, and even dress up. We love you Miss Mary!
We have been strengthening our bodies and working together on team skills in our Wednesday gym class. Everyone had fun making a home run while playing “baseball.” There were lots of laughs in a game of volleyball with balloons! Our Thursday’s with Uncle Rock are full of music and dancing outside. They really have great moves!
First Steps would like to give a warm welcome to Miss April who came to us in April! She has brought a new light on dance and music. We have been getting to know each other, having fun playing, and learning each precious day together. As we all continue to live life through change please know our love and guidance will remain!
Thank you, UPK team
May is here and so is the sun! We are so happy to be outside more as the weather continues to warm. Some days are still chilly, especially in the morning. Please make sure you send your child with a light jacket or sweater. We are looking forward to all the beauty May brings us and all the adventures we will go on in the garden, different areas on the school grounds and on walks!
April was so much fun. We talked about the rain as April showers bring may flowers! We created projects focused around the rain, read books about the rain and why it’s good, and learned about types of clouds. We also learned about gardens and how things grow. Students read stories about different types of gardens and then created some. We made a flower garden and focused on the parts of a flower. We got to draw pictures of flowers and even made one out of clay. Then, painted it. We created a classroom vegetable garden on our bulletin board and talked about things we wanted to plant in the First Step’s garden. We made all of the vegetables out of paper! These pieces of food were so creative and well thought out. Some examples of what students made are carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and strawberries. We learned that vegetables could be different colors. Such as purple potatoes and carrots. April took us on so many learning adventures as we continued through our study of spring and gardening.
We did some experiments in April with seeds and cut fruit. Our seed experiment was “will our bean sprout”? The students planted their own seeds and then watched carefully to see if their hypothesis or guess was right. We read “Jack and the Bean Stalk” and drew our own pictures of a growing bean!
We conducted an experiment on cut fruit and vegetables. We did this with a potato and an apple. We cut it. Everyone cut one piece. We guessed what would happen to it. We left it overnight. Then, the next day, we talked about and recorded how it had changed. We discovered that air or being left out in the air actually changed the fruit! It changed the color and the freshness of the fruit. We recorded our findings in the class science book.
We introduced water play outdoors in April as well. The students are so excited to be playing and pouring together in the sunshine. We are having a blast in gym and music. We learned some spring games in gym like volleyball and baseball. We sang lots of spring songs in music with Uncle Rock. The song “Inch by Inch” was indeed a favorite among students.
It’s been a month of growth and adventure. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful blessings with us each day.
Best,
Miss Kristin “Everything grows, it’s destined to change.” – J.Cole
Hello Parents! Happy April! It really feels like the winter flew by since we were having so much fun!
In March we studied the country of Ireland and Miss Heather gave us a ton of information during her presentation and showed us lots of photos from her trip there! And we even ate delicious mashed potatoes, a dish that they eat often in Ireland! We did lots of decorating for our St. Patrick’s Day party by cutting out shamrocks and making rainbows in many different ways! We even did a science experiment with rainbows! On the day of our celebration we ate cupcakes with green icing from Miss Kim, played a shamrock alphabet game, and danced to Irish music in the big room with Miss Kristin‘s class!
We were so happy to be able to get in the garden and start preparing the beds for us to plant in soon! We were also happy to see the first sign of spring! We took a nature walk and heard birds singing, saw grass growing, saw flower buds poking out of the ground and felt the warm air on our faces!
We wrapped up the month learning about Passover and Easter. Miss Kristin shared some of her family’s Passover traditions and Miss Heather and Miss Kathy shared theirs about Easter. We even got to have a little Easter party and have an Easter egg hunt!
Next month we will be visiting the country of England! We will also be learning a lot about reusing, reducing and recycling in preparation for Earth Day! We will talk more about spring, gardens and baby animals. And we will hopefully be able to spend some more time in our garden!
Thank you for all you do and please let us know if you need anything!
Miss Heather and Miss Kathy
Hello families … happy April! We are so excited to get outside more as the weather continues to warm up. We will be talking a bit about all the rain that will water the trees, grass and flowers bringing them to the spring season. We will also discuss what we want to plant in our First Steps garden. We are thrilled to be studying England this coming month.
March was green galore and leprechaun madness as we worked with all types of materials, toys and games to celebrate St. Patrick’s day and Ireland; our country of study. We made our own flags, our own shamrocks and our own castles! We built castles with blocks and as a team with boxes and other materials. We enjoyed felt board stories about castles by Miss Kathy. Like, “Princess and the P” and “Rumpelstiltskin”. The children had fun identifying other stories that take place in a castle like Cinderella and Rapunzel! Our kiddos are so smart. We read lots of books about the country Ireland and traditions of St. Patty’s day both here in the USA as well as in Ireland. We played with lots of green materials like green corn kernels and pasta pieces, green water, and green shaving cream. We began a unit on rainbows and will continue this into April as the spring season evolves and brings us beautiful colors in the sky and on the ground. The students made some rainbow pictures. Activities included markers, paint, and even a picture of a rainbow made with colorful bubbles!
We had lots of fun taking physical education (gym) in all kinds of different directions this past month. We did some dancing together, went out exploring in nature to find signs of spring and enjoyed what we call a sensory diet. This is when we use a large space with a wall for us to prop and move our bodies on. We do things like walking up the wall, pushing and pretending to move the wall, and jumping up high to touch a part of the wall taller than yourself. Music in March was a blast as well. Uncle rock started singing lots of spring songs with us like “Inch by Inch”, “Rain Rain Rain” “Stormy Eyes” and “Windy”.
We are looking forward to another great month together.
Thank you families!
Miss Kristin “ Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucious
Hello preschool families! Well February proved to be another fun filled month! It was so great to be able to get outside and play in the snow! The kids had so much fun building a snowman, making snow angels and even continued working on our snow fort!
We visited China this month! Miss Kathy gave a presentation on some of the interesting places you can see in China! And we all ate fried rice! We learned about the Great Wall of China and build our own version in the big room with big blocks!
We also celebrated Saint Valentine’s Day! We decorated our classroom, had lots of activities with the colors red, pink, purple and white and read lots of stories about love and being kind to our friends and family. On Valentine’s Day we had a little party and exchanged valentine cards with our classmates. We even had a special treat for snack, cookies!
We learned a lot about buildings this month too! We learned that there are lots of different types of buildings that people can live and work in. We even created our own town on our dry erase board in the classroom! We also drew a picture of the kind of building we would like to live in when we get older!
February is dental health month and we read lots of stories on how we can keep our teeth clean and healthy! We also did a really fun science experiment! We took four hard-boiled eggs and place them in containers and added different liquids to the containers such as soda, vinegar, juice, and water. We then guessed what would happen to each egg based on what liquid was added to the cup. The next day we check to see if there were any changes to the eggs and boy were we surprised! Each egg was a little bit different, the soda egg was colored darker, the juice egg was a bit slimy, the vinegar egg’s shell was softer and the water egg didn’t seem to be affected at all. We then took toothbrushes and toothpaste to clean the eggs. What a great experiment for us all!
We also started our “Mary Story’s” this month! Miss Mary is one of the district speech therapists and she works with some of the children in our school. She will be coming into our classroom on Tuesdays to read the kids a book. She brings props for the kids and sometimes they get to dress up as the characters in the story! Afterwards we get a treat or a special snack that goes with her story! So much fun!
Coming up in March we will be visiting Ireland! We will also be talking about St. Patrick’s Day, Passover and Easter!
*Reminder* – We will be closed April 1, 2nd and 5th for spring break!
Thank you for all that you do! Heather and Kathy
Hello UPK Families,
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you! As they say, everyone is Irish on St. Patty’s Day. This month we also welcome spring, daylight savings time, and the holiday of Passover! March is always an exciting month as our days get a little longer and the weather starts to change. Let’s see if March really “comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb”.
During the month of February we welcomed our students back into our building. It has been so nice to see their smiling faces and interact with them on a more personal level. They are truly a gift and I am grateful to be their teacher and have them back inside the classroom.
During the month of February, we celebrated Valentine’s Day! We discussed what love is and how love is felt inside our hearts. The children enjoyed distributing their Valentine’s to their friends and making cards for their families. We also read lots of stories about Valentine’s day such as Clifford’s First Valentine’s Day and There Was an Old Lady that Swallowed a Rose. We made lots of Valentine’s Day crafts and wore our “Love Bugs” headband in celebration of this holiday. Thank you so much for sending in Valentines for the children to distribute. They had so much fun filling up each other’s goody bags.
Last month we also studied the country of China. We finger painted flags of China and viewed a China PowerPoint Presentation created by Miss Kathy. We even enjoyed some of Miss Kathy’s homemade fried rice. It was so delicious! Thank you, Miss Kathy. We also celebrated Chinese New Year and discussed how this year is the year of the ox. We looked at different photos of oxen and discussed what these animals look like and some of the ways they help people. Did you know that people born in the year of the ox are dependable and calm? They are also good listeners and have very strong ideas!
Last month we also started our Creative Curriculum Unit on Buildings. We took a tour of our own building and discussed what our building is used for and what purpose each room serves. We also talked about different building features and counted how many doors, windows, and steps our building has. We also talked about different kinds of buildings such as skyscrapers, igloos, castles, huts, and teepees. We discovered what these buildings are made of and what they might be used for. The children also used different materials in our classroom to build their own buildings. We had so much fun!
As always, I look forward to the coming month with your children. If you need me for anything, I am just an email away.
“Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer.” – Anita Krizzan
With love,
Miss Dawn and the UPK Team