Week 10
Dear Preschool 2 Families,
Home Sweet Home!
Our classroom has been converted into a busy construction site this week as we began our two-week unit on Homes. Our discussions centered around what a home is, and the different types of places people live from apartments to house boats, tree houses to tipis. Your preschool construction experts decided that a door, paint, a roof, a chimney and stairs are all important pieces of a house. Then we talked about the important rooms a home needs and found that all types of home, large or small, offer you a place to cook and eat, a place to sleep, somewhere to get clean, and a comfy spot to play and spend time with family, and all shelter us from the rain and snow. Then we posed the question; what is your favorite room in your house? To this the most popular answer was the family room closely followed by our bedrooms. Other favorites include the basement, garage and playroom. All our friends expressed the love and security they feel at HOME.
We read Building a House by Byron Barton and discussed all that is involved in building a house, from drawing the blueprints and digging a foundation to installing windows and the final coat of paint. We looked at many of the different tools used by construction professionals, then got to try them out. Your children had a great time hammering, sawing, painting, and measuring in dramatic play as they explored the various aspects of carpentry and construction. Your preschoolers were excited by the process art experiences offered utilizing some of these as they created their own architectural drawings with rulers and chalk, built sculptures of interesting shape wood pieces, painted “the walls” and created collages of different shapes that we see in buildings and houses. Ask your child what was most tricky about these processes.
We had fun reading The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. Ask your child to tell you what Mr. Plumbean did to his house and how the neighbors reacted in the beginning and then at the end of the story. We then had an imaginative discussion of what we would like our houses to look like, which included princess, unicorn, rainbow and dinosaur castles, a real dinosaur, an airplane, a police station with a police car, a train, and a playground on top of the roof.
We encourage you to take your preschooler into the attic or basement and explore any unfinished part of your home. Another fun way to extend their learning is to count the number of doors and/or windows and see how many different shapes your child can spot in your home. We would love to hear about their discoveries next week.
The children were excited for our second visit to the library we are so lucky to have right across the street. The librarian read to us and each child picked out a new book to borrow. “Reading” these and sharing the choices of others is a highlight of our week at school. Ask your child to tell you about the book they selected this time.
We wished a big Preschool2 Happy 4th Birthday to Griffin and Clay this week!! Thank you to their families for coming in to read and bringing in some delicious special snacks for us to enjoy!
Reminders:
***Hats, mittens and a warm jacket are a must now that the weather has turned colder.
***As we encourage and empower your children to be independent, “Can Do” Kids, please send in mittens, not gloves for your preschooler. Not only are mittens much warmer than gloves but it also can be quite challenging for teachers to help 180 fingers find their home.
***If your child arrives in boots, please send in sneakers to change into.
***Please have your child visit the bathroom before leaving home to come to school.
Have a great weekend,
Miss Penny, Miss Michelle and Miss Kathryn