Science and Bubbles

This week we are doing something a little different in each class. We have been observing what the children ask to play during their free play time or what they seem to really enjoy and have chosen a couple of those for our focus this week! The three day class that meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday, really seems to enjoy doing "experiments", so we are being scientists this week. The Tuesday/ Thursday class loves to play bubbles so that is our focus this week.

Morning activities for three day include oobleck, magnets, baking soda and vinegar, bottles with different liquids and movement, mixing oil and water and marble track demonstrating kinetic and potential energy!

Morning activities for two day include bubble foam, making our own bubble wand, blowing bubbles on the table and playing with bubble wrap.

Small group for our scientists include milk painting, lava lamps and shiny pennies- all experiments! We do talk about the scientific method in preschool terms- ask a question, come up with a guess (hypothesis) and see if you are right.

Small group for our bubble blowers include bubble prints and making tensile bubbles inside 3D shapes.

Our KDI for the week is-

Engagement: Children focus on activities that interest them- in using their interests to build a week's focus, we let them expand on the topics that engage them and they have fun with!

Jesus Time- This week we hear the rest of Joseph's story. Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, wrongly accused of a crime, sent to jail and worked hard and looked to God for guidance through it all. God gave Joseph the ability to interpret dreams. While he was in prison, Joseph told two of Pharaoh's workers what their dreams meant and they came true. When Pharaoh had some strange dreams, the cup bearer remembered Joseph and he came and told Pharaoh the meaning of his dreams. Pharaoh had dreamed that there were 7 fat cows grazing on the side of the Nile, 7 skinny cows came out of the Nile and ate the 7 fat cows, but didn't get any fatter. He also dreamed of 7 skinny heads of wheat that came and ate 7 fat heads of wheat. Crazy dreams! Joseph told Pharaoh that 7 years of plenty were on their way. Lots of rain, lots of food! But these would be followed by 7 years of famine. Joseph gave Pharaoh the idea to store food during the years of plenty for the years of famine. Pharaoh loved the idea so much that he made Joseph second in command of all Egypt! Years later, other lands were experiencing the famine, including the land where Joseph's brothers lived. They came to buy food from Egypt, where it was plentiful because of a good ruler. Little did they know that they were making Joseph's teenage dream come true when they bowed down to him. Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him! Joseph wanted to see if his brothers had changed and how they treated his youngest brother, Benjamin, so he put them through a few tests. They really had changed! So, he moved them and his father to Egypt so he could take care of them! Joseph was able to forgive his brothers because of his faith in God. That is miraculous still!

Books of the week- "Ada Twist, Scientis" by Andrea Beatty, "Odd Boy Out, Young Albert Einstein" by Don Brown and "Curious George Gets a Medal" by H. A. Rey for our scientists and "Bubble, Bubble" by Mercer Mayer, "The Bubble Factory" by Tomie de Paola, and "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin for our bubble blowers.

Field Trip to Maybury Farms next week Tuesday! We will meet there at 9:45 for our Field and Forest program and our wagon ride! I look forward to seeing you there! It's never too late to decide!

Have an awesome week!

Cc is for camping!

Cc is for Camping!

This week our activities are centered around the camping theme! Morning activities include playing in tents, making our little world campsite, making a rip art campfire, camp coloring and painting with marshmallows.

Small group includes lantern making, a popsicle stick tent and adding a Cc is for camping page to our journals.

Our KDI for the week is-
Pretend play: Children express and represent what they observe, think, imagine, and feel through pretend play. As children play in the tent and act out with the miniature campsite, we see and hear what they think about. Relationships, activities all are figured out in pretend play.

Jesus Time-
This week we are hearing about Jacob's favorite son, Joseph. Joseph was one of Jacob's younger sons and was placed in charge of his older brothers which was signified by a colorful coat his father gave him to wear. Joseph had also been given several dreams which pointed to him being bowed down to by his brothers. This made his older brothers very jealous! So jealous that they planned to get rid of him. Some wanted to even kill him! But they decided to sell Joseph to some traders who passed by and Joseph was sold into slavery in the country of Egypt. The brothers then tricked their father into believing that Joseph was dead by ripping up his colorful coat and dipping it in some blood from a sheep they had killed. Jacob mourned his son for a long time! Next week, we will hear the rest of the story of how God continued to be with Joseph and eventually Joseph did save his brothers' and father's lives.

Books of the week- "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen, "The Berenstain Bears Go To Camp" by Stan and Jan Berenstain, "Charlie Goes Camping" by Carrie Weston.

Have a fantastic week!
Mrs. Schneck

Tools we use!

This week we are listening to the sound of Tt and using tools!

Morning activities are using hammers to pound golf tees into styrofoam, playing with tools and playdoh, using our tools to build, tracing tools, using little fingers for nuts and bolts and some tool coloring pages.

Small group activities are using a paper bag to make a face and then using our tools, scissors to give the face some hair. We learned a chant today to help us use scissors the correct way, " Two fingers on the bottom and the thumb on top, we open up the mouth and go chomp, chomp, chomp." Keeping that thumb on the top helps us control our scissors. We also emphasized that we only cut paper, nothing else! We will use a screw driver and a wrench, and make an entry into our journal with Tt is for tool.

KDI for the week is-
Fine-motor skills: Children demonstrate dexterity and hand-eye coordination in using their small muscles. - We are really working these this week! From scissors to threading a nut on a bolt to twisting a screwdriver. Little fingers at work!

Jesus Time- This week we are learning about Abraham's grandsons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were twins. Esau was the older twin and was supposed to get the greater blessing when their father, Isaac, died. However, God had made it known that Jacob would get the greater blessing. Isaac was growing older and was blind and knew that he would shortly die, so he called Esau to him and instructed him to go and hunt and bring him a spicy stew that he loved. Then, Isaac would give Esau his blessing. Isaac's wife Rebekah overheard this conversation. She knew that Jacob should receive the blessing and Jacob was her favorite. So she planned to trick Isaac. She sent Jacob to kill one of his sheep and bring it to her. She cooked it so it tasted like the spicy stew, had Jacob put on Esau's clothes and took the skin from the sheep and put it on Jacob's arms and neck because Esau was much hairier that Jacob. He went in, pretending to be Esau and took his father's blessing. When Esau returned and found out what Jacob had done, he was furious. Jacob packed up his things and ran for his life, heading for his Uncle Laban's home. When he stopped for the night, his thoughts were in turmoil. Using a stone for a pillow, he finally fell asleep. God gave him a dream of angels going up and down a staircase and he heard God's voice saying he would be blessed. God is with us, even if we do wrong. He loves us and won't give up on us!

Books of the week - "This is the House that Jack Built" by Simms Taback, "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" by Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury, "Builders and Breakers" by Steve Light and we identified the tools in The Builder's Tool Kit by priddy books.

This week we are learning about apples and the sound and shape of Aa.

Our table activities include an apple orchard sensory bin, apple printing, apple pie playdough, and making a rip art apple tree.

Small group includes dissecting and tasting different apples and an apple journal entry.

Key Development Indicator of the week-
Natural and physical world: Children gather knowledge about the natural and physical world. -
This week we look at apples and how they go from being a flower to being a fruit. We learn about pollination, seasons and parts of an apple- skin, seeds, core, flesh and how they are different in different varieties.

Jesus Time- This week we are learning about Abraham. God made a promise to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. The problem with that is that Abraham had no children and he was 90 years old and his wife Sarah was 80. Even in Bible times, it was way past the age of having children. God showed Abraham the stars and assured him that his offspring would be more than all the stars or the grains of sand on the beach. When Abraham was 100 and Sarah 90, she gave birth to a son named Isaac and Abraham did become a father. He also was the father of those who believed in the promise of a Savior. That Savior, Jesus, would come through Abraham's line. So, all believers are spiritual children of Abraham!

Our books of the week are "Ten Apples Up On Top" by Theo LeSieg, "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall and "The Apples on the Tree" by Steve Metzger.

We look forward to seeing everybody at Plymouth Orchard by 9:45 on Wednesday morning to enjoy a short educational program and a wagon ride, followed by a donut and cider!

Have a super week!

Mrs. Schneck

Superheroes and super senses

This week at preschool we are playing with superheroes, discovering our super senses and listening for the sound of letter Ss.

Table activities include Hulk slime, making masks, superhero puzzles and patterns, superhero playdough mats, city scapes and stickers.

Small group activity include using our hearing to pick out a container that sounds the same, smelling a cotton ball to see if it smells the same, tasting salty, sweet, spicy and sour, and feeling what is inside a bag without looking at it and using our sense of touch to guess what it is.

KDI of the week is-

Observing: Children observe the materials and processes in their environment.- We are learning how we observe the world around us, through our senses. Taking our time to look, listen, touch, smell and taste.

Jesus Time- This week we are learning about the flood. After creation, Adam and Eve disobeyed God by taking fruit from a tree that God told them not to. They left the garden and began living in the rest of the world. After some time, people strayed farther and farther from God and his will for their lives until only a man named Noah and his family were the only believers left. At this time, God told Noah to build a large boat called an ark where he would cause at least two of every animal to come to Noah and his family. They brought aboard food and make places for themselves and all the animals to stay. Then it started to rain. There had never been rain before! It rained for 40 days and nights until the entire earth was covered with water. Every living thing drowned except Noah and his family. They spent many days on the ark. Finally the ark came to rest on the top of a mountain and Noah and his family left the ark. Noah built an altar to thank God for saving them. Then God put a rainbow in the sky to be a symbol of the promise never to destroy the earth with water again.

Books of the week- "I Hear a Pickle" by Rachel Isadora, "Good Morning Superman" and "Goodnight Supergirl" by Michael Dahl and "Even Superheroes Make Mistakes"  by Shelly Becker.

Next week is our Plymouth Orchard field trip on Wednesday, September 11th! We look forward to seeing you all there!

Have a super week!