Meet Trooper House

Meet Trooper House! 

Meet Trooper House! He is a Michigan State Police officer that visits classrooms to teach lessons about safety. Today we learned about 5 BIG safety rules:

1. Never go with strangers. Children should look for an officer or an adult with a name tag/uniform, badge, or another mom with kids if they need help. Those are the people that could be most helpful.

2. Always wear your seat belt. Children this age still need a BOOSTER SEAT, in the back seat of the car, ALL THE TIME!

3. Never put anything in your mouth that can be harmful (bugs, plants, chemicals, cigarettes, etc.)

4. Never touch, play with, or pick up a gun. Tell an adult right away!

5. Never let anyone touch you who scares you, hurts you, or makes you uncomfortable. Bathing suit areas are not to be touched by strangers or anyone else---unless it is a doctor or a parent making sure the child is healthy.

*Helpful hint: If you do not have a booster seat for your child and cannot afford one, the MSP has free ones that can be given to families in need. Until your child is 8 years old or 4'11 inches, s/he MUST be in a booster seat.

We are excited to see what Trooper House has in store for us next time. Stay tuned for more safety lesson updates!!

Sugar Cube Science Experiment

Today we were scientists! The children explored, predicted (made a hypothesis---a really good guess about what could happen), observed, discussed and recorded results. Check out our experiment below!

First, we started with sugar cubes. We had to taste them, because our little friends have never seen a sugar cube before! Then, each scientist had to stack them like a pyramid inside their plastic cup....

Then, we added purple food coloring to a pitcher of water....



 Next, we added a little purple water to the bottom of the cup. It was like magic!! We discovered that the sugar cubes are like a sponge. They absorbed (that's our fancy word for soaked up) the purple water! It went up the sugar cube layers/rows until it reached the top! The scientists recorded the results on their "What Happened" sheet.

Last, we observed what happened when the cubes sat in water for a few minutes. They dissolved (that's our fancy word for melted!)

Please be sure to ask your little scientist about our experiment! 

Rudolph with your nose so bright...

I love, love, love these reindeer that the children made last week! This is our first big cutting/art project of the year! Our students have become very comfortable with their scissor skills, and are able to tackle more complex tasks! These reindeer sure have stole my heart this Christmas, and I hope that you enjoy them, too! We are going to leave them up for awhile....but soon your child will be able to take them home for you!

Does your child know all of Santa's reindeer and how to sing the song? Now's the time to teach your child those classics that you once loved---and probably still do!

The Mitten

This week, we have been reading the story, The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We read the story on Monday and Tuesday so that the children would have a chance to get to know it really well. Today & tomorrow, we are working on re-telling the story. It's important for students to be able to recall information, events, and important aspects of a story (title, parts of a book, author, illustrator), and characters. I am so pleased with their ability to recall & participate in the re-telling! Everyone did a great job. If your child did not get a chance to be a character today, they will tomorrow!

Here are the characters who crawled in the mitten: owl, badger, meadow mouse, bear, snowshoe rabbit, hedgehog, fox, & mole. 

In "the mitten" wearing winter hats and reading stories! 

Here's Delaney telling about her favorite character from The Mitten, and a little bit about why this character is so memorable!

Not familiar with The Mitten? You can listen to it here! 

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas in our classroom! The tree is up, and we are beginning our Christmas crafts and songs. 'Tis the season for A LOT of fun throughout the winter months. I'm not quite sure where the snow is, or when it's going to get here, but we will be ready! 

Below, Zoe & Josie practice reading winter words at the ABC center! 

Allie is playing with Christmas Clip Its at the Fine Motor center. 

She's matching Christmas clothespins to the corresponding boards. It really works the finger muscles---which will help our friends with their writing and fine motor coordination.

Today we read the story The Mitten, by Jan Brett. It's a great winter story about a boy named Nicki and his Grandmother, Baba. She knits him mittens as white as the snow, and he loses one! Forest animals find their way into the mitten for warmth, until a big sneeze makes them all fly out! Using this story, we also talked about what characters in a story are, and how to predict. Throughout the week, we will read the story over and over & work on retelling the story, too! Below, Shelby is painting a decorating a mitten at the art center!

More fine motor work at the science/sensory area! We are cracking nuts. It takes a lot of hand muscles, and the nuts inside are continuously surprising and exciting! 

'Tis the seasons for crafting! Today our students made stocking wish lists. The stocking have been hung in the classroom with care, in hopes that parents soon will be there. Feel free to stop in and see what's on your child's wish list! 

A forest of cute little pine cone Christmas trees!

Desmond and Mackenzee are at the listening center, enjoying Jolly Old St. Nicholas song/story, as well as other holiday music! 

Lately, Ethan R. works to build towers much taller than himself! It's a daily challenge, which ends at clean up time with a fulfilling knocking down of the tower! The look on his face shows how proud he is!!

Glittery, pink, peppermint playdoh is a huge hit today! Lots of "baking" happening at the playdoh center. You must might see Clara and Megan on the reality show Cupcake Wars in the future! If they win, I bet their teachers would get free cupcakes for life! 

Thank you to Mrs. Schultz, Clarabelle's mom (AM Class) for being our very first Christmas Story Reader! We loved the book Snowmen at Christmas! A few of us may be inspired to build a snow dog, and check on the snowmen in our yards in the middle of the night to see what they are up to! 

We still have MANY more openings for Christmas Story Readers this month! Please consider taking time to come in and read to us. Contact Mrs. Powell if you are interested!! 

Christmas Story Readers

While this post has nothing to do with the movie 'A Christmas Story', how can you not look at this face and laugh and be reminded of this great classic?! 

In our classroom, every December, I like to invite parents/grandparents/close relatives in to cuddle up next to the Christmas tree with their child and read a classic or fun Christmas/winter story to our class! It has become an annual tradition that our students love each year. You may bring in your own story, or choose one from our shelves in the the classroom! 

AM Story readers are scheduled at 10:00am, and PM story readers are scheduled at 2:00pm Monday-Thursday for the entire month of December. Readers must be scheduled in advance. We appreciate story readings that take 15 minutes or less---otherwise, our little listeners tend to get too wiggly if it takes any longer than that!

Feel free to think of the classics that you may like to share: Rudolph, The Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, etc. These stories are most recognized by our children as a movie--but did they ever see it written as children's literature?! There are also a lot of short, funny, rhyming stories about Christmas, Santa, or winter themes in general. The options are wide open. 

Our preschoolers make a great audience! They are fun, eager, and welcoming of any reader---it doesn't matter if you've never read to children before, get a little nervous (they can't tell!), or are a more theatrical reader with voices for every character. We just love having guest readers come in and share the spirit of the season and YOUR love of reading!! 

Please e-mail Mrs. Powell or call the classroom to be added to our story reader schedule! And remember...if you sign up, keep it a secret! Each day, we will try to guess who our Christmas Story Reader will be!! 

Happy Holidays! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Many years ago, a group of preschool pilgrims arrived in the New World on the Mayflower....

 

 

It was a long, two month voyage.  When they arrived, it was winter time. Many were sick. They were tired, hungry, and unable to find food in their new home. 

Then, they met a group of Wampanoags (Native Americans)....

 

Luckily, the Wampanoags had lived in Massachusetts Bay Area for a long time. They knew how to hunt, and knew a lot about the local crops. They shared this knowledge with the colonists, and helped them survive. To celebrate their first harvest, they....

Feasted!!! 

Back in the 1621, the feast most likely consisted of deer, salmon, duck, seafood, cabbage, onions, corn and squash. Stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce were not even invented yet! These preschool pilgrims and Native Americans feasted on a more modern version of Thanksgiving food: corn bread, corn, turkey, mini pumpkin pies, and stuffing. 

We appreciate how the colonists and Native Americans were able to get along, help each other out, learn from each other, and be kind and friendly. Even if the two groups didn't get along forever, we hope our preschool friends are on their way to developing life long skills for being kind, helpful, and working cooperatively with others! 

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

BE SURE TO ASK YOUR CHILD WHAT S/HE IS THANKFUL FOR! 

Talk about your family's traditions, and what kinds of things are most important to be thankful for! 


***Feel free to post your child's response to this line: "I am thankful for __________"*** 
I am sure we will get some responses that will make us smile and laugh out loud!! 

We've been busy learning and growing!

We've been busy with a lot of great activities lately! Thank you for continuing to check in and see what we've been up to! 


On Monday, the children explored the concepts of sink/float during our science experiment! During free choice, the children have been testing various objects in the water table to see if they sink or float. In the photo below, Corbin is gaining a different perspective---from UNDER the table! While Dayton drops each item in, Corbin confirms whether he saw it sink to the bottom of the table or not! What a surprise when some items thud or bounce off the bottom...this brings on new concepts for Corbin---reflexes!! :) 

HI, Corbin!! We see you under there!  

Go, Kylee, go!! 

In gym class on Wednesday, we practiced kicking a soccer ball. We worked on only using our feet to move the ball, stopping, kicking with our toes or the inside of the foot, and looking forward while running! 

Zoe appears to be a natural!

 We are a couple of months into the school year, and our hard work is paying off! During free choice, our students are becoming more acclimated to each other's company, and engaging in cooperative play---working together is priceless!! Below, Desmond and Ethan D. work together to match fabric letters to the foam ABC floor mat! What you can't hear is the ABC song they are singing! Great team work, boys! 

 In the block area, Allie, Scarlett,  and Ethan R. work together to build a house! In the background, they are using blue prints off of the workbench as a guide. We all know that every good contractor must use a blue print in order to make a successful, long standing structure. Build on, little friends, build on! 

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!! 

Ms. Schneider and Mrs. Powell 

AM Class 

A-MAZING little jack-o-lantern oranges filled with...

grapes! Sooo cute! Thanks Zoe and family! :) 

PM Class

Megan counts out 7 pumpkins to match her #7 card.
This is Pumpkin Patch Math at our Learning Stations!
This activity works on number recognition, counting, quantifying/1:1 correspondence 

THANK YOU to all of the parents, grandparents, other relatives, and friends that came to see our preschoolers parade today! We were so happy you came to watch. Also, a GIANT THANK YOU to all the families whom donated a snack/treat for our party. Our students enjoyed all of the fun foods today! Last, but not least, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to Mrs. Romey, Ethan R's Grandma, and Mrs. Downing for helping make our classroom party a great success. Preschool parties are fast paced, and action packed. We could not have done it without some extra hands. Ms. Schneider and I truly appreciate your time and assistance today!!! We hope everyone had a great time Trick-or-Treating tonight! 

~ Keri Powell, GSRP Teacher 

Be Active Everyday Challenge!

5-2-1-0 Let's Go! 

I am so impressed with everyone's activity box this week! It looks like many of our preschoolers have a great plan to stay active every day with a variety of exercises, games, and activities!! 5210 is a program that we will continue to promote at CAPS, and in our GSRP classroom all year long. We hope they 5-2-1-0 catch phrase will become a staple in your home, too! Below are pictures of students/families who took some extra time to e-mail me their pictures of "being active at home"! THANK YOU, and I hope your enjoy your new 5-2-1-0 lunch bag for participating in the bonus challenge! 

Mackenzee loves to swing at her house to stay active! 

Josie likes to swim in the YMCA swimming pool! 

Cameron rides his bike for exercise!! 

Clarabelle tries to keep a balloon in the air with a fly swatter!! 

Delaney rode the ponies and walked/ran through the corn maze at Geers Farm! 

Ethan likes to ride his bike! 

Shelby showed her parents how to do jumping jacks! 

Madison rode the swings and played at Geers Farm! 

Zoe jumps on the trampoline!

Way to go, everyone! Keep up the good work, and continue to make healthy choices! Stay tuned....our Junior Kindergarden and GSRP classes are going to be making a 5210 video!!