PROGRAM PRACTICE

We have been practicing for our Christmas program in "God's House."

From the following photos, you can tell this is not the children's favorite thing to do at school!

These pictures totally crack me up. They actually do really well and show patience beyond their years. Of course, there are rewards (bribes) involved. After all, waiting, being quiet, and then singing on demand is quite a lot to ask of a three year old! They have been making me very proud as well as making me laugh everyday. I absolutely love your children!

Remember, the church will be having their live nativity Tuesday from 4-7 with tons of real live animals. Come if you are able.



NUMBERS, NUMBERS

Learning to work with numbers is an important part of our day at school.

It can also be a very confusing concept for the children to grasp. It needs to be broken down into three separate parts. First, being able to count out loud in the correct order. Next comes being able to count actual items properly by assigning each item a number and stopping when there are no more items to count. Finally, comes the skill of recognizing each number independently.

We will work on these concepts until May. Presently, our classroom bulletin board displays numbered stockings and we play games counting, finding the correct number, deciding more or less, etc.

I ask that you reinforce these skills at home, especially over the Christmas break. Get your child to count everything! Put the numbers 1-10 up somewhere in your home so they get a chance to see them daily. Repetition is important. Make it fun and your child will have these important pre-math skills mastered before we know it!

Thanks for your help.

PASTA AND PRIMATES

We continue to work on projects that we will use to decorate our tree.

Today we used pasta!

We had a BIG SURPRISE coming to school today and we all did a great job waiting patiently to see just what it was!

We didn't have to wait too long.

Wilson, the monkey from "FRIENDS", came to show us what he can do.

He can write his name with a pen! Well, sort of.

 

We learned all about animals that live in the tops of the trees, like the Cockatoo.

This one's name is Angel.

This animal (I can't remember it's name, sorry) lives beneath the trees and acts like the cleaner of the jungle floor by eating the fruit that falls from the trees. 

 

Within the branches of the trees, along with the monkeys, there are other animals:

Like this porcupine! We made sure not to touch his quills because they sure looked sharp.

Who knew they can hang from their tail just like a monkey?!  

It was truly a wild, rainy day at WIPP!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING...WE ARE BUSY

We have been spending our days singing our Christmas songs and making Christmas ornaments. We have working with all kinds of things, putting them together, and ending up with something pretty for our tree.

We worked with felt and sequins,

baby food jar lids and dried beans, 



and dough we made from cinnamon and applesauce.

With so many cool things to use, the possibilities are endless!

We know you can't wait to see all of our special treasures.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

IT'S ALL HANDS ON

We have been working hands on with all types of medium this week. 

Making and rolling dough into shapes is lots of fun.

We also love painting with our hands!

After the paint dries, the real fun begins and we get to make an ornament for our Christmas Tree!

The final product!!!!!!

 

A JOB WELL DONE!

 Learning to HELP your friends make good choices, instead of tattling on them, is something we work on all year long. It is best practiced when the children are left to their own devices during free play. Playing and working together is not always easy. Learning to compromise is even harder. Here, some of the children decided to build a fort and worked together as a team. It was wonderful to see how far they have come from, "Stop, that's mine!"

Work in progress.

 Everyone has a say in how the fort should look.

The finished product!!!!!

A JOB WELL DONE!

 

 

Back from Break

Everyone was glad to back from the Thanksgiving break!

The children picked up right where they had left off and were very excited to see their friends.

 

 

We also have gotten back to work. We have a lot to do in this short month.

 



HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 GOBBLE, GOBBLE

  Happy Thanksgiving!

Everyone seemed to enjoy WIPP's Thanksgiving program. The children all did a great job considering it was their first program and their first time in front of an audience. Here are a few "behind the scenes" pictures of some of our Pilgrims getting ready for the big program.

 

We look pretty good in our hats, bonnets

              and Pilgrim collars!                

                              

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

 

WE LOVE MUSIC WITH MS. MEGAN!

We have begun our weekly music time with our new music teacher, Ms. Megan every Thursday morning. She has been teaching us new songs and games and we are having a great time.

 

 

 This is just another way we practice our listening skills and learn how to follow verbal directions. 

Cornucopia Fun





I'm sorry I haven't been keeping this blog up to date. Sometimes we get so busy, I forget to take pictures. Three year olds live in the moment, and at school, those moments fly by.

As most of you know, every morning we work on our coloring and cutting. Please reinforce the proper pencil grip at home. I have ordered some grip helpers to assist those who remain a little bit resistant to holding their crayon the "correct way." At this age, it often feels very awkward. It's like riding a bike. Once they get it, they'll never forget.

 Then, the children move on the the fine motor skills table. Sharing and working together has become common practice. It is also at this time that we reinforce manners and communication. 



 We have been learning about Thanksgiving and how it came to be. Here we are making cornucopias for snack!

 

 

Here are our finished cornucopias - and they were TASTY!

The Leaves are Falling

 The nip in the air means Fall is here. We've been talking about the change in seasons and working on projects that are fall inspired. Today we made leaf prints using self-drying clay and real leaves that were found just outside of our building.

                                                       

Rolling out clay is hard work!

When the clay is flattened out, we carefully pressed a real leaf into it.

 

Then we carefully lifted the leaf from the clay and...
Ta Da, a leaf imprint - veins and all.


With the weather becoming cooler, it is time to change out the clothes we keep in case of an emergency to warmer ones. Please send in a set of temperature appropriate clothing in a plastic bag to school as soon as you can. Thanks.