A VISIT FROM THE FIRE FIGHTERS!

It was a beautiful day to have a visit from our local Southside Fire Fighters. The children were very excited, especially since it was a surprise, and who doesn't love a surprise?! We spent a lot of time learning about the fire engine and the EMT emergency vehicle and some of the tools the fire fighters use to help people and put out fires.

  They actually asked a lot of questions about all of the things the fire fighters have in the back of their truck. They really kept those firemen on their toes!

 We learned not to be afraid to go to a fire fighter, even if he is dressed in a lot of strange clothes.

 Some of the children even ventured up to touch and make sure the fireman was really only wearing a heavy coat.

 Now that's some brave three year olds!

 

Then we got to the best part - SPRAYING THE WATER HOSE!!!

It was a really a great day. Thank-you Southside Fire Department. 

 

 

 



LEARNING NEW SKILLS

Learning to water-color is really more difficult than one might think. Load color, paint, wash, dry, repeat. It's a repetitive process, that if not followed, will result in a big, brown mess. Unless you are looking for the brown mess, you really have to pay attention to what you are doing, what step you are on, and what step comes next. This is not always an easy task for an adult, much less a three year old, but I think the children did a pretty good job! Look at their concentration faces!

Another unfamiliar, but important skill, is knowing how to tear paper. You might think this would be a very easy task, but you would be wrong. Children can definitely rip things up and make a mess; but are they ripping (we call it tearing) properly? Most likely, no. Children tend to fist grab each side of a piece of paper and PULL. Sometimes, no matter how hard they pull, nothing happens. That is because they are not TEARING.

Tearing requires a child to use a pincer grip and then to move their hands in opposites directions. When done properly, the paper they are working with, easily comes apart into two pieces. Much easier said than done! TEAR, don't PULL, was the mantra of the day. 

OUR DAY AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH

We were blessed with perfect weather for our trip to the YMCA's annual pumpkin patch. The children were very excited and couldn't wait to get started.



Pumpkins were debated over, decided on, and then, some time was spent adding decorations to each. Next came the hayride around the grounds.



All the activity sure made for some hungry children. Nothing is better than eating hot dogs "picnic style."

The face painting was a HUGE hit. 

But the biggest hit of all was surely the very tall, curved slid. The children climbed the stairs and slid down, over and over and over again. Oh, to have the energy of a three year old!

Over all, it was a very successful trip. The children had a blast and went home quite worn-out. The adults were pretty worn-out too. I wonder, how many of us had a nap?

EXPANDING OUR FRIENDSHIPS

As we enter our second month of school, it is nice to see the children expanding their friendship circles. Many of them started the year with friendships already in place, either from their class last year or perhaps some other group activity. It's easy to play with someone you already know - comfortable and familiar. It takes a little time to break outside that comfort zone, but it is beginning to happen! 

 

 I stress to the children that, "we are all friends at school, and we play with everyone." No one is excluded, and there are always several activities to choose from. They are beginning to understand, the more friends you have, the more fun you have. And that's exactly what we are having at school, FUN! 

 WHEN IT'S FUN, IT'S EASY TO LEARN!

Our Busy Week

This past week was a busy one for our class. We began our second month  at school and had our school pictures made. We talked about doing good  things for others and collected money and supplies for local animal shelters. We worked hard and laughed harder as we met Tommy Triangle and did art projects with triangles.





 

Here are some of the items that were collected for the animals. 

 

Best of all, the sun finally showed itself after many gray, rainy days. Playing with friends, both old and new, was the best part of our busy week.