Welcome to Pre-K! (Part 2)

This week the kiddos continued to practice routines and procedures of Pre-K. The children are getting much better at walking down the hallways to our special classes and are learning how to clean up after themselves at lunch and during snack. I am very proud of how much they have progressed in such a short time!

Let's take a closer look at the week...

Free Choice:

During free choice the children are free to choose from multiple "centers" and direct their own play and actions. Free choice time activities are child-directed and play-based. Yes, structured activities are important for building developmental skills in children - they teach children how to follow rules and routines and provide growth opportunities for numerous skills. However, free choice time is also important for many reasons. Free choice time: helps children create and carry out ideas, fosters decision making skills, provides opportunities to make choices while playing alone or while playing in a group, fosters independence, develops social skills and collaborative play skills, develops conflict resolution skills and learn to take turns, helps children develop their skills as leaders and as followers, and provides opportunities for children to discover their interests and skills.

Build Your Rainbow

This week the kiddos learned what it means to "Build Your Rainbow." We talked about what it means to be a good friend and to make nice choices. Every time we "catch" a kiddo making a nice choice (sharing, helping clean up, being a first time listener, etc) we ask the kiddo to "build their rainbow." They get to build one color at a time until their whole rainbow is built - then they get to pick something out of the prize box! "Building Your Rainbow" is a form of positive reinforcement and it encourages desired behaviors.

Question of the Day

This week we also introduced the "Question of the Day." The question of the day is a fun and engaging way to get students learning as soon as they walk in the door. The question of the day promotes various language objectives including: recognize their name in print, recognize upper and lowercase letters, explore letter sounds, recognize that spoken words are represented by written language, follow words from left to right, answer yes/no questions, and participate in language with others.

Reading Buddies

This week the Pre-K kiddos were introduced to their sixth grade Reading Buddies. The Reading Buddies join us in the Pre-K classroom once a week to read to the Pre-K kiddos. This is great practice for the older kids as they develop their fluency. In addition, they often come to see the value of reading. Students not only promote good practice but gain self-esteem. It is also great to see wonderful relationships form between the sixth graders and the Pre-K kids. When they see each other in the hallways they always get excited and can't wait to say hello!

Journals

This week we began our journals. The journal question this week was, "What are some things you like about Pre-K?" The kiddos were asked to draw a picture and dictate their response. The goal for journals is for the kiddos picture to match their response. At the beginning of the year we often see colorful scribbles but towards the end of the year we start to see their pictures develop into meaningful formations, and begin to see lines and shapes that represent objects. We also see a wonderful progression in their stories and responses to the prompt.

PE

This week in PE the kiddos played “Survivor Island.” (It is almost like musical chairs - except no “chairs” are taken away!) To play the game Mr. Linkhart put hula hoops (“islands”) around the gym. When Mr. Linkhart turned on music, the kiddos were instructed to dance, hop, or run around the gym. When he turned off the music, the kiddos were asked to run to a hula hoop and put two feet inside.

Music

This week the kiddos practiced singing the “Good Morning Song” and began working on songs for Grandparents Day! The kiddos also had the opportunity to play different instruments.

Art

This week in art class Ms. Stein encouraged the kiddos to create a shapes collage using construction paper of various sizes, colors and shapes.

Library:

On Friday's the kiddos get to enjoy stories and songs with Ms. Hilda. At the end of Library the children get to choose a book to checkout. You will find your child's book in their cubby. Feel free to take it home and return by the following Friday. The children can check out another book if they have returned their book from the week before. Happy Reading!

Zoo Phonics:

This week we began our Zoo Phonics practice. Zoo Phonics teaches the sounds of the letters through the animal names (and letter sounds are taught before letter names). We introduce the letters slowly to make sure that the kiddos learn each letter sound before we move on to the next. This week we learned all about "Allie Alligator." The kiddos learned the sound and motion for this zoo friend. Ask your Pre-K kid if they can teach you!

Recess:

The kiddos love to explore the playground!

Thank You

Special thank you to Benjamin's family for buying us bright and colorful chairs for our classroom library! They are wonderful and the kiddos LOVE them!

Next Week:

Next week we will begin our “All About Me” unit. We will discover our unique qualities that make us special. Each month we will be painting a self-portrait.  The children get to look in the mirror and examine their physical characteristics and will interpret their image into a painting. It is exciting to see the changes and growth from the first self-portrait to the final one in June!  These paintings will be displayed in the classroom.